Trailblazing paths: iconic women through time [reading list]

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating trailblazing paths taken by women whose courage and vision transformed societies. This reading list features five biographies that highlight women who resisted systemic barriers, confronted entrenched hierarchies, and fought for the dignity and safety of others. From activists and reformers to scientists and cultural leaders, these stories reveal how women—often overlooked or silenced—have pushed boundaries, protected the vulnerable, and inspired movements for justice. Together, they remind us that progress toward gender equality has always been driven by those who refused to accept the limits imposed on them.

1. A Slumless America: Mary K. Simkhovitch and the Dream of Affordable Housing by Betty Boyd Caroli

In this biography, Mary K. Simkhovitch emerges as a pioneering force in the settlement house movement and a central architect of American public housing reform. Betty Boyd Caroli traces Simkhovitch’s founding of Greenwich House in 1902 and her influential role in shaping early 20th‑century urban policy, including her leadership in New Deal housing initiatives, the creation of the National Housing Conference, and co‑authoring the landmark 1937 National Housing Act. Balancing an unconventional marriage, family life, and a relentless public mission, Simkhovitch became widely admired—once even depicted as a “Wonder Woman of History”—for her ability to confront urban poverty while advocating fiercely for immigrant communities and affordable housing. This biography, rich with historical insight, positions her as an enduringly relevant figure whose work helped define the federal government’s responsibility to support low‑income families.

Read more.

2. American Infidelity: The Gilded Age Battle Over Freethought, Free Love, and Feminism by Steven K. Green

American Infidelity traces the dramatic late‑19th‑century clash between a dominant evangelical culture and a rising coalition of freethinkers, feminists, and sexual reformers who sought greater personal liberty and challenged religious authority. Historian Steven K. Green follows this struggle through the activists who fought for birth control, divorce reform, and women’s autonomy, as well as the moral crusaders—including Elizabeth Cady Stanton—who worked to suppress them. Revealing how these “infidels” pushed for a more open, rational, and egalitarian society, Green shows how their movements were ultimately stifled but left a powerful legacy that continues to shape today’s debates over reproductive rights, censorship, and the role of religion in public life.

Read more.

3. COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War by Edda L. Fields-Black

Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for History

This book recounts the often‑overlooked story of Harriet Tubman’s 1863 Combahee River Raid, a daring Civil War operation in which she led Union spies, scouts, and two Black regiments up South Carolina’s river to destroy major rice plantations and liberate 730 enslaved people. Drawing on newly examined documents—including Tubman’s pension file and plantation records—historian Edda L. Fields‑Black, a descendant of one of the raiders, brings to life the enslaved families and communities who escaped to freedom that night and later helped shape the Gullah Geechee culture. Through this vivid reconstruction, the book reveals one of Tubman’s most extraordinary military achievements and the enduring legacy of those who fought for liberation.

Read more.

4. The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse in America by Kathleen B. Casey

The Things She Carried reveals how purses, bags, and sacks have long been critical tools for women asserting privacy, autonomy, and political power in America. Kathleen Casey shows how these objects—from 19th‑century reticules to the handbags carried by immigrant workers, civil rights activists, and Rosa Parks herself—became symbolic extensions of women’s rights struggles, allowing them to navigate male‑dominated spaces, protect personal dignity, and challenge discriminatory systems. Drawing on sources ranging from vintage purses to photographs, advertisements, and legal archives, Casey uncovers how women of all backgrounds used the bags they carried to assert agency, cross restrictive social boundaries, and shape pivotal moments in the fight for gender and racial equality.

Read more.

5. Frances Oldham Kelsey, the FDA, and the Battle against Thalidomide by Cheryl Krasnick Warsh

This biography tells the remarkable story of Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey, the FDA medical officer who, in the early 1960s, prevented the dangerous drug thalidomide from being approved in the United States, sparing countless Americans from catastrophic birth defects. A pioneering scientist who earned advanced degrees in an era with few female researchers, Kelsey resisted intense pressure from Merrell Pharmaceutical and spent nineteen months demanding solid evidence of the drug’s safety. Her unwavering stance not only kept thalidomide off the U.S. market but also spurred sweeping reforms in drug regulation through the 1962 Drug Amendment, which established modern clinical trials, informed consent, and stronger FDA oversight. Drawing on archival records and family papers, the book reveals her lifelong commitment to ethical science, her battles against industry hostility and institutional barriers, and her enduring legacy as a vigilant protector of public health.

Read more.

Explore our extended list of titles on Bookshop (UK | US) and Amazon (UK | US).

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Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch’s fight for affordable housing [timeline] 

Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch—featured as a “Wonder Woman of History” in a series produced by DC Comics—was a key figure in America’s settlement house movement. Throughout the early twentieth century, she spearheaded efforts to improve living conditions for immigrants and the disadvantaged in American cities. Her lifelong advocacy for public housing and urban reform remains urgently relevant almost seventy-five years after her death.

Discover Mary K. Simkhovitch’s extraordinary legacy with our interactive timeline below.

^{Featured image provided by Betty Boyd Caroli.}

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Centuries strong: Black history told through 10 essential Oxford Reads

African American history does not begin with the founding of the United States—its roots stretch centuries deep. Black experiences, intellectual traditions, resistance, and cultural innovation have shaped the story of America. This timeline brings together Oxford works that illuminate pivotal moments across over two hundred transformative years—from a Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harriet Tubman to long-overlooked accounts from the later Civil Rights era. Explore the essential role of historically Black colleges and universities, and encounter richly drawn portraits of trailblazers like Louis Armstrong and Althea Gibson. Taken together, these books reveal a legacy of resilience, creativity, and influence that has defined American life from the colonial era through the 20th century.

Explore the depth and breadth of African American history with this curated selection of Oxford University Press titles—stories that predate 1776 and continue to shape the nation we know today.

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How to write an interdisciplinary abstract

The purpose of any abstract is to summarise your article’s content in a way that will help potential readers decide if they want to read your work. An abstract usually runs between 150 and 300 words and will likely be your readers’ first interaction with your research article, so you must write it with that in mind. It should be intelligible on its own, without someone needing to have read your whole article or have in-depth knowledge of the subject at hand to follow the abstract’s meaning.

