Featured stories about Ideas
Stories about Ideas
16 May 2018
Japanese high school girls wear badges warning would-be train gropers: ‘I'm not going to take it!
"We want the idea that 'you must have been doing something to attract a chikan' to stop!"
14 May 2018
Serbia remains silent on cultural heritage devastation by its populist regimes
Serbian art historian Živko Brković has been targeted by threats and suffered burglaries after he demanded accountability from the current Serbian regime in regards to mishandling state-owned artworks.
7 May 2018
Tweeting out Japan's idiosyncratic folk customs
Fish heads, jumping frogs and conjugal foxes: one Twitter account takes a look at arcane folk traditions from every corner of Japan.
12 April 2018
#GirlsOnBikes: Women Ride Bicycles To Reclaim Public Spaces in Pakistan
"We wish to encourage each other to participate in this collective movement to assert our right to navigate public spaces on our own terms."
21 March 2018
On World Poetry Day, Some Verses Straight From Persia's Heart
"The sadness in my heart, like a mountain/The heart under your chest, like a stone."
17 March 2018
What Japan's 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Mascots Say About Attitudes Toward Disability
On a careful reading of its character description you will notice that unlike its Olympic counterpart, the Paralympic mascot is not explicitly described as “athletic”.
16 March 2018
Guyanese Literary Giant Sir Wilson Harris Leaves Behind a ‘Literacy of the Imagination’
"The indigenous people of the Caribbean, the landscape [...] and native myth were [...] given new meaning because of him. He changed the way Caribbean literature is written and read."
9 March 2018
What Bitcoin, Tulip Mania and the Nigerian Stock Market Have in Common
"Though tulips had no practical use and lacked fragrance and medicinal value, at the height of tulip mania investors sold their homes to purchase a single bulb. Sound familiar?"
2 March 2018
How Movies and TV are Helping Venezuelans Negotiate Their Country's Collapse
Amid food shortages and rising crime, Venezuelans seek meaning in "The Hunger Games" and "The Walking Dead".
A Suicide Mentality, on the Precipice of War in Northeast Asia
"As North Korean defectors have reported, there's a possibility that Kim Jong Un’s forces might employ kamikaze tactics if they see that their country cannot withstand attacks by the US."
26 February 2018
Twitter Thread of Observations and Surprising Moments in Japan Goes Viral
When a user experience designer traveled to Tokyo he was surprised and amazed by the small details of daily life. His observations about Japan then went viral on Twitter.
14 February 2018
‘India’s Only Positive Newspaper’ Brings Readers a Dose of Hope
"We felt if negative news and stories can bring about such negative actions, why not publish and present positive stories that can bring about a larger positive impact."
10 February 2018
Trinidad & Tobago Finally Gets Its ‘Steups’ Emoji
One Trinidadian Facebook user, tired of waiting for Facebook to get the memo about the need for a "steups" emoji, went and designed one herself.
5 February 2018
A Palestinian Cultural Space in Haifa Reclaims Authentic Artistic Voice
“An unfinished space invites people to contribute, to be at ease and to feel part of the place.”
14 December 2017
UNESCO Protects Balkan Grandma March Day Custom As Cultural Heritage
Cultural heritage activists in South-eastern Europe celebrate UNESCO's recognition of the Balkan Grandma March Day custom of wearing red and white wool ornaments.
9 December 2017
Syrian and Lebanese: On the Conflict of Identities
"Being half-Lebanese, half-Syrian is like being a child whose parents are separated and both hate you because each half of you reminds them of the other...."
7 December 2017
Kyrgyz Children's Author Remakes Old Fables, Drives New Narratives
“There are no fairytale weddings in my stories and no handsome prince. None of my characters are especially waiting for him, either.”
28 November 2017
As Syrian Government Trumpets Military Wins, Fear Continues to Grip Locals in Damascus
''They would search databases saved on their computers. If my name is found, I will be dispatched to one of the front lines.''
