The Conversation

California is embarking on an audacious new climate plan that aims to eliminate the state’s greenhouse gas footprint by 2045, and in the process, slash emissions far beyond its borders. The blueprint calls for massive transformations in industry, energy and transportation, as well as changes in institutions and human behaviors.

Antisemitism and Holocaust denial are no longer hidden in the margins, spewed by fringe hate groups. From Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – and NBA player Kyrie Irving to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, well-recognized personalities have echoed antisemitic ideas, often online.

While special counsels are intended to be independent, in practice they are aren’t entirely. Ensuring impartiality in the Department of Justice can be difficult, as the attorney general is appointed by – and answerable to – a partisan president.

Although the style and content of Roth’s fiction is extraordinarily diverse, there is always audible a distinctive voice: irreverent yet earnest, questioning yet authoritative, subtle and nuanced yet powerful and passionate.

The degenerate characters whose perspectives Poe invites readers to inhabit don’t exactly align with a cultural moment characterized by the #MeToo movement, safe spaces and trigger warnings.

South Carolina decided in 2021 to allow its inmates on death row the option of execution by firing squad. With that move, South Carolina has elected to deploy a form of capital punishment not used in the state since the Civil War.

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s liberal prime minister who just announced her resignation, faced a constant barrage of online and in-person abuse – from anti-vaxxers, misogynists and sundry others who simply don’t like her.

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, hailed the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, a convicted terrorist, and is trying to make his anti-Palestinian movement seem less extremist and more appealing to Jews and the international community. A rewrite of American history could help him do it.

At the time of the Black Lives Matter movement, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work is more relevant than ever. It highlights racial inequalities and the lack of representation of racialized people in the media, but also the violence suffered by African Americans.

As of Jan. 1, 2023, foreign buyers are banned from buying homes in Canada for two years under the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act. The ban is part of the federal government’s effort to ease Canadians’ struggle to afford homes.

A five-minute light walk every half-hour was the only strategy that reduced blood sugar levels substantially compared with sitting all day. In particular, five-minute walks every half-hour reduced the blood sugar spike after eating by almost 60%.

Autofiction is contentious. Some authors renounce the label, including Annie Ernaux, who views her first-person “I” as a collective self. Some disagree that it is a genre at all. Instead, they view autofiction as a “mode” of writing – or as a “strategy” or “lens”. Some go so far as to argue that all works of literature necessarily stem from personal experience.

While many Muslims believe it is inappropriate to depict Muhammad, the recent labeling of such paintings as “hate speech” and “blasphemy” not only inaccurate but inflammatory. Such condemnations can pose a threat to individuals and works of art.

The pollution resulting from the preparation of coffee at home is just the tip of the iceberg. Before you can enjoy a cup of coffee, it goes through several steps, starting from the agricultural production of the coffee beans, their transport, the roasting and grinding of the beans, right up to the heating of the water for the coffee and the washing of the cups it is poured in.

As tourism grows, so will environmental impacts on Antarctica such as black carbon from cruise ship funnels. Tourists can carry in microbes, seed and other invasive species on their boots and clothes – a problem that will only worsen as ice melt creates new patches of bare earth. And cruise ships are hardly emissions misers.

Partially because alcohol is such a commonly used substance, heavily marketed and glamorized in pop culture, Americans’ comfort with and acceptance of its use in everyday life is remarkably high. But should it be?

The new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn in on Dec. 29, 2022, is a coalition of the most extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts.

The arm-twisting, dealmaking and vote hunting around Kevin McCarthy’s quest to be named House speaker have put on full display the fact that razor-thin majorities in both the House and the Senate create legislative and institutional uncertainty that has very real consequences for how Congress is run and how policy gets made.

With the current U.S. inflation rate at 7.1%, interest rates rising and housing costs up, many Americans are wondering if a recession is looming. The consensus view among most forecasters is that a recession is on the way.

Benin in West Africa hopes to market itself as a major destination for Afro-descendant tourists in the diaspora. But the latest developments are walking a fine line, balancing education and remembrance with crude commerce and rank tourism.