Interdisciplinary abstracts are more complex than abstracts aimed at a single discipline, since they must appeal to a wider range of readers with radically varying knowledge bases. What follows is a list of eight key strategies for writing clear, compelling abstracts for interdisciplinary research. It’s not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive, but I hope it will help if you’re feeling overwhelmed with the amount of ground you’re expected to cover in such a small number of words.

1. Start with the hook
   A stand-up comic once told me that the golden rule of comedy is to always start with your best joke. This advice can be applied to writing abstracts: start with the hook. The ‘hook’ is the most exciting and impactful feature of your work. It answers the perennial questions of ‘So what?’ and ‘Why should anyone care?’ If you can convincingly answer these questions in the first sentence of your abstract, readers are much more likely to want to read the full article.
   
   Often, the hook is placed at the end of the abstract as an enticement to read more, but increasingly I think it can be more effective when placed in the very first sentence of an interdisciplinary abstract. When writing up interdisciplinary research, you are appealing to a wider readership that goes beyond the confines of one discipline, so you must capture their attention right from the off with a statement of impact that makes it abundantly clear why researchers in multiple disciplines need to read your work. Then, you can move onto specifics like background and methods.
   
2. State your purpose
   Every abstract should state the central research question or aim of the article, in the clearest possible terms, and justify why it must be answered. It is possible for an article to answer more than one research question, but juggling multiple research questions often leads to an unfocused argument and an overly long article. An article of six-to-ten thousand words gives you enough time to answer one central research question very convincingly, and it is better to do this than to answer multiple research questions less convincingly. Before moving on, you must clarify why it is important to answer that research question. Why is this research necessary and how does the article address that need?
   
3. Summarise disciplinary contexts
   Your interdisciplinary article likely builds upon recent developments in more than one discipline, so you should not assume that readers will be conversant in all the disciplines with which your work engages. Use a couple of sentences to explain key developments in each relevant discipline that directly impact your research. Focus only on what’s essential for understanding your argument. Keep this concise, though, as abstracts should not be overloaded with contextual information.
   
4. Explain your methods
   Interdisciplinary methods are complex but enriching. They usually pull together and combine research techniques from multiple disciplines. Due to this complexity, interdisciplinary abstracts are sometimes overloaded with technical terminology that seem impenetrable to many readers. Take care to explain your methods or theoretical framework and why they help you answer your research question, keeping jargon to a minimum and defining key technical terms with which readers may not be familiar.
   
5. Defend your interdisciplinarity
   Interdisciplinary research is often called upon to justify its existence as interdisciplinary research. There are large numbers of scholars who are sceptical about the very idea of interdisciplinarity. If you are to retain these scholars as readers, you must explain in your abstract why an interdisciplinary approach to your research question is not only possible but essential. Some problems demand interdisciplinary approaches, others do not. You need to convince readers that your work fits into the former category and explain why you have assembled your unique interdisciplinary methodology or theoretical framework to respond to this research question.
   
6. Forecast your results
   Some abstracts won’t do this because the authors prefer to keep the revelation of their findings back for the conclusion of their article. I prefer abstracts to at least forecast the results of the research, simply because this might convince more prospective readers to engage with and cite your article if they know from reading the abstract that its results have direct implications for their own research.
   
7. Use an economy of words
   All your sentences should have a purpose. Meandering trains of thought that take a while to get to the point do not have a place in an abstract, so remove anything that is even slightly tangential. Bear in mind that an abstract is also a discovery aid, since the text of an abstract is often part of the metadata that is pulled across to bibliographic indexes such as SCOPUS and Google Scholar. Consequently, an abstract should include the kind of words you imagine potential readers might type into a library catalogue or online search tool. You will often be asked to provide a list of keywords alongside your abstract, and it is a good idea to work them into the text of the abstract itself to boost your article’s discoverability further.
   
8. Write assertively
   Abstracts are not the place to be modest about your achievements. Use assertive verbs and write in the present tense: say ‘this article does X’ rather than ‘this article aims to do X’ or ‘this article will do X’. Avoid hedging your bets, with words like ‘arguably’ and ‘potentially’ or an overly liberal use of the conditional. And above all: back yourself! It is expected for a research article to contain detailed discussion of other researchers’ work. That is not the case for an abstract, which should foreground your own original interpretation.

Further resources:

• Download our Interdisciplinary Research Abstract Checklist
• Watch the recording of Crafting Strong Abstracts: A Virtual Workshop for Interdisciplinary Researchers

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How do you write a comparative politics textbook for changing times?

When I studied comparative politics as an undergraduate in the 1990s, I was introduced to the field through static comparisons between national political systems. Each chapter in the textbook we read described a different country, and we learned about constitutions, legislatures, and parties as if they were fixed features of political life.

That approach has long since been overtaken by events. Today’s students live in a world where party systems are changing from election to election, new technologies are transforming political participation and communication, and authoritarian rulers are coming up with new ways of grabbing and holding on to power.

How should we teach comparative politics in this rapidly changing environment? That’s something I thought about when I sat down to write my new textbook, An Introduction to Comparative Politics. My answer has four parts.

1. Get to the key concepts and ideas right away

Scholars of comparative politics ask two big questions: why are political systems so different from one another, and how do those differences matter for people’s lives? If we help students understand why those two questions are so important and guide them as they learn about the main differences between political systems, we can put them on a life-long journey of discovery. Today’s students have easy access to reasonably accurate data on political systems via their computers and their phones, so it’s not factual information they need from us—they need concepts and ideas they can use to make sense of the information that is available to them.

2. Take a global view

The modern discipline of comparative politics developed in America and Europe in the nineteenth century, and it has long treated the institutions of North American and Western European democracies as the standard against which all other systems are measured. That attitude never made much sense, and it makes less sense today than ever, since many of today’s political challenges and conflicts have a global scope. Today’s students are eager to understand how the key concepts and ideas of comparative politics travel across continents—or, as is sometimes the case, they don’t.

