Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold hearings for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, was viewed by many as a dereliction of constitutional duty. His nomination was ignored for an unprecedented 293 days, ultimately leaving the court vacancy unfilled for over a year. Despite the fact that a solid majority of Americans wanted the Senate … Read more
“At its best, what art does is, it points to who we [are] as human beings and what we as human beings value. And if Black Lives Matter, they deserve to be in paintings.” –Kehinde Wiley *** From the charged photograph of a woman defying police during a Black Lives Matter protest to the … Read more
On April 23, 2017, Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the newly established, far-left La France insoumise (France Unbowed) party garnered 19.58 percent of the total vote in the first round of the French elections. Mélenchon nearly overcame Francois Fillion, the scandal-ridden candidate for one of France’s largest and oldest parties, the center-right Republicans, and decisively beat Benoit … Read more
Since the mainstreaming of European populist parties, the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union, and Donald Trump’s ascendance to the US presidency, political onlookers have proclaimed that a new “era of populism” is set to sweep away the prevailing neoliberal world order. Across the Western world, citizens have voted to turn inwards, rejecting … Read more
With estimates ranging from one to three million total deaths, the Vietnam War spawned some of the most ferocious domestic resistance to government policy to ever exist in the United States. This sentiment was strongly reflected in protest music, which gained significant popularity in the ’60s and ’70s. While the public often views Vietnam as … Read more
“As I stand here and look back at that episode of history, I could almost hear the camel bells echoing in the mountains and see the wisp of smoke rising from the desert,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2013. Xi’s poetic pomp voiced a nostalgia for the second century BCE, when … Read more
“And they lived happily ever after””—a classic footnote to a classic Disney-style animated fairytale. The idea of animation as a happy children’s medium along these lines is so persistent that it has seldom been adjusted over the past five decades. Indeed, in this so-called “golden age” of television we have seen very little recent progress … Read more
The Harvard Graduate School of Education released a report in January titled “Turning the Tide,” which recommended that college admissions should de-emphasize standardized testing in favor of activities such as community service. The report is but the newest installment in an ever-growing confederation against standardized testing. Critics of standardized testing often accuse testing as contributing … Read more
In a 2014 article, Steven Pinker advocated for college admissions systems to prioritize test scores during the admissions process. Pinker makes two major claims: university spots should be granted to those who are best able to utilize the academic resources that colleges offer and aptitude-measuring standardized tests are the best way to predict professional success. … Read more
Meredith Vieira is an award-winning journalist who has hosted various TV programs including The View, NBC News Today, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and The Meredith Vieira Show, among many others. Vieira has hosted major events ranging from the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to President Obama’s inauguration. She is also known for her extensive … Read more