Science
To Save the Climate, Give Up the Demand for Constant Electricity
Waiting to ensure uninterrupted power for everyone as we transition away from fossil fuels will cost too much time—and too many lives.
The Trouble with Carbon Pricing
Only a bold approach that centers politics can meet the scale of the climate crisis.
How Early Modern Empire Changed Medicine
Global trade, enslaved labor, and colonial warfare created demands for medicines that would work for anyone, anywhere. That pressure to view patients as interchangeable remains with us today.
The Political Economy of Saving the Planet
An interview with Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin on the climate crisis, COVID-19, and the future of environmental politics.
The Racist Foundation of Nuclear Architecture
On the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, it is clear that white supremacy sustains the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Steps to a Better COVID-19 Response
There’s no silver bullet, but local experiments and global experiences can help us control the pandemic.
From Restraining Orders to Assassinations, the Dangerous Work of Saving the Monarchs
Monarch butterflies may be gone in thirty years. Saving them seems apolitical, but environmentalists have landed in the sights of drug cartels, illegal loggers, Trump supporters, and even clandestine avocado farmers.
Climate Change’s New Ally: Big Finance
Huge investors like BlackRock are forcing corporations to take action on emissions. But what does their power mean for democracy?
Pigs and Capital
The meat business has become a vast, fragile beast teetering on the brink of ecological and financial ruin.
Dismantling Medical Elitism
American medicine has long put professional prestige over the well-being of patients and physicians alike.
Imagining American Utopia
On Kim Stanley Robinson’s trilogy Three Californias, rereleased this year in a single volume.
The Shape of Epidemics
Epidemic waves serve not just to predict but also to persuade. Their special blend of mathematical and moral messaging will shape the future of the pandemic.
From Pandemic Facts to Pandemic Policies
The debate over pandemic response is not only about the facts. It’s also about values.
Will Evidence-Based Medicine Survive COVID-19?
The UK government’s ultra-cautious approach to “evidence-based” policy has helped cast doubt on public health interventions. The definition of good medical and public health practice must be urgently updated.
What Would Health Security Look Like?
Struggles for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal are two sides of the same coin.
The Case Against Mars
Contrary to the boosterism of billionaires, the need for space colonization must be argued for, not assumed. And the arguments aren’t good.
The Totality of the Evidence
As policymakers debate the right response to COVID-19, they must take seriously the harms of pandemic policies, not just their benefits.
In Toronto, Google’s Attempt to Privatize Government Fails—For Now
Sidewalk Labs would have turned a large plot of Toronto’s public land into a private lab for data collection. Cities need better digital governance to protect against such attempts.
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