Miscellaneous
I know I’m conscious. But how? And why?
Recently at a remote beach in Mexico I was looking at the most beautiful stars filled night sky. The darkness was perfect and there were more stars than I had ever seen. Looking at the stars always overwhelms me. I know the theory of the Big Bang that tells me that the universe has been expanding Read More...
Innovation on the fringes
Kibera is the slum, the shantytown that—in the Western mind, at least—defines the grotesque poverty of the developing world. Rusting corrugated roofs sprawl to the horizon. More than 200,000 people live here on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Residents walk alongside open sewers and Read More...
Indias Love Commandos
Once upon a time, a couple fell in love in the village of Bulundshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India. She was from a rich family, he from a poor one. Both shared the same religion, Islam, and they wanted to spend their lives together. She knew her family wouldn’t agree to let her marry a man from such a Read More...
A theater for banned films
Thousands of artists live and work in the village of Songzhuang, just outside Beijing. In the middle of town, independent filmmakers show new features and documentaries at the Fanhall Center for the Arts. These productions are uncensored and unapproved by the government, so they can’t get into Read More...
Here comes the bus
When Andy Didorosi opened the newspaper in January and discovered that Detroit had axed plans to build a light rail system, he was deeply disappointed. He’d been hoping the new railway would rejuvenate his city, which has suffered decay, poverty, crime and joblessness since the decline of the Read More...
Knock on Wood
Trees grow slowly, but growing trees for a living requires -constant maintenance—controlled burns, pruning, thinning, harvesting, planting. Most tree farmers stop at that, but Chuck Leavell takes it further. On Charlane Plantation, his 2,200-acre tree farm about 20 miles southeast of Macon, Read More...
Energy for all
It sounds almost too simple: Install solar panels in remote homes and villages, and thereby improve the lives of residents. Solar power allows people to read at night, watch TV and heat clinics and schools. “A big change for a little effort,” says Robert Freling, director of the Solar Electric Read More...
The economy shrinks and life gets better
Imagine a world where less money is spent on defense, a world with fewer weapons and bombs to fall into the wrong hands. Would you feel safer? I know some people believe guns buy safety. But more guns, a lot of guns, don’t make society safer. So when less money is spent on military stuff, I Read More...
Rise and dance
"I am over how long it seems to take anyone to ever respond to rape. I am over Facebook taking weeks to take down rape pages. I am over the hundreds of thousands of women in Congo still waiting for the rapes to end and the rapists to be held accountable. I am over the thousands Read More...
A small act of rebellion
Janisse Ray calls them revolutionaries: the seed savers, thousands of Americans who plant historic and endangered seeds in their gardens or on their farms and eat the results. In The Seed Underground (published by Chelsea Green), she explains why this small act of rebellion against the monoculture Read More...