In May of 2007 the Government of Florida, led by Governor Charlie Crist and then-House Speaker Marco Rubio moved Florida’s primary election from its traditional March date to the last Tuesday in January. This led both parties to sanction Florida by stripping some or all of its delegates, but did little to dissuade candidates from … Read more
Once a mark of his power, Belarus’ economy, now in near free fall, may finally bring an end to Lukashenko. For the past 16 years, President Aleksandr Lukashenko has quelled movements against his regime by carefully securing Belarus’ regional power and economic prosperity. By procuring lucrative oil deals with Russia and fulfilling his country’s desire … Read more
“I’ll look to like, if looking liking move,” Shakespeare’s Juliet declares in the semi-eponymous classic play. Today, of course, “liking” on the Internet has nothing to do with star-crossed lovers, but whether they’re your irrational first love or the one who’s simply grown on you, the presidential candidate you choose is one you take a … Read more
I am a passionately liberal-minded, environmentally-conscious person, and I can’t figure out anything to do about it. I care about the environment. I care about workers’ rights, and ending sweatshop labor. I care about cultural relativism, food justice, and small farmers. I care about sustainability and ending global poverty. But most of the time, in … Read more
It’s the classic intern question, what we ask each other in an effort to figure out who among us is spending the summer getting coffee and who is briefing members of Congress (I have friends that have done each). Behind fancy agency names and official sounding titles, there’s a gaping uncertainty about the purpose and … Read more
“I’ll look to like, if looking liking move,” Shakespeare’s Juliet declares in the semi-eponymous classic play. Today, of course, “liking” on the Internet has nothing to do with star-crossed lovers, but whether they’re your irrational first love or the one who’s simply grown on you, the presidential candidate you choose is one you take a … Read more
If you have not read about my first two weeks as an intern at Senator Paul’s office, click here. Last time we spoke, I painstakingly detailed my acculturation to the vibe of Senator Paul’s office – from the daily interactions with self-motivated staffers to the routine fulfillment of basic tasks to learn of the prevailing … Read more
Filled cover-to-cover with survey data, investigative vignettes, and social analysis, American Grace sets out to make sense of the vibrant and often puzzling phenomenon of religion in America. Where I hoped to gain particular insight, though, was on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, colloquially known as “Mormonism.” Once seen as a kooky … Read more
“We can’t use any of your data!” The first hours of my internship at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland was spent listening to a heated conversation between my supervisor and one of our implementing partners. There was apparently a misunderstanding between reporting based on project year and reporting based on calendar year. … Read more
The third-grade recipe for natural history goes like this: start with a few cells swimming in a sea of nutrient-rich gloop-soup. Fast-forward millions of years and those cells have multiplied and diversified. We’ve gone from plain miso to a chunky cup of wonton. Now there’s a sponge – a starfish – even a flounder! The … Read more