From U.S. Politics to Global Voices: Truthdig’s 2023 Highlights

Digs

For our Dig series of long-form multipart investigations, Émile P. Torres explored the racist techno-utopian ideologies rooted in eugenics in ‘The Acronym Behind Our Wildest AI Dreams and Nightmares.’ 

Marc Cooper revisited the 1973 military coup that removed the socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende, investigated its aftermath and considered its lingering impact on contemporary Chile. In a fascinating interview with historian Peter Kornbluh, “Kissinger and the CIA in Chile,” he explored the role of the recently deceased former U.S. secretary of state in orchestrating the coup.

Russ Hausfeld investigated the politics of psychedelic research and how veterans became the unlikely mascots for medical MDMA. “Part II: Who’s Researching the Researchers?,” sheds light on veterans who entrusted the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) with their trauma and have since made allegations of manipulation and deceit.

Chris Ketcham argued that renewable energy is insufficient to sustain our current consumption rates in the “The Green Growth Delusion,” which dissected policy proposals such as the Green New Deal and explored the concept of ‘ecological footprint analysis.’

In “Should We Be Mining the Ocean Floor?,” Rachel Reeves’ took an in-depth look at the global competition for deep-sea minerals used for renewable-energy technologies and scrutinized the ecological impacts of offshore mining.

Bill Blum analyzed the political and ideological capture of the Supreme Court by the GOP and its dark-money donors, and delved into Franklin Roosevelt’s failed court-expansion plan in “It Will Take a Political Movement to Reform a Politicized Supreme Court.”

Investigative Stories

Justin Noble investigated an under-reported fracking-related contamination zone in ‘West Virginia’s Chernobyl,’ sparking a resurgence in local activism and demands by ex-employees around the issue. Tana Ganeva traveled to Arkansas to dig into why a man starved to death in an Arkansas jail. Matt Broomfield reported from Kurdish Syria on Rojava’s “Improvised Revolution.”

U.S. Politics

Erin Aubry Kaplan examined how Republicans are trying to destroy the country from within through the politics of secession. Bill Blum argued the Supreme Court’s assault on voting rights is just getting warmed up. Jim Knipfel wrote about a little-known case he called Jack Daniel’s vs. the People’s Right to Spoof Corporate America. Myriam Gurba reported on the rehabbing of former L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez. Michael Datcher decried a national resurgence of hate and the “erasure” of Juneteenth.  

Ear to the Ground

Truthdig writers put their “Ear to the Ground” and filed reports on the healing we owe our vets, global cries for a ceasefire in Gaza, a climate victory in Ecuador, the immigrant crisis in New York and why Texas prisons feel like “Being Baked in a Concrete Oven.”

Global Voices: Truthdig Women Reporting

Among the Global Voices contributors writing from their home countries, Kamin Mohammadi reported on thousands of female students who have been hospitalized with mysterious illnesses in Iran. Liubov Tsareva explained how a female-led anti-war movement is “Fighting the Patriarchy in Mother Russia.” Raksha Kumar wrote about rampant domestic violence and alcohol abuse in India. 

TD Interviews

Ed Rampell interviewed the celebrated director Oliver Stone about JFK’s assassination and subsequent cover-up. Erin Aubry Kaplan interviewed the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Melina Abdullah about racial equity and reflected on the movement’s progress. Alexander Zaitchik spoke with 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Ed Rampell interviewed independent candidate Cornel West.

Environment

Michael Balter examined the latest alarming research around glyphosate in “This Herbicide Is Everywhere. But Should It Be?” Jessica Scott-Reid outlined the layers of environmental destruction of industrial-scale cattle farming and revealed the “fallacy of ‘Climate Friendly’ beef.” Philip Armour investigated the Colorado Gross Dam project and the impending water crisis in the American West.

Profiles

Alexander Zaitchik explained how Matt Christman became the “grill master of Acid Marxism.” Paul Von Blum recalled the scourge of McCarthyism and the politically motivated state executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Florida resident Jeb Lund describes Ron Desantis’s “Blitzkrieg to Loserville.”  

Photo Essays

Photojournalist Michael Nigro captured soldiers and civilians maneuvering through the ruins in Ukraine in “Repurposed for War.” In “The Battle Against Lithium Mining at Thacker Pass,” Jeff Schwilk illustrated Native Americans’ fight for the wildlife and fauna on sacred land. Marc Cooper’s “The Radical Walls of Santiago” showcased murals in Chile that encapsulate the country’s political journey.

Arts & Culture

Film

Siddhant Adlakha and Ed Rampell, both winners at this year’s LA Press Club Awards, published dozens of reviews. Adlakha listed his top picks from Cannes, and Carrie Rickey broke down her favorites from the New York Film Festival.

Truthdig rounded up 80 years of onscreen atomic anxiety in Nuclear Cinema and Jim Knipfel shared his favorite unconventional holiday movies in “Have Yourself a Twisted Little Xmas.”

Sound & Music

DIG SCAPES’ Bart Plantanga created sonic mashups that served as soundtracks to stories about everything from the resurgence in eugenics to environmental devastation. Jim Knipfel celebrated a half century of the Residents and compiled a playlist of essential Halloween songs in Music to Die For: An All Hallows Eve Top 40.

Books

In “Is Crypto the Greatest Scam in History?,” Lynn Parramore interviewed author Peter Howson on his new book “Let Them Eat Crypto: The Blockchain Scam That’s Ruining The World.” In his essay, “Book Banning Reaches Historic, Ominous Levels in the US,” Stephen Rohde delved into the alarming wave of titles being pulled from libraries and curricula across the country.