Some have criticized singer Nat King Cole for not being more vocal during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. But in his trademark understated way, new research shows that the music legend was a true force for racial justice.
Category: Society
In Syria, LGBTQ+ individuals are being stripped of their freedom, dignity and right to defend themselves. Only a few voices and organizations working in secrecy attempt to shed light on the violations against them in an environment that is increasingly hostile toward anyone who dares to advocate for marginalized groups.
For centuries, sensory isolation has been used as a tool to achieve deep meditative states. With noise and light pollution growing around us, seeking profound silence and darkness may be the ultimate balm for modern times.
Andy’s Mall is the result of the first payment made by Guyana’s government to the Indigenous people of the Kako area, who are proud to say that they were the last to give in and sign the contract with the government that determined the conversion of their forests into carbon credits, sold to the Hess Corporation, an American oil company.
The Nordic country, which abolished its blasphemy statute half a decade ago, is being put to the test as it tries to make freedom of expression and of religion coexist.
In the TV show’s new season, Thailand is portrayed as a playground for white debauchery, where anything goes. Despite its obvious criticism of a certain kind of tourism, the show still reduces the country to a digestible set of iconic images for the audience, just like many Hollywood movies.
Economic crisis and higher inflation in Egypt have prompted many young married people to abandon the idea of having children. And if they decide to have children, they just want one or two at most to be able to provide them a decent life.
Some call it “Grandparent Slave” syndrome, where grandma (and sometimes grandpa) are increasingly forced into caregiving duties that leave them exhausted and can even affect their health.
Those obsessed with wanting to stay young, free and wild can be embarrassing at best. There’s something basic about life that they’re missing.
in 2017, Jean-Jacques Hublin discovered Homo sapiens fossils that pushed back our species’ origins by 100,000 years. Now, in a new book, The Tyranny of the Brain, the French paleoanthropologist traces the evolution of our brains since the emergence of Homo sapiens 300,000 years ago.
In the era of tight scheduling — from work appointments to romantic dates to pictures to upload on social media — true satisfaction lies in the magic of the unexpected, sexually speaking. A quickie is actually a chemical and mental balance problem solver, and here’s why.
The Industrial Revolution transformed Valentine’s Day by mass-producing greeting cards, turning a personal tradition into a commercialized industry. It’s a shift that not only changed the way emotions were expressed, but also gave rise to the concept of “manufactured intimacy,” which continues to define the holiday today.
French author and philosopher Gaspard Koenig recently updated his Word software only to discover that the Copilot generative AI chatbot wants to do his writing for him. A real “existential threat…”?
that there are currently 26 monarchies in the world? Whether they already reign or will get their crown in the coming years, these figures represent a new generation of monarchs who are bound to continue to fascinate the public.
Recent studies reveal strong links between air pollution and deposits in the brain, even in areas with low pollution levels. Inflammation plays a key role in this process.
The idea may sound callous, bordering on irresponsible, but sometimes what you need is to let your kids figure it out — they’ll thank you later.
From the bustling streets of Cairo to the soulful melodies of Beirut, Arab cinema is masterfully capturing the heart of a region rich in culture, resilience and untold stories.
Anti-corruption protesters find themselves on the wrong side of the law, charged with “character assassination of honorable people.
Created in 1984 by Spanish toymaker Feber, Chabel fashion dolls were an icon of her era and a favorite among Spanish girls before production stopped in 1992. Now, Chabel is back.
Artificial intelligence is now able to secretly pursue its own goals and hide its intents. How dangerous are these so-called treacherous “AI agents”?
Rio de Janeiro’s state tribunal brings judges and prosecutors to 26 locations disseminated around the city inside buses, as part of a program started in 2004. The buses mostly go to the poorest areas of the city, in an effort to bring justice to those that are oftentimes most distant from the Brazilian state.
It is 2025, and yet many doctors remain largely uninformed about how women’s bodies function, since the standard has always been the male body. To grasp the full extent of the problem, we must imagine a much different future.
This week, the Taliban closed a radio station broadcasting from Kabul and aimed at women — yet another act in its unprecedented isolation of half of Afghanistan’s population. While the world is not turning a blind eye, it lacks the means to put pressure on the Taliban.
Luxembourg is Europe’s luxury car capital, boasting one high-end ride for every 13 residents. Luxembourgers’ love for high-powered engines remains strong, even as the crackdown on carbon emissions intensifies. Take a ride through roads where roaring engines still rule.
Authorities say they don’t have the funds to clean up the scenic gem. Instead, a determined community has stepped up.
Hijab is merely a custom that, by force of tradition, has turned into a religious symbol — nothing more. The early Quranic interpreters, who favored transmission over reason due to their limited knowledge and weak analytical abilities at the time, interpreted the so-called “verses of hijab” without considering their historical context or the reasons behind their revelation.
Hundreds of people from Russia’s theater world have left the country since its invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. At the end of 2023, theater researcher Mikhail Kaluzhsky began trying to map and identify key trends of Russia’s theater-in-exile. He shares what is happening with the Russian theater scene in the capital of Georgia and what potential futures he sees for Russian theater professionals in exile.
The best images from the past week of celebrations of the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, spread farther and wider around the globe.
A French writer goes deep into the imagined reality of the violent Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, and finds a full-throttle, 360-degree takedown of American society.
A personal journey through memory, loss, and resilience — reflecting on Eunice Facciolla Paiva’s quiet strength, Marcelo Paiva’s storytelling, and the haunting echoes of dictatorship in today’s world. It’s a rare Oscars Best Picture nominee from Brazil.
When the desire to transition outweighs the severe risks of self-medicating.
Public broadcaster TV3 in the Spanish region of Catalonia has decided to air Dragon Ball, a ’90s anime classic that marked an entire generation in the autonomous community of Spain. But despite its cultural significance at the time — as the first series broadcast in the Catalan language — Dragon Ball’s return seems more like a comfortable wink to the past than a brave commitment to the future.
How Germany, like other countries in the West, can avoid sweeping judgments and take a clear-eyed approach to a complex reality.
With striking photographs from Poland, the DR Congo, Gaza and the Shetlands, among other places.
For years there has been a visible increase in the percentage of so-called “nesters,” people entering adulthood who do not move out of their family homes. But is the explanation for this problem really limited to the lack of housing availability or the economy more broadly? Or are they some other factors at play?
Cheap cocaine is flooding the European drug market, escalating conflicts in open drug scenes, everywhere except the historically drug-tolerant Zurich. A visit to this Swiss city — known as an open-air hotspot for crack and heroin in the 1990s — with a different approach for taking on drug addiction.
A recent video of a woman being tortured in Libyan refugee camps is further proof that agreements signed by the EU and Italy with Libyan and Tunisian authorities are doing more harm than good. But the work of associations like Refugees in Libya shows that there is still some hope for the future, writes Don Mattia Ferrari, a Catholic priest who works closely with these NGOs.
The photos of athletes swimming in the Seine during the Paris 2024 Olympics seem to have convinced some that the river could become a swimming pool for Parisians. But as the Mayor of Paris’ office considers protecting the “rights of the Seine,” French chemist and academic Bernard Meunier argues that the Seine is above all a navigable waterway.
Having your own car means unlimited freedom. Right? A study shows that yes, it can increase life satisfaction. But freedom is a myth, and dependency on your vehicle will reduce overall happiness.
Back in 2022, the world-class Angoulême International Comics Festival cancelled the participation of leading French cartoonist Bastien Vivès over accusations that some of his drawings justified pedophilia and incest. Still facing investigation, the author is slated for book signings at this year’s edition.