by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 13 Jun 2024 | Culture
We may not recognize them, but we all undertake quests. They can be grand and cinematic, or quiet and reflective. They all change our lives. Hanuman, the flying monkey god. The quest in search of Hanuman’s mountain took Paul Spencer Sochaczewski some 30 years to...
by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 10 May 2024 | Asia, Culture, Educators' Catalog, Environment, Religion
What’s a more powerful conservation incentive — a government jail or the wrath of a nature spirit? A shady path in a sacred forest in Myanmar. (Credit: Paul Spencer Sochaczewski) This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global news service. It is...
What’s a more powerful conservation incentive — a government jail or the wrath of a nature spirit? There are many ways to preserve wildlife. Correspondent Paul Spencer Sochaczewski ventures into Myanmar’s sacred forests to unearth the secret of conservation.
Exercise: Start a discussion on ways governments and communities can protect local flora, fauna and areas of natural interest. Read the article and discuss the suggested questions. Students should then undertake research to identify other examples of local folklore and community spiritual and religious beliefs affecting environmental conservation positively. Hint: Look to countries with a strong history of folklore and explore stories with links to the natural environment.
by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 22 Apr 2024 | Asia, History, Politics
There are tales in history of common folk becoming supreme rulers. How difficult is that to do? This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global news service. It is through articles like this that News Decoder strives to provide context to complex...
by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 17 Apr 2024 | Decoder Replay, Environment, Europe, Human Rights
Threats to nature persist despite global efforts to save our planet. But do we have an inalienable right to a habitable planet? People demonstrate outside the European Court of Human Rights, 9 April 2024 in Strasbourg, France. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)...
by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski | 20 Jul 2023 | History, Malaysia, Media Literacy, Science
What one correspondent learned by writing an “enhanced biography” of a little-known 19th-century teenager from Borneo. The 15-year-old Malay, known to history only as “Ali” is featured on this graffiti signboard in Ternate, Indonesia. The artist refers to Wallace’s...