We live in a partisan age, and our news habits can reinforce our own perspectives. Consider this an effort to broaden our collective outlook with essays beyond the range of our typical selections.

FROM THE LEFT

From “The New York Trump Case Is Kind of Perfect,” by George T. Conway III in The Atlantic at tinyurl.com/54u629je.

The context, from the author: I thought this trial was a sideshow; I now think I was wrong.

The excerpt: I feel the need to admit error. The truth is, I’ve come around to the view that People v. Trump is, in at least some ways, the perfect case to put Trump in the dock for the first time, and — I hope, but we’ll see — perhaps prison. Because this case really captures Donald Trump. The legal commentariat have been engaged in an odd debate about what to call it. “The Stormy Daniels case.” “The hush-money case.” “The porn-star-hush-money case.” (Personally, that’s always been my favorite, and I think it sounds even better in German — Pornostarschweigegeldrechtsfall.) The more legally precise would like it to be known as “the New York business-records-falsification case,” because that’s what the New York penal code says it is. Some high-minded people I know prefer “the New York election-interference prosecution,” because it involves the concealment of a matter that might well have affected the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. All these locutions work, but what the case is really about is Trump’s modus operandi — lying.

From “The Radical Case for Free Speech,” by Jay Caspian Kang in The New Yorker at tinyurl.com/2t8dr2u2.

The context, from the author: We need to build a broad moral consensus around the universal right to dissent, rooted in widely held beliefs about American liberty.

The excerpt: Dissent involves genuine confrontation, which is why, although social-media posts may spread quickly and even get people into the streets, they should be seen for what they are: a precursor to the real thing. Social media has undeniably become the public square, but those platforms have actually served to dull dissent and turn legitimate protest into an individualistic meme war in which people pick a side and add to a junk pile of online ephemera. Speech is an act that occupies physical spaces, and, in doing so, forces people to look up from their phones and respond rather than simply scroll past it.

From “First Water, Then Wine,” by David Broder in Jacobin at tinyurl.com/y5kvkhs7.

The context, from the author: Spiritual needs are more likely to be satiated if the basics — food, clothing, shelter, and employment — are met first.

The excerpt: Today the accusation of presentism — an unreflective obsession with modern-day assumptions — has migrated from a tool of analysis used by literary scholars and historians to a talking point ubiquitous in right-wing memes. It contrasts the valuelessness of the present with the true faith and sure bearings of the idealized past. Yet rising religious movements are also constantly refashioning their own identities, adapting their divinely inspired values to the more worldly demands of the present. Partly because religions themselves are businesses, but also because of the rise of individualist mores, the decline of the doctrine of renunciation, and upheavals in positions of status and class that were almost unknown to the premodern world. In the class struggle — and not only on the proletarian side — the striving for crude and material things is always producing new versions of what is considered “refined and spiritual.”

FROM THE RIGHT

From “Joe Biden Doesn’t Act Old Enough,” by Peter Tonguette in The American Conservative at tinyurl.com/ycxhra7f.

The context, from the author: What if (President Joe) Biden’s problem ... is not that he acts too old, but that he doesn’t act old enough? He may look and sound like a senior citizen, but in his acquiescence to the pieties of the present-day far-left iteration of the Democratic Party, he is hopelessly in tune with his times.

The excerpt: If Biden were an authentic old man, he would unequivocally, unambiguously, and unflinchingly tell the current batch of anti-Israel campus crazies to scram — to get out of his party and off his lawn. Of course, Biden’s lifelong commitment to liberal nonsense would still make him an unacceptable choice to any serious, self-respecting conservative, but if he was as crusty, curmudgeonly, and contrarian as is sometimes alleged, he might, at least, serve as a bulwark against the worst and wokest views of those around him.

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From “Understanding the ‘New China Shock,’” by Heartland Institute policy adviser Barry Poulson in RedState at tinyurl.com/2cda5me4.

The context, from the author: The United States and other industrialized countries should view the new industrial policies pursued in China as an opportunity as well as a challenge. This is a unique opportunity to work with Chinese leaders to integrate their economy more fully into the global system of trade and investment. This effort could initially focus on a few industries, such as EVs, where there is already cooperation, and then expand to a broader range of industries.

The excerpt: It is conceivable that protectionist measures pursued by the United States and other industrial countries toward China and its allies could lead to a collapse in international trade and investment comparable to that during the Great Depression. Even worse, geo-economic fragmentation could end in military conflicts, just as it did during the 1930s.

From “Trump’s Biggest Blessing: Democrats Only Listen to Themselves,” by Jim Geraghty in The National Review at tinyurl.com/2p8v5p85.

The context, from the author: Perhaps the single biggest advantage that Donald Trump and the Republican Party enjoy in 2024 is that many in the Democratic Party’s leadership cannot distinguish between their personal top priorities and the top priorities of the electorate.

The excerpt: You do have to hand it to those protesting college kids; they’ve hoodwinked President Biden, his campaign team, the White House staff, and apparently large chunks of the media into believing that they represent a teeming mass of America’s young people. The television cameras capture the students cosplaying Intifada on the quad; they don’t capture all the kids studying for their exams in their dorms. Biden is alienating the majority to win back votes among a small minority that has chosen to nickname him “Genocide Joe.”