Rick Perlstein

@rickperlstein

Rick Perlstein is the author of, most recently, Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976–1980, as well as Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus and Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America.

Chicago School: Bill de Blasio’s Shock Doctrine Consultants

Chicago School: Bill de Blasio’s Shock Doctrine Consultants Chicago School: Bill de Blasio’s Shock Doctrine Consultants

How worried should we be that the de Blasio transition was aided by pals of the Walton Foundation and assorted other 1 percent creeps?

Jan 10, 2014 / Rick Perlstein

Did ‘The New Republic’ Take Money From a Drone Manufacturer That Wanted It to Run Defenses of Drones?

Did ‘The New Republic’ Take Money From a Drone Manufacturer That Wanted It to Run Defenses of Drones? Did ‘The New Republic’ Take Money From a Drone Manufacturer That Wanted It to Run Defenses of Drones?

More on the national security web site Lawfare and its solicitation of sponsorship from defense contractors like Northrop Grumman.

Dec 24, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

Why Is ‘The New Republic’ Taking Money From an NSA Contractor to Run Defenses of the NSA?

Why Is ‘The New Republic’ Taking Money From an NSA Contractor to Run Defenses of the NSA? Why Is ‘The New Republic’ Taking Money From an NSA Contractor to Run Defenses of the NSA?

Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution loves the National Security Agency and takes money from Northrop Grumman to blog about it in The New Republic.

Dec 20, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

The Municipal-Industrial Complex Around the World

The Municipal-Industrial Complex Around the World The Municipal-Industrial Complex Around the World

From Brisbane to Miami, Vancouver to London to Chicago, how a corporation that fails again and again keeps the contracts coming.

Dec 17, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

Chicago and the Municipal-Industrial Complex

Chicago and the Municipal-Industrial Complex Chicago and the Municipal-Industrial Complex

What does a publicly traded corporation do when its defense-contracting business is flat? Move more aggressively into the privatization of city services. 

Dec 14, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

Chicago’s ‘Smart Card’ Debacle and Privatisation

Chicago’s ‘Smart Card’ Debacle and Privatisation Chicago’s ‘Smart Card’ Debacle and Privatisation

Chicago’s commitment of almost half a billion dollars to privatize its transit fare collections sweated greed from every pore—and it doesn’t even work.

Dec 10, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

Thinking Like a Conservative (Part Six): ‘Government Dependency’

Thinking Like a Conservative (Part Six): ‘Government Dependency’ Thinking Like a Conservative (Part Six): ‘Government Dependency’

If you’re a liberal, a politician working to deny his constituents government-subsidized healthcare is immoral. If you’re a conservative, it’s the most moral thin...

Dec 7, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

Professors to Grad Students: Focus on Studies, Not Wages

Professors to Grad Students: Focus on Studies, Not Wages Professors to Grad Students: Focus on Studies, Not Wages

Professors just don’t get why graduate students deserve labor unions, revealing a dangerous myopia about how academia works in the age of austerity.

Dec 4, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

The Enduring Cult of the Vietnam ‘Missing in Action’

The Enduring Cult of the Vietnam ‘Missing in Action’ The Enduring Cult of the Vietnam ‘Missing in Action’

How a propaganda goof by Richard Nixon’s administration midwifed an urban legend that scarred American foreign policy and domestic politics for a generation.

Dec 3, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

Thanksgiving Forty Years Ago: There but for the Grace…

Thanksgiving Forty Years Ago: There but for the Grace… Thanksgiving Forty Years Ago: There but for the Grace…

It’s bad out there on Thanksgiving this year. A remembrance: in 1973, it was worse.

Nov 28, 2013 / Rick Perlstein

x