3. Talk about historical change

The turn away from static comparisons between national political systems also requires that we pay attention to processes of historical change, continuities, and resurgences.

It is remarkable how much history has been repeating itself lately. Over the last two decades, leading comparativists have presented in-depth analyses of “electoral authoritarianism”—conducting multi-party elections in de facto authoritarian regimes. As Theodore Zeldin showed in the 1950s, Napoleon III’s regime in France in the 1850s and 1860s had all the hallmarks of electoral authoritarianism. Other comparativists have examined the rise of populism. Donald Trump’s rise to power in the United States has a lot in common with Georges Boulanger’s meteoric political career in France in the 1880s.

4. Emphasize data and methods

For better or worse, we live in a data-driven world, and whatever our students choose to do when they’re done studying, they’re going to need basic data literacy skills. This makes it all the more important for us as teachers to emphasize that comparative politics isn’t just a set of facts to memorize—it is a way of thinking about the world. Students need to become familiar with the main methodological approaches in comparative politics right away, including both broad cross-national comparisons and focused case studies. I therefore deemed it essential, when writing An Introduction to Comparative Politics, to present students with up-to-date data and up-to-date empirical examples in all chapters.

By learning the key concepts and ideas, taking a global view, tracing processes of historical continuity and change, and using diverse comparative methods, students can gain the independence of mind they need to make sense of politics throughout their lifetimes.

^{Feature image: photo by Bhabin Tamang via Pexels.}

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Meet the editors: what we do at conferences

For academics, stepping into the world of scholarly conferences for the first time can feel like crossing the Rubicon. After months (or sometimes years) of what is often a solitary research journey, scholars enter a dynamic ecosystem where subfields collide and converge, and colleagues at every career stage rub shoulders in line for coffee and conversation.

For Oxford’s two newest politics editors, Morgan Jones and Gabe Kachuck, the recent American Political Science Association annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, was their first opportunity to experience the rush of new ideas and new faces firsthand. Below, Morgan and Gabe share their initial impressions, memorable moments, and key lessons—for themselves and for future conference delegates.

You were first time attendees at the APSA conference. Any highlights?

We were proud to represent Oxford University Press at one of the field’s largest gatherings. Having a good number of our books together at one booth really brought the list to life, and it was exciting to see old friends, new collaborators, and curious strangers leafing through the range of the categories we’re publishing in. Vancouver itself was a standout: the Convention Centre’s two glass-walled buildings stood handsomely against the cerulean harbor, framed by the mountains and dotted with sea planes taking off and landing. The fresh air was welcome amid back-to-back meetings and sobering discussions about the state of global affairs.

How are scholars responding to the political challenges of our time?

This is a poignant question, following the assassination of American political activist Charlie Kirk. The conference was just getting underway when the news landed; it quickly consumed everyone in attendance, as did the unrest that followed. Responses to the violence were myriad, but the constant was an ever-growing concern for the future of democratic norms. Scholars and researchers at APSA brought a wealth of expertise to this issue and so many others that define our current moment. We were moved by their commitment to asking good questions and developing grounded answers to inform the path forward.

How did you build your schedule?

Planning for the conference began a month or so prior to our flights to Vancouver. Because we are both new editors at OUP, we are still in the process of meeting all the authors we’ve inherited from our predecessor. In building our schedules, we aimed to strike a balance between chatting with these authors about their progress and connecting with others whose work is of interest, for a variety of different reasons. We met a mix of early-career researchers and experienced scholars who offered insights into trends and developments in any given subfield. We also left time in our schedules for panels and “down time” at the exhibition booth, where we enjoyed lively, organic conversations about Oxford’s list and what people are up to in the field.

Since you both acquire academic and trade titles for Oxford’s politics list, how did you approach conversations at APSA?

We start our conversations by working to understand what you aim to do and who you want your work to reach, whether that be fellow academics, students, policymakers, practitioners, or general readers. From there, we can offer feedback on whether your book project is set up to effectively meet those goals, and, if so, what might look like if you were to publish an academic, trade, or crossover work with us at OUP. Aligning your needs as author with ours as publisher is key to a successful partnership.

What kind of book proposals or research topics seemed especially compelling or timely?

Our first question when evaluating a proposal is: what’s novel here? That might mean unpublished interviews conducted during fieldwork abroad, newly uncovered census or survey data, or a fresh conceptual approach to understanding the structures that shape power and politics around the world. The proposals that stood out to us at APSA were those with a clear sense of their potential impact—whether on specific subfields or on broader public discourse. We’re always drawn to ambitious arguments or narratives that aim to tackle questions too expansive for a single journal article. Those are the kinds of projects that consistently make us lean in and want to learn more!

Did you attend any panels? If so, were there standout moments or recurring themes caught your attention?

Gabe was able to attend a few panels between meetings, including the Author Meets Critics session for When the Internet Meets Authoritarian Governance: China’s Digital Governance and a paper discussion on nuclear deterrence strategies. It was heartening to hear OUP books cited in both sessions—a reminder of our ongoing impact on the field. The panels offered sharp insights into how political science is engaging with questions of state power in digital and strategic contexts.

One recurring theme across panels and informal conversations was the role of AI in shaping research, scholarship, and teaching. Scholars are clearly grappling with how to integrate these tools into their work and classrooms, and there’s far from a consensus on how best to do so. It’s a space marked by both experimentation and uncertainty, and it’s likely to remain a live conversation for some time.

Now that you’ve attended your first academic conference, do you have any advice for scholars hoping to connect with you and other OUP editors?

Reach out early to request a meeting! Our emails can be found on OUP’s website under Find an Editor. Even if we aren’t able to connect with you during the conference, we’re open to setting up virtual meetings before or after events have wrapped. Or, come by the booth to say hello. We are often on the go, but we enjoy meet-and-greets and would be glad to listen to an elevator pitch of your research interests, works-in-progress, or forthcoming submissions.

