The Opinions Essay
Latest Essays
(Sébastien Thibault/For The Washington Post)
The Rule of Six: A newly radicalized Supreme Court is poised to reshape the nation
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. holds the reins but is no longer firmly in control of his horses. Some of his most conservative justices are champing at the bit.
Have Democrats reached the limits of White appeasement politics?
For half a century, as the Republican Party has stoked White grievance, the Democrats’ answer has been hiding in plain sight. It’s time we took a closer look at it.
Our constitutional crisis is already here
Trump’s charges of fraud in 2020 are not about looking back, as many Republicans insist. They are about establishing the predicate to challenge future election results more effectively.
The pursuit of happiness is happiness
Veteran columnist George F. Will retraces his steps through the past 50 years.
More Opinions Features
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The pop culture that influenced our columnists this year
We asked our columnists to share a piece of culture that had a big impact on them this year. Here’s what they recommended.
The birth of the benevolent turkey — a new Thanksgiving tradition
What if a turkey could forgive our country for what it does to us sometimes?
Ken Burns: Being American means reckoning with our violent history
For many, to be patriotic is to remember and celebrate only our nation’s triumphs. To choose otherwise, to choose to remember our failings, is anti-American. But it is not so simple.
30 seconds with this calculator could save you hours (or years) in traffic
This calculator will help you measure the great commuting time suck and how it translates into what you’re missing in life.
More countries are taking Americans hostage. The U.S. is losing its ability to stop it.
Foreign governments now surpass terrorist and militant groups as the predominant hostage-takers of U.S. nationals around the globe. The shift reflects a weakened regard for the United States and the international system it operates in.
Schools are banning my book. But queer kids need queer stories.
Removing or restricting queer books in libraries and schools is like cutting a lifeline for queer youth.
Will you fall into the conspiracy theory rabbit hole? Take our quiz and find out.
Who believes in conspiracy theories? Statistically speaking: almost everyone.
Journalists bungled coverage of the Attica uprising. 50 years later, the consequences remain.
On Sept. 13, 1971, authorities killed 39 men at Attica Correctional Facility, following a takeover by inmates who were protesting poor treatment. On Sept. 14, newspapers across the country repeated the lies from officialdom about the carnage.
From the Archives
How our democracy has made dependency a right
Progressives want to dilute the concept of individualism, but that’s antithetical to America’s premise.
Want to build a far-right movement? Spain’s Vox party shows how.
Vox blazed across the Internet, dividing its country. Now it’s in parliament.
The strongmen strike back
Authoritarianism has reemerged as the greatest threat to the liberal democratic world — a profound ideological, as well as strategic, challenge. And we have no idea how to confront it.
Iran has reinvented the hostage crisis, 40 years later
Taking hostages has become a tool of diplomacy.
Jamal Khashoggi: A missing voice, a growing chorus
The quests that animated the Saudi journalist’s life cannot be so easily defeated.
China tried to erase the memory of Tiananmen Square. But its legacy lives on.
Three decades after the crackdown, Beijing is still terrified of the movement and what it stood for.
As brands keep wading in, it’s time to ask: Is Pride for sale?
Pride celebrations and the corporations that sponsor them are deeply intertwined, with far-reaching consequences.
Voices of the Movement podcast: Stories from civil rights leaders who changed America
A collection of memories from the past and lessons for the future from the people who lived through the movement, as told through a nine-episode podcast series.
‘If you don’t get at that rot, you just get more officers like Josh Hastings’
The shooting of 15-year-old Bobby Moore revealed a horror show of misconduct, cover-up and cascading institutional failure at the Little Rock Police Department.
She reported her rape. Her hometown turned against her. Can justice ever be served?
Twelve years later, past and present residents of Arlington, Tex., are still reckoning with Amber Wyatt’s story.
Trump’s travel ban is tearing couples apart: ‘My entire life has been put on hold’
One is American. The other is Iranian. This short film shows what happens when the U.S. government keeps you from your spouse.
Gun reforms can save lives. Science proves it.
Those who oppose reforms say nothing can be done. That’s demonstrably wrong.
The tweets, statements and speeches that defined Trump’s first year as president
We present the highlights: Year One of the Trump administration, as told by those who are (or were) part of it.
The one best idea for ending sexual harassment
We asked 16 leaders what one change could help stop sexual harassment in their fields.
Ken Burns wants ‘The Vietnam War’ to unite America. Can anyone do that under Trump?
When the filmmaker started his new series, he had no idea it would coincide with the most divisive era since Vietnam.
How police censorship shaped Hollywood
The police story is one of the elemental dramas of American popular culture.
