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Federal Trade Commission sues leading transgender health group
The Federal Trade Commission and four states are suing the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
RWJBarnabas Health Invests $1.7 Million to Support Local Community Health Initiatives in Jersey City, Hudson County
RWJBarnabas Health today announced a combined $1.7 million investment to support local organizations working to address barriers to care, food insecurity, and economic stability among underserved communities in Jersey City and Hudson County.
FTC sues leading transgender medical group over pediatric care statements
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and four states on Wednesday sued the leading medical organization focused on transgender health for allegedly making false and unsubstantiated claims to parents …
Survey reveals political and cultural factions shaping the midterms
Examine Pew’s survey on types of voters and analyze differences across key political demographic groups
FTC Sues Nonprofit Alleging Deception Over Youth Trans Care
The US Federal Trade Commission and several states sued the leading professional association focused on transgender healthcare Wednesday, alleging the group deceived parents about the medical necessity and safety of medical transitions.
Western Alliance Bank’s Melanie Krinsky Named 2026 Entertainment Business Visionary for Advancing Film, TV and Music Financing
Western Alliance Bank (NYSE:WAL) today announced that Melanie Krinsky, Senior Managing Director and Head of its Entertainment & Media Group, has been named a...
Nations allege 'attacks' on science at key climate talks
Crucial negotiations ahead of the COP31 summit have been frustrated by a "small group of fossil fuels interests" attacking the science of climate change behind closed doors, envoys said Wednesday.The ...
USA Lacrosse Docuseries Wins Cynopsis Sports Award
Behind the Shield, a seven-part docuseries following the 2025 U.S. Men’s Lacrosse U20 team, won the 2026 Cynopsis Sports Award in the Best Sports Team/Event/Competition Documentary or Docuseries category.Watch Behind the ShieldThere were more than 30 categories in this year’s Cynopsis Sports Awards, recognizing an exceptional group of organizations, teams and individuals driving innovation, creativity and impact across the sports industry.
In private speech, Blanche tried to mend fences with critical conservative activist
At President Donald Trump’s Miami hotel, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recently tried to smooth things over with a conservative watchdog group whose anger at the Trump administration was building on multiple fronts.
Applications for business help in Detroit now open -- Here’s how it works
What scientists discovered about your kitchen sponge will alarm you - Futura-Sciences
The results show that kitchen sponges do release measurable amounts of microplastics over time. However, the researchers found that the biggest environmental burden linked to hand-washing dishes is not the plastic particles themselves. Instead, water use accounts for the vast majority of the overall impact. Kitchen sponges as a source...
How Argonne’s John Domyancich is creating pathways to science, technology, engineering and math careers
STEM Learning Pathways Manager John Domyancich inspires the next generation of scientists through hands-on learning experiences at Argonne National Laboratory.
Business Record recognized nationally for journalism and design excellence
On behalf of Business Publications Corp., I am proud to share that the Business Record received national recognition in two categories at the 2026 Alliance of Area Business Publishers Editorial Excellence Awards. While awards are never the goal, recognition from industry peers is always meaningful. These honors place the Business Record alongside some of the…
COL Group, Virtue Asia Team for Southeast Asia Microdrama Brand Push
V47 Entertainment’s specialist agency Virtue Asia has struck a deal with China-listed microdrama company COL Group to develop and distribute brand-funded entertainment across Southeast Asia, the compa...
Autumn Bailey-Ford Launches AfriNova Entertainment Group
Autumn Bailey-Ford and Simo Kubheka and Damien Brown of NV Film Studios and Services have partnered to launch AfriNova Entertainment Group.
How to protect your property from an uptick in mosquitoes after rain, humidity
Proposed Mills 50 parking garage sparks debate over parking needs and business displacement
A proposed parking garage in Orlando’s Mills 50 district could bring hundreds of new spaces to an area known for crowded streets and limited parking.
