In August 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO) began the election process of its new Director General. The process started after the resignation of the Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, one year before the expected end of his term, and ended in February 2021 with... More »
The murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Elijah McClain have drawn national attention to policing issues throughout the U.S. One reform in the wake of these murders that is gaining attention is the Counseling Not Criminalization Act. This act proposes ... More »
On February 3, 2020, I stood outside the Drake University building where one of the Iowa Caucuses was taking place. That morning, I had driven up from Humboldt Park, Chicago, squeezed into a rental van with a group of four other members of the Puerto Rican Age... More »
Introduction: A regular day in the life of an American Jennifer is on her way to work when she makes her daily stop at the local coffee shop in Chicago to pick up her iced coffee for the day, served in a coffee cup with a single-use plastic straw. As an Americ... More »
IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT that you are a 25-year-old Black woman living in Mississippi; let’s call you Jasmine. You are working as a cashier in a grocery store — it is one of the best opportunities you have found since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic began. You... More »
Once data from the 2020 Census becomes available, the United States is set to undergo redistricting, which will undoubtedly influence the levels of minority representation in government. Historically, most Black and Latino candidates have been elected in distr... More »
Governments enact federal programs with the hope that they will improve the well-being of their citizens. But how do we know which programs have the highest long-term returns on investment? It is difficult to compare policies from different domains because of ... More »
In 2015, The Boston Globe famously reported that Donald Trump spoke at a fourth-grade level. The future president’s 2016 announcement speech scored a 4.1 on linguistic tests, meaning a fourth-grade student could understand his speech. By contrast, Hillary Clin... More »
In the internet age, middlemen of all stripes have found themselves out of a job. But there is one type of middleman that seems immune from disruption: the legislator. Each election cycle, these grifters regale us with fantastical promises. Then, their campaig... More »
On January 13, 2021, Lisa Montgomery was the first woman executed in 68 years by the federal government, for what the Department of Justice called an “especially heinous murder.” She was the twelfth individual killed since July 2020, when the former administra... More »
COVID-19 has transformed the way we work — and the way we learn. In response to the pandemic, many higher education institutions have sought to transition to remote learning. As a result, companies offering technological solutions to problems posed by the pand... More »
At their best, cities are places where people of all income levels take the same train and play with their kids in the same park, bridging the gap and fostering a sense of community. In reality, the “tale of two cities” often seen in the differences between gl... More »