Facing a U.S. ban of the Chinese-owned social media, a TikTok power user makes his case for free speech and freedom to scroll.
Category: Ideas
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s declaration labeling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as “extreme right-wing” is a politically charged move. But is this assessment fair, given Meloni’s strong support for Ukraine and responsible economic decisions — or is there some demonizing and distracting at play?
From Trump in the U.S., Eurosceptics in the UK, the Catalan independence movement or the growing rejection of immigration in much of the developed world shows that a century after the founding of fascism, the darker instincts of humans are always lurking just below the surface.
The modern world conspires to make us fear reflection and solitude, but these might be the rocky paths to a happier life, if we could first stop hating them.
Children play to explore and learn. But that does not mean that adults are less playful. As we celebrate June 11, the first International Day of Play, Worldcrunch’s Irene Caselli considers what play means for kids and adults alike.
Just across the border from Israel, the Kingdom of Jordan is feeling the effects of the war with both the most personal and economic ramifications.
The lesser known Phlegraean Fields, near Naples, are now making headlines in Italy because of intense volcanic activity. Together with Vesuvius, they evoke fears in the heart of Neapolitans, but they are also a part of who they are.
As citizens across the EU prepare to elect a new parliament, Italian author Viola Ardone remembers her late grandmother who, despite an elementary education and lack of political interest, never missed an election.
Not for the first time in history, simplistic dualism is taking hold of people’s minds, often rooted in religious beliefs. Is this a prelude to even more violent intolerance and — in the worst scenario — another big war? asks Argentine poet and writer Miguel Espejo.
While the party of India’s Prime Minister came on top on the general elections, it failed to win an outright majority at the lower house. This means Modi will have to form a coalition government for the first time and learn how to work with others.
Israel’s war on Gaza, with the support of the West, is not far from the necessities of capitalist accumulation in many regions of the world, or at least about managing the crisis of contemporary global capitalism.
The recent outrage of Colombians online over a singer’s reported criticism of the country’s late, great novelist García Márquez, showed perfectly how jingoism and a primitive hatred of freedom go hand in hand.
Sunnis were historically resistant to have this sacred text translated from Arabic — but especially into Persian, the language of a nation sometimes viewed as reluctantly Muslim. What does that mean today under the Sharia law of the Islamic Republic.
Ukraine is not allowed to attack Russian territory. Israel, on the other hand, has free rein. These are the would-be restrictions of Western weapons in two wars that might seem to have little in common.
At the age of 79, the Italian-born, German speaking Reinhold Messner is a climbing legend, who was the first climber to ascend all fourteen peaks over 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) above sea level — without supplementary oxygen. Today he keeps moving, and thinking.
Bavaria’s ban of the schwa (ə) and other symbols used in gender-sensitive writing is yet another step in the debate over inclusive language. But language changes when society does, not the other way around.
Politics has always been associated with image. This is especially true in Latin America, where white men in suits have dominated the field for years. But a new generation of women are shaking up politics — as well as how female politicians are expected to dress.
An often dysfunctional state has turned Mexicans into a vigorously self-reliant, hard-working nation. But plans by the leftist presidential candidate to create a welfare state seem like the sure-fire way of pushing Mexico toward “Argentine-style” reliance on the government.
Ahead of the June’s EU elections, Europeans are deeply divided between fears of migration and of the Ukraine war, between emotion and reason. How can the EU respond in the most united and credible manner to the Russian threat?
According to Egyptian poet Alaa Khaled, student protests in the universities in the United States and Europe are not only directed against the practices of Israel, and in solidarity with Palestine, but are an instinctive expression of the desires of young people lost in a nihilistic modern culture.
Certain contemporary writers may be deluded and even deceived in claiming there is nothing subjective in their fictional writings, forgetting that their literary “realities” are, inevitably, the fruit of a personal vision.
The latest online uproar involves a baby taken to Taylor Swift’s concert in Paris, and photographed on a blanket on the floor. We thought the Swifties were supposed to know how to talk to each other…
An Egyptian journalist surprised by the growing and incomprehensible campaign over the past months that raises slogans against Arab “refugees” who were forced by civil wars in their countries — Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Sudan — to reside in Egypt.
The German philosopher believed education and discipline is necessary to turn youth into independent and moral adults. As the 300th anniversary of his birth is being celebrated this year, what would Kant say about the current state of affairs? And what can be learned from his teachings?
The deadly floods in southern Brazil are unprecedented but not unexpected. Ahead of the October local elections, Brazilians must remember that politicians have ignored scientists’ predictions and weakened legislation that could have helped deal with climate change.
As the world’s climate becomes erratic and hostile, we might remold our cities from being expressions of our cold triumphalism to vessels and tools for inclusive, peaceful cohabitation with nature.
After seeing the 2024 Met Gala photos, the common denominator seems to be how uncomfortable most women appeared to be. Squeezed in tight dresses and high heels, and often in need of a man — who’s always wearing a comfortable suit — to somehow achieve the perfect level of what we call “femininity.”
The competing May 8 and May 9 World War II victory celebrations, and an upcoming D-Day snub to Vladimir Putin, show how uncertain the future appears right now. Perhaps even more uncertain than the Cold War.
The context and scale are different, but there are common methods in the suppression of demonstrations in the Arab Spring in 2011 and crackdowns against pro-Palestinian groups on university campuses in the U.S. Will President Biden, like Hosni Mubarak 13 years ago, lose power as a result?
There have been countless graphic images circulating of the brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the seven months of bloody retribution on the people of Gaza. Yet an image where you can’t see the victim has been recognized as the Photo of the Year.
We all know good communication is the bedrock of a healthy relationship. Here’s why keeping some of your thoughts to yourself, and a practiced lack of utter sincerity, is a bedrock of a healthy couple.
Cecchettin was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend in northern Italy, a murder case that quickly turned into a political movement. The supposed motive is chilling in what it says about the current state of male-dominated society.
It’s the most insipid kind of historical revisionism. Both in Argentina and Brazil, far-right leaders are denying the countries’ history of human rights abuses during the brutal dictatorships of the 1960s and 70s, and using it to rally support around their causes.
The UN and the international criminal justice system are failing to prevent and punish brazen aggressions and killings around the world. When this period of turmoil ends, states must find new rules and tools to prevent the return of totalitarian violence.
Geopolitical analysts who view Russia as an unpredictable force tend to understand Moscow’s actions in purely worldly, political terms. German Professor of Theology Hubertus Lutterbach has uncovered a different message hidden in Putin’s religiosity — an implicit threat to his neighbors and the world.
After seven workers with the NGO World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli drone, we must ask what drives humans to give themselves to others, and risk everything. It should put any lingering cynicism to rest.
Turkey has more than a century of democracy and elections, and a bonafide opposition, which stands out from recent Russian and Iranian votes. We see it again in the victory in Sunday’s victory for Istanbul Mayor of the opposition party. Still, the increasingly authoritarian Turkish regime risks sliding toward a point of new return with its assault on rights and freedoms.
The eighth part of an anthology of poetry from the IDF’s front line soldiers prompted the withdrawal of its copies, with some poems articulating an Israeli “call for revenge.” Sometimes only poetry can truly expose the brutal truth.
For the scientist who performs medicial research on the recently deceased, there are few regulatory or ethical guardrails.
Israel’s colonial-settler project aims to kill this protective, familiar, and memory-preserving space called “home” in the Occupied Territories. This Palestinian heartbreak is documented for all to see, and ultimately, and paradoxically, squashes any attempt to dehumanize a people.