What You Need to Read About Politics 8/12 Edition

My roundup of the week's most important links and best journalism

Photo by Lora Ohanessian on Unsplash

Every week I look at the links I’ve compiled and ask myself what’s the theme to spotlight at the top of this column?

I always try to bring you diverse content from all nooks and crannies of the politics, policy, and media worlds. I also want to highlight important cultural and economic topics, both because those are becoming increasingly political — and have a deep impact on politics and policy — but also because they often have as much impact on people’s lives as politics and policy. That explains links this week on religion, inflation, trigger warnings, facial recognition software, and interest rates.

But each week there also tends to be themes that emerge when I look at the collection of links I set aside.

This week there are several stories apiece on the politics of abortion, grassroots activism, understanding our political divisions better, and the extremism of the GOP.