The Present

In 1972, eight mice were placed in a utopia. Full of food, water, bedding, and space for 3000 mice. Within three years there were no survivors.   

Politics is a noble, brave world, says Bernard-Henri Lévy – but that’s not what we have here. rn

Did decentralizing top-down media control bring us any closer to the truth-topia we were hoping for?

It takes four dollars of debt to create a single dollar of GDP growth in China. For context, at the peak of the GFC in 2008 it was taking three dollars of debt to create a dollar of GDP growth in the U.S. China has received the kiss of debt, says Ruchir Sharma.

How will we deal with the impending overpopulation crisis – and how much of a crisis is it anyway?

A global risk report by the World Economic Forum lists populism and social division among the top five trends that will determine global markets in 2017 and beyond.

Louise Tarrant argues less work is not weakness, but a sign of prosperity and a necessity to the coming automation.

More than 630 companies are calling out President-elect Donald Trump in an open letter. It asks him to keep the promises the United States made during the Paris Agreement and move us closer to a low-carbon economy.

A new nonprofit organization aims to elect more scientists to the U.S government.

Students at an English university have demanded that their curriculum be “decolonized”. What does that mean?  

Want to make someone an offer they can’t refuse? Understand how our minds are hung up on loss aversion, says former FBI negotiator Chris Voss.

Go fearlessly into the Internet, but not blindly, says Virginia Heffernan – each corner of digital culture has its best practices. Not learning them is a disrespect.

Not every language agrees on how many colors there are. With some having more terms and others fewer. But does that mean we see the world differently?

A report by UK’s parliamentary committee tackles the issue of non-integration in the country’s Muslim communities. 

Overpopulation is often viewed as a nightmare, but what if it’s a dream come true?

A patent filed for Amazon’s “airborne fulfillment centers” reveals the e-commerce giant’s plans for the future of delivery.

No offense, says Slavoj Žižek, but maybe we need to incorporate some “gently racist” icebreakers into our conversations.

Let’s not let the prospect of a little free money stop us from pursuing more progressive regulations and reforms.

Author and robot expert Dr. David Levy explains how marriage with robots will come in the next several decades as technological and societal transformations take place.

Add to playlist! Stanford University posts its Ho Center for Buddhist Studies series of talks on YouTube.

A new study reports that 32,000 lives could be saved annually if every doctor in the U.S. was female. What can this teach medical institutions about best practices?

The United States and Russia are longtime geopolitical adversaries looking for a new way forward.

With President Trump appointing officials who want to abolish the departments they hope to lead, one might ask, “What is the rationale for this?”. Milton Friedman offers us an answer. 

A recent tweet from Donald Trump plummeted the value of Lockheed Martin’s stocks. What implications does this hold about the economic influences of social media? 

Times of great fear can lead to greater oppression. For Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, the prospect of a Muslim registry is obscene, and it’s slippery slope to something much worse.

The United States of America is as divided now as it has ever been. Why is this? One author suggests that it is because we have never been one united nation, but 11 differing ones. Founded for different reasons and striving towards conflicting goals, can they ever learn to get along again?

Imagine a world where governments compete for your citizenships. Bitcoin and Blockchain expert Toni Lane Casserly explains how this technology could anoint people over institutions. How Blockchain Can Empower Migrants and Refugees

People like Thomas More, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Bertrand Russell have already had many of the arguments we’re having about basic income today.   Dr. Elise Klein wants to point out the conversations we’re having around Universal Basic Income (UBI) aren’t new. Great leaders and thinkers Thomas Paine, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Tony Atkinson have already had many of the arguments surrounding UBI, today. Its history bears repeating.

Despite our romanticized vision of social media as a global town square overflowing with diversity, the reality is that each user’s experience is hyper-filtered.    

Donald Trump campaigned on the imperative to bring back jobs for Americans. He should turn to Elon Musk to succeed on his aims.