Get rid of states? Legal scholar Stephen Legomsky, who taught for 34 years at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, has just published a book, “Reimagining the American Union,” that proposes a radical idea: Abolish state government. The Conversation’s politics and democracy editor, Naomi Schalit – a former statehouse reporter herself –...
The South American country has been in the headlines lately, but let’s not forget its captivating topography, which unfortunately, contributes to its challenges. With cocaine production at an all-time high, Colombia’s government is testing a pacific approach to its narcotics problem: paying farmers to uproot crops of coca, the drug’s main ingredient – All photographs...
In our May analysis, The Silent Epidemic: America’s Growing Anxiety Crisis, we explored how uncertainty and despair—born of economic insecurity, social isolation, and widening inequality—have fueled a striking surge in anxiety across the United States. Yet this mental-health crisis is not confined by borders. Across the globe, societies wrestling with depression, poverty, and disillusionment are...
Ahead of a major solo show at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the artist welcomes Art Basel to her unusual studio on the shores of Lake Atitlán Vivian Suter paints in the dark, and only outdoors. Nearly every day, she exits her home on a lush parcel of land in Panajachel, Guatemala, in the late afternoon....
With unique perspectives and innovative practices, this eclectic selection highlights the richness and variety of the country’s contemporary art scene You may know about Jean Tinguely, Alberto Giacometti, or Meret Oppenheim – monumental figures of art history who were either born or spent their lives in Switzerland. But what about the many artists that contribute...
Living in today’s age of ambitious robotic exploration of Mars, with an eventual human mission to the red planet likely to happen one day, it is hard to imagine a time when Mars was a mysterious and unreachable world. And yet, before the invention of the rocket, astronomers who wanted to explore Mars beyond what...
Brazil’s quilombola people, the descendants of Africans who escaped slavery, have lived in the nation’s vast Amazon and Atlantic rainforests for centuries. Today, the quilombolas number about 1.3 million people in the country and have cultivated deep ties to their ancestral territories, where they raise their families and steward the land. But these communities remain...
A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution has found a simple rule that seems to govern how life is organised on Earth. The researchers believe this rule helps explain why species are spread the way they are across the planet. The discovery will help to understand life on Earth – including how ecosystems respond to global...
In the centuries since the first coffeehouse was opened in Istanbul in 1554, Turkish coffee has brought together people of different classes, cultures and ranks and helped shape politics and lifestyles, Ali Çaksu, visiting professor of history and political thought at Germany’s Ludwig Maximilian University, told a scientific forum at the University of Sharjah last...
In an era defined by polarized views on everything from public health to politics, a new Tulane University study offers insight into why people may struggle to change their minds—especially when they turn to the internet for answers. Researchers found that people often use search engines in ways that unintentionally reinforce their existing beliefs. The study, published...