WHO Step-by-Step programme recognized as a promising innovation for mental health in humanitarian settings
WHO, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Lebanon’s National Mental Health Programme, showcased Step-by-Step at the World Bank Group’s biennial Fragility Forum in Washington, DC. The forum convened more than 1500 representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society to advance the development agenda in the world’s most fragile and crisis-affected communities. WHO was invited to demonstrate Step-by-Step – a digital self-help intervention for depression, alongside innovations presented by Stanford University and Google. The World Bank Group selected Step-by-Step from among more than 50 innovations that they reviewed in the lead up to the Forum.About Step-by-StepStep-by-Step is a free digital tool developed by WHO in collaboration with Lebanon’s National Mental Health Programme and other partners, that helps people manage depression and anxiety on their own, with light guidance from a trained supporter. It uses a picture-based story to walk users through evidence-based techniques for managing common mental health conditions. Users complete five modules, with weekly contacts – of around 15 minutes each – from a trained non-specialist helper, such as a community health worker.Evidence-basedClinical trials in Lebanon involving nearly 1250 participants – including 680 Lebanese participants and 569 Syrian participants – showed that Step-by-Step significantly reduced depression, anxiety and stress, and improved daily functioning. By the end of the programme, a reduction in depressive symptoms of more than 50% was reported by almost half (46%) of Lebanese participants and more than one third (37%) of Syrian participants compared to approximately 14% of those who did not use the programme. Cost-effectiveness analyses further suggest that Step-by-Step may offer a cost-saving response to depression in humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries.Used globallyStep-by-Step is already in use nationwide in Lebanon and Thailand, as part of each country’s mental health system. In India, the NGO – Kaya Guides – has adapted Step-by-Step for delivery through a widely used messaging app. Together, these programmes have provided thousands of people with evidence-based support for depression. The content is freely available from the WHO website for any organization or country to adapt for their own context.A new implementation guideThe Fragility Forum coincided with the recent launch of WHO’s new practical guide: Psychological self-help interventions: delivering self-help for individuals, featuring Step-by-Step and Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (WHO, 2026). The guide is designed to help governments, health workers, organizations and planners bring evidence-based mental health support to more people, particularly in low-resource and crisis-affected settings.
Latvia pilots citizen engagement in research grant evaluations
Latvia has introduced an element of citizen engagement to the evaluation of nationally funded research grants. The aim is to both create more connections between science and society, and to improve the quality of its evaluations. The move comes as research funders across Europe are experimenting with ways to improve evaluation processes in the face of a sharpened focus on science’s impact on society. Evaluators of grant applications submitted to Latvia’s Fundamental and Applied Research Programme (FLPP), the country’s main research funder, will this year have the option of consulting citizen feedback on challenges the public thinks science should focus on to inform their decisions. “In recent years, both public discussions and policy-level debates in Latvia have highlighted the importance of demonstrating how publicly funded research contributes to society, the economy and the resolution of real-world challenges,” said a source at the Latvian Council of Science (LCS), which manages the FLPP. “At the same time, research institutions themselves expressed interest in improving the project evaluation framework while continuing to ensure that funding is awarded to the highest-quality projects,” the source added. The citizen input comes from a survey that was conducted between 25 February and 16 March 2025, to which 1,737 people responded. It gathered information on what the public views as problem areas for Latvia, and the role of science and technology in providing solutions to these problems. A summary of these responses has been included as an annex to the FLPP 2026 call for proposals that evaluators can refer to, purely in an advisory manner, when judging proposals. Results from the survey show that the main problem areas identified by the public were in healthcare and public health, followed by the development of new treatment methods and medicines, and then digital technology, data security and cyber security. At the bottom of the list was research aimed at acquiring new knowledge about the universe, matter and the laws of nature. Further analysis looked at the public view of the possible role of science in solving these problems. The survey charted 4,167 individual responses based on open-ended questions that were derived from the participants’ answers. The analysis again found that medical and health sciences topped the scoring, with 788 responses referring to the field. Humanities and the arts were bottom of the list, with 625. Digging further into the details, the