• From the archives, we had the occasion to unearth a smart and funny piece by Bryant Urstadt about a press junket he went on in 1999 on Volvo’s dime for our Issue 12, “Dipping Extremely Low in the Lap of Corporate Luxury.” Volvo paid for a three-day luxury trip to Arizona, and all they asked for in exchange was his journalistic integrity. (And in the end, all Volvo got was a drubbing in The Baffler.)
• On the blog, Kathleen Geier exposed the too-soft center of the prison dramedy Orange Is the New Black, analyzed the Democratic Party’s policies to protect working families and declared them to be “less than meets the eye,” and reviewed Zeynep Ton’s new book about how paying a living wage is actually good for business (well, why didn’t you say so before . . .).
• Ned Resnikoff burst the bubble of those who would try to recruit a more-liberal primary challenger to Hillary Clinton for 2016. (Too soon, Resnikoff!) The so-called “left-flank push” is a myth, he argued; Bernie Sanders or no Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s positions aren’t getting any more progressive any time soon.
• Scott Beauchamp wrote about changes in the military budget, robot soldiers, and the recession. Everyone talks about the questionable ethics of the U.S. Military increasingly relying on drones rather than enlisted troops; but what about the economic impact?
Enjoy the weekend—go forth and baffle your friends and your enemies. Say hello some time, and if Issue 25 has slogged its way to you through what remains of the United States Postal Service, tell us what you think of it.
