Urban Comeback: How Cities Are Leading Us Into the Future
At a time when nations are gridlocked and corrupted by special interests, cities are taking on poverty, social isolation, and the climate crisis.
Democracy
These 14 Teenage Inventors Built a Glove That Translates Sign Language鈥攁nd Other Tech Solutions
What these kids came up with will leave you wondering what adults are even doing anymore.
Land, Co-ops, Compost: A Local Food Economy Emerges in Boston’s Poorest Neighborhoods
From kitchens that buy and sell locally grown food, to a waste co-op that will return compost to the land, new enterprises are building an integrated food network. It's about local people keeping the wealth of their land at home.
North Dakota Has a Unique Law Protecting Locally Owned Pharmacies鈥擝ut This Ballot Measure Could Wipe It Out
In the far north of the Great Plains, you have to be a pharmacist to own a pharmacy. Next week, voters could overturn that rule鈥攑utting the state's thriving independent drugstores at risk.
Next Week Oregon, Alaska, and D.C. Vote on Recreational Pot鈥擜nd It’s About More Than Just Getting High
If those three measures pass, more states will be added to the list of places where healing from the drug war can begin, places where people will no longer face jail time because of a little nugget in their pockets.
These Two Vets Walked Thousands of Miles to Heal Trauma and Raise Money
Two veterans trekked across America to leave behind the trauma of war and raise money for fellow vets. Now they want to offer the same healing experience to others like them.
Why You Need to Know About a Gross Thing Called #GamerGate鈥擜nd the Women Who Fight It
We can learn a lot about the future of culture wars from a 鈥渕ovement鈥� of video game players angry about efforts to make gaming more welcoming for women.
Denmark Becomes Second Country to Let Citizens Choose Their Gender Without Having Surgery
A new law allows transgender citizens to decide their own gender鈥攁nd all it takes is a piece of paper.
Beating Climate Change by Retooling the Economy鈥擳he Story Begins in Navajo Country
A proposed community-owned solar project on an abandoned coal mine in Arizona illustrates how cooperative economomics make it possible to stop extracting fossil fuels鈥攚ithout leaving workers behind.
When Poverty Was the Enemy, Not the Poor
The poverty rate in the U.S. would be 15 percent higher if not for the War on Poverty and government anti-poverty programs since 1967.
Naomi Klein Tells 大象传媒: People鈥檚 Climate March Is a 鈥淕limpse of the Movement We Need鈥�
Naomi Klein鈥檚 powerful new book explains why not only can the climate movement win鈥攂ut it鈥檚 our best chance at overturning some of history鈥檚 greatest injustices.
A Wall Street Equity Firm Evicted My Family. We鈥檙e Still Searching for a Home
Our experience strengthened our resolve to fight for housing as a human right.
Photo Essay: Scenes from the Heart of the #FloodWallStreet Sit-In
There was more to #FloodWallStreet than a guy in a polar bear suit getting arrested. Here鈥檚 a gallery of lesser-known moments from the day鈥檚 events.
Why a Tiny Decrease in Unemployment Means a Big Pay Raise for the Poor
A sustained one-percentage-point decline in the unemployment rate is associated with a 9.4 percent rise in the wages of workers in the bottom quintile of the wage distribution.
Three Projects that Block Violence Against Women By Bringing Communities Together
These projects show how everyday people can address violence in our own communities by breaking through the silence to interrupt abuse.
7 Practical Ideas for Compassionate Communities, From Free College to Debt Relief
It's not hard to bring a little more equality into each others' lives.
Can a 鈥淔irewall Strategy鈥� Keep Big Energy Out of Climate Talks? It Worked for Fighting Tobacco
Kicking the polluters out of the negotiations may sound like wishful thinking. But there is a precedent: the global effort to regulate the tobacco industry.
Watch Out Wall Street, Climate Marchers Are Coming For You Next
A sit-in planned for the day after the People鈥檚 Climate March will call out the role of Wall Street in climate change.
Stanford’s Coal Divestment: Meet 2 Students鈥擜nd 1 President鈥擶ho Made It Happen
The movement to persuade schools to divest from fossil fuels has taken off around the country. Meet a few people who helped get Stanford鈥檚 money out of coal.
Most Social Change Groups Grapple with White Privilege鈥擝ut This Book Can Help
The work of activism is full of messy contradictions. In 鈥淭owards Collective Liberation,鈥� Chris Crass breaks down the influence of racism and patriarchy, including helpful how-tos鈥攍ike 鈥淭wenty Careful Steps Toward Anti-sexist Action.鈥�
Occupy Offshoot Cancels $4 Million in Predatory Student Loans鈥攁nd Starts a Debtors Union
First, they started buying up鈥攁nd canceling鈥攊ndividuals鈥� medical debt. Now the people behind Rolling Jubilee are taking on student loans from a for-profit university that exploits the poor鈥攁nd the whole debt system could be next.
Why the People鈥檚 Climate March Won鈥檛 Stop Climate Change (And 5 Ways to Go Further)
An incisive critique of the People鈥檚 Climate March comes with a list of ways to step up our game.
How Residents of a Rural New Mexico County Fought the Fracking Barons and Won鈥擣or Now
In Mora County, New Mexico, corporations seeking fracking contracts came up against 鈥渜uerencia鈥濃�攁 traditional way of thinking about and defending the land.
Kentucky Town Beats High Gas Prices鈥擝y Opening a Public Gas Station
Gas stations aren鈥檛 great for the climate, but the move is a step toward local control over economic decisions鈥攁 model that holds great potential for developing renewable energy in the long term.
This Former NASA Intern Just Wrote The Best Sci-Fi Book of the Year: Monica Byrne on 鈥淭he Girl in the Road鈥�
A future where India is the major world superpower, gender is flexible, and energy comes from waves? This writer鈥檚 version of the near future feels much more real than apocalyptic nightmares we鈥檝e come to dread.
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