survey suggests citizens are aware of and concerned about a number of research areas. This includes technologies and innovation to improve the environment or reduce pollution, the development of modern military technologies and cybersecurity tools, and the development and application of artificial intelligence, among others. “We hope this initiative will help strengthen public trust in science and create a more meaningful dialogue between researchers and society,” the LCS source said, adding that it offers benefits to researchers, evaluators and to the general public. More space for citizen engagement in evaluationsThere is a gradual but increasing use of citizen engagement in research evaluation processes around Europe, especially in healthcare, but it remains relatively rare, said Henry Sauermann, a professor at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin and an expert in citizen science.“Given that we are at a point where citizen involvement is extremely limited, there is presumably space for more, but it's not that we should do it just because we want to do it,” he told Science|Business. He said some research lends itself better to having citizen input, and this usually tends to be on the applied end of the science spectrum where the public can offer useful feedback based on their experiences. He added that advising scientists on certain topics to study is also a useful approach, in the way that Latvia is doing. “The public does fund a lot of science, there's a lot of tax money going into this. We of course do want to preserve academic freedom, but it's also not unreasonable to incorporate more feedback or input from citizens where possible,” he said. Related articlesCitizen science: where, when, and how to let the public contribute to researchHow can Europe cope with a flood of AI-assisted research grant proposals?Data Corner: Horizon Europe’s AI, digital and data call success rate is 5.2%There are several ways of involving citizens in science funding. The most minimal way is having a few representatives on a panel, such as members of a patient group or union. The most direct way is crowdsourcing funding for specific projects. There is an increasing number of online platforms that allow the public to chip in to support scientific proposals.Sauermann studied this in a recent paper and found that it can have its uses, but it still is not clear if there are benefits to it. There are various assumptions linked to citizen engagement, for example that it increases public trust in science, or that it provides a representative view of what the public thinks about science. These are not necessarily true, Sauermann found. People who participate in engagement activities tend to already be very trusting of science, and, on the whole, it is generally the well-off and well educated who contribute, giving a narrow view of public opinion. On whether citizen input can help manage the increasing number of proposals that are being submitted due to assistance from AI, Sauermann is more sceptical. “The obvious answer to the flood of AI-written proposals is AI-driven evaluation,” he said, adding that it doesn’t mean citizen engagement shouldn’t be a part of evaluations in a well thought-out manner. Southern Denmark’s successful approachOne successful example of citizen engagement in science evaluations was implemented in southern Denmark. Between 2019 and 2025, citizens in the region were invited to vote to fund one of five pre-selected projects in the field of healthcare. The project, called A Healthier Southern Denmark, was a collaboration between regional authorities, the University of Southern Denmark, and two media partners. Over the seven years, there were 75,000 votes and significant public engagement online and on social media. “It was a bit of a wild project, we’d never done something like that before and we were a bit nervous about what would be said in the media about it. But actually, people were very positive,” said Anne Kathrine Overgaard, one of the main organisers of the project from the University of Southern Denmark. The university and its researchers have learned a lot from the experience, particularly about engaging with society and shaping their research to match real-world needs. This is important with Europe’s increasing focus on competitiveness and bringing innovations to market faster, Overgaard said. She hopes to see more citizen engagement in evaluation processes and in science more broadly. “For many years, citizen engagement has been a bit of an add-on to proposals, just to check a box. But I think things are changing,” she said. It’s less about citizens just gathering data and more “about the dialogue between the public and the scientists,” she said. The initiative ended last year as the team wanted to regroup to find fresh momentum. The development of AI and AI-written proposals has made Overgaard reflect on how the project could be reworked to help evaluators. She hopes to bring it back in the future. “It could be a good idea to try this initiative again in a slightly re-worked format,” she said.
Accenture to Acquire Alfahealth, Expanding Digital Health Capabilities to Accelerate Healthcare Transformation in Italy
Accenture has agreed to acquire Alfahealth, a subsidiary of Engineering Group.
Kraft Group sues Foxboro over excess entertainment license fee
The Kraft Group filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the town of Foxboro of abusing its licensing powers for Gillette Stadium events.
