White House review of deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghan in 2021 places blame on Trump’s Taliban deal
President Joe Biden’s administration on April 6 laid the blame on his predecessor, President Donald Trump, for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that brought about some of the darkest moments of Biden’s presidency. The...
Ithaka: Family-focused documentary about the fight for Julian Assange’s freedom premieres in Milwaukee
The historic Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee held a special screening on April 8 of the documentary “Ithaka,” a powerful film that presents the public with an immersive look into a father’s fight to save his son and political prisoner, Julian Assange....
Designed to be addictive: How social media disrupts the sleep, moods, and social activities of youth
By Linda Pagani, Professor, School of Psychoeducation and researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal; Amélie Gilker Beauchamp, Étudiante à la maîtrise en psychoéducation, Université de Montréal; Beatrice Necsa, Masters student, Psychoeducation,...
Déjà vu of Photojournalism: Forced progress, brutal invasion, mother nature, and the detritus of life
Back in March, I stood among the ruins of a neighborhood in Antakya, Türkiye. The Biblical city, once known as Antioch, had been devastated by the February 6 earthquake. As I took pictures of the collapsed residential areas, a member of the Turkish Red Crescent team I...
Seismic isolation systems: Earthquake-resilient buildings in Türkiye offer design guidance for future
By Osman Ozbulut, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia The February 6, 2023, earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria damaged over 100,000 buildings, caused more than 10,000 collapses and killed more than 50,000 people. These earthquakes also put...
A collapse of trust: Why women experience more health disparity after natural disasters
By Willow Kreutzer, PhD Candidate in Political Science, University of Iowa; and Stephen Bagwell, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri-St. Louis When natural disasters strike, women and girls tend to experience disproportionate challenges...
The tragedy of gun tragedies: Violent mass shootings seldom sway partisan policies despite public outcry
Public outrage is swift following mass shootings, such as the killing of six people at a Christian elementary school in Nashville. Sorrow and sympathy are widespread. But what comes next from policymakers is likely to depend on which political party is in charge of a...
Blood in the streets: How gun violence became the far right’s proxy war on the American public
As the riot of gun violence in America produces fresh massacres by the day, firearm fundamentalists refuse to acknowledge the blood on their hands, and their suicidal stance in the face of escalating carnage is that more guns are the answer. But it is worse than that....
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: An interview with the Ukrainian President on what a Russian victory would mean
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on March 28 that unless his nation wins a drawn-out battle in a key eastern city, Russia could begin building international support for a deal that could require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises. He also invited...
A house of many faiths: MLK’s vision of social justice included religious pluralism
By Roy Whitaker, Associate Professor of Black Religions and American Religious Diversity, San Diego State University The life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been the subject of ongoing debate ever since his assassination on April 4, 1968....
Faith and Ideology: How Cesar Chavez merged a pilgrimage with a revolution for farm workers march
By Lloyd Daniel Barba, Assistant Professor of Religion, Amherst College On March 31, 1966, labor rights pioneer Cesar Chavez was not celebrating his birthday in any usual manner. Rather, he was 14 days into a 25-day pilgrimage in California from Delano to Sacramento....
Republican’s Rigged System: The Pretense of election used as a hostile take over of Wisconsin’s democracy
A key fight over democracy is currently taking place in Wisconsin. On April 4, voters in the state will choose a new judge for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. That judge will determine the seven-person court’s majority, a majority that will either uphold or possibly strike...