Every week, WhoWhatWhy’s editor-in-chief provides bracing, fresh thinking with new perspectives on the events that define our times in his Substack, “Going Deep with Russ Baker.” Here are some of our favorites from 2023.
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![Norman Lear, Walt Disney Television, Emmy Party](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Norman_Lear_Walt_Disney_Television_Emmy_Party_3x2.jpg-900x600.jpg)
Norman Lear arrives at the Walt Disney Television Emmy Party on September 22, 2019, in Los Angeles, CA. Photo credit: © imageSPACE via ZUMA Wire
Norman Lear: The Man with the REAL Family Values
What he was like in person. Read more.
![Man reading news,Dead Sea.](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Man_Reading_News_Dead_Sea._3x2-1.jpg-1-900x600.jpg)
Man reading news in the Dead Sea. Photo credit: Pete / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)
How Major News Orgs Help GOP and Trump
Report shows they focus on human drama, while ignoring actual policy implications affecting us all. Read more.
![Katanga, copper mines, Belgian Congo, 1920](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Kisanga_Mines_Katanga_Congo_3x2.jpg-900x600.jpg)
Rwandese workers at the Kisanga copper mine, Katanga, Belgian Congo, late 1920s. Photo credit: Anonymous / Wikimedia
Why Kennedy Was Doomed
Alternative homes for political and news discourse. Read more.
![Donald Trump, Lauren Boebert](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/image1-2-900x600.jpg)
Former President Donald Trump (left) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). Photo credit: Both photos: © Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire
Here’s How Loathsome Characters Like Boebert and Trump Win
As America bleeds out, we split constitutional hairs. Read more.
![tech, social media, Twitter, Elon Musk, journalists, account suspensions](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/image1-34-900x600.jpg)
Elon Musk. Photo credit: Daniel Oberhaus / Wiki (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Elon Musk Is Killing Twitter, So Where Should You Turn Next?
Alternative homes for political and news discourse. Read more.
![Heritage Foundation, report, climate change.](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image1-13-900x600.jpg)
Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from rJoão Cautela / Wikimedia (CC0 1.0) and Project 2025
Diabolical GOP Plan Would Guarantee Global Warming Wins
A plan by the super-rich to grab power would lead to human extinction. Read more.
![Wilderness of Mirrors](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/image2-7-900x600.jpg)
Photo credit: BIGPT / Pixabay
Fog of War: A Whole New Scenario for Nord Stream Bombing?
Very little can be taken at face value — not documents, not claims, not supposedly trustworthy sources. Read more.
If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Were President, How Safe Would We Be?
A dream for some, a nightmare for others. Read more.
![Cracked American Flag](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/russ-1-900x600.jpg)
Photo credit: Illustration by WhoWhatWhy from Grégory ROOSE / Pixabay and US Dept of State / Wikimedia.
Coming to Grips With the Anti-Vaxxer, pro-RFK Jr. Worldview
While looking everywhere for the deep state — you might fall down a sinkhole. Read more.
Western and Russian Imperialism: Our Wrongs Don’t Make Putin Right
The bifurcation of the left reflects a growing lack of common sense and empathy with the actual circumstances faced by ordinary people. Read more.
The Truth on JFK’s Death Lies in the Weeds
The truth may be hiding in plain sight, but proving it can require meticulous parsing of massive amounts of seemingly obscure information. That’s why we need to understand the National Archives. Read more.