At my Harvard admissions interview, I remember being asked the most infamous of all college interview questions: “Why Harvard?” I recall having rehearsed my answer diligently, to the point of having it memorized. “Diversity,” I said. “I am excited by the opportunity to interact with students who are quite different from myself.” Having come from … Read more
The BBC’s adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, is set to be broadcast on HBO the 28th, 29th and 30th of April and with it, Rowling’s acidic snapshot of austerity Britain. Critics deemed the book, which received mixed reviews, too heavy on social commentary. The BBC’s decision to broadcast its adaptation … Read more
The defining issues of the 2016 election are already emerging with individuals indicating which issues prove most important to them. According to the spring 2015 Harvard Public Opinion Project poll, social issues and immigration appear to be the most crucial issues for young voters going into the 2016 election. Twenty-one percent of respondents stated that … Read more
Under President Obama’s America’s College Promise Proposal, students who maintain a 2.5 GPA while attending community college at least part time towards a degree will have their tuition waived. The White House estimates this program could benefit nine million students. According to the spring 2015 survey by the Harvard Public Opinion Project, a majority of … Read more
See how different demographic groups’ opinions on government policies and moral questions compare. This data covers the fourteen “typology” questions from the Harvard Institute of Politics’ survey of 18-29 year old Americans. You can hover over a point on the chart to see the policy question at hand.
On April 28, 2015, a Saudi-owned news outlet, Al-Arabiya, first published the news that an American-flagged cargo ship, the MV Maersk Tigris, had been fired upon by Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The ship, which was carrying 34 Americans, was then towed into the Iranian port of Bandar … Read more
At the White House Correspondents Association Dinner last Saturday night, President Obama got angry. With the help of his anger translator, Luther (played by comedian Keegan-Michael Key), the president abandoned his usual reasonable tone to condemn those who deny climate change. “The science is clear,” he began. “Every serious scientist says we need to act. … Read more
It takes but seconds to type the three words “vaccines cause problems” into the Google search box and generate tens of millions of results. Some articles feature desperate parents trying to warn the Internet of the life-altering ailments from which their sons and daughters suffer as a result of a single needle, of a scheming … Read more
The spring 2015 Harvard Public Opinion Project found that young Americans are conflicted over the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and leaning against the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. However, their opinions on these two controversial environmental topics align more with environmentalist positions opposing both Keystone and fracking than with general public opinion. On Keystone, … Read more
It seems that the anti-interventionist attitude of young Americans has faded, according to the results of the Harvard Public Opinion Project’s spring 2015 survey. Nearly 60 percent of respondents disapprove of the Obama administration’s management of the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), while, strikingly, almost 60 percent of respondents support … Read more