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DISPATCHES FROM THE CULTURE WARS — DECEMBER 16, 2025  
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December 16, 2025
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_ Breaking the ICE _

, Current Affairs

 

* The Climate Movement and Fascism
* The Right Targets Women’s Suffrage
* Inside Capitalism’s Hidden Command Centres
* Student Resistance to Authoritarianism
* How They Made a Mess of the ADL
* Republican Antisemitism is Nothing New
* Mic Drops of 2025
* Meanwhile in New Orleans
* Hey Artists
* Philly Soul and Today’s Pop Hits

 

THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT AND FASCISM
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By Aru Shiney-AjayThe Forge

It feels naive to be building towards big climate legislation in 2029
when we don’t even know if we will have free and fair elections in
2026. Even though climate change has never been more urgent, it’s
hard to argue we can organize for climate action (or any issue)
without pushing back against authoritarianism now, and hard.

THE RIGHT TARGETS WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE
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By Moira DoneganThe Guardian

More and more, influential voices in the Maga movement and the
far-right Republican party are calling to strip women of the vote.
Ultra-conservative Christian communities have long declared that women
should withdraw from the public sphere, including from political
participation, and submit to the rule of their husbands.

INSIDE CAPITALISM’S HIDDEN COMMAND CENTRES
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By Benjamin SelwynLe Monde diplomatique

Economic planning has re-entered mainstream discourse and policy –
it is present in talk of green transitions, national security and
supply chain resilience. Some academics have been advocating the
return of industrial policy and planning for a while, but now a range
of increasingly popular left-wing politicians have joined them in
promoting it.

STUDENT RESISTANCE TO AUTHORITARIANISM
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By Nick EngelfriedWaging Nonviolence

As students protest the Trump agenda, they are already having to
navigate a trend of increased restrictions on campus speech, some of
which began even before the second Trump administration. At many
universities, the crackdown started during last year’s widespread
protests for Palestine. 

HOW THEY MADE A MESS OF THE ADL

 • NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK
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  By Mari Cohen and Alex Kane, Jewish Currents

 • COVERING FOR MAGA
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  By Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency 

REPUBLICAN ANTISEMITISM IS NOTHING NEW
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By Natasha Soffer-Roth+972

Suddenly, the party that has sought to claim a monopoly on defending
Jews — largely through the pro-Israel plank of its agenda — and
a think tank that positioned itself as leading the charge against
antisemitism are scrambling to grapple with a very public fallout over
the anti-Jewish bigotry in their own backyard.

MIC DROPS OF 2025
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By Andi ZeislerSalon 
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You have to take your wins where you can get them, and given that 2025
has consisted of day after day and month after month of horrible
people doing, saying, and trying to justify cruel, inhumane, and
stupid things, many of those small wins have come in the form of
retorts. Here, in no particular order, are the best takedowns of the
year.

MEANWHILE IN NEW ORLEANS
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By Hamilton NolanCurrent Affairs

As in Los Angeles, and Chicago, and North Carolina, New Orleans has,
in a short time, built a remarkably sophisticated region-wide network
of citizens ready to film the dirty dogs doing their work. At
trainings every single night of the week in different neighborhoods
around the city, the regular people learned what they can do in the
face of the terror.

HEY ARTISTS
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By Jesús IñiguezPrism

Even though we’re currently in the middle of an onslaught of
procedural, systemic shifts that make many of our lives harder, this
is a cultural war in which we’re all engaged. So in order to codify
systemic shifts, the culture has to accept it. The Trump
administration knows this, which is why it’s co-opting platforms to
spread its rhetoric and propagandize its vision. 

PHILLY SOUL AND TODAY’S POP HITS
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By Jared Bahir BrowshThe Conversation

Teddy Pendergrass would have turned 75 this year. Although he died in
2010, he helped usher in an era of music that brought both disco and
more mature, sensual music to the mainstream – and I see his
influence in a number of pop and R&B hits today.

* climate movement
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* Fascism
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* Make America Great Again
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* women's rights
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* voting rights
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* capitalism
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* Economic planning
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* students
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* resistance
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* Authoritarianism
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* Anti-Defamation League
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* Republican Party
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* Antisemitism
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* retorts
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* New Orleans
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* Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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* Artists
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* Teddy Pendergrass
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* Philadelphia
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* soul music
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* pop music
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