In The News

PFAS Contaminated Water and Food: Guardian

Tom Perkins February 8, 2020
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of about 5,000 manmade fluorinated chemicals, widely used to produce waterproof and stain-resistant textiles. These chemicals, which don’t break down naturally, are known as “forever chemicals.” But they are also water soluble, polluting soil and nearby drinking-water sources.” It is estimated that PFAS are in 99% of Americans’ blood, and...

Disease Prevention Must Be Policy Priority: CNN

Sten Vermund February 5, 2020
Societies do not have to wait for diseases like the new coronavirus to emerge and spread. Ongoing preparedness and investment can go a long way in preventing global public health crises, argues Sten Vermund, dean of the Yale School of Public Health. “Investing in one epidemic can have an impact that spans other diseases, future years, distant continents and disparate health systems,” he writes...

Lockdown on Coronavirus: South China Morning Post

January 23, 2020
China has taken the unprecedented step of quarantining Wuhan, a city of 11 million, to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus. The virus has infected more than 500, killed 17 people and spread to at least six nations since the start of the year. Public health officials connect foreign cases to travel and time spent in Wuhan. Wuhan's public transportation is closed. “Local residents rushed...

Questions for a New Era of Business: Fortune

James Manyika and Lareina Yee December 24, 2019
A new era of business, much like the industrial revolution or the internet boom, is underway. Companies that recognize the trends including aging populations, new technologies, growing economies, improved health and increased influence of developing economies will flourish. Challenges include inequality, stagnant incomes, populism, climate change, rivalries that disrupt trade and concentration of...

China Needs More Babies: Caixin

James Liang December 8, 2019
China’s fertility rate has barely budged even though the government has loosened its one-child policy for families. Population is linked to economic growth yet uncertainty combined with a rising living standard and cultural acceptance of small families contribute to the trends. China’s fertility rate is 1.8 children per women, below the 2.1 replacement rate. The nation posted 17 million births in...

Accelerationism Inspires White Supremacism: Vox

Zack Beauchamp December 1, 2019
Due to their own failures and insecurities, white supremacists emphasize otherness, resenting minorities and trends toward greater equality. While some of the most extreme have views that overlap with the alt-right movement, they express impatience and embrace an ideology of accelerationism, which “rests on the idea that Western governments are irreparably corrupt,” explains Zack Beauchamp. The...

Anglo-American Relations: Columbia Journalism Review

John Allsop July 9, 2019
Newspapers printed leaked diplomatic correspondence describing the Trump administration as “dysfunctional” and “diplomatically clumsy and inept.” The initial news report, acknowledging the US president is “notoriously thin-skinned, exposes concerns about the reliability of the United States as an ally, and the Trump administration responded that that it will no longer work with Ambassador Kim...