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Back to school for happy and healthy kids

Every September, caregivers and kids alike prepare for one big change: the start of a new school year. As the weeks of summer draw to a close, families are cramming in the last moments of summer fun while simultaneously gearing up for school drops offs and new classroom schedules. While it can be an incredibly exciting time, filled with first day of school outfits and new school gear, it can also be incredibly stressful. This can be particularly true for teenagers who, compared to younger kids, are facing higher academic demands and social pressure while experiencing the major physical and developmental changes that come during adolescence. On top of that, a 2023 Center of Disease Control report showed that teens of today have higher rates of mental health concerns, such as anxiety and depression, and that suicidal thoughts and behaviors are increasing. This can make the return to school daunting for teens, as well as parents who are worried about how their child will manage the transition and demands of the year. 

Fortunately, there are several tools that parents and caregivers can use to prepare kids and teens for the first few weeks in September. This includes setting clear expectations, skills to encourage helpful behavior, and strategies that help kids feel supported by their parents.  

Setting expectations 

While many kids prefer to keep their heads in the sand when it comes to a new academic cycle, it can be incredibly helpful to set expectations for the school year a few weeks in advance. The most basic version of this includes outlining differences between summer versus school schedules, such as changes to sleep and wake times, limits to screens, or daily responsibilities. This preview can help kids’ brains prepare for the upcoming shifts in their daily lives and make the transition a little smoother. It’s also a great idea to talk to kids about how the upcoming school year might be different than the last one. This could include providing information on class size, the structure of the day, or increased expectations. The goal is not to scare your kids about everything coming their way, but rather to provide them with simple clear information in a manner that builds excitement. For example, “It’s so fun that you get to go to go off-campus for lunch this year. I bet it will make the day feel way more interesting!” Or, “I know high school is bigger than middle school. It may feel a little overwhelming, but it’s also such a great time for you to see how capable you are.”  

Encouraging positive behaviors 

Once expectations have been set, parents can also work to encourage brave or skillful behavior. This may include things like taking more responsibility (e.g., managing their own communication with teachers and coaches), growing outside of their comfort zone (e.g., joining a new club or social circle), or challenging themselves with new opportunities or roles (e.g., a first job or harder courseload). This most effective way to do this is through a skill called “labeled praise.”  

Labeled praise is when you show appreciation for a specific behavior or characteristic your child is demonstrating. When it comes to a new school year, parents can look for opportunities to praise preparation, flexibility, and bravery. For example, “I know you really loved your teachers last year, and I appreciate how openminded you are about your new schedule.” Another parent may say, “Great call on getting to bed a little earlier this week. It’ll make the start of school so much easier!” For teens who haven’t mastered brave or skillful choices, parents can offer cheerleading and encouragement. Phrases like “I know you’re going to do a beautiful job making friends because you’ve done it before!” or “10^th grade is tough, and I have total confidence that you’re going to find a way to balance everything” send a message that they really believe in their kid. This can go a long way towards encouraging positive behaviors.   

Providing validation 

When you do notice your child having a hard time, whether it’s nerves, low mood, or difficulty organizing themselves for a new semester, it’s always a great idea to offer validation. Validation is a skill used to show somebody that you can see their perspective or understand where they are coming from. Validation can be a tricky skill to master for caregivers because it is sometimes hard to put yourself in your child’s shoes, or you are eager to get them to see a new perspective. For example, when your child complains about their new math teacher who they have heard is a hard grader, it’s tempting to say “Nah! I’m sure it’ll be fine!” This may work for some kids. However, it can come off as dismissive and hard to believe for a teen whose anxiety or stress is high. Instead, try validation: “It makes sense that you’re nervous based on what you’ve heard!” While you aren’t agreeing with your child’s worries, you are acknowledging them, and that can help increase a sense of connection and communication. Once your child feels understood, they’ll be better able to think clearly about the situation and problem solve as needed.  

As you navigate another year of permission slips, homework, and extracurricular activities, remember that you have a handful of tools in your pocket to help ease the way. With a little bit of preparation, encouragement, and support, you and child can start the school year off on a great foot.  

^{Feature image: Photo by Wajih Ghali on Unsplash.}

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China’s state-led financialization for tech supremacy

The financialization of Western economies has unfolded as a prolonged systemic failure. What began as a mechanism to support productive enterprise has evolved into a structural dominance of finance over the real economy. Through deregulation, the proliferation of speculative activity, and successive asset bubbles, the sector has prioritized short-term gains over long-term investment. The 2008 financial crisis underscored these dynamics, transferring the burdens of systemic risk to the broader public while financial institutions were largely shielded from the consequences. This trajectory has entrenched income inequality and contributed to the political capture of regulatory institutions, inhibiting meaningful reform.

In contrast, China presents a divergent model. Its state-led financialization exemplifies a proactive deployment of financial mechanisms in service of national industrial objectives. Unlike the market-driven financialization typical of advanced Western economies, China’s approach is characterized by strategic state intervention and institutional design. The government not only participates in markets but reconfigures them—mobilizing state-owned enterprises as venture capital vehicles, directing bank lending toward emerging technologies, and leveraging local government financing platforms to support innovation. This model represents a deliberate recalibration of financial systems to prioritize long-term technological development over immediate capital returns.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs): from asset managers to venture capitalists

Chinese SOEs have increasingly transitioned from passive asset holders to active financial agents, functioning as quasi–venture capital entities with a targeted focus on high-technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing. This transformation is rooted in the 2013 reforms under Xi Jinping, which marked a shift in state asset governance from a model of “managing assets” to one of “managing capital.” Central to this new framework are state-owned capital investment and operation companies (SCIOCs)—market-oriented entities tasked with allocating state capital in alignment with national strategic objectives.

Prominent SCIOCs such as Guoxin and Chengtong exemplify this model, channeling investments into key technological domains while retaining mechanisms of state oversight. Notably, their investment strategies increasingly resemble those of global institutional investors like BlackRock, characterized by portfolio diversification and minority equity stakes across a wide range of publicly listed firms. Over time, both Guoxin and Chengtong have reduced the size of their individual holdings while broadening the scope of their portfolios, mirroring BlackRock’s index-based approach. However, unlike BlackRock, whose investment logic is primarily driven by market signals and shareholder value maximization, these Chinese entities operate within a state-directed paradigm. Their capital allocation decisions are subordinated to broader industrial policy objectives, underscoring a distinctive model of “state-capital hybridization” wherein global financial practices are repurposed to advance national technological priorities.

