John Rogers, one of News-Decoder’s correspondents, was a young reporter for Reuters in 1979 when events in Iran changed the face of that country, the Middle East and the world. Rogers witnessed the collapse of the Shah’s royal regime, which crumbled when...
By Deborah Charles Twenty years ago I used to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi over a spotty telephone connection to Yangon from Bangkok, or in person when I managed to get into Myanmar and she was free to accept visitors in the house that served as her prison for 15 years....
With homeless people strewn across cities, young Americans might think the problem is inevitable. But it was not always so — and need not be. Panhandling at subway entrance on “Billionaires’ Row” (57th Street) (Photo by Susan Ruel) NEW YORK – Young people of...
Watching news from Nicaragua, where protests are challenging the authoritarian rule of President Daniel Ortega, I’m transported back exactly 40 years. Anti-government demonstrators take cover behind a barricade in Managua, Nicaragua, 30 May 2018 (AP Photo/Esteban...
It was the best of times and the worst of times. The 1960s stirred so many hopes — utopia was within reach! — only to see many crushed. The lessons? (Photos courtesy of the AP and Wikimedia Commons) This post script ends our series of articles by...
I returned from the Vietnam War in 1968 and helped lead the anti-war movement that exploded in Chicago. Looking back, I wonder what we learned. Chicago police officers try to disperse demonstrators during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 29 August 1968....
We went without Coke in Sri Lanka in the 1960s. It was a simpler era, full of hope, before a civil war almost tore our society apart. Adam’s Peak in central Sri Lanka (Wikimedia Commons, by Astronomyinertia) This article is part of a series by our correspondents and...
More than just a game, sport reflected wrenching changes in the 1960s — racial tension, the U.S. antiwar movement, women’s rights, decolonialization. This article is part of a series by our correspondents and guest writers reflecting on the 1960s — a...
I spent an evening with the Beatles in 1963, escaping with them from their frenzied fans through a window after a concert that launched Beatlemania. This article is part of a series by our correspondents and guest writers reflecting on the 1960s — a decade of...
“Wake up! They’ve come!” A Russian-led invasion force riding tanks had rolled into Prague, crushing reform hopes and deepening the Cold War divide. A Soviet tank moves into Wenceslas Square in Prague, 21 August 1968.(AP Photo/Peter Winterbach) This article is part of...