For the most part, cats were quite at home in the medieval household. And as their playful depiction in many medieval manuscripts and artwork makes clear, our medieval ancestors’ relationships with these animals were not too different from our own.

Pelé, soccer’s first global superstar, was the best to have ever played the game, the symbol of soccer played with passion, gusto and a smile. He helped to forge an image of the game, which even today lots of people continue to crave.

Below the surface of almost weekly bad news, significant changes are underway that have the potential to create a more sustainable world – one in which humanity can tackle climate change, species extinction and food and energy insecurity.

From the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer to the return to Earth of an asteroid explorer to India’s first India’s private space launch, 2023 is set to be as busy a space exploration year as 2022. Here’s a preview.

Clowns have a long history of contributing positively to politics and society. They have brought disruption, subversion, comfort and joy to healthcare, education and humanitarian efforts. Politicians? Not so much.

Since 1992, Democrats have flipped the West away from Republican control, a shift that began with the end of the Cold War and carried through a Pacific Coast economic recession, anti-racism demonstrations and violence in Los Angeles and the area’s increasing diversity.

Almost half of violent hate crimes with LGBTQ victims involved an attacker who was a close friend, family member, partner or former partner, and victims were more likely to have physical and psychological symptoms as a result of the attack.

Theodore Roosevelt campaigned to regain the office from his successor, William Howard Taft. He divided the Republican Party and ensured the victory of Democrat Woodrow Wilson in the presidential election of 1912.

The House committee recommended that the Justice Department pursue four main charges against Trump – obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to make a false statement and inciting or assisting an insurrection. Here’s what it all means.

Kissinger espoused a narrow perspective of the national interest, known as “realpolitik,” centered on maximizing the economic and military power of the United States. This power- and transactionalist-oriented approach to foreign policy produced a series of destructive outcomes. They ranged from fomenting coups that put in place murderous dictatorships, killing unarmed civilians, and alienating potential allies.

Officially called Title 42 of the U.S. Code, the little-known law was established initially in 1944 to prevent the spread of influenza and allow authorities to bar entry to foreigners deemed to be at risk of spreading the disease. Donald Trump invoked the law in 2020. It’s set to expire at the end of the year.

In 2022, water levels in some of the world’s largest rivers, including the Rhine in Europe and the Yangtze in China, fell to historically low levels. The Mississippi River fell so low in Memphis, Tennessee, in mid-October that barges were unable to float, requiring dredging and special water releases from upstream reservoirs to keep channels navigable. Earth scientists see this year’s dramatic plunge in water levels as a preview of a climate-altered future.

The cost of a fusion power plant needs to go well below the US$3.5 billion of the National Ignition Facility. These steps will require significant investment from both the federal government and private industry.

U.S. consumers waste a lot of food year-round – about one-third of all purchased food. That’s equivalent to 1,250 calories per person per day, or US$1,500 worth of groceries for a four-person household each year, an estimate that doesn’t include recent food price inflation.

We are used to thinking that going digital means going green. But driving a small car to the movie theatre with a friend may have lower carbon emissions than streaming the same movie alone at home.

Young people’s estimated 27% turnout rate in 2022 marks a near-record for an age group that has historically participated at lower rates in midterm elections. Whether this is a long-term trend or not will depend on whether communities and political groups implement the changes that research suggests can lead to sustained increases in youth voter turnout.

Divided government – including during the upcoming legislative session – will not produce greatly different legislative results than unified government, because unified government isn’t very productive in the first place: It’s really hard to get things done even when the same party controls both chambers and the presidency.

Every time you flush a toilet, it releases plumes of tiny water droplets into the air around you. These droplets, called aerosol plumes, can spread pathogens from human waste and expose people in public restrooms to contagious diseases. Here’s the visual proof.

There has been much excitement at the discovery of a treasure trove of notes from the lectures of the great German idealist philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. Before rejoicing we should ask: why does Hegel have this tricky reputation? And is it reasonable to expect that this new set of lecture notes will finally shed light on what can seem so obscure about his thinking?