Banks: from conservative lenders to investment partners

China’s banking sector has undergone a significant transformation from a traditionally conservative, loan-centric model—once governed by the “separation principle” that delineated clear boundaries between lending and investment—toward a more integrated, market-oriented system. Since 2015, mechanisms such as “investment and loan linkage” have enabled commercial banks to engage in equity-related activities, particularly in support of high-technology enterprises. Institutions like the Bank of China have introduced “green channel” loans that prioritize lending to startups with venture capital backing, and in some cases have experimented with convertible instruments such as “stock option models,” allowing for the conversion of debt into equity.

This evolution has been further institutionalized through the establishment of bank wealth management companies (BWMCs), which are permitted to make direct equity investments in high-tech firms. As of the end of 2022, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) had approved 29 such entities. One notable example is BOCOM International, affiliated with the Bank of Communications, which manages the BOCOM Science and Technology Innovation Fund—an investment vehicle explicitly oriented toward advancing technological innovation. These developments underscore a broader trend of financial re-engineering within the Chinese banking system, as state-affiliated financial institutions adopt quasi-investor roles to support national strategic priorities, reinforcing the architecture of state-led financialization.

Local governments: trading land speculation for innovation funding

In recent years, Chinese local governments have transitioned away from reliance on Local Government Financing Vehicles (LGFVs), traditionally used to support land-based urban development, toward the deployment of Government Guidance Funds (GGFs). This strategic reorientation marks a shift from speculative real estate-driven financing to a model of purposeful financialization aimed at fostering technological innovation. Rather than leveraging land assets to finance urban expansion, local authorities are increasingly channeling capital into science and technology sectors through state-backed investment vehicles.

A prominent example is the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund (NICIIF), with a targeted fund size of approximately USD 95.8 billion, which supports enterprises in strategically vital sectors such as semiconductors. These funds operate not merely as instruments of capital allocation but as policy tools through which local governments execute central industrial strategies. According to the Zero2IPO database, as of 2023, there were 2,086 active GGFs across China, collectively managing assets exceeding USD 1.8 trillion. This proliferation underscores a broader recalibration of subnational fiscal behavior, whereby the objectives of economic development and industrial policy are fused within a state-directed financial architecture oriented toward national technological advancement.

A coordinated push for tech supremacy

This evolving model of state-led financialization reflects a deliberate integration of financial instruments with industrial policy, positioning the state as what we termed as “financial entrepreneur.” In this capacity, the state assumes a dual function: both as a strategic investor in capital markets and as a fund manager whose objectives are shaped through a hybrid of administrative directive and market logic. The recalibration of incentives across state institutions—ranging from banks and SOEs to local governments—facilitates the targeted allocation of financial resources toward sectors deemed essential for national technological leadership.

This coordinated mobilization contrasts sharply with earlier phases of development finance in China, which were heavily reliant on infrastructure-led investment through Local Government Financing Vehicles (LGFVs). The current financial architecture instead orients capital toward innovation and industrial upgrading. As illustrated in the accompanying figure, this shift embodies a paradigmatic change in the underlying logic of state intervention. The empirical results are notable: according to a 2023 report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), China now leads globally in 37 out of 44 critical technologies, including advanced batteries, quantum sensing, and 5G communications.

A growing network of state agencies in innovation finance ecosystem is to ensure ideological alignment and managerial oversight, forming a core feature of China’s model of state-led financialization. This system also serves as a reminder of the original rationale behind China’s economic reform process where the boundaries between public and private sectors, and between liberal market coordination and socialist planning, become increasingly blurred. Notwithstanding its strategic coherence, China’s model of state-led financialization faces a series of structural and operational challenges. One key risk lies in the emergence of overcapacity within state-targeted sectors such as photovoltaics and electric vehicles. In the absence of commensurate demand, excessive production may generate inefficiencies, underutilized assets, and financial losses. Furthermore, the expansive use of mechanisms like GGFs has the potential to inflate asset bubbles, as state-directed capital may push valuations beyond sustainable levels, raising concerns over long-term financial stability.

The persistence of so-called “zombie firms”—enterprises maintained through state support despite chronic unprofitability—also continues to divert capital from more productive uses, undermining allocative efficiency. Tensions emerge from the dual imperative to stimulate market-based innovation while retaining centralized Party and state control over capital flows. These competing logics often complicate investment decisions and diminish the responsiveness of the financial system. Additionally, fragmented coordination across state entities and growing international scrutiny or resistance to China’s state-capitalist practices further limit the replicability and effectiveness of this model.

For Western economies, the implications are profound. Initiatives such as the U.S. Stargate Project—reportedly valued at $500 billion over four years to support AI and semiconductor infrastructure—and the European Commission’s InvestAI scheme, backed by €20 billion in guarantees, signal a renewed policy interest in public–private coordination. However, these efforts remain constrained by political fragmentation and a reliance on market-led frameworks. China’s approach is characterized by a level of centralized state capacity and institutional discipline that would be difficult to replicate without foundational political transformation in the West.

Should China succeed in sustaining this model without triggering systemic instability, the result would extend beyond technological leadership. It would represent a paradigmatic shift in the global political economy—one that challenges prevailing liberal capitalist orthodoxy and compels a fundamental reconsideration of the relationship between the state, capital, and innovation. In this sense, China is not merely competing within existing rules but reshaping the terrain on which economic competition is conducted.

^{Featured image by Michael Held via Unsplash.}

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The bordered logic behind the headlines

‘Where do you want to go today?’ served as the tagline for software giant Microsoft’s global marketing campaign running through the mid-1990s. The accompanying advertisements were replete with flashy images of people around the world of all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds engaging in a diverse range of activities, including business, education, video games, artistic expression, socializing, and research, to name some of the most prominent examples. The slogan ‘Where do you want to go today?’ implied that people were largely free to travel where they wished, but, of course, Microsoft was selling the power of its software to facilitate the free flow of information and communication, and by extension greater connectivity and collaboration, among people around the world, rather than the actual movement of people.

