On December 17, 2022, Julia (pseudonym) received an admission offer from Stanford University with full financial aid. “I was overwhelmed with joy,” she told me. “My parents don’t have to pay for my education!” Julia lives in Syria, a ...
Names are more than just labels—they are steeped in histories and tangled in identities. When a name changes, where does its history go? Does it disappear in the shadow of its past, buried in the grave of its former identity? Or does it stay, trail...
A few months ago, Asaad al-Shaibani was a jihadist. Now, he is Syria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and a fierce champion of the free market. “We need the help of the international community to support us in this new experiment,” al-Shaibani tol...
Since tuna fish became a staple food for the Baby Boomer Generation, the tuna fish industry has enjoyed an outsized role in the American diet. The United States consumes 29 percent of all canned tuna produced worldwide, and until recently, tuna was t...
Since tuna fish became a staple food for the Baby Boomer Generation, the tuna fish industry has enjoyed an outsized role in the American diet. The United States consumes 29 percent of all canned tuna produced worldwide, and until recently, tuna was t...
Statistically speaking, the US government understands poverty about as well as Marie Antoinette did. For the last 60 years, the United States’ poverty threshold has determined low-income Americans’ eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps, and a lit...
Statistically speaking, the US government understands poverty about as well as Marie Antoinette did. For the last 60 years, the United States’ poverty threshold has determined low-income Americans’ eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps, and a lit...
The first day of a Trump presidency would include a seemingly mundane priority: asking Congress to change the language contained on an obscure page of the IRS tax code. Focusing on a law passed in 1954 called the Johnson Amendment, Trump has joined a...
The first day of a Trump presidency would include a seemingly mundane priority: asking Congress to change the language contained on an obscure page of the IRS tax code. Focusing on a law passed in 1954 called the Johnson Amendment, Trump has joined a...
Despite winning the last two presidential elections, Democrats are in serious trouble at just about every other level of government. Currently, Republicans control both chambers in 30 state legislatures – the most since the 1920s – while Democrat...
Despite winning the last two presidential elections, Democrats are in serious trouble at just about every other level of government. Currently, Republicans control both chambers in 30 state legislatures – the most since the 1920s – while Democrat...
At age 23, Nathan Law Kwun-chung, a leader of the student protest movement in Hong Kong against perceived mainland Chinese overreach, became the youngest person ever to win a seat in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. But Hong Kong’s legislative el...
At age 23, Nathan Law Kwun-chung, a leader of the student protest movement in Hong Kong against perceived mainland Chinese overreach, became the youngest person ever to win a seat in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. But Hong Kong’s legislative el...
This August, India’s legislature drafted a law aimed at shutting the door on a marketplace that lies on both the cutting-edge of science and the rogue fringes of politics: commercial surrogacy. The nation’s legislature unveiled plans to limit sur...
This August, India’s legislature drafted a law aimed at shutting the door on a marketplace that lies on both the cutting-edge of science and the rogue fringes of politics: commercial surrogacy. The nation’s legislature unveiled plans to limit sur...
In 2009, 18-year-old Caster Semenya won gold in the 800m women’s race at the World Championships in Athletics; she later won silver at the London Olympics in 2012 and gold in Rio. But despite her impressive athletic accomplishments, Semenya’s mas...
In 2009, 18-year-old Caster Semenya won gold in the 800m women’s race at the World Championships in Athletics; she later won silver at the London Olympics in 2012 and gold in Rio. But despite her impressive athletic accomplishments, Semenya’s mas...
Rwanda has earned itself a special nickname: “the Switzerland of Africa.” Just like in Switzerland, everything seems to run abnormally well in this small, landlocked country in central-east Africa. Since the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has devel...
Rwanda has earned itself a special nickname: “the Switzerland of Africa.” Just like in Switzerland, everything seems to run abnormally well in this small, landlocked country in central-east Africa. Since the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has devel...
This July, a sea of red flags emboldened with crescent moons swept over a reeling nation. Just two weeks after Turkey’s failed coup d’état – during which military leaders sent fighter jets flying over Ankara, leaving almost 300 people dead –...
This July, a sea of red flags emboldened with crescent moons swept over a reeling nation. Just two weeks after Turkey’s failed coup d’état – during which military leaders sent fighter jets flying over Ankara, leaving almost 300 people dead –...
Beauty is ageless. Fertility is not.” “Don’t let your sperm go up in smoke.” These were just two of the dozen social media-ready taglines for Italy’s first Fertility Day on September 22, an initiative launched by Health Minister Beatrice Lo...
Beauty is ageless. Fertility is not.” “Don’t let your sperm go up in smoke.” These were just two of the dozen social media-ready taglines for Italy’s first Fertility Day on September 22, an initiative launched by Health Minister Beatrice Lo...
In a country accustomed to tumult, a single dam is causing ripples of turbulence. Over 60 years in the making, Turkey’s Ilisu Dam’s construction began when President Kemal Ataturk’s administration pushed the state to expand domestic hydroelectr...
In a country accustomed to tumult, a single dam is causing ripples of turbulence. Over 60 years in the making, Turkey’s Ilisu Dam’s construction began when President Kemal Ataturk’s administration pushed the state to expand domestic hydroelectr...
In 2015, the UN High Commission on Refugees interviewed over 400 children who had been taken into custody by the US federal government for illegally crossing the border while unaccompanied by adults. Their stories were heart-wrenching. Maritza, a 15-...
In 2015, the UN High Commission on Refugees interviewed over 400 children who had been taken into custody by the US federal government for illegally crossing the border while unaccompanied by adults. Their stories were heart-wrenching. Maritza, a 15-...