Alex MacArthur

Elis Regina performing "Madalena" by Ivan Lins against the skyline of Rio, 1972.

The best piece yet about the UK's Young Right turns up, naturally enough, in an American magazine. thenation.com/article/world/…

My terrific senior thesis student from last year making a great journalistic debut in The Nation: thenation.com/article/world/…

@DavidAvromBell Thanks so much, David!

At a dinner at the House of Lords earlier this year, I watched the British right's recombination in vivid miniature. The booze-fueled affair reveals much about the unprecedented division facing the British right as they head to the polls today @thenation thenation.com/article/world/…

The United States took control of Puerto Rico in 1898. Since then, the island has been central to Washington’s efforts to suppress socialism and nationalism across Latin America: jacobin.com/2026/05/puerto…

@FromSteveHowell @jacobin Thanks for the kind words, Steve! It was a pleasure reading your book.

To find out what 'Cold War Puerto Rico' is all about and why understanding the history of that period is so important today - in multiple ways - read this @Jacobin review. Alex MacArthur has summed it up superbly. 👇

Cold War Puerto Rico by Steve Howell argues that Washington has long treated the island as giant aircraft carrier. The result has been severe: residents face economic strain while lacking many democratic rights and social protections.jacobin.com/2026/05/puerto…

Los asesinos de Marielle Franco fueron recientemente condenados, exponiendo los profundos vínculos entre la derecha brasileña y las milicias violentas. El caso también prueba que las instituciones democráticas aún pueden responder a la violencia derechista jacobinlat.com/2026/03/lo-que…

The 2018 assassination of socialist councilor Marielle Franco exposed the deep connections between Brazil’s far right and the criminal networks embedded in the state.jacobin.com/2026/03/franco…

Socialist Rio de Janeiro city councilor Marielle Franco’s killers were recently convicted, exposing deep ties between Brazil’s right and violent militias. The case shows democratic institutions can still hold perpetrators of far-right violence to account.jacobin.com/2026/03/franco…

In 2021, the January 6 Capitol attack exposed deep connections between the US state and far-right groups. When something similar happened in Brazil in 2023, it prompted a national attempt to reform the government. The US has failed to do the same.jacobin.com/2026/01/januar…

When Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 50% on Brazil, he hoped they would pressure the country to align itself with Washington. But Brazil’s relative lack of dependence on exports, and its growing ties with China, have weakened the US’s hand. jacobin.com/2025/10/trump-…

Under the watch of Rio’s ultraconservative governor, Cláudio Castro, police have conducted the three largest massacres in the city’s history. The bloodiest, which killed 121 on October 28, occurred, like its predecessors, in the lead-up to an election: jacobin.com/2025/11/brazil…