In an attempt to raise the minimum wage, low-wage employees have staged protests in cities across the United States.
Tag Archives: Current Events
Anti-violence programs shut down as Chicago shootings climb
Read why CeaseFire, the organization featured in the 2011 documentary The Interrupters, has stopped receiving funding from the Illinois legislature and about the effects that has had.
Saudi Women Still Can’t Drive, But They Are Making It To Work
In this radio piece, Morning Edition’s Deborah Amos profiles a start-up online advertising agency in Saudi Arabia with an all-female staff.
Anne Frank’s diary is now free to download despite copyright dispute
On January 1, 70 years after her death, Anne Frank’s diary (in the Dutch language) was available free to download, read, and distribute.
Dred Scott decision
Read about the 1857 Supreme Court case of Dred Scott v. Sandford and why people cite it today.
Conflict resolution: Wars without end
Learn how researchers are using data and systems analysis to attempt to resolve intractable conflicts.
A Deep-Rooted History of Activism Stirs in College Football
Threatening to boycott games has been a historic method for athletes to attempt to influence change. Listen to this radio piece to learn more.
Immigration Fears Not New in US History: Photos
This slideshow presents a timeline of Americans’ reservations about immigrants.
Making the risky crossing
Wave after wave of refugees risk drowning to cross the narrow but unpredictable channel between Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos.
Jews Are Fleeing Russia Because of Putin
Immigrants from Russia make up a surprisingly large percentage of the Israeli population. Find out why this is so, now more than ever.
Trash-mapping expedition sheds light on “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”
A garbage dump twice the size of Texas? In the Pacific Ocean? Find out what scientists and volunteers have discovered and what they are saying about this human-caused disaster.
El Niño
Learn about the periodic weather system known as El Niño and how it affects weather on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
8-year-old empties piggy bank, campaigns to save Syrian refugees
As the circumstances of those fleeing Syria’s long civil war grow more dire, it sometimes seems like too daunting a problem for one person to help solve from half a world away. A Washington elementary student thinks otherwise, though.
Moving Innovation in Education Forward
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan presents an initiative to foster innovation in the educational system.
This year marks a new language shift in how English speakers use pronouns
The use of “they” as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun has been growing recently. But the 2015 Word of the Year has a surprisingly long history.
A Civil War journal, up close and personal
An American literature class at California University of Pennsylvania recently undertook the digital transcription of a journal written by a Civil War soldier. The task required them to decipher a text that was not only faded, but written in a style of English different from what we speak today.
Modern day Canterbury Tales refreshes Chaucer to tell the lost stories of refugees
In June 2015, a group of academics set out to re-create The Canterbury Tales by walking 80 miles across the North Downs in England and telling the stories of refugees along the way. Their goal was to give a voice to those who are often unheard.
Order vs. Disorder
The world may seem chaotic today, in part due to the failure of the Arab Spring to live up to its great promise. Pulitzer-winning writer Thomas Friedman notes that one cause of this disorder may be inequality of freedom: Many of those who have won freedom from oppression have yet to gain freedom to conduct their lives as they wish.
Why it’s time for South Africa to take down its walls
In recent decades, South Africans who can afford it have erected ever more daunting walls around their homes to keep out crime. One South African writer argues that only removing or lowering the walls will improve the situation.
Mountains and planning lessened punch by Hurricane Patricia
Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere, did remarkably little damage to the Mexican coast where it made landfall. Find out what natural forces caused it to form and to dissipate so rapidly.