Overcoming obstacles - Steven Claunch
Adults SocietyWhen faced with a bump in the road, sometimes we forget we have a choice: overcome the obstacle or let it overcome you. Steven Claunch, who was born without fingers on his right hand and with one leg shorter than the other and has excelled in basketball nonetheless, explains why obstacles can provide an opportunity to both inspire others and develop character.
How do executive orders work? - Christina Greer
Adults SocietyOn January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln legally changed the status of over 3 million people from "slave" to "free." But his emancipation proclamation wasn't a law - it was an executive order. The framers of the American Constitution made this power available to the executive branch. But what exactly is this tool, how does it work, and what's the extent of its power? Christina Greer explains.
Intimidated by a College Bully
Adults SocietyWhen you leave middle school and high school behind, you expect that bullying, fear and intimidation are in the past. When you get to college, you expect that people will be open-minded, compassionate and mature. Unfortunately this in not always the case. It certainly wasn't for Omar.
Where do new words come from? - Marcel Danesi
Adults SocietyThere are over 170,000 words currently in use in the English language. Yet every year, about a thousand new words are added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Where do they come from, and how do they make it into our everyday lives? Marcel Danesi explains how new words enter a language.
You Are Not What You Earn
Adults SocietyThe modern world firmly equates how much we earn with how good, noble, wise and worthy of honour we are. This is a brutal misunderstanding of how salaries are determined. We need to operate with a far more nuanced view of what the money we earn says about us.
Will the ocean ever run out of fish? - Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jennifer Jacquet
Adults SocietyWhen most people think of fishing, we imagine relaxing in a boat and patiently reeling in the day's catch. But modern industrial fishing -- the kind that stocks our grocery shelves -- looks more like warfare. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Jennifer Jacquet explain overfishing and its effects on ecosystems, food security, jobs, economies, and coastal cultures.
How does impeachment work? - Alex Gendler
Adults SocietyFor most jobs, it's understood that you can be fired - whether for crime, incompetence, or just poor performance. But what if your job happens to be the most powerful position in the country - or the world? That's where impeachment comes in. But how does it work? Alex Gendler details the process of impeachment.
The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall - Konrad H. Jarausch
Adults SocietyOn August 13, 1961, construction workers began tearing up streets and erecting barriers in Berlin. This night marked the beginning of one of history's most infamous dividing lines: the Berlin Wall. Construction continued for a decade as the wall cut through neighborhoods, separated families, and divided not just Germany, but the world. Konrad H. Jarausch details the history of the Berlin Wall.