The right to vote just suffered one of its worst losses of the Trump era

A divided panel of one of the most conservative federal courts in the country held on Friday that a Texas voter suppression law is legal and should remain in effect. Moreover, should Judge Edith Jones' reasoning for the panel be embraced by the Supreme Court, it could enable state lawmakers to rescue laws enacted for the very purpose of disenfranchising voters of color.

Two transgender residents sue Wisconsin over discriminatory Medicaid rule

Photo of Sara Ann Makenzie, one of two transgender Wisconsin residents challenging a state regulation that prohibits low-income Medicaid beneficiaries from obtaining medically necessary treatments for gender dysphoria. Credit: Spencer Micka Photography Top surgery, a common reference for chest reconstruction surgery for transgender patients, is a widely accepted and effective surgical procedure for treating gender dysphoria.

Making Chicken Shit Out of Sichuan Chicken Salad

While the debate rages about what comedian Michelle Wolf did or did not mean by specific jokes in her White House Correspondents' Dinner monologue this weekend, and the level of seriousness with which we should all approach them, and how to react to the entire debacle, the Correspondents' Association itself has officially weighed in with a statement to members on Sunday night. Turns out, they aren't over the moon about the whole thing.

I Am So Not Funny

I am so not funny that I remember that funny joke I told 10 years ago. We all get a good one off occasionally. Everything was bad after 9/11 but maybe the only good consequence (even if they fucked it up entirely) was that for a brief moment the political press suddenly realized... things matter.

Music Notes

I reviewed Jaimie Branch's incredible Fly or Die album awhile back. It's great. She wrote a piece about its surprising success and she sums up the whole era in which we live at the end: I guess at the end of the day, it's about finding your people.

Philippine government books into Trump hotel

It is the latest foreign government to book rooms or host events at the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C., riling critics who say such bookings are nothing more than attempts to curry favor with President Donald Trump. The Philippine Independence Day celebration set for June 12 comes as the country pushes for a free-trade agreement with the U.S. and amid international criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte for encouraging vigilante killings of drug suspects.

The Tragic Association of Criminality and Blackness This week, Igor…

In the past few weeks, two instances of racial bias-one at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, the other in an Alabama Waffle House-caught national attention. On this episode, Igor speaks with Clint Smith, teacher, writer, and Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University, about the historical roots of racism and black criminalization that have created deep racial disparities such as in school discipline and policing.

Columbia grad students go on strike to protest university’s efforts to block unionization

Graduate teaching assistants have taken on heavier workloads, but their pay rarely rises to the level of a living wage. More than a year after graduate students at Columbia University voted to unionize with the United Automobile Workers, hundreds of The students plan to stage a week-long strike during what is the university's most hectic time, when students and professors are preparing for finals and the help of graduate teaching assistants, fellows, and research assistants is critical.

Chief Justice Roberts spent the morning showcasing how impossibly naive he is on matters of race

Abbott v. Perez is a case of mind-numbing procedural complexity. It involves Texas' successful efforts to draw gerrymandered maps in 2011 - maps that were eventually found to be an illegal racial gerrymander by a federal court - and then maintain as much of these illegal maps as possible for as long as possible after the fact.

Opponents decry Scott Pruitt’s plan to roll back groundwater protections at coal ash sites

Heavy machinery excavate and carry coal ash from a drained coal ash pond at Dominion Power's Possum Point Power Station in Dumfries, Virginia. CREDIT: Kate Patterson for The Washington Post via Getty Images Residents have not been clamoring for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to weaken the nation's coal ash waste rules.

After not vetting him at all, Trump publicly advises hand-picked cabinet nominee to refuse the job

During a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, President Trump advised his hand-picked choice to be secretary of veterans affairs, Ronny Jackson, to not take the job. Jackson's confirmation process is currently on indefinite hold because the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is investigating allegations he oversaw a hostile work environment as the White House physician, allowed the over-prescribing of drugs, and drank too much on the job, according to the New York Times .