by Helen Womack | 12 Oct 2021 | Europe, Future of Democracy, Government, Human Rights, Immigration, Nationalism, Politics
Hungary opened the first cracks in Soviet Communism. Now, the world awaits its elections pitting a right-wing populist leader against a liberal opposition. A street performer in front of a statue commemorating the “Lads of Pest” — youngsters who took up...
by Christina MacCorkle and Lucy Maitland-Lewis | 18 Aug 2021 | Educators' Catalog, Environment, Politics, Student Posts, Thacher School, Youth Voices
The U.S. government owns the rights to any oil under our school. So, could frackers drill on campus? Turns out, the only certainty is the need to vote. Gymkhana Field at The Thacher School (Carin Yates/Thacher School) Since its founding in 1889, The Thacher School in...
Journalism is an adventure and publishing a process — lessons that Christina MacCorkle and Lucy Maitland-Lewis learned in spades in producing their article on a beloved field at their school in California. Gymkhana Field is where generations of Thacher School students have ridden horses, but it may also lie above valuable oil. Which is where the U.S. agency that manages federal lands enters the picture. Their story went through multiple drafts as they dug deeper and deeper into the web of issues. The bottom line is that the field’s future is uncertain — an ambiguous conclusion that could frustrate some writers. But the authors learned from the experience and their story educates us as well.
Exercise: Ask your students to research the history of their school grounds and to find out whether there is a chance that there could be changes to the school’s footprint, and if so, why.
by Paul Radford | 15 Jun 2021 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Eyewitness, Sport, World
Dogged by corruption and politics, the Olympic Games may seem outmoded. But their ideals survive, and the Games motivate athletes and excite fans. Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou lights the Olympic Torch, Athens, Greece, 19 March 2020. (EPA-EFE/ARIS MESSINIS / POOL)...
Paul Radford has covered 17 Olympic Games, and he displays his vast experience in this “decoder” that shows why the global sporting event still matters. Radford acknowledges the scandals and politics that have tarnished the image of the modern Games and made skeptics of many fans, while examining the high ideals that led to their creation. Like the Games, youth today are torn between idealism and skepticism born of frustration with their elders’ inability to resolve the world’s biggest problems. As Radford writes, it’s a tricky balance between idealism and skepticism.
Exercise: Organize a debate in class on the resolution, “The Olympic Games Should Be Abolished”.
by Tiziana Barghini | 24 Mar 2021 | Economy, Europe, Government
For the fourth time in three decades, a divided Italy has named a technocrat as its leader. Is Mario Draghi a model for nations shouldering huge debts? Street art depicting Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi dressed as a magician pulling a rabbit out of the hat,...
by Bernd Debusmann | 17 Feb 2021 | Americas, Donald Trump, Future of Democracy, Joe Biden, Politics
The U.S. Republican Party is badly split and America’s politics dysfunctional. Is there a way out of this mess? The Peace Monument, also known as the Naval Monument or Civil War Sailors Monument, framed by the Capitol dome in Washington, 4 January 2021 (AP...
