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Elisabeth Zerofsky

Elisabeth Zerofsky writes about politics and society in the U.S. and Europe. Her recent work has focussed on illiberalism in democracies and on geographic inequalities. She has written for The New Yorker, the Times Magazine, the Times Book Review, Harper’s Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. She was a 2017 Livingston Award finalist and was a fellow with the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program.

In a Wisconsin Cookie Poll, Trump Wins by a Landslide

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” says the owner of Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe, which has been selling cookies decorated with the faces of Presidential candidates since 2008.

Will Trump’s “Law and Order” Message Work in Wisconsin?

The suburban counties outside of Milwaukee have been reliable Republican strongholds, but the region’s politics have become more complicated, and less predictable, under Trump.

How Munich Turned Its Coronavirus Outbreak Into a Scientific Study

Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians University devised a system for widespread antibody testing and contact tracing that has helped the city stem the virus’s spread.

How Viktor Orbán Used the Coronavirus to Seize More Power

Last week, the Prime Minister used his parliamentary supermajority to push through a bill extending Hungary’s state of emergency.

The Hard Fight for a Coronavirus Spending Bill in the House

After days of debate over paid sick leave, more funding for unemployment benefits, and free testing, Nancy Pelosi secured a commitment from President Trump that he would tweet his support for the emergency package.

A Terrorist Attack on Yom Kippur in Halle, Germany

How the rising threat of anti-Semitic terrorism struck a small synagogue in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The Causes and Consequences of Berlin’s Rapid Gentrification

The city’s reputation as a place where artists and creative types can afford to live as they please is eroding.

A Scandal in Austria and the Far Right’s Fortunes in Europe

Amid the ouster of a right-wing government in Vienna, liberals and greens showed unexpected strength in elections across the Continent.

Steve Bannon’s Roman Holiday

Bannon’s latest project is the establishment of an academy at a thirteenth-century Carthusian monastery an hour and a half outside of Rome.

The Moral Failings of American Press Coverage of Nazi Germany

A new book examining how acutely the foreign press understood the threat of Nazism in the nineteen-thirties asks how reporters should cover a new political reality in the face of their own uncertainty.

The Deep Pathology at the Heart of a Scandal at Der Spiegel

The magazine’s reputation rests on the strength of its fact-checking department. So how did one of its star reporters get away with fabricating stories?

Viktor Orbán’s Far-Right Vision for Europe

The Prime Minister of Hungary, who thrives on conflict, has consolidated power in his own country. Now he is turning his attention to the E.U.

The Complicated Politics of the Gilets Jaunes Movement

President Macron has presided over an interment of traditional institutions in France, and, in a civic space emptied of opposition, the protesters have anointed themselves.

Is Poland Retreating from Democracy?

A debate about the country’s past has revealed sharply divergent views of its future.

In a Wisconsin Cookie Poll, Trump Wins by a Landslide

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” says the owner of Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe, which has been selling cookies decorated with the faces of Presidential candidates since 2008.

Will Trump’s “Law and Order” Message Work in Wisconsin?

The suburban counties outside of Milwaukee have been reliable Republican strongholds, but the region’s politics have become more complicated, and less predictable, under Trump.

How Munich Turned Its Coronavirus Outbreak Into a Scientific Study

Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians University devised a system for widespread antibody testing and contact tracing that has helped the city stem the virus’s spread.

How Viktor Orbán Used the Coronavirus to Seize More Power

Last week, the Prime Minister used his parliamentary supermajority to push through a bill extending Hungary’s state of emergency.

The Hard Fight for a Coronavirus Spending Bill in the House

After days of debate over paid sick leave, more funding for unemployment benefits, and free testing, Nancy Pelosi secured a commitment from President Trump that he would tweet his support for the emergency package.

A Terrorist Attack on Yom Kippur in Halle, Germany

How the rising threat of anti-Semitic terrorism struck a small synagogue in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

The Causes and Consequences of Berlin’s Rapid Gentrification

The city’s reputation as a place where artists and creative types can afford to live as they please is eroding.

A Scandal in Austria and the Far Right’s Fortunes in Europe

Amid the ouster of a right-wing government in Vienna, liberals and greens showed unexpected strength in elections across the Continent.

Steve Bannon’s Roman Holiday

Bannon’s latest project is the establishment of an academy at a thirteenth-century Carthusian monastery an hour and a half outside of Rome.

The Moral Failings of American Press Coverage of Nazi Germany

A new book examining how acutely the foreign press understood the threat of Nazism in the nineteen-thirties asks how reporters should cover a new political reality in the face of their own uncertainty.

The Deep Pathology at the Heart of a Scandal at Der Spiegel

The magazine’s reputation rests on the strength of its fact-checking department. So how did one of its star reporters get away with fabricating stories?

Viktor Orbán’s Far-Right Vision for Europe

The Prime Minister of Hungary, who thrives on conflict, has consolidated power in his own country. Now he is turning his attention to the E.U.

The Complicated Politics of the Gilets Jaunes Movement

President Macron has presided over an interment of traditional institutions in France, and, in a civic space emptied of opposition, the protesters have anointed themselves.

Is Poland Retreating from Democracy?

A debate about the country’s past has revealed sharply divergent views of its future.