Images of life and politics in 2024 chronicled by photojournalists offer a mirror of American society
To look at news photos is to be charmed, amused, saddened, horrified, amazed, and inspired. Such was the power of photojournalism in 2024, as cameras captured a year of seismic political and societal shifts in the United States. In an election year like no other,...
Jubilation and alarm: Global reaction to dictator’s sudden ouster from Syria as Assad hides in Moscow
Across the Middle East and beyond, the fall of Syria’s authoritarian government at the hands of jihadi militants set off waves of jubilation, trepidation and alarm. Expatriate Syrians and many residents across the Middle East exulted at the overthrow of Bashar...
Fear of a catastrophic success: The challenges ahead for a post-Assad Syria amid victory and division
By Sefa Secen, Assistant Professor of International and Global Studies, Nazareth University The brutal 54-year reign of the Assad family in Syria looks to be over. In a matter of days, opposition forces took the major city of Aleppo before advancing southward into...
South Korea’s failed self-coup follows global trend of political leaders trying to seize absolute power
By John Joseph Chin, Assistant Teaching Professor of Strategy and Technology, Carnegie Mellon University; and Joe Wright, Professor of Political Science, Penn State Something unexpected – but hardly unprecedented – happened in South Korea on December 3. With little...
Public institutions: Milwaukee joins libraries across U.S. to offer free health and wellness classes
The Aurora Health Care Mobile Medical Clinic team waited patiently at a table in the main hallway of the Milwaukee Public Library’s sprawling downtown branch, a blood pressure cuff and mental health questionnaire at the ready as they called out to patrons who...
Seoul’s cautionary tale: Democracy shows its fragility in an age of autocratic rulers
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose declaration of a state of emergency on December 3 shocked the world, has often been referred to as “South Korea’s Donald Trump.” A political outsider, he came to power with anti-establishment and often outrageously...
Edward Morgan: Celebrating the courage and new beginnings at a U.S. citizenship oath ceremony
“The Constitution has a special love for you, a love for you that it will not have for me. Because the Constitution sees in you the spirit of the Founders, people who are willing to risk everything. People who are Americans by consent, not by an accidental birth like...
Fulfilling Reagan’s vow: How eliminating the Education Department fits a larger political agenda
By Kevin Welner, Professor of Education Policy & Law; Director of the National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado Boulder In her role as former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, Linda McMahon oversaw an enterprise that popularized the...
A history of military rule: What the short-lived Martial Law says about South Korean democracy
By Myunghee Lee, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University During a whirlwind few hours in South Korean politics, President Yoon Suk Yeol placed the country under martial law on December 3, 2024, only to lift it just a short while later. It marked the first time...
Reshaping government: Why Movement Conservatives attacked the liberal consensus to subvert democracy
Cas Mudde, a political scientist who specializes in extremism and democracy, observed recently on Bluesky that “the fight against the far right is secondary to the fight to strengthen liberal democracy.” That is a smart observation. During World War II, when the...
Legal documents allege that TikTok was aware of the health risks kids and teens face on its platform
TikTok was aware that its design features are detrimental to its young users and that publicly touted tools aimed at limiting kids’ time on the site were largely ineffective, according to internal documents and communications exposed in lawsuit filed by the...
Podcast: A “Deep Dive” into Milwaukee County’s budget for 2025 and its implications
The Deep Dive podcast by Milwaukee Independent takes a closer look at the stories that matter most, uncovering the layers of complexity behind today’s pressing issues. From groundbreaking research to critical social movements and the intersection of local and global...