Yet combined with rapid advances in hardware and software, the tagline captured something of a popular mood of the time. Within many Western societies, the end of the Cold War, the continued liberalization of international trade and travel through a variety of supranational institutions and international agreements, and the growing clout of transnational corporations and nongovernment organizations heralded the coming of a borderless world. The prospect of unprecedented, unfettered mobility and connectivity for an ever-growing number of people seemed imminent.

Looking back thirty years later, those expectations were overly optimistic. It is impossible to deny the truly remarkable technological advances—personal computers, the internet, mobile phones, and wireless communications—that compress space and bridge territories. Yet far from a borderless world, the first decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed a resurgence of borders with impacts on a variety of political, socioeconomic, environmental, technological, and human rights issues.

In fact, borders have been central to two of the most significant events of the 2020s, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic saw governments, with varying degrees of severity and effectiveness, impose border controls, restrict domestic and international travel, and implement systems of confinement and quarantine. These measures disrupted global supply chains and confined millions of people to their homes as their freedom to attend school, go to work, gather for worship, or even simply shop for daily essentials was restricted. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also disrupted global trade networks, while ravaging large swathes of Ukrainian territory, displacing millions of civilians, and prompting massive increases in defense spending far beyond the direct combatants.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of international and civil conflicts roiling the international scene. The attacks by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel in 2023 prompted Israeli retaliatory attacks and eventually a full-scale invasion into Gaza. This, in turn, gave rise to a series of broader, overlapping regional conflicts involving dozens of state and non-state combatants, including Hezbollah and Houthi militants in Lebanon and Yemen respectively and Iranian and Israeli attacks and counterattacks. That turmoil provided at least proximate triggers for the rapid collapse of the Assad regime in Syria in 2024, leaving that country divided among a mixture of forces representing a provisional government, various sectarian militias with unclear allegiances, and remnants of Islamic State forces. Syrian territory also hosts American, Russian, and Turkish armed forces, in some ways resembling the proxy conflicts of the Cold War.

While the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East have dominated headlines, other armed struggles have flared and persisted across the North African, Sahel, South Asian, and Central Asian regions. Afghanistan, Congo, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen remain gripped, at least in part, by civil strife and border disputes stretching back years, if not decades. Beyond the battlefield death and destruction, these conflicts have broader consequences, including refugee flows, economic dislocation and poverty, and malnutrition and hunger, among other problems.

Looming menacingly in the background is the specter of renewed great power competition, primarily between the United States with its global alliance system and the burgeoning partnerships between China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, as well as other like-minded authoritarian regimes. After years of forging economic interdependencies, China has been increasingly assertive in projecting power across the Indo-Pacific realm, especially regarding its claims over Taiwan, the South China Sea, and the Himalayas. The United States has responded with calls to ‘pivot to Asia’ based on targeted sanctions and a general decoupling from China’s economy, strengthening alliances stretching from East Asia through Southeast Asia and Oceania into the Indian basin, and more robust and forward military deployments across the region. Ramifications of great power conflict across the Indo-Pacific realm would greatly exceed the calamities of other ongoing wars.

This blog has summarized, admittedly in broad strokes, the shift from relative optimism in the 1990s—characterized by aspirations for a more collaborative and interconnected global community—to a world confronted by profound challenges in which borders will play central roles through the coming decades. Beyond this focus on larger-scale geopolitics and hard international power, borders are central to a variety of other issues across multiple scales, including debates about trade and tariffs, citizenship and immigration, crime, surveillance and privacy, and cultural change and human rights, to name a few. Headlines on any day offer striking examples of issues and events involving borders.

Given the salience of borders to such an array of pressing issues, Oxford University Press has launched Oxford Intersections: Borders to provide the latest border research, highlighting this field’s broad relevance. Borders are shown to be simultaneously positive and negative, often in the same place and at the same time to different people. Borders remain a prime modality of defining and enacting power across multiple scales. This collection seeks to reveal how, where, why, by whom, and to what effect that power and aspiration of territorial control is exercised. We hope readers will engage Oxford Intersections: Borders to encounter new perspectives on a topic that is elemental to human experience and foundational to the form and function of power.

^{Feature image by Greg Bulla on Unsplash.}

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Knowledge and teaching in the age of information

The advent of the World Wide Web in the turn of the last century completely transformed the way most people find and absorb information. Rather than a world in which information is stored in books or housed in libraries, we have a world where all of the information in the world is accessible to everyone via computers, and in the last decade or so, via their handheld mobile device. The young people currently in university or in school grew up in a world where information is not privileged and immediate access to all of it is taken for granted. In this age of immediate and readily accessible information on any subject, we must ask: What is the role of academic institutions in teaching? If anyone can find out anything at any time, why learn anything? Is there any value to knowledge in its own right?

The answer is that of course teaching and learning are still important, but they must change to reflect the way information is accessed. The fact is that information on its own is useless without a contextual framework. It may be possible to easily find a detailed account of all of the units and commanders that participated in the Battle of Regensburg in 1809, but if the reader has no understanding of military history, and no background on the politics leading to the Napoleonic wars, this information is no different from a shopping list. Similarly, it may be possible to find detailed information on the excretory system of annelid worms, but without an understanding of what excretory systems are and what their role is in the organism, and without a knowledge of the biology and evolution of annelid worms, this information is no more than a list of incoherent technical terms.

These two very different examples serve to highlight the difference between information and knowledge. Possessing knowledge about a subject means being able to place information into a broad framework and context. People who are knowledgeable about the Napoleonic wars do not necessarily know the names of every commander of every unit in the Battle of Regensburg, but if they need this information, they can access it and use it better than someone with no knowledge. A comparative zoologist may not know all the details about annelid excretory systems, but when needed, they will know what to look for.

