PS Picks: Leslie Jamison's Memoir of Addiction
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
Ted Scheinman
Senior Editor Ted Scheinman previously served as a teaching fellow and instructor in journalism at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Before that, he was an editor at the Washington City Paper. His reporting on prisons, politics, and pop culture has appeared in the New York Times, the Oxford American, Playboy, and Slate. He is also a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books. His first book, Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan, appears via Farrar, Straus & Giroux on March 6th, 2018.
Dispatches: The Secret to Enjoying the AWP Writing Conference
News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.
PS Picks: Conquering Cynicism in a Secular World With Marilynne Robinson
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
PS Picks: Molly Osberg's Grim Picture of Life in America Without Health Insurance
PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.
Letter From the Editor: Seeing the Invisible
Introducing Pacific Standard's November 2017 issue.
'Pacific Standard' Reports From Fiji for COP23
While diplomats travel to Germany, we're sending our reporter to the front lines.
Brutal Ironies in the Flap Over Trump and 'Julius Caesar'
Shakespeare used to be considered a defense against totalitarianism. How we flattered ourselves.
Semantic Tomfoolery at Comey's Senate Hearing
Faced with damning testimony against their president, GOP senators resorted to hair-splitting.
Six Points on Trump's Withdrawal From the Paris Agreement
Welcome to an increasingly isolated America.
‘You Have Decided to Jump Into the Fire’: COP22 Reels After U.S. Election
Climate observers in Marrakech had a bad night and a worse morning.
COP22 Day One: A News Digest, in Quotes
As the Moroccan presidency opens this year’s climate talks, leaders urge prompt action while civil society expresses concern about financial mechanisms, and at least one reporter wonders, “why are we here?”
How Will COP22 in Marrakech Be Different From Paris?
At a press conference on the eve of COP22, the two leaders of this year’s talks stressed inclusivity and, yes, “action.”
In Defense of E-Cigarettes
They’re already stigmatized out of all proportion to their health effects — and yes, they can help you quit smoking.
Domestic Overlords
The 250-year precedent for deploying the United States military to police the nation's citizenry.
A Bold Plan to Realize the Paris Agreement
The International Renewable Energy Agency's sixth annual meeting this weekend in Abu Dhabi laid out an ambitious path for doubling renewables as a way to meet mitigation goals—and to create millions of new jobs.
'Cowboys Don't Have Mommies'
An interview with my mother about the meanest thing I've ever said to her.
The COP21 Deal Will Go Through Tomorrow
Yesterday, the ministers pulled an all-nighter with Laurent Fabius to produce the penultimate draft of a climate agreement. Resigned to a toothless deal, activists plan their next steps.
Combating Misperceptions About Climate Refugees
They number over 100 million. There's a new one every second. And—despite whatever you've heard—almost none of them are relocating to the West.
At COP21, a Victory for 1.5 Degrees?
Major powers make a major concession on their stated climate targets. Given the money and the science, that concession remains largely rhetorical.
The First Week at COP21: Competing Realities in Paris
The climate summit emerges from a rocky week with a new text. Negotiations have been transparent and equitable—or maybe opaque and grossly unbalanced. Welcome to the COP-Spin Zone.
At COP21, a Frantic Debate Over Climate Aid
Last night's negotiations saw a lot of walkouts, with finance as the wedge. Climate insurance could be a major boon for the global south—and an easier pill for the West to swallow.
Climate Change and the Most Dangerous Places in the World
The 2016 Global Climate Risk Index, released today at COP21, quantifies the toll of climate change in countries most vulnerable. Delegations from richer nations should start paying attention.
Disaster and Migration in the South Pacific: A Failure of International Law
A new United Nations survey of South Pacific island nations highlights the necessity of easing mobility for climate refugees—and the importance of calling them refugees in the first place.
Protecting Island Nations Starts With Protecting the Cryosphere
At COP21, the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative makes a passionate case for immediate action to preserve the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.
The Weekend of Worldwide Climate Marches in 10 Photos
From New York to New Delhi, citizens and activists gathered in astonishing numbers at more than 2,000 events around the globe.
Scenes From a Mainly Peaceful Protest in Paris
When the government said they couldn’t march, activists covered the Place de la République with shoes—and an estimated 10,000 people gathered to form a human chain.
What Is Happening in Paris, and What Do All These Acronyms Mean?
At COP21, the UNFCCC will take the findings of the IPCC, assess the INDCs of 195 signatory countries, and help LDCs limit their GHGs. Here is what all of that means.
Climate Investing Totaled $391 Billion in 2014—But Is That Enough?
The Climate Policy Initiative’s new 2015 report offers a bit of hope, plus some helpful directives for future green investment.
The Catastrophic Consequences of Climate Change
A year-long special report that chronicles the cost of global warming in all hemispheres.
Climate Change Could Push 100 Million Back Into Poverty by 2030
The World Bank is out with a grim new report—and an ambitious call-to-action for the developed world.
The Vatican and the GOP: What Republican Casuistry Says About Pope Francis
Compassion has often counted as a "maverick" quality in the Holy See. Now Republicans are calling it political.
Cults and (Sub)cultures
Our week of talking about community, belief, enthusiasm, zeal, terror, and also basset hounds.
Why Do Black Graduates Make Less Money?
Can higher-ed policy help close the racial wealth gap? Not on its current path.
Politics in the Post-Gaffe Era
Inflammatory soundbites have become this cycle’s most precious currency. Is it even possible to commit a gaffe any more?
Why Is the Right Wing So Furious About Obama's Iran Deal?
Republicans wanted a president more like Netanyahu. Now they have one.
What’s the Right Way to Talk About Psychology?
Frontiers in Psychology just published a damning list of terms that researchers abuse. What can journalists learn from it?
The Mythical Virtues of Non-Violent Resistance
Advocating a policy of “obedience” isn’t just insulting to black people—it’s a way to silence discussion about inequality and police murders.
'The Stanford Prison Experiment': A Thriller About Psychological Methodology
Inside the claustrophobic, ethically dubious world of The Stanford Prison Experiment.
Not Just STEM: Why We Need to Fund the Social Sciences
An interview with Sir Cary L. Cooper, the most decorated American psychologist in all of England.
Straight Christians and the New Language of Martyrdom
The Supreme Court’s endorsement of gay marriage has forced homophobia to come out of the closet.
The 'Devious Defecator' and the New Frontiers of Privacy
How a series of misplaced bowel movements helped clarify privacy in the 21st century.