Current Events
Is there victory in defeat?
Elon Musk’s successful bid to take over Twitter has fragmented the internet along predictably partisan lines. But only time will tell whether this is a good or bad thing.
AI-generated photos, also known as synthetic media, are being used to create fake experts and journalists to spread disinformation.
Moments of social anxiety around truth tend to be accompanied by similar “fool the eye” pop culture phenomena.
“Dead” satellites aren’t just space junk. They are also targets for hackers to hijack and use to broadcast misinformation.
U.S. nuclear power plants are built to survive external attacks. Even missiles or a commercial aircraft strike would not cause a meltdown or radiation leak.
Social media distorts the reality of the public sphere.
The results of a 2021 study suggest that the world’s most powerful psychedelic may be an underutilized peace-building tool.
While there is more to North Korean cinema than meets the eye, the country’s film industry ultimately amounts to little more than a mouthpiece for the ruling Kim dynasty.
“How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?” Steinbeck writes.
Javelin missiles have been an effective force multiplier, the latter-day equivalent of the sling that David used against Goliath.
Urinating in the direction of NATO’s staunchest opponent could cost you $350 or more. For world peace, aim wisely.
Spotty connectivity isn’t going to jeopardize Ukraine’s drone attacks.
Far from being inappropriate, many of the most controversial acceptance speeches highlighted important issues in the film industry.
The idea that the news can make you sick has a long history.
Germany finds itself once again allowing a murderous dictator to run rampant in Europe, though this time it is due to incompetence and technophobia rather than malice.
Forty Starlink satellites were destroyed earlier this year in a geomagnetic storm.
We pretend as if economic sanctions are a peaceful way to coerce others into behaving. In reality, they are a potent tool of modern warfare.
Like witchcraft, “racecraft” refers to a kind of magical thinking — one that treats race as if it were scientifically meaningful.
Do the health risks outweigh the benefits?
Recent geopolitical turning points, like Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presidential election, were chapters in a story that extends decades back in world history.
Russia’s cyberattacks against Ukraine have been prolific and ongoing for several years. The future of war may begin in cyberspace.
The rhetorical fallout is greater than the radioactive fallout.
When actual people correct misinformation online, it can be as effective, if not more so, as when a social media company labels something as questionable.
Vladimir Putin adores Fyodor Dostoevsky. A close reading of the legendary author’s texts reveals the feeling might have been mutual.
The paradox of tribalism is that humans need a sense of belonging to be healthy and happy, but too much tribalism is deadly. We are one tribe.
In “Off the Edge”, journalist Kelly Weill dives down the strange rabbit hole of the flat-Earther community.
In theory, history is the sum of everything that ever happened; in practice, it’s a story we tell ourselves to make sense of and justify our actions in the present.
Russia has long sought to erase the mere idea of Ukraine. But people like my grandmother, born in Druzhkivka, will not let Russia win.