Crikey long reads

Bernard Keane, politics editor

“The captive aliens who remain our shame” by Annette Gordon-Reed in The New York Review of Books

“It is a commonplace that being an American is a matter neither of blood nor of cultural connections forged over time. It is, instead, a commitment to a set of ideals famously laid down by the country’s founders, and refined over generations with a notion of progress as a guiding principle. The Declaration of Independence, with Thomas Jefferson’s soaring language about the equality of mankind and the right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ is the most powerful statement of those ideals. It is sometimes called America’s ‘creed.'”

Cass Knowlton, editor

“The simple psychological trick to political persuasion” by Olga Khazan in The Atlantic

“Ever since Donald Trump handed down his executive order temporarily halting all immigration from seven majority-Muslim nations for three months and barring refugees from Syria indefinitely, the social-media outpouring from liberals has focused, understandably, on how unfair the policy is to Muslims.”

Josh Taylor, journalist

“Faith in politics: Australia’s first Muslim MP” by Jana Wendt (photos by Tim Bauer) on sbs.com.au

“‘Would you like to say a few words?’ someone asks the politician. Ed Husic, federal Labor MP, is visiting St Francis of Assisi Catholic school in Glendenning, a suburb that forms part of his vast Western Sydney electorate of Chifley. The modest chapel, which doubles as a general-purpose hall, is full of attentive and excited children. The school’s 25th birthday celebration promises a video, speeches, and a jumbo-sized cake.”

Sally Whyte, deputy editor

“Why the AFLW league is so important” by Chyloe Kurdas in ESPN

“The Royal British Columbia Museum on Vancouver Island is more than 13000kms away from Melbourne’s Ikon Park, but as countdown clock ticks closer to the first game of the inaugural AFLW league, some of the exhibits reveal lessons that resonate for all supporters of women’s football.”

Charlie Lewis, journalist

“Inside the trial of Dylann Roof” by Jelani Cobb in The New Yorker

“Early on the morning of December 7th, a dozen officers from the Department of Homeland Security were stationed outside the federal courthouse at 85 Broad Street, in Charleston, South Carolina. It was warm out, and the officers looked both relaxed and alert, talking among themselves as they kept watch. The federal building is a bunker, all right angles and gray concrete, completed in 1987. Across the street stands the county courthouse, designed by James Hoban, the architect of the White House, and diagonally opposite is the city hall, built in 1801.”