Kraft Group sues Foxboro over nearly $1M entertainment license fee for Gillette Stadium
The Kraft Group filed a lawsuit against Foxboro on Tuesday over an entertainment license fee of about $1 million for Gillette Stadium they say is part of a pattern of the town improperly using licensing authority to “extract…
Seattle business group says JumpStart tax is pushing jobs, investment toward Bellevue
Seattle’s payroll tax was created nearly six years ago with a promise to tax the city’s highest-paid workers and use the money to help with economic recovery
Kraft Group sues Foxboro over entertainment license fee for Gillette Stadium
California Business Groups Oppose Reckless Billionaires’ Tax
or Immediate Release Contact: John Myers john.myers@calchamber.com | press@calchamber.com (June 16, 2026) Sacramento, CA – The California Chamber of
Merchants of Doubt and the attacks on Extreme Event Attribution science
Last week, I attended a meeting at Columbia University on attribution science and climate law, hosted by the Sabin Center. It was a fantastic event, bringing together scientists and legal experts working at the intersection of extreme event attribution and climate law. Subscribe For those unfamiliar with it, extreme event attribution attempts to quantify the contribution of climate change to an extreme event. For example, several groups analyzed the impact of climate change on Hurricane Harvey’s enormous rainfall totals over Houston, Texas and they found that climate change increased rainfall by 15 to 38%. One thing that came up again and again was how terrified fossil-fuel interests are of extreme event attribution science. They are acutely aware that this research could land them in court. And losing those cases would leave them legally liable for billions of dollars in climate damages. Because the legal stakes are so high, the blowback has turned ugly. I spoke with several scientists at the meeting who are facing ongoing harassment over their work. This blowback is a coordinated campaign to make the entire field look suspect. The goal is to create the impression that attribution science is too uncertain, too political, or too conflicted to be useful in court or in public policy. The strategy is not based on actual science or evidence of misconduct, but on the generation of doubt. The new Merchants of Doubt We’ve seen this before. In fact, not that long ago: We only have to go back a year to the Department of Energy (DOE) Climate Working Group (CWG) report to see an example of using doubt as the tool to push back against well-established science. This strategy is laid out in an email from a member of the CWG, Dr. Roy Spencer, that was released during litigation over the Climate Working Group process. The key quote is: About all I can hope is that what we write will provide sufficient “reasonable scientific doubt” regarding the science claims in the 2009 TSD [technical support document], based upon almost 2 decades of new science, to call into question the original reasoning for the EPA Administrator’s decision that CO2 presents a threat to human health and welfare. This statement is strong evidence that at least some members of the committee were working to support a particular policy outcome: revoking the Endangerment Finding. The email also explains how they planned to do it: by attempting to generate “reasonable doubt”. This is going to be hard, Spencer implies. Despite falsely claiming that “2 decades of new science” weakens the case, Spencer explicitly acknowledges that the actual peer-reviewed science of climate change overwhelmingly rejects his position: But if the science argument is decided upon by a vote, or by the number of published citations, we lose the science argument. We can go back even further: This CWG email shares unmistakable DNA with the infamous 1969 tobacco memo that declared: “Doubt is our product, since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy.” The tobacco memo also acknowledges the limit of this strategy: Like the CWG, they knew the science was not on their side. Share The new new Merchants of Doubt The people attacking the IPCC chapter on extreme event attribution are the newest iteration of the Merchants of Doubt. Their goal, like all Merchants before them, is to introduce doubt into the process. Because the report is not even out yet, they cannot attack its conclusions. So they are attacking the authors instead. Here is a press release from the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee: In the letter, the Chairmen express concerns about potential conflicts of interest involving members of the Attribution Committee, stating that “publicly available information suggests a troubling pattern” in which committee members are affiliated with nonprofits that support climate accountability lawsuits, “raising the appearance of impropriety and member bias.” To be clear, this is just innuendo. There is no actual evidence of bias. And given the robust process that these reports go through, including multiple lines of peer review, it seems very unlikely that significant bias can survive into the report. When the report comes out, critics will have the opportunity to make legitimate criticisms of the report — if any exist. If none do, however, they’ll still make criticisms, but they’ll be bogus, simply designed to generate doubt. We’ll see. A note to the press: Fix your frame To any journalists reading this: The public debate over extreme event attribution science is not going away. The science is simply too dangerous to fossil-fuel interests for them to stop fighting it. You very well might be assigned to write an article about this area of research in the future. When you do, do not automatically adopt the framing that climate misinformers want you to use. They want you to frame the story around questions like: Are climate scientists trying to put their thumb on the scale to achieve a predetermined, politically motivated result? Are climate scientists improperly letting their politics invade the science of the IPCC? That frame is a trap. Instead, you need to view this through the historical lens of the Merchants of Doubt. How does the ecosystem of doubt operate? Who funds it? What methods do they use to misrepresent science and slime researchers? What scientific results are they trying to keep people from understanding are legitimate? Ultimately, you instead need to focus your article on the generation of doubt as a way to maintain the fossil fuel industry’s social and legal license to keep burning oil, gas, and coal. If you treat the misinformers’ frame as a legitimate, good-faith scientific critique, you are helping them produce doubt. Don’t do it. Don’t be a Merchant of Doubt. Thanks for reading The Climate Brink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe other stuff The Staying Curious Substack has an interesting post about the different flavors of climate sensitivity. This is crucial information if you want to understand how scientists think about how much warming the Earth will experience. I’d be grateful if you could hit the like button ❤️ below! It helps more people discover these ideas and lets me know what’s connecting with readers.
