This started out as an inside joke. As I packed for my spring break trip to Israel, I asked my closest friends and family what they wanted as souvenirs. One said, “a cat that speaks Hebrew.” When I reached my first tourist spot—an ancient grave—I spotted a stray. “Do you speak?” I joked as I […]
In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen represents a covert rebel alliance attempting to topple a repressive regime. When the series was adapted for the big screen, it became a pop culture phenomenon and helped catapult its leading actress, Jennifer Lawrence, to stardom. It also became a symbol of massive anti-government resistance in Thailand. After General […]
It was probably not the way he imagined it would go down. On August 28, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he would step down due to health reasons. This came as a shock to many, considering it was just days after he broke the record for the longest uninterrupted tenure as the nation’s leader. […]
Listen and subscribe to our podcast: Via Spotify | Via Apple Podcasts This week, Max talks with Beza Zenebe, one of the co-managing editors at NUPR, about confounding problem of overwork in Japan and the rest of the world. We discuss why western media often fixates on overwork in Japan and discuss some potential solutions. […]
In April, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) distributed a fifty-seven page memo titled, “Corona Big Book.” Its message was simple. “China caused this pandemic by covering it up, lying, and hoarding the world’s supply of medical equipment,” the memo reads. “China is an adversary that has stolen millions of American jobs, sent fentanyl to […]
For as long as we have existed, humans have created theatre. There is no universal definition, but the word “theatre” comes from the Greek verb “theasthai,” meaning to behold. It’s a place where an audience comes together to watch a live performance. This storytelling tool has been present in every country and culture throughout history. […]
Who deserves to be a statue? Recently, activists around the world have answered this question with “not a murderer”—a statue of slave owner Edward Colston was thrown into a river in Bristol, UK; a confederate statue was hung in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Boston’s very own Christopher Columbus statue was beheaded. Columbus’s statue was until […]
For a man whose beard generates enough drag to slow a freefall, Bill Booth certainly loved to design parachutes. Through patented parachute improvements and the development of instructor-guided tandem jumping, this aerial Hagrid made his beloved sport safer and more accessible. Since Booth began innovating in the 1970s—presumably while manifesting his destiny across the continent—the […]
In the coming months, Japan and the United States will negotiate over the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), a cost-sharing arrangement for American military presence. These talks will influence the future of Indo-Pacific security and America’s role in the region. In 2019, reports suggested that the US could demand a five-fold payment increase from the current […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic threw American metropolises into disarray, many looked to the nation’s urban hotspots for guidance on handling the unremitting distress. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for one, was propelled to national recognition for his response, while New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio faced intense criticism for his perceived failures—such as the […]
