Publisher's Note | Harper's Magazine

Shadow of a Doubt

By John R. MacArthur, on May 8, 2020

Will the candidate with the best chance to beat Trump be on the ballot at the polls in November? Good heavens! It seems that there are some doubts.

The Maginot Line

By John R. MacArthur, on April 10, 2020

“People living in Canada or Britain are lucky in that they aren’t stuck in a one-sided political system whose starting point is the celebration of the “entrepreneur” and his victories…

The Sanders Virus

By John R. MacArthur, on March 2, 2020

“What’s almost never discussed by the ‘experts’ on television is the political parties’ real raison d’être and their obsession with maintaining their grip on power and with unabashed cronyism.”

The “Affair”

By John R. MacArthur, on February 15, 2020

“I was immediately struck by the fundamental difference between the ‘seventh art’ and literature.” Read More

On Book Events

By John R. MacArthur, on February 12, 2020

Harper’s Magazine holds live events in New York City that are tied to newly published books. The former location, Book Culture on Columbus, which our publisher co-owned, has closed. However, these…

The Art of Persuasion

By John R. MacArthur, on December 13, 2019

“Making fun of the negative interest rates offered by some European banks, Trump sniggered, ‘Give me some of that…I want some of that money.’ In my corner of the hall,…

A Fatal Rift

By John R. MacArthur, on November 11, 2019

“In her quest for her party’s nomination, has Warren concluded a non-aggression pact with Hillary Clinton?” Read More

The Fourth Estate

By John R. MacArthur, on October 3, 2019

“In my experience, the media’s unquestioning conformity is fostered by the promise of reward—prestige, increased access, career advancement.” Read More

Censorship

By John R. MacArthur, on August 7, 2019

“Nor would I leave to Emmanuel Macron and Mark Zuckerberg, both of them politicians first and foremost, the job of regulating anything that has to do with words or language.”…

American Greatness

By John R. MacArthur, on July 12, 2019

“Without conceding that there’s anything at all logical in Donald Trump’s fatuous rhetoric, we can nevertheless acknowledge that America is in fact sick, that in its inmost depths it is…

My French Side

By John R. MacArthur, on June 10, 2019

“What is it to be French? The question has always struck me as unhealthy and manipulative . . . ” Read More

Suicidal Strategy

By John R. MacArthur, on May 8, 2019

“The Times has used every opportunity to present Sanders as an obstacle to Trump’s eventual overthrow.” Read More

Another Way of Life

By John R. MacArthur, on April 4, 2019

“It appeared that everyone wanted to talk to a journalist from the United States with no visible axe to grind.” Read More

The Living Dead

By John R. MacArthur, on March 8, 2019

“Whatever the current political momentum may be, what’s astonishing is that the oppression of less powerful people addressed not by a writer on the left but by the ‘reactionary’ Michel…

The Wall War

By John R. MacArthur, on February 6, 2019

“I can see nothing but a missed opportunity to inform the broader public about economic realities in our increasingly stratified country.” Read More

The Yellow Fault Line

By John R. MacArthur, on December 20, 2018

The crisis in France is gnawing away at what’s left of the lower classes’ pride and possessions Read More

A New Day?

By John R. MacArthur, on December 10, 2018

“The Democratic Party is best understood as an assemblage of baronies, the three most important of which—California, New York, and Illinois—dole out the most patronage and political favors in return…

All Bets Are Off

By John R. MacArthur, on November 3, 2018

“I recommend neither the assertions of journalists and pollsters nor big headlines about terror attacks, murders, or caravans of desperate people as a basis for predicting the outcome of the…

Trading on Resentment

By John R. MacArthur, on October 9, 2018

“The ‘free trade’ policies championed by US leaders from Reagan to Obama, most definitely including the Clintons, have produced many victims.” Read More

The Illusion Train

By John R. MacArthur, on August 21, 2018

“French ‘solidarity’ was looking decidedly less solid than it had the previous day.” Read More

The Enemy Within

By John R. MacArthur, on July 11, 2018

“Obama [and nostalgia for him] is still running the risk of suffocating reform and encouraging the reelection of Donald Trump.” Read More

Important Details

By John R. MacArthur, on June 8, 2018

"The art of the detail is in decline, because the pitiless World Wide Web rejects in-depth reporting in favor of the tweet." Read More

Why I’ll Miss My Friend Tom Wolfe

By John R. MacArthur, on May 16, 2018

"Wolfe was always the arch opponent of orthodoxy in all its forms." Read More

The Comedy

By John R. MacArthur, on May 14, 2018

"France has lowered herself to the status of a stamp or seal in order to 'reassure' the American Establishment that its loutish leader isn't entirely mad." Read More

Humanitarian Wars

By John R. MacArthur, on April 12, 2018

"I’ve often found myself doing battle with 'humanitarian' propaganda, sometimes promoted by nice, respectable people who strongly support military interventions, justified (in their view) because they would save hundreds of…

Dynasty Politics

By John R. MacArthur, on March 19, 2018

"The Democrats prefer losing with a Clinton to winning with a Sanders." Read More

The Sleep of Men

By John R. MacArthur, on February 13, 2018

"Why not mount a direct attack on economic discrimination and revive the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment?" Read More

McCain’s War

By John R. MacArthur, on December 13, 2017

"Although McCain participated in a morally unpardonable war in which the United Sates killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people, one can’t help sympathizing with him in his reduced state." …

Industrial Tourism

By John R. MacArthur, on November 10, 2017

NAFTA is an investment contract that protects American and Canadian goods and interests against Mexican expropriation, regulation, and pestering by local authorities. Read More

A Sad Heritage

By John R. MacArthur, on October 5, 2017

"It seems that the idea of giving any real help to black people put at a disadvantage by American history takes second place to eradicating that same tarnished history’s embarrassing…

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