Kraft Group files complaint against Town of Foxboro over entertainment licensing - Boston News, Weather, Sports
FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - The Kraft Sports + Entertainment Group filed a complaint against the Town of Foxboro, accusing it improperly charging fees to renewRead More
Kraft Group sues Town of Foxboro over entertainment licensing - Boston News, Weather, Sports
FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - The Kraft Sports + Entertainment Group is suing the Town of Foxboro, accusing it of misuing its licensing authority. The companyRead More
Great Canadian Entertainment Completes Sale of River Rock Casino Resort
Musqueam Traditional Territory (Richmond, B.C.), June 16, 2026--Great Canadian Entertainment ("Great Canadian") announced today the successful closing of the sale of River Rock Casino Resort ("River Rock"), located in Richmond, B.C. on Musqueam lands, to a partnership formed by Petroglyph Development Group ("PDG"), a wholly owned corporation of Snuneymuxw First Nation, and Musqueam Capital Corp ("MCC"), the economic development arm of Musqueam Indian Band. The closing completes the previously an
Kraft Group sues Foxboro over Gillette Stadium entertainment license fee
From The Sports Desk: Four World Cup games, four tightly contested draws on Monday
It was the first time since 1958 that four World Cup games on the same day all ended in ties. Also, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, and Lionel Messi all begin competition today.
Finance, accounting top business major enrollment growth
Overall business students held their place as the biggest group of U.S. undergraduates with 1.6 million enrolled this spring, according to the NSCRC.
EU rules out mandate to keep video games playable, seeks voluntary code
The European Commission said on Tuesday it cannot require video games to remain playable after they are withdrawn from sale, but will work with industry and consumer groups on a voluntary code of c...
Tuesday Health Brings Community-Based Palliative Care to Massachusetts in Partnership with Commonwealth Care Alliance
/PRNewswire/ -- Tuesday Health, a leading palliative care provider group, today announced a partnership with Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA) to deliver...
Oregon Health Chief’s New York Times Essay Draws Response From State Primary Care Group
Oregon Academy of Family Physicians says maternal health care model promoted by Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi already exists in Oregon—but needs her support.
Michigan mastodon to find new ‘habitat’ at Cranbrook Institute of Science
Elmer the mastodon will migrate from the upper floors of Levinson Hall at OCC’s Highland Lakes campus to Bloomfield Hills.
Japan's tech business SoftBank rolls out OpenAI 'patches' against cyberattacks
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group Corp. is launching a service using OpenAI technology to protect against the looming threat of cyberattacks, both companies said Tuesday.
Japan's tech business SoftBank rolls out OpenAI 'patches' against cyberattacks
Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group Corp. is launching a service using OpenAI technology to protect against the looming threat of cyberattacks
Japan's tech business SoftBank rolls out OpenAI 'patches' against cyberattacks
Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group Corp. is launching a service using OpenAI technology to protect against the looming threat of cyberattacks. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son called Japan’s...
Can $100 million overcome a Trump endorsement? What to watch in Tuesday's elections
An endorsement from President Donald Trump is worth a lot in Republican primaries.
Massachusetts looks for ‘happy medium’ on swipe fee reforms
Mass. lawmakers are hoping that business groups, banks, credit card companies, and payment processors will help them cut a path through the thicket of credit card swipe fees.
