In June 2003, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh mounted an exhibition of Warhol's iconic Electric Chair print series—ten large-scale prints along with several smaller prints and paintings—as a catalyst to generate discourse on the issue of capital punishment. The project, Andy Warhol's Electric Chairs: Reflecting on Capital Punishment in America, which came two years after the execution of Timothy McVeigh and shortly after the decision by Illinois Governor George Ryan to commute all death sentences in that state, raised significant questions about the social utility and morality of the death penalty.

Universal Basic Income or a federal Job Guarantee? The discussion continues as to whether we should pursue a redistributive welfare system or a predistributive politics that reorganizes social provisioning.  

Those who think Universal Basic Income represents a progressive future ought to think twice about the laissez-faire assumptions behind such proposals. Perhaps the future should be one where work is not rendered obsolete but made a meaningful, inclusive, and collective endeavor.

In light of current events, Shakespeare helps us realize that only those already protected by the law can afford to show mercy.

It's hard to catch up with the latest episodes in the Strauss-Kahn drama (rumor has it that screenwriters are frantically taking notes to spurt out a series for cable television come September).

Teaching Milton this semester, I think I made a couple of connections that must be obvious, but that I'd never quite seen before (or maybe I had: these days I'm finding the obvious striking again, which I don't know whether that's a good or a bad thing).