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Matthew Medinsky

Snow, The Singularity, and Rocks in the River

(Recorded March 5th, 2025) As the world continued its increasingly chaotic series of events this week – with disruptive events in everything from politics to artificial intelligence, a spring blizzard swept through the upper Midwest of

Opposition party wins the most votes in Greenland election amid Trump takeover talk

Jens-Frederik Nielsen, center, chairman of Demokraatit Party, plays guitar as he reacts during the election party at Demokraatit by cafe Killut in Nuuk, early Wednesday, March 12, 2025.

Finding Each other in the Ruins

Ivan’s Story: Looking For My Tribe A few years ago, I was contacted by an administrator at work who wanted to arrange a phone call. I had been in some meetings with him before, but I couldn’t imagine what he wanted to talk about. It turned

Canada's Hudson's Bay has survived 355 years. Now the store is in crisis

Hudson's Bay has entered creditor protection, struggling with debt. Adrian Wyld/AP/CP hide caption Canada's oldest retailer, Hudson's Bay depar

U.S. tanker is leaking fuel in the North Sea after a collision with a container ship

Fire and rescue services attend after a collision between tanker MV Stena Immaculate and the cargo vessel MV Solong off the coast of the Humber Estuary on Monday. Getty Images/Getty

The Brutish Are Coming, The Brutish Are Coming!

Actually, the brutish are already here and in control of the executive branch of a rapidly dwindling federal government. Note carefully that Congress, the federal government, we the people, and possibly the judiciary are the ones being dwin

Hamas is offering a truce with Israel for 5 to 10 years, a U.S. official says

A man fills a cistern with water on the back of a truck at the southern Gaza desalination plant, which stopped working earlier after Israel cut off electricity supply to the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The plant will have to work on generators no

Trade war danger: China could quickly strangle American tech with metals cutoff

There’s no telling exactly where the Trump administration’s trade war is going as the president authorizes tariffs and then quickly suspends them, only to authorize them again and suspend them again or provide waivers for certain industries

Vatican says hospitalized Pope Francis is showing 'gradual, slight improvement'

Nuns pray for Pope Francis on Saturday in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, where the pontiff is hospitalized. Andrew Medichini/AP

Syria’s new Islamist regime escalates the persecution of Christians as fears of massacres by jihadists grow

The persecution of Christians in Syria has been escalating since Ahmed Al-Sharaa took over as the country’s president, after his al-Qaeda affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group overthrew the Assad regime in December. Al-Sharaa rece

Restoring watersheds and fostering communities of practice in Baja California Sur

Introduction: A vision for change At some point, we all wonder, Can I really make a difference? Imposter syndrome creeps in, and we remind ourselves that we are just one person. But history has proven that where there’s a will, there’s a wa

5 takeaways: China's foreign minister slams Trump's 'two-faced' policies

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during a news conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress in Beijing on Friday. Ng Han Guan/AP

Automakers granted relief from tariffs. And, fired USDA workers return to work

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day. Today's top stories President Trump has granted automake

Extractivism and Resistance: Gendered Perspectives on the Global Resource Economy

Extractive economies are deeply gendered, disproportionately harming women and Indigenous communities (mining, land dispossession, violence, health effects) while benefiting multinational corporations and financial markets (Altamirano-Jimén