Nominate your favorite Services business in San Antonio
Nominations for this year’s SA Picks are open, and we’re looking for the best Services Businesses in the San Antonio area!
Trella Health Launches Physician Group Explore & Analyze to Help Post-Acute Organizations Identify High-Value Referral Opportunities
Trella Health, the leading provider of market insights and CRM solutions for post-acute care – now supporting hospital discharge planning via its Repisodic platform – today announced the launch of Physician Group Explore & Analyze, a new feature within Trella Insights designed to help home health, hospice, and skilled nursing organizations identify, prioritize, and engage high-value physician group opportunities.
Epstein survivors push Comer to investigate potential leads from DOJ’s files in private meeting
In a private meeting last week, a group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and family members of the late Virginia Giuffre pointed House Oversight Chair James Comer to allegations from the Justice Department’s Epstein files to further investigate, arguing that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s suggestion there were no more leads to pursue in the case is not true.
Ionic Studios and Questar Entertainment Form Joint Venture to Operate GoTraveler, North America's Largest Travel Channel on Free Streaming Television
Ionic Studios LLC ("Ionic") and Questar Entertainment Group, Inc. ("Questar") today announced the formation of Ionic Questar Holdings, LLC, a joint venture to operate, monetize, and grow GoTraveler, North America's largest travel channel on free ad-supported streaming television. Under the partnership, Ionic serves as Publisher of Record and brings its full operating apparatus to the channel, while Questar contributes the GoTraveler brand and a content library built over more than four decades.
What federal cuts to science funding could mean for the Great Lakes
Some groups that do research and collect data on the Great Lakes are facing existential threats as the annual budgeting process for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gets underway.
Trump’s recent insults show just how strained his relationships with G7 leaders have become
President Donald Trump has repeatedly insulted most of his Group of 7 counterparts over the last several months, reopening old grudges and igniting new feuds with leaders he once seemed to respect.
Requiem Creative Wins Multiple Golden Trailer Awards, Earns Clio Entertainment Honors, and Emerges as One of Entertainment Marketing’s Fastest-Rising Agencies
Rapidly growing entertainment marketing agency recognized across theatrical, streaming, television, gaming, music, and digital campaigns less than two years after launchLOS ANGELES, June 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Requiem Creative, the Los Angeles-based entertainment marketing agency operating within the Ramsey Theory Group portfolio, today announced a series of major industry accolades, including Golden Trailer Awards wins, Clio Entertainment finalist honors, and numerous nominations spanning
Family Entertainment Group, LLC appoints industry veteran Nick DiMatteo, ICAE as senior vice president, equipment operations & strategy
ITASCA, Ill. — Family Entertainment Group, LLC FEG, one of the nation’s premier operators of family entertainment centers, today announced the appointment of Nick DiMatteo, ICAE as Senior V…
Should You Buy Seaport Entertainment Group (SEG)?
Seaport Entertainment Group Inc. (NYSE:SEG) is one of the 6 Cheap Stocks to Buy According to Bill Ackman. Seaport Entertainment Group Inc. (NYSE:SEG) is a real estate firm focused on the entertainment sector. The shares are up by 18.8% over the past year and by 23% year-to-date. The firm has been busy in 2026 consolidating […]
‘An awkward family gathering’: Trump and G7 leaders convene in France amid geopolitical divergences
For weeks, President Donald Trump and his advisers have looked ahead warily to this week’s Group of Seven summit in France.
Visitors' viral World Cup videos show what really makes America great
International soccer fans discovering the wonders of America, from spacious skies to chicken fried steak, is giving the U.S. a much-needed morale (and PR) boost.
Weird Science: Historian uses carbon dating to show N.C.'s most enduring mystery isn't so mysterious
For nearly a century, American school children have been taught the same haunting mystery. In 1587, a group of English colonists landed on Roanoke Island. Then, they vanished, leaving behind only one cryptic clue carved into a wooden gatepost: the word "Croatoan."In this edition of Weird Science, Public Radio East's Annette Weston spoke with a Buxton native who is using science to dispel what he said is the myth behind the truth.
