Julia Wong

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Julia Wong

The Oval Office meeting of Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele on Monday was a grotesque spectacle. Both men, elected to lead nominally democratic countries, have described themselves as dictators, and they exuded that sense of smug impunity.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Julia Wong

The rightwing movement against empathy seeks to discredit one of the essential tools for any society – our capacity to recognize and respond to suffering. Composite: The Guardian/Getty ImagesJust over an hour into Elon Musk’s last appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the billionaire brought up the latest existential threat to trouble him. “We’ve got civilizational suicidal empathy going on,” Musk said. “And it’s like, I believe in empathy.

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Julia Wong

Is Donald Trump a feminist? There was a time when anyone asking such a question could reasonably expect to be laughed out of the room. Yet, just three weeks into Trump’s second term, the man responsible for stripping women in the US of the right to an abortion was declared a “feminist kween”, “feminist hero” and “feminist icon” by several prominent feminist writers in the UK. The occasion for these declarations was Trump’s all-out assault on trans rights.

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Julia Wong

At the dawn of the second Trump presidency, defiance has given way to compliance. While Donald Trump has rapidly and ruthlessly thrown the federal government into unprecedented chaos, the leaders of the Democratic party have offered up little more than limp banalities and platitudes. “Presidents come and presidents go. Through it all. God is still on the throne,” tweeted the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, at the end of Trump’s first week in office.

Jan 17, 2025 | theguardian.com | Julia Wong

It was a perfectly ordinary celebrity Instagram post for the first week of 2025, which is to say, it was nightmarish, but in a way that we’ve grown accustomed to. The actor and musician Mandy Moore was one of many entertainers to lose her home to wildfire in Altadena, California, last week. In her post upon returning to the neighborhood, photos bearing the jaundiced cast of wildfire smoke reveal rubble, charred trees, and an exterior staircase on the verge of collapse.