Freedom and failures of the press: This Week in Truthdig Originals

[Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists]( Sunday, July 22, 2018 Featured story book review [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [The Birth of American Empire]( By H. Patricia Hynes — Stephen Kinzer's book illuminates the decisions of 1898-1902 that set the course of American wars and the overthrow of governments into the 21st century. [Read more]( media opinion [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [The War on Assange Is a War on Press Freedom]( By Chris Hedges — The arrest of the WikiLeaks founder, which appears near, would be the first domino to fall. Afterward, thousands of publishers, editors and reporters in the U.S. would be in peril. [Read more]( OPINION [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [The Stories Corporate Media Failed to Cover This Week]( By Sonali Kolhatkar — The Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki is the biggest news of the year so far, but let us not lose sight of all the critically important related stories that are going untold. [Read more]( politics OPINION [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Supreme Court Update: Kavanaugh Is No Kennedy, and Kennedy Was No Centrist]( By Bill Blum — Even before Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, the Supreme Court was hardly a liberal—or even a centrist—institution. [Read more]( OPINION [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [The Human Cost of Getting Used to Trump]( By Bill Boyarsky — In the detention centers and the separation of immigrant families, we can see how the fragile protections of the Constitution and the courts and the ideals of our nation are endangered by a reckless president. [Read more]( international OPINION [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [South Asia Islamophobia Burgeons in Sri Lanka]( By Raksha Kumar — The government of this island nation—like the government in nearby India—responds minimally or not at all to violence against minority Muslims. [Read more]( ear to the ground [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Israel Is Divided Over a Bill to Establish Jewish-Only Communities]( Ilana Novick — The proposed law has been compared to South Africa's onetime system of apartheid. [Read more]( ear to the ground [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [American Conservatives Tied to Pro-Trump Trolls in Macedonia]( By Jacob Sugarman — A new report finds an “unlikely global alliance” of fake news disseminators in the runup to the 2016 election. [Read more]( ear to the ground [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Sick of Student Loans? Some Schools Offer to Take Part of Future Earnings Instead]( By Clara Romeo — Norwich University is the latest college to adopt the approach. Though the alternative to student loans is being praised, some critics warn of unintended consequences.[Read more]( Arts and Culture film review [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Filmmaker-Photographer Lauren Greenfield on Rise of 'Generation Wealth' and Fall of the Empire]( By Jordan Riefe — Her latest documentary looks at the pathology of greed and fame. “I thought the financial crash was going to teach us," she says. "And yet a lot of people went right back to living the same way as they had before.” [Read more]( film review [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [At an Awkward Age, Finding Grace]( By Carrie Rickey — So real it comes off as a documentary, “Eighth Grade” is worth the trip—for both its heroine and for audiences. [Read more]( poetry [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [In Hawaii, an End of Innocence]( By Gregory Glover — In her poem "Sweet Leilani," Sara Simone Wagner speaks for many residents of Hawaii's Big Island who are adjusting to the reality of an ongoing volcanic disaster. [Read more]( CartoonS [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Doubly Negative (Video)]( By Mark Fiore — If anyone had doubts Donald Trump is up to his eyeballs in Russian naughtiness, the joint Trump-Putin press conference may open some eyes. [Read more]( [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Stop and Smell the Flowers]( By Mr. Fish — [Read more]( [Donate Today!]( [Follow Truthdig on Twitter]( [Follow Truthdig on Facebook]( Truthdig 1158 26th St., No. 443 Santa Monica, CA 90403-4698 This email was sent to {EMAIL}, by [email protected]( [Support Truthdig]( | [Contact Us]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Update Profile]( | [Forward To A Friend](