With this distinction in mind, I suggest that teaching and textbooks need to shift their focus from transferring information to transferring knowledge. No textbook can compete with the wealth of information available at the students’ fingertips. No course can ever impart all that there is to know about a subject. However, a good teacher and a well-written textbook can provide a much better framework for knowledge and understanding than a search engine will ever be able to. Indeed, a course or module that overburdens the students with numerous bits of information is not only a misuse of resources, it is ultimately counter-productive, as the student will always be able to challenge the teacher with a new bit of information not included in the course.

Teaching in the age of information should focus on providing a working vocabulary of a subject and on building a robust framework of knowledge. Detailed examples can be used to demonstrate principles, but this should be done sparingly. The curious students can then fill in the details on their own, taking advantage of the information at their fingertips.

I have been following these principles in my teaching of evolution and organismic biology for as long as I have been a university professor. My frustration at the details-heavy zoology textbooks led me to write a new textbook, focusing on principles and on providing a conceptual framework to organismic biology, rather than on details. For example, I have written a chapter on excretory systems that outlines what the roles and functions of this system are, and gives a few demonstrative examples of how these functions are manifested in a small number of organisms. I have included similar chapters on other systems interspersed with chapters on individual animal phyla, which give an overview of the phylum and its diversity, and present the specific variations within each of the organ systems, and how these are adapted to the life history of members of the phylum.

As we and our students continue to have easier and more readily available access to information, this new approach will provide a more successful framework for students to continue to grow and learn as they step out into the world. Hopefully this approach will be picked up by authors of additional textbooks to provide a new generation of teaching resources, more suitable for the age of information.

^{Feature image credit: Ilya Lukichev via iStock.}

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Why economists should learn machine learning

Economists analyze data. Machine learning (ML) offers a powerful set of tools for doing just that. But while econometrics and ML share a foundation in statistics, their aims and philosophies often diverge. The questions they ask and the tools they prioritize can differ dramatically. To clarify these differences—and the reasons economists might ultimately use ML—it helps to begin by deliberately sharpening the contrast between the two.

Quantifying vs. predicting

At its core, econometrics is about explanation. The typical economist is interested in quantifying the effect of a specific variable, often within a framework of causal inference. For example: What is the effect of raising the minimum wage on employment? Do peers influence students’ academic achievements? What is the average wage gap between men and women? These questions focus on estimating one or a few key parameters, with great attention to the rigor of the identification strategy. The emphasis is on the assumptions under which we can identify the parameters and on inference—constructing confidence intervals, testing hypotheses, and, above all, establishing causality.

This approach gained prominence in recent decades, culminating in Nobel Prizes for economists like Joshua Angrist, Guido Imbens, David Card, and Esther Duflo, whose work emphasizes empirical strategies to identify causal effects in natural, field, or experimental settings.

Machine learning, by contrast, is largely concerned with prediction. The primary goal is to develop models—or more precisely, algorithms—that deliver accurate predictions for new data points. Whether it’s recommending movies, classifying elements of an image, translating text, or matching job-seekers with firms, ML prioritizes predictive performance under computational constraints. Rather than focusing on a particular parameter, the goal is to learn complex patterns from data, often using highly flexible (sometimes opaque) models.

That said, forecasting is one area where econometrics and ML converge. Econometric forecasting often imposes structure on messy data to reduce noise, while ML emphasizes complexity and flexibility. Nevertheless, many traditional econometric tasks can be reframed as prediction (sub)problems or built upon them. Estimating a treatment effect, for example, involves building a counterfactual and is inherently a predictive exercise: being able to credibly predict what would have happened to this individual had they not been treated?

Models and assumptions

Econometric models tend to be simple, theory-driven, and interpretable. They often rest on strong assumptions—like linearity or exogeneity—that are difficult to verify but motivated by behavioral or economic theory. These models aim to isolate the effect of a particular variable, not to simulate the entire system.

In ML, simplicity is often sacrificed for performance. Black-box models, such as deep neural networks, are acceptable (and even preferred) if they generate more accurate predictions. A battery of performance metrics—like precision and recall—guide model selection, depending on the stakes. For instance, in fraud detection, a model with high precision ensures that flagged cases are likely real; in cancer screening, high recall ensures few real cases are missed.

Nevertheless, within a particular defined problem, ML offers algorithms whose predictive performance often surpass the standard (non)parametric toolkit in data-rich environments. For example, when selecting a model, they allow modeling complex interactions between variables or being robust to possibly high-dimensional nuisance parameters. The issue is that the theoretical behavior of these tools is often intractable, making them difficult to use within the classic econometric framework. Fortunately, over the past fifteen years, econometric theory has advanced to incorporate ML techniques in a way that enables statistical inference—allowing researchers to understand the working assumptions and their limits, construct tests, and build confidence intervals using ML-powered estimators.

Data and deployment

Another important divergence lies in how data is used. Econometric models are typically built on a single dataset, intended for a specific study. Replication is possible, but each new dataset generally leads to a different model. The focus is on understanding a particular phenomenon using the data at hand.

In ML, models are developed to be deployed in production, where they will continuously generate predictions as new data becomes available. This makes it crucial to guard against overfitting—when a model performs well on training data but poorly on unseen data. This risk is mitigated by techniques like cross-validation, and by splitting data into training and test sets. Modern ML even grapples with new phenomena like “double descent” where larger models trained on more data can paradoxically generalize better.

Complex data, new frontiers

ML’s rise is partly fueled by its success in handling complex, unstructured data—images, text, audio—that traditional statistical approaches struggle to process. These data types don’t fit neatly into rows and columns, and extracting meaningful features from them requires sophisticated techniques from computer science. ML excels in these domains, often matching human-level performance on tasks like facial recognition or language translation. As such, ML is the key ingredient to compress or extract information from such unstructured datasets, unlocking new possibilities.

Think about it:

• classifying the sentiment of an internet review on a numerical scale to enter a regression model,
• compressing a product image into a fixed-size vector (an embedding) to analyze consumer behavior,
• measuring the tone of a central banker’s speech.

Text data is undoubtedly one of the richest sources of economic information that largely remains out-of-reach for traditional econometric approaches.

