Stories about Ideas from March, 2018
Hitting a Low Point in the Low Countries
"But I’ve also become Dutch in more insidious ways."
Encounters with Caribbean Genius: Derek Walcott, Wilson Harris, Aubrey Williams
"So much to praise and cherish forever as long as forever ever lasts." A celebrated Caribbean writer on three of his contemporaries.
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."
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”.
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."
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?"
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."
