Modern South Africa is a rich nation made up of mostly poor people. This fact became obvious to me when I visited during my semester abroad. It only takes a three-minute drive between Sandton, a city filled with giant glass skyscrapers, and Alexandra, a cramped township lacking decent public infrastructure, to see this disparity. Soweto, […]
Politics
Is the King Losing his Marbles?
At the turn of the 19th century, a Scottish nobleman stood atop the Acropolis of Athens, surveying the ruins of its famous Parthenon. In 1798, the British Crown had appointed this man, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. In poor health and middling status, Lord Elgin made his way […]
His Other Realms: The Future of the British Monarchy Abroad
When I was in the 4th Grade, I walked into my classroom every day and saw the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at the front. She was a constant presence in that classroom, and so was her gaze, no matter where I was. When my grandmother took the Oath of Citizenship, she swore her allegiance […]
Fighting the Right: An Introduction to The Gravel Institute
From ordering food straight to your door to planning an entire vacation, today’s Internet is more complex, rich, and interesting than ever before. Over the relatively short history of the World Wide Web, a few sites particularly stand out. Among these, one site has remained the central hub for any length or style of video. […]
How Republicans Could Use the Supreme Court to Cancel Democracy
After Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, the United States experienced an unprecedented rejection of a presidential election’s legitimacy. Although these tensions culminated in the January 6th attack on the Capitol building, the “Big Lie” has remained influential among much of the Republican party’s base. To most casual observers of TV news, American democracy is […]
An Ode to the Wisdom Within
This is a story about everything. It’s about jumping timelines and the power of creative imagination. This is a story about vulnerability, healing, and collective action. It’s about mutual aid and the potential for abundance––not the kind of abundance James Bowdoin II envisioned 250 years ago as the justification for perpetrating war against the people […]
America’s Disdain for International Law Opened the Door for Putin
It’s late at night in a war-torn neighborhood of sleeping civilians. Suddenly, there is a deafening sound of jets overhead. After a moment of silence, the entire row of houses explodes into flames and flying bricks. No soldiers occupy the neighborhood, but now more than 120 unarmed civilians lie dead. This story does not come […]
The Losers of Climate Change
Russia wins the climate crisis. At least, that’s what Abrahm Lustgarten of the New York Times argues: as the climate continues to change, and temperatures rise in the global North, Russia will see its climate become more agreeable. If you concede the point about it being a competition at all, there’s a lot of truth […]
Anti-Racism, Individualism, and Civic Duty: The Crossroads of Public Education
Earlier this year, Bowdoin College announced a plan to adopt a new distribution requirement to its core curriculum. Difference, Power, and Inequity—or DPI for short—will replace the former Exploring Social Differences (ESD) label and marks courses meant to help all Bowdoin students “shift from awareness to active antiracist practices,” according to Jennifer Scanlon, Senior Vice […]
Why Vote in Maine? Your Vote Will Always Matter
The gravity of the 2020 election and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic make the experience of being a first time voter even more daunting this year. After years of bitter campaigning and a seemingly interminable election cycle, the election comes down to its final and determining day: November 3rd. Americans have had weeks in some cases […]