billy-anania

3626 Articles by:

Billy Anania

Billy Anania is an art critic, editor, and journalist in New York City.

A Tale of Two Londons

For years, London has been a playground for international investors while 2.5 million Londoners – 28% of the population – lived in poverty. As Covid-19 slows the influx of capital, it’s time to imagine a more equal city.

The Novels of Sylvia Townsend Warner

The British novelist’s works, currently being reissued, encompassed witches, communist revolutionaries, and medieval monasteries – but running through them all is her formal invention and socialist politics.

Aleksei Navalny: Man for All Seasons

Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny is lionised by the Western press, but his actual politics are rarely interrogated – allowing him to align with hardline nationalists while appealing to a liberal audience.

How Money Shapes Our Politics

Capitalism’s greatest myth is that it is a democratic system. While the rich dominate our parliament, fund our parties and own our newspapers, real democracy is impossible.

Remembering C. L. R. James

Socialist historian C. L. R. James was born 121 years ago today. His landmark text ‘The Black Jacobins’ remains the authority on Haiti’s slave revolution and one of the greatest radical histories of all time.

Remembering ‘Big’ Jim Larkin

James Larkin, leader of the 1913 Dublin Lockout, died on this day in 1947. An exceptional orator and Ireland’s most influential trade unionist, he came from what Marx once called “the great heart of the proletariat.”

The Mutiny of the Mini-Capitalists

The Reddit-fuelled GameStop short squeeze isn’t a threat to capitalism, because the rich can’t be beaten at their own game – but it does show the power of collective action to expose corrupt systems.

Behind the British Gas Strike

As the British Gas strike returns to the picket, we speak to the workers involved – about the threat to their family lives, bullying ‘fire and rehire’ tactics, and how one company’s celebration of key workers rang hollow.

The Ancient Roots of Trespass

The Tory government’s plan to make trespass a criminal offence is part of a centuries-old tradition: using the law to protect wealthy landowners at the expense of our right to roam.

The Covid Class War

The global pandemic has pushed between 200 and 500 million people into extreme poverty, while the richest have added $3.9 trillion to their fortunes. Covid-19 is not a crisis impacting us all equally – it’s a class war.

The Department for Deloitte

Tory peer James Bethell once helped Deloitte get government contracts as a private lobbyist. Now, as a health minister, he has overseen a test and trace system which employs 1,127 of their consultants.