By Devon Akmon, Director of the MSU Museum and CoLab Studio, Michigan State University
Across the United States, political polarization has deepened to historic levels. In a report published in May 2025, the Pew Research Center found that Americans are more divided and less trusting of one another than at any point in recent decades. Yet museums remain among the few places where curiosity still draws people across political and cultural lines.
Ninety-two percent of adults view museums as nonpartisan sources of education, according to a report…
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By James Salzman, Professor of Environmental Law, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara; University of California, Los Angeles
Growing up in the 1970s, I took for granted the trash piles along the highway, tires washed up on beaches, and smog fouling city air. The famed “Crying Indian” commercial of 1971 became a symbol of widespread environmental damage across the United States.
That’s why the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, energized the nation. In the largest single-day public demonstration…
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By Yifang Zhu, Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
When cities burn, plastics, electronics, cleaning chemicals and much more create a toxic brew. Studies underway after the LA fires show exposure is often strongest inside homes.
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By Brandon Rottinghaus, Professor of Political Science, University of Houston
Scandals don’t have the resonance they used to. Both parties could do more to police offenders within their own ranks.
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By Simangele Mayisela, Senior Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand
Corporal punishment – usually referring to adults hitting children – was abolished in South Africa in 1997. The Constitutional Court had already ruled it incompatible with the bill of rights in 1995. In that judgement, the chief justice said that in his view, “juvenile whipping is cruel, it is inhuman and it is degrading” – as well as “unnecessary”. The South…
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By Desire Nimubona
The decline of the forest, following extractive work, deforestation, tree cutting, agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and other works in the forest areas of Congo, is shrinking the habitat of Indigenous peoples.
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By Amnesty International
Ugandan security forces have unlawfully targeted opposition rallies with unnecessary and excessive force and arbitrary arrests, and subjected some attendees to torture or other ill-treatment, Amnesty International said today. The organization has documented incidents in which security officers launched tear gas at peaceful crowds in Kawempe and Iganga, and pepper-sprayed and beat people. These actions […] The post Uganda: Authorities subjecting opposition supporters to “brutal campaign of repression” ahead of elections appeared first on Amnesty International. ]]>
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By Emily A. Buddle, Senior Research Fellow, University of Adelaide
Gloria Fransisca Katharina Lawi, Research Center for Biotechnology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Joan Leach, Professor, Australian National University
Can gene editing truly support smallholder farmers and help Indonesia achieve food sovereignty, or will it simply revive the old controversies surrounding GMO crops?
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By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University
The Trump administration has used US domestic laws to justify capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. It’s a clear case of US exceptionalism.
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By James Trapani, Associate Lecturer of History and International Relations, Western Sydney University
Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro long resisted US attempts to influence Venezuelan politics and exert control over its oil reserves.
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