MOST RECENT ARTICLES BY:

Zak Cheney-Rice

Features Writer, New York Magazine

Zak Cheney-Rice is a features writer for New York, where he has covered race, politics, culture, and law enforcement, particularly in the South, since 2018.

  1. the system
    The Normalization of Trump’s Alleged CrimesHis legal strategy is both buying him time and erasing the accusations against him.
  2. encounter
    Israel-Palestine Scholar Norman Finkelstein’s Long CrusadeA cantankerous Israel critic takes a rare turn in the limelight.
  3. vision 2024
    The Radical Pessimism of Cornel WestCondemned by Establishment Democrats, dismissed by academics. What else is there to do but run for president?
  4. israel-hamas war
    What the Black Struggle Tells Us About the Israel-Hamas WarThe Black legacy of channeling our grief toward a more just world is often missing from the American discourse.
  5. encounter
    Werner Herzog Turns the Lens on HimselfThe filmmaker famous for bending the truth tries his hand at memoir.
  6. trump georgia indictment
    The Mug Shot, the Tweet, and Trump’s Return to Prime TimeAt the Fulton County Jail, the opening bell for the 2024 presidential race was rung.
  7. trump indictment
    The Looming Hidden Cost of Georgia’s Trump IndictmentWhat Fani Willis’s love of RICO prosecutions could mean for the justice system.
  8. the system
    Richard Hanania’s Chilling NormalityThe revealing case of the anti-woke crusader.
  9. early and often
    What the Most Diverse GOP Primary Ever Says About the GOPDespite some new faces, not a lot has changed.
  10. the system
    When the Crime Wave RecedesThe only certainty of America’s urban politics is that there will be more cops.
  11. affirmative action
    Affirmative Action Never Had a ChanceThe conservative backlash to the civil-rights era began immediately — and now it’s nearly complete.
  12. a long talk
    A Shonda StoryRhimes made Bridgerton a TV phenomenon but hadn’t written its world. Queen Charlotte is all hers.
  13. encounter
    The New Faces of Black Power PoliticsJustin Jones and Justin Pearson demonstrate how to fight back in red-state America.
  14. early and often
    The Tennessee GOP’s Ruthless PrioritiesFor Republicans, protests are more outrageous than school killings.
  15. the system
    How Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ Trumped JusticeThree years after the George Floyd protests, environmental activists are being charged as terrorists.
  16. the system
    Why Young Thug?How prosecutors made one of the hottest rap stars the face of urban crime.
  17. the system
    The Government’s Telling Response to Tyre Nichols’s DeathThe reforms being considered would probably not have prevented his killing. But officials have gotten better at preempting outrage.
  18. the system
    Tyre Nichols and the End of Police ReformHis death is evidence that cosmetic change can’t excise the rot of American law enforcement.
  19. the system
    The Uprising That Ran OutThe death of Keenan Anderson marks the end of an era.
  20. the system
    A Cosmologist’s Case for Staying Put on EarthThe many heterodoxies of Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.
  21. the system
    The Very Revealing 15 Minutes of Byron DonaldsIn a Republican soap opera, there’s always room for a Black conservative.
  22. games
    Are We Willing to Prevent Another Damar Hamlin?The dangers of football are obvious. But Americans can’t stop watching.
  23. the system
    Brittney Griner’s Hollow HomecomingIt’s a relief she’s back. Now free the others.
  24. early and often
    Raphael Warnock Is the Exception in Georgia, Not the RuleThe pastor turned politician defied the odds again, but Georgia is still barely a purple state.
  25. the system
    Herschel Walker Is the Last Republican StandingHis runoff campaign goes all in on Trumpism.
  26. the system
    Speaker of the EstablishmentHakeem Jeffries is poised to become House Democrats’ next leader, but that’s not necessarily a sign of progress.
  27. early and often
    The GOP Won’t Moderate. Just Look at Georgia.Raphael Warnock may pull off a victory, but Republicans are doubling down on extremism.
  28. the system
    The Rebirth of Kanye WestMeet the new face of Black conservatism.
  29. the system
    The Future of Black Politics Is at Stake in GeorgiaThe legacy of the civil-rights movement may hinge on Raphael Warnock’s reelection campaign.
  30. fall preview
    Danielle Deadwyler Put Her Whole Body in ItPlaying Mamie Till-Mobley took over her life. But the actress never does anything halfway.
  31. the sports section
    Is New York Still the Center of the Basketball Universe?A new documentary, ‘NYC Point Gods,’ suggests it’s not.
  32. the system
    How Democrats Bolstered the Post-Roe Enforcement RegimeWhen funding the police backfires.
  33. in conversation
    Larry Wilmore Knows No BoundsHe’s kept the golden age of Black TV comedy alive for three decades. He’ll make any network eat its words.
  34. games
    Can Men Be Friends?What fantasy sports reveal about the limits of male intimacy.
  35. the system
    America’s Impenetrable Fog of InnocenceWhy it’s so hard for so many to see the causes of the Buffalo mass shooting clearly.
  36. encounter
    What’s Wrong With Identity Politics?Philosopher Olúfemi O. Táíwò’s new book reclaims the concept from elite power brokers.
  37. the system
    Protests Are Wrong Until They’re RightAnimal-rights activists have been ridiculed for interrupting the NBA playoffs. They’re in good company.
  38. the system
    Why Is the Firing Squad Making a Comeback?South Carolina’s push to bring back an archaic execution method says a lot about the state of capital punishment today.
  39. the sports section
    Everybody Hates the LakersHow the NBA’s most storied franchise fell from myth to reality.
  40. the system
    Can Republicans Commit Voter Fraud?The revealing case of Mark Meadows.
  41. sports
    Brian Flores and the Paradox of the Black NFL CoachEven if Flores’s discrimination suit were to succeed, what would he gain?
  42. black lives matter
    Black Athletes and the Value of a BodyWhy the world of professional sports embraced Black Lives Matter.
  43. kyrie irving
    Kyrie’s BackIt was only a matter of time.
  44. politics
    Why Did Keisha Lance Bottoms Quit?The mayor of Atlanta was a rising star in Democratic politics. Then the crime wave hit.
  45. criminal justice reform
    Biden’s Low Marks on Crime Are Killing ReformThe prospect of meaningful change has never looked bleaker.
  46. criminal justice
    This Wasn’t About Jussie SmollettThe actor’s trial was a proxy for a very different fight.
  47. 2022 elections
    How Trump-y Can the 2022 Georgia Governor’s Race Get?Probably very.
  48. ahmaud arbery
    The Legal Uses of BlacknessWhy attorneys in the Ahmaud Arbery case did — and didn’t— invoke his race.
  49. george floyd
    Minneapolis Kept Its Police Department. But We’ll Be Here Again.The defeat of Ballot Question 2 wasn’t as decisive as it looked.
  50. critical race theory
    ‘Critical Race Theory’ Has Been a Winner for DecadesGlenn Youngkin’s victory is just the latest iteration of an age-old campaign tactic.
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