(Some of) The Central Questions of Our Time

(Recorded February 25th, 2025) Description The period of relative peace and stability we’ve known – enabled by the energy surplus of the Carbon Pulse and the ecological stability of the Holocene – is slipping away. AI is turbocharging the

Arab and Muslim voters helped deliver Michigan to Trump. They're not all happy so far

Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, North America's largest mosque Sarah McCammon/NPR hide caption Until November, Faye Nemer never voted fo

China slaps extra tariffs of up to 15% on imports of major U.S. farm exports

A woman walks by the Chinese and U.S. national flags on display outside a souvenir shop in Beijing on Jan. 31, 2025. Andy Wong/AP hide caption

President Trump pauses Ukraine military aid

President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their Oval Office last Friday. Zelenskyy left the contentious meeting without a deal. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

No matter what Elon Musk thinks, government cannot and should not be run like a business

There is a so-called U. S government “efficiency” drive currently underway delegated by President Donald Trump to unelected billionaire Elon Musk. Whether Musk has the authority to do what he is doing has become a matter for federal courts (for example, see here and here).

Electricity is more dangerous than you think

Alternating current or AC electric fields are invisible, physical fields of electromagnetic radiation that are present if there is electricity available. The electricity doesn’t have to be used, just available to be used. In the following, Dr.

No Clarity Over Chadian Opposition Member’s Death

On February 28, 2024, a key Chadian opposition politician, Yaya Dillo, was killed during an assault carried out by state security forces on his party’s headquarters in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. A year on, authorities have yet to clarify the circumstances surrounding his death.

The U.S. resumes hundreds of millions in security aid to Taiwan, annoying China

A man stands in front of Taiwanese navy ships anchored at the harbor in Keelung, near Taipei in northern Taiwan, on Dec. 11, 2024. I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images hide caption The U.S.

Seeing My Settler Ignorance in the Mirror of This Moment

This essay is excerpted with permission from Becoming a Good Relative: Calling White Settlers toward Truth, Healing, and Repair, by Hilary Giovale. (Green Writers Press, 2024) A decade ago, I sat on the floor of my living room in Flagstaff, Arizona with a new friend named Marie Gladue.

Just Plant Trees? It’s Not So Simple

With the many converging crises, we are looking for a quick fix to our problems. Too much carbon dioxide in the air? Plant more trees. I hear that constantly. Yes, of course we need the trees. But planting trees is no longer the solution to the enormous level of emissions in our air.

Taiwan condemns China for conducting shooting drills off its coast

In this image taken off a video released by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, a member of Taiwan Navy reacts on the intercom to Chinese war ships conducting drills about 40 nautical miles off the coast of western Taiwan's Kaohsiung and Pingtung cities on Feb.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy will meet Trump Friday to finish a minerals deal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to journalists during press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP hide caption KYIV, Ukraine, and WASHINGTON, D.C.

Israel and Hamas agree on a new exchange, leaving a fragile ceasefire intact

People line the street to watch the funeral procession carrying the caskets of Shiri Bibas, Kfir Bibas and Ariel Bibas with family in minibuses pass by on Feb. 26, 2025 in Rishon LeZion, Israel. Alexi J.

The view from Greenland: 'We don't want to be Americans' : Consider This from NPR

Naaja Nathanielsen poses for a portrait in her office in Nuuk, Greenland on Feb. 20, 2025. Grace Widyatmadja/NPR hide caption President Trump's calls for the U.S.

How the CCP infiltrates American media and academia

The Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) is using disinformation and lawfare to target Americans, particularly Falun Dafa practitioners, as part of a whole-of-government strategy. Leaked communications and whistle-blowers have revealed the CCP’s plans.