A two-way street

The distinctions above are real, but they are not absolute. Economists have long used prediction tools, and ML researchers are increasingly concerned with issues that economists know well: fairness, bias, and explainability. Recent public controversies—from racial bias in criminal risk algorithms (e.g., the COMPAS tool) to gender stereotypes in language models—have underscored the social consequences of automated decision-making.

Likewise, econometrics is not immune to methodological pitfalls. The replication crisis, “p-hacking,” and specification searching can be seen as forms of overfitting problems that ML addresses through careful validation practices. Techniques like pre-analysis plans (committing to a set of statistical tests before receiving the data in order to reduce false positives) have been adopted by economists to mitigate these risks. However, possible solutions can draw inspiration from ML’s train/test split approach.

Bridging the divide

So, should economists learn machine learning? Absolutely. ML extends the standard econometric toolkit with methods that improve predictive performance, extract insights from text and images, and enhance robustness in estimation. For economists looking to stay at the frontier of empirical research—especially in a data-rich world—ML is not just useful. It’s essential.

^{Feature image credit: Photo by NOAA sur Unsplash.}

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Journey into Darkness: The 2025 Eurovision Song Contest Basel, Switzerland

When you let me go
I barely stayed afloat
I’m floating all alone
Still holding on to hope

—JJ, Austria, “Wasted Love”
Winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025

Many waters
Cannot quench love
Neither can the floods
Drown it

—Yuval Raphael, Israel, “New Day Will Rise” (from the original Hebrew)
Second place, Eurovision Song Contest 2025

How very different the bridges of the first- and second-place songs, JJ’s “Wasted Love” for Austria and Yuval Raphael’s “New Day Will Rise” for Israel, were at Eurovision 2025. And how uncannily the same. Does love survive when tested by the seas and floods threatening to inundate it? The survival of love is both denied and affirmed, threatened but still buoyed by the precarity of hope. Darkness haunts both songs, filling the stage with the stark play of light against the ominous backdrop of black. If the two songs and their metaphors are consonant at many levels, they were also portentous of the larger dissonance of the largest song contest in the world and its turn toward the darkness that envelops Europe in 2025.

The signs of Eurovision’s turn in 2025 took many and varied forms, but it is the abundance and commonness that pose questions about Europe itself. In significantly larger numbers than previously, the lyrics of the competing Eurosongs were in languages other than English. Each of the Baltic states, for example, sang in languages other than English—Latvian and Lithuanian, and Estonia’s Tommy Cash sang “Espresso Macchiato” primarily in Italian and Spanish. Larger and smaller nations alike chose to sing in national languages. Germany and Iceland, for example, both with long histories of Eurosongs in English, sang in their native languages.

The lyrics of the 2025 Eurosongs tended in greater numbers toward serious subjects, further reflecting the darkening moment. Songs with the comical lyrics that often distinguish Eurosongs did not entirely disappear, but they did not place as well as they frequently do. Sweden’s “Bara bada bastu” (Just Take a Sauna), sung by the Finnish group KAJ and wackily staged in a sauna, was favored to win prior to the Grand Finale, but it placed a fairly distant fourth.

The field of competitors in 2025 was noticeably smaller: thirty-seven as opposed to as many as forty-three in previous years. Above all, the nations choosing not to compete were in Eastern Europe—Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and North Macedonia—while Russia and Belarus are banned from competing due to the ongoing war with Ukraine. Despite the financial reasons for not competing, the result has been a realignment of European nations with political stakes that resemble an earlier division of Europe into East and West. Just as the first Eurovision Song Contest was a response to the Cold War in 1956, so too do recent Eurovisions reflect the East-West divide in the Europe of a New Cold War.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which is responsible for organizing the participation of nations in its European media empire has long established rules meant to distance the Eurovision from politics. Over the contest’s historical longue durée these rules have been effective to varying degrees, often by requiring that Eurosongs with politically specific lyrics make changes that depoliticize them. Those changes are usually accommodated (e.g., in 2024 when Israel was required to change some lyrics and the title of its entry, from “October Rain” to “Hurricane”), but occasional rejections are not unknown (e.g., Georgia with its 2009 entry, “We Don’t Wanna Put In”).

In 2025, the dividing line between the political and apolitical collapsed, thereby releasing the flood waters of the political. The rules designed to prevent the political could no longer withstand the Realpolitik of a Europe in conflict with itself. At the center of the storm was Israel and the contradictions unleashed by its continued participation while at war in Gaza. Calls for banning Israel because of its conflicts with Palestinians, especially in Gaza, have been growing for years. Palestine has itself launched tentative efforts to participate in the Eurovision, but without luck because of the absence of a national broadcasting network. Protests of Israeli Eurovision participation coalesced in 2019, when the Eurovision took place in Tel Aviv. Palestinian musicians even went so far as to organize an alternative Gazavision in 2019.

In 2025, all forms of pro-Palestinian protest were banned in Basel. Palestinian flags were not allowed, and the negative response of audiences to Yuval Raphael’s performances (booing) were scrubbed from EBU broadcasts. When Raphael placed in the middle of the field after the professional-juries voted, she catapulted to first place after the Israeli government organized a massive popular-vote surge on social media. She led the field until the final announcement of popular voting nudged JJ ahead into first place. In the week following the Grand Finale in Basel, the critical response to the flood of politicking in the Eurovision had swollen to the point that many recognize it as an existential crisis for the Eurovision Song Contest. It either will or will not be a response to the political forces dividing Europe.

It is my custom each year to end this blog post by giving final voice to a song that has special meaning for me, often because it offers an alternative vision for what the Eurovision Song Contest has been and what it might become. I discover the meaning I seek in these final sonic epilogues through acts of return and remembrance, return to powerful and intimate Eurovision moments of the past, return also to the exquisite beauty afforded by song itself. Accordingly, I remind myself that it is song that lies at the heart of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is song, so the first great theorist of song, Johann Gottfried Herder, reminds us, that “loves the masses” and their humanity. In search of song, I return to Latvia, where the young