Articles

Labor Watch
Corruption in the Labor Movement: Labor Rackets
Corruption by labor union officials, whether in service to themselves, political allies, or organized crime syndicates, has been a fixture of American labor history since the labor movement first began…
by Michael Watson on November 14, 2022

Labor Watch
Corruption in the Labor Movement: A New Cast of Thieves
What is likely the largest federal union corruption investigation since the 1990s centered on a kickback scheme run through a joint union-management training center. Fiat Chrysler executives and agents would…
by Michael Watson on November 14, 2022

Labor Watch
Corruption in the Labor Movement: Philly’s Labor Fixer
Before 2019, John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty Jr., the longtime business manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 98, was one of the most powerful men in Pennsylvania. From…
by Michael Watson on November 14, 2022

Labor Watch
Corruption in the Labor Movement: Indictments
It has been over 30 years since then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani announced a civil Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations lawsuit against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that would lead to…
by Michael Watson on November 14, 2022

Green Watch
The Evangelical Left
CRC’s Hayden Ludwig discussed “creation care” and how it is attempting to insert the ideas of the environmental Left into conservative Christian churches. “Creation care” is the Left’s most recent…
by Hayden Ludwig on November 12, 2022

Organization Trends
What Is the North Fund, Anyway?
In 2019, a new member of Arabella Advisors’ $1.7 billion “dark money” network appeared: the North Fund. Unlike the Arabella network’s other nonprofits, North Fund doesn’t share Arabella’s L Street…
by Hayden Ludwig on November 11, 2022

Podcast
InfluenceWatch Podcast #244: Building a Better Midterm
Hello, I’m Michael Watson and this is the InfluenceWatch Podcast. Like the 2020 elections, which saw then-President Trump’s coalition prove unexpectedly resilient amid a horrible national environment dominated by COVID…
by Michael Watson, Scott Walter on November 11, 2022

Philanthropy
A Conversation with Living Opera Co-Founder Christos A. Makridis (Part 1 of 2)
Christos A. Makridis is co-founder and chief technology officer of Living Opera, which is working to bring the benefits of blockchain technologies to classical music. He wrote last month about Living Opera…
by Michael E. Hartmann on November 10, 2022

Philanthropy
A Conversation with Living Opera Co-Founder Christos A. Makridis (Part 2 of 2)
In the second part, Christos A. Makridis discusses the potential implications of DAOs for philanthropy in contexts beyond the arts—including higher education, among others—and whether they will complement or substitute…
by Michael E. Hartmann on November 10, 2022

Deception & Misdirection
The Trump Projection: Episode 3 of Showtime’s The Lincoln Project
An ill-fated family intervention occurred in episode 3 of Showtime’s The Lincoln Project. Much else that the cameras captured reveals selfish behavior and self-inflicted distractions rivaling and often exceeding the…
by Ken Braun on November 10, 2022