'The studio has run out of marquee heroes'

'The rise and fall of the Marvel Cinematic Universe'

Kyle Paoletta at The Nation

In 2023, the "novelty of the crossover began to wear off — and with it, the profitability of Marvel Studios," says Kyle Paoletta. People "treating Marvel's dominance as 'inevitable'" are ignoring a "truism of Hollywood: Genre films work until they don't." Marvel President Kevin Feige "drained every bit of fun from the MCU," and Marvel took "what was once a collection of standout genre films and drowned them in a faddish flood that is only now beginning to recede."

Read more

'Donald Trump is unfit to lead'

The New York Times editorial board

The GOP "now serves the interests of one man, a man as demonstrably unsuited for the office of president as any to run in the long history of the Republic," says The New York Times editorial board. Donald Trump "has shown a character unworthy of the responsibilities of the presidency" while demonstrating "an utter lack of respect for the Constitution, the rule of law and the American people." Voters must "see the dangers of a second Trump term clearly."

Read more

'US has a history of reparations. Why won't it pay Black Americans?'

Linda J. Bilmes and Cornell William Brooks at The Boston Globe

The Civil Rights Act "formally banned discrimination in the present," but didn't "undo the legacy of slavery that continues today, particularly as measured by the racial wealth gap," say Linda J. Bilmes and Cornell William Brooks. A precedent exists that is "relevant for assessing racial harms to Black descendants of land theft, victims of racial violence, and Black veterans denied housing," and there are "many well-administered programs that can be a model for potential reparations programs."

Read more

'It is time to shut Ukraine's door to NATO'

Doug Bandow at The American Conservative

The United States "should just say no to Ukraine in NATO," says Doug Bandow. NATO's purpose is to "protect members and advance their interests," which "originally meant defending against the Soviet Union." But with the "collapse of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, the transatlantic alliance completed its mission," and Ukraine "should be excluded because it is not in America's or Europe's security interest to go to war with nuclear-armed Russia over Ukraine."

Read more