Between those events and UC Berkeley giving 160 names to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, the crackdown on our liberty and freedom of expression is starting to feel a little scarier than usual. “In my Comparative Literature seminars over many years, I taught seminars on Kafka and the law,” Judith Butler wrote to Berkeley’s university’s chief counsel after learning that their name was on this list. “They very often focused on the way that the suspension of due process and the normalization of indefinite detention were cast in fictional terms that resonate with actual legal practice.” Butler shared this note with The Nation, and we published it.

Meanwhile, we continue to stand by our coverage of Charlie Kirk by our fearless writers like Elie Mystal and Elizabeth Spiers, who have been unabashed and unafraid to describe the deceased political commentator as what he really was: a white supremacist, a racist, and a bigot. JD Vance can say whatever he wants about us; we will continue doing what we do best—reporting the truth and serving our role as one of the left’s most “well-respected” magazines.

-Alana Pockros

Associate Editor, The Nation

Not yet a subscriber of The Nation? Get one year of unlimited digital access for just $14.95.