Weird Science: Historian uses carbon dating to show N.C.'s most enduring mystery isn't so mysterious
For nearly a century, American school children have been taught the same haunting mystery. In 1587, a group of English colonists landed on Roanoke Island. Then, they vanished, leaving behind only one cryptic clue carved into a wooden gatepost: the word "Croatoan."In this edition of Weird Science, Public Radio East's Annette Weston spoke with a Buxton native who is using science to dispel what he said is the myth behind the truth.
Shimano Reinvents Deore Group With New Brakes and Cable-Actuated Drivetrain
Three new derailleurs, all cable-actuated, one with a clutch.
Saint-Gobain sells Dahl business to Kesko for $1.7 billion
France-based construction group Saint-Gobain agreed to sell its specialist distribution business in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, primarily under the Dahl brand, to Finnish retailer Kesko for €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion), the company said on Monday.
Uruguay XI vs Saudi Arabia – Predicted lineup and team news
Uruguay launch their World Cup campaign against Saudi Arabia in Miami on Monday.La Celeste aim to secure a dominant victory in this Group H opener. Marcelo Bielsa has implemented a high-pressing tacti...
Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay – Predicted lineup and team news
Saudi Arabia kick off their 2026 World Cup campaign against Uruguay on Monday evening.Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium hosts this highly anticipated Group H encounter. The Green Falcons want to secure a po...
World Cup 2026: Every goal from the Netherlands-Japan thriller
Sunday’s group stage match between the Netherlands and Japan lived up to the hype. Here is every goal from that thriller
Historic Basila Frocks building transforms into hub for small businesses, art
Netherlands vs. Japan Live Updates, Score: Top Plays From The Group F Showdown
Here are the top plays from Netherlands vs. Japan.
World Cup: Undav adds Germany sixth after early Curacao hope
Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary and follow live text coverage as Germany face Curacao in World Cup Group E.
Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day' opens No. 1, while 'Obsession' sensation continues
Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” billed as his first popcorn movie in years, launched with $44 million in domestic theaters.
Meet the new kids on the World Club block
There’s always a lot of talk about the big teams and best players at a World Cup, but this year will also see four debutants step foot on the global stage.
The 50 greatest actors in movie history, according to fans
To determine American audiences' 50 favorite actors who are men, Stacker analyzed data from YouGov, current as of June 2024. See who came out on top!
Donald Trump turns 80 and celebrates with UFC cage fighting on the White House lawn
President Donald Trump turns 80 on Sunday and celebrates with a unique event: cage fighting on the White House lawn.
Health groups continue to step in following City on a Hill closure
Health groups continue to step in following City on a Hill closure
Interpretable AI in materials discovery: Uncovering how models make predictions
A method to interpret artificial intelligence (AI) models used in materials discovery by analyzing their learned features has been developed by researchers from Japan. The method extracts key features from an AI model trained on atomic structural data and optical absorption spectra, and then groups materials with similar structural and spectral characteristics. This approach can be extended to reveal how atomic arrangements influence other material properties, paving the way for more efficient materials design.
6 said killed in Gaza strikes as Hamas health ministry says war toll surpasses 73,000
Terror group says it responded to 15-point Board of Peace blueprint aiming to push ceasefire to next stage, although sources say disagreements remain over disarmament issue
50 of the oldest actors who are still working in Hollywood
Stacker manually curated a list of 50 of the oldest actors who are still working in the entertainment industry.
HealthCare CEO named to new position with CT’s top health care advocacy group
As chairman, he will lead the association’s principal policy-making body, which is responsible for guiding advocacy, policy priorities and strategy.
4 Takeaways From Australia's Stunning World Cup Win vs. Türkiye To Upend Group D
Australia stunned Türkiye to upend Group D. Here are my four takeaways from the match.
Diplomacy Is No Longer a Safe Space for UK’s Wounded Premier
Keir Starmer’s trip to the Group of Seven summit has looked for weeks like it would at best be one last hurrah on the world stage for a leading advocate for European security dogged by political troubles at home.
Trump turns 80 with a showstopping spectacle of cage fights at the White House. But big issues loom
President Donald Trump celebrates turning 80 with a UFC cage-fighting event on the White House's South Lawn.
Trump turns 80 with a showstopping spectacle of cage fights at the White House. But big issues loom
President Donald Trump celebrates turning 80 with a UFC cage-fighting event on the White House's South Lawn.
