Fintan O’Toole

The Second Coming

Disinhibition will be the order of the day in Donald Trump’s America.

A Richer Sense of Humanity

“History is as potent a presence as myth.”

The Protection Racket

For his supporters, Donald Trump’s misogynist attacks against Kamala Harris turn his own history as a predator into an asset.

What If He Wins? A Conversation About Trump and the Law

Playing for Time

With the boisterous energy of direct speech, the novelist Ferdia Lennon takes on both the playfulness and the harsh realism of Euripides.

Not Aristotle’s Fault

Trump’s Old News

The debate showed that the former president faces a new danger: not that his lies are outlandish but that they are getting stale.

Kamala’s Moment

Kamala Harris’s campaign asks: Who is a normal American now?

Dynamism & Discipline

The excitement that radiated through the Democratic National Convention was the other side of what had until recently been a deep despair.

Savior Complexes

The final weeks of Joe Biden’s campaign were most dismaying for the ways he mirrored Trump.

Savior Complex

Biden’s tragedy is that he has come to feel that he alone can rescue America.

Like ‘Being Friends with a Hurricane’

For the fixers, enablers, and vassals who surround Donald Trump, the rewards of his friendship are not worth the risks.

Making Sense of the Missing 

“Some people were allowed to belong in families and others weren’t.”

No Comfort

As we encounter Shakespeare’s tragedies it becomes terrifyingly clear that we are not in a moral universe of comeuppances and rewarded virtues.

The Whistleblower We Deserve

The ambiguous hero of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People is a man of science who insists on the primacy of truth and evidence. But he’s also, possibly, a bit of a fascist.

Laugh Riot

To understand Trump’s continuing hold over his fans, we have to ask: Why do they find him so funny?

The Memory Hole

By drawing broad conclusions about Joe Biden’s mental capacities, Robert Hur’s special counsel report went far beyond its remit—but it still leaves Democrats with a political dilemma.

Eldest Statesmen

As we enter an election year, can the Democrats prevent age from becoming a serious obstacle?

Biden’s Selective Outrage

The rhetorical choice to pair Israel and Ukraine has not created a common moral cause. It has exposed a double standard.

No Endgame in Gaza

After weeks of bombardment and thousands of deaths, what are Netanyahu’s political and ethical limits?