Events:

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion — Zohran Mamdani and the Pyrrhic Victory of the Democratic Party: Why he is the leftist version of Donald Trump with all of the same problems

Mayor-elect of New York City Zohran Mamdani is a self-avowed “democratic socialist,” and his policy proposals include free public transit, free child care, city-run grocery stores, and free everything else, all funded by increasing taxes on corporations and wealthy city residents. Mamdani has based his suddenly rocketing popularity on telling people what they want to […]

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News

Skating on ICE with Technology: Is Immigration and Customs Enforcement coming for your smartphone?

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been increasingly scary and threatening under the Trump administration. A few days ago, armed and masked agents converged on a Chicago apartment house, some even rappelling onto the roof from military helicopters. They forced men, women, and children outside, even naked, restraining them with zip-tie handcuffs. Most of […]

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News

Fact Check — Interpreting Kirk’s shooter: Was Charlie Kirk Murdered for the Lulz? Media misses dark nihilism of on-line culture

Political violence is a bad thing from any perspective, but there is a long tradition of it. In the classic 1970 collection of over one hundred primary source documents American Violence, the earliest account is Pilgrims versus Puritans from 1634 and the most recent, two years before the book was published, are the Chicago Riots […]

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Housing

High Art at a High Price: The cost of living in the Creative Capital

It should be abundantly clear to anybody who has read my work over the last years of published pieces here at Motif: I love the city of Providence. Everything about it to me exudes quiet charm, limitless narratives, and alluring architecture, all set to the soundtrack of an artsy yet brutalistic urban landscape. This admiration […]

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Bonus

Opinion — PVD City Council Flies Palestinian Flag: Check your privilege while globalizing the intifada

The members of the PVD City Council who asked on May 14 to fly a Palestinian Arab flag in their chamber and in front of City Hall, and held a May 16 sidewalk ceremony attended by cheering supporters, engaged in an act of clueless privilege: They are not threatened by terrorists whose explicitly stated goal […]

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Opinion

Chasing the Sound: Why so many bands keep the Grateful Dead alive

As I write this, I’m listening to the Grateful Dead’s legendary 1977 Cornell concert — considered by many Deadheads to be the band’s finest live performance. I only started listening to the Dead last year, and truthfully, my first reference to them was Jerry Garcia’s quirky cameo in the stoner classic Half Baked. Not exactly […]

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