As we watch and worry about the dismantling of our democracy, the tools of empire are being built. The foundations were laid quietly, in the early months of the Trump administration. As Elon Musk wielded a public chainsaw, a small group of technologists and financiers stitched together databases under the guise of “efficiency.” What they…

For those who fear autocracy is coming—or already here—there is real hope in the legal response that rose to meet it. Indeed, the legal defense of democracy stood up faster than many expected, and remains stronger and more nimble than we possibly could have hoped. Within a week of the inauguration, lawyers and nonprofits had…

Find a No Kings 2 event near you and sign up: the live map is here. The matter was settled. The founders broke from monarchy and built a republic ruled by law. The crown was thrown aside. But the desire to be ruled is persistent. It lives on, waiting for someone willing to claim it.…

In Athens last week, I walked among ruins around which the modern city had grown. Stone columns beside electric vehicles. The air itself carries argument between old and new. The remains of the Acropolis loom over the city. Hadrian’s Library is tucked into a neighborhood. All reminders that democracy can be razed. At the Athens…

The authoritarian consolidation is real. Each week brings fresh evidence. The courts weakened. The guardrails stripped. Communities made vulnerable. Immigrants disappeared. Trans people targeted and despicably made out to be a violent threat. Higher education attacked for producing independent thought. Journalists threatened for telling the truth. Comedians deplatformed. None of this is abstract. It is…

A friend visiting from Europe told me about their visa application. They had to provide their social media accounts and make them open for inspection. If you want to visit the United States, you must bare your digital self. In How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?, Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way, and…