The author indulges himself in some summer reflection about the world and himself, and what future his children will build.
Category: Society
In 2008, the Polish National Library made one of its most expensive purchases: an archive containing letters between former Pope John Paul II and his close friend Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. But over a decade later, these documents are still not available to the public.
Some 88% of fossils from the Araripe Basin northeastern Brazil, one of the world’s richest paleontological sites, are housed in foreign museums — a historical and cultural heritage Brazilian authorities and researchers are working to repatriate.
Thanks to athletes like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Teddy Riner, who have opened the conversation, psychological counseling is no longer a taboo in the world of high-level sports. The Paris Olympics will be a showcase of champions who are doing the hard work.
The mining industry is a vital part of Mongolia’s economy. But people living near one of the country’s largest copper mines say their health is suffering, and scientists and doctors are sounding the alarm.
Alexey Sokolov is being tried for showing the logo of Facebook, which Russia has classified as an extremist organization. But his human rights activism and opposition to the regime show how the social media is used by the regime to persecute opponents.
The Olympic Games in Paris will be the first in history with a video surveillance system linked to massive databases, algorithms developed by artificial intelligence and facial recognition. With bonafide security fears, as shown by Friday’s attack on rail lines, this new form of individual and collective control also raises real civil liberty concerns.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have starkly different communication styles, starting with laughter v scowls. Would a Harris victory in November usher in a new era of more feminine form of political communication? asks Italian writer Nicoletta Verna.
Harmless insects are named after nasty dictators, which doesn’t seem to bother zoologists. Botanists, on the other hand, want to banish the offensive word “caffra” from the realm of flora. There is an understandable reason why South Africa has managed to do so, writes correspondent Christian Putsch.
Laws in the late 1990s ended bans on women from wearing pants in Brazil’s courts and legislature, a practice that de facto has continued in many place. Female judges and legislators discuss how dress codes hinder women’s access to power, and the battle to change habits.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo made waves last week for swimming in the Seine following a historic effort to clean up the Parisian river. But her biggest environmental footprint is in trying to reshape Paris for a more pedestrian future.
Worldwide, PCOS is often missed in teenage girls as they go through puberty. Jane Dipika Garrett draws on her own struggles with the disorder to boost awareness — and self-acceptance.
Hadeer Abdel Razik says her guilt is that she does not feel “shame” about her body and wants to live her normal life as a woman. Hadeer Abdel Razik made TikTok videos as a fashionista; or not ashamed of having sex with her husband.
Following the horrific death of Satnam Singh, an Indian citizen working in Italian fields under slavery-like conditions, Carlo Petrini, founder of the International Slow Food Movement, reflects on how food sovereignty, a term dear to Giorgia Meloni and her far right government, exposes migrant workers to numerous perils, which can cost human lives.
More than seven months after Poland’s longstanding conservative government lost national elections, its moderate successors are struggling to reconcile their coalition that includes traditional Catholics intent on blocking changes to the strictest abortion bans in Europe.
A gifted accordionist, 25-year-old Théo Ould is pushing the limits of his instrument, playing a repertoire of unprecedented richness, from Bach to contemporary music, with virtuosity and conviction.
Funeral undertakers belong to one of the oldest professions in the world. But now, startups want to disrupt old-fashioned funeral homes. Unafraid to tackle taboos, new services offer ways to live on digitally after death.
While the fentanyl epidemic has hit the U.S. the hardest, Italy is not immune. The drug has been circulating in the country for at least 10 years and is becoming more widespread due to a series of international factors. Some are sounding the alarm, but questions remain over how to address the problem.
The positions of ultra-conservative Christian and Islamic Salafism supporters are almost identical on cultural, social and legal issues, such as their position on private and public freedoms. That often starts with women’s freedoms.
Narcissistic and other deeply self-involved parents can turn their children into diffident, dysfunctional adults. But it’s never too late to help yourself and decide to step away from their toxic discourse and manipulative games.
The adult toy industry generates hundreds of millions of tons of waste a year. To counter their environmental impact, brands are now producing more eco-friendly erotic accessories using biodegradable materials and green practices throughout the production chain.
Tunisian troglodyte villages in the Dahar mountain range are mostly empty as a result of policies dating back several decades. But locals, concerned about losing part of their identity and history, are mobilizing to maintain a presence and to safeguard their heritage.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans for beautification supposedly capture the aspirations of citizens but are a cover for the actual political project of legitimizing his narrative of history, which glorifies right-wing groups and appropriates leaders who have been purportedly overlooked by Congress.
Manufactured in Wetzlar, Germany, for almost 100 years now, Leica cameras are sometimes worth more second-hand than new. Around them, a global community of passionate enthusiasts has begun in recent years to grow again.
Just along the Rhine in northwest Germany is a 2,000-year-old city, known for its gothic Cathedral, carnival, and love of soccer — but also worth visiting for its vibrant food culture. Marzipanstriezel and Kolsch beer, anyone?
In a tribe in central Africa, male and female roles are practically interchangeable in caregiving to children. Even though their lifestyle might sound strange to the West, it offers important life lessons about who raises children — and how.
It is not not gray-haired men who feel uncomfortable with feminism, but rather Gen Z boys. So what is causing young men, witnesses of #MeToo, to take sides against feminism?
In Lebanon, as in many countries in the Arab world, abortion is criminalized, leaving women with few safe options to end a pregnancy. In the Beirut-based independent digital media Daraj, Nour, 20, shares her story of learning she was pregnant out of wedlock and seeking a secret medical abortion.
The Islamic Bands were especially popular in the early 2000s, then became a tool of the Muslim Brotherhood after their victory following the Arab Spring. Then they largely disappeared, until showing up more recently on social media.
A recent study has shown that Tina, a Neanderthal child with Down’s syndrome, lived to the age of six because her group took care of her, placing the documented origin of altruism in the Homo genus between 270,000 and 146,000 years ago. Altruism is not a right, it is a human condition, something every human heart has to conquer.
Ahead of the second round of French parliamentary elections, a possible far-right takeover forces the youth around the world to face a future that might be different from the one they were hoping for.
Influenced by social media, more and more teenagers in Argentina, and elsewhere, are using anti-aging products. Dermatologists warn that this trend is not only unnecessary but can also be harmful for their young skin.
Floods have had a regular presence in Segundo Torrão, near Lisbon. But they are now threatening the lives of residents, as well as the survival of the local community.
The canceled rapper who’s praised Hitler and Putin’s Russia are a perfect match, writes music critic Nikolay Ovchinnikov
Nothing can beautify life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. So how can we promote a country whose government practices terrorism against its people? That’s what Arab world influencers are doing.
For centuries, European colonial powers and Arab traders kidnapped millions of Africans as slaves. Local tribes in Benin and other West African countries often helped and became rich themselves. Now the descendants of the slave traders are coming to terms with this troubling history.
Argentina’s Antarctic bases are staffed by isolated and often young scientists confined in close quarters.
A Colombian journalist recounts his sexual traumas and understands that his problems in bed are not just his — but many men share similar histories. While partners cannot step into the role of therapists, what can men do to have more intimacy, and better sex lives?
Despite sometimes heated debates and increasing regulations, the king of short-term rentals has never performed as well as in this post-COVID period. The announcement this week of a whole set of new features shines the light on one of the digital era’s great success stories.
Twenty-five years in the making, China has developed a mass surveillance state, from Beijing alleyways to rural villages. And citizens don’t object because they’ve been co-opted into it.