Zaid Jilani

1 week ago | theamericansaga.com | Zaid Jilani

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has tapped a man who used controversial and potentially dangerous puberty-delaying treatments on autistic children to help lead a new study on the causes of autism. The move comes at a time when much of the Republican Party has been trying to outlaw the use of puberty blockers and related treatments for children experiencing gender dysphoria. The study was announced by Kennedy during a cabinet meeting last week.

1 week ago | theamericansaga.com | Zaid Jilani

EDITOR’S NOTE: This column includes moderate spoilers for the Netflix crime drama “Adolescence.”The worst, most intense pressure I ever felt — where every day I woke up and felt like I was the defendant in the most high-stakes trial you can image — had nothing to do with my long career as a political journalist. It wasn’t when top aides to the former American president were targeting me personally or when I would be in a combative interview with the Saudi ambassador to the United States.

2 weeks ago | theamericansaga.com | Zaid Jilani

The Trump administration is committed to its trade war on, well, everyone. Even the penguins. In their rush to defend “Liberation Day,” some of the administration’s top officials, including the president himself, have loudly complained about trade deficits they see as the consequence of unfair treatment of American products and firms. The American Saga is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

3 weeks ago | theamericansaga.com | Zaid Jilani

Trump’s Deputy Chief for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller wants us to know that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the administration deporting people from the country, in some cases breaking up families and dropping people into a grimy dungeon in El Salvador, without even giving them a proper trial where they can defend themselves against government charges. “Friendly reminder,” he wrote on X yesterday.

3 weeks ago | theamericansaga.com | Zaid Jilani

I’ve long thought that Korea’s Bong Joon-Ho is one of the best directors in the world, and in 2020 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally agreed with me when it handed Parasite an Oscar for Best Picture. That movie was about how the reality of social class in South Korea drives the rich and poor alike to absurd behavior as part of the rat race.