At the invitation of the newly-formed American Civil Liberties Union in New York, journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair spoke at crowded meetings in Los Angeles. From those gatherings, the first local branch of the national organization was formed.
There are plenty of places around the globe where the private sector isn't burdened by regulation. Like Bangladesh, where under-regulated factory operations yield cheap clothing at the price of human life. Or China, where you can't ever be quite sure what you're eating and whether it will poison you.
Misrepresenting oneself to oneself has to be the lowest form of self-flattery. Not only does it breach the mother of all truism -- "know thyself" (wri...
"I, Governor of California, and How I Ended Poverty,” by Upton Sinclair, is probably the most thrilling piece of campaign literature ever written. I...
With Aug. 15 being the 100th anniversary of Julia Child's birth, I figured a post about food in novels might be appropriate.
Tom Roderick, executive director of the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, asked me to share my thoughts on teaching and crap detection. These are some of the things I learned from forty years as a teacher.
CHICAGO — They call this place the Back of the Yards, a neighborhood in the middle of the city once filled with acres and acres of stockyards. ...
Still, if we forgo natural gas, what are our alternatives? And that was my stance too until I read McKibben's article. Now I'm fiercely on the environmental side. How did he persuade me? His masterful command of language.
This is not a year-end list -- the headline says it all -- herewith, two dozen filmed performances.
The success of every radical movement in American history has occurred when it is co-opted by the forces of reform.
Do you read so much fiction that visiting a city almost always reminds you of certain novels?
We asked you what book you're reading (or dying to read) that is over 15 years old. We received a flood of responses--see #oldbooksilove. On Twitt...
Diners salivate as they await their meal: fresh, high-quality ingredients cooked before their very eyes. A scene out of a hip, organic eatery in Manhattan? Try again.
As Election Day neared, Hollywood's crusade against Upton Sinclair, the Democratic nominee for governor, hit a new low.
The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce today virtually ordered all member businesses to close up shop on Election Day and get out the vote for Merriam against Upton Sinclair in the California gubernatorial race.
An official at one movie studio posted this sign next to a time clock: "If You Expect to Punch This a Week from Now Don't Vote for Sinclair."
So far at this part in the '34 California gubernatorial race, Katharine Hepburn had refused to comment on the district attorney's investigation of political intimidation in Hollywood. But that didn't stop her father from speaking for her.
Sinclair finally wrote an angry letter protesting unprecedented tactics by Irving Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer and others.
There were men in California during the historic 1934 gubernatorial race, it was revealed, who would charge less than two hundred dollars for the pleasure of shooting writer and candidate Upton Sinclair.
William Randolph Hearst was back at San Simeon after an absence of five months and ready at last to select a candidate in the California governor's race. His papers had been crucifying Upton Sinclair for the past month.
As Hollywood moguls deducted one day's pay from paychecks for the GOP candidate, Roosevelt betrayed the Democratic nominee in California governor's race.
Upton Sinclair had been swallowing magic potions since the turn of the century, Henry Mencken declared during the California gubernatorial race of 1934, and now he was at it again.
MGM legend Irving Thalberg produced the first political attack ads for the screen, full of fakery, to destroy the famous Democratic candidate for governor.
The new issue of Time magazine has reached California, and it features Upton Sinclair on the cover. "No politician since Williams Jennings Bryan," the article declares, "has so horrified and outraged the Vested Interests."
Upton Sinclair succeeded where greater writers failed -- he nearly got elected to high office, and, even in losing, had a profound effect on an American president and the future of politics in America.