Tuberville faces renewed residency challenge in run for Alabama governor
Alabama Republican Party leaders will hold a hearing Sunday on whether U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville meets the residency requirement to run for governor.
In Boston, Haiti’s World Cup return is more than soccer amid US political threats to community
Haiti’s group match against Scotland marked its second-ever appearance in the sport’s biggest tournament more than a half-century after its first in 1974
Laugh Track: No shortage of funny business at Dartmouth
The Dartmouth spoke with members of three comedic performance groups and a satirical publication on campus to understand how they keep campus laughing.
Scientists Just Discovered A Way To Reverse Aging Using Electricity
The search for anti-aging protocols is a long one, but a group of Stanford scientists may have discovered a new technique involving electricity.
Trump names James M. McDonald to lead powerful New York federal prosecutor's office
President Donald Trump has nominated James M.
SBA moves to revise 8(a) rules while preserving tribal, ANC eligibility
Details By Brian Edwards Native Contracting June 13, 2026 The U.S. Small Business Administration has proposed changes to its 8(a) Business Development Program that would eliminate race-based presumptions of social disadvantage for individually owned businesses while leaving eligibility standards unchanged for tribally owned enterprises, Alaska Native corporations and other Native entity-owned participants. In both the title and summary of the proposed rule published in the Federal Register, SBA emphasized that the changes only apply to individually owned firms and “do not impact entity-owned firms,” including tribes, Alaska Native corporation, Native Hawaiian organizations and community development corporations. The proposed rule, announced June 11, would require all individual applicants seeking admission to the 8(a) program to submit evidence demonstrating social disadvantage. Membership in a racial or ethnic group alone would no longer establish eligibility, according to the SBA. For Indian Country, the agency said eligibility standards for businesses owned by federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations and community development corporations would remain unchanged. The proposal comes after the Department of Defense reaffirmed that participation by tribes and Alaska Native corporations in the 8(a) program is based on their political status under federal law rather than diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. In a May 28 letter to Alaska's Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael P. Duffey wrote that participation by federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native corporations in federal programs is “grounded in their political status as Native Americans, not DEI initiatives.” The SBA proposal follows a 2023 federal court ruling that found unconstitutional the program's rebuttable presumption that members of certain racial and ethnic groups were socially disadvantaged. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the proposed rule would establish a single standard for individually owned applicants by requiring evidence of social disadvantage. The 8(a) Business Development Program provides participating firms with business development assistance and access to federal set-aside and sole-source contracting opportunities. The program remains a major source of federal contracting revenue for tribal enterprises and Alaska Native corporations. Native-owned firms received $16.1 billion of the program's approximately $26 billion in federal contract awards during fiscal 2024, according to data previously reported by Tribal Business News. The proposal also arrives amid ongoing concerns from Native contractors about SBA administration of the program. In May, the Native American Contractors Association and 53 Native-owned businesses urged SBA to address delays in processing 8(a) applications, saying some reviews had stretched beyond regulatory deadlines and appeared to have stalled since August 2025. The proposed rule is open for public comment through July 13. The Federal Register notice does not reference tribal consultation or indicate whether SBA determined consultation was unnecessary because tribal eligibility standards are unchanged. The SBA has not announced when the proposed rule would take effect. The agency is expected to accept public comments before issuing a final rule.About The AuthorAuthor: Brian EdwardsBrian Edwards is associate publisher and associate editor of Tribal Business News and Native News Online. He is a longtime publisher, editor, business reporter and serial entrepreneur. Subscribe Today!Other Articles by this authorDefense Department reaffirms tribal, ANC eligibility in SBA 8(a) programTribal heritage projects eligible for up to $100K in federal funding through NPS programIHS launches tribal long-term care construction initiative with three projectsIḷisaġvik College acquires site for long-planned Utqiaġvik campus This article is available to paid digital subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
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In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
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Medical group leader apologies to Northwestern researcher, others booted from conference over Trump critique
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'Democrats want to win': Platner's support reflects a changing party in the Trump era
Democrats are rallying behind Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner despite a series of controversies that might have derailed a Democratic campaign during the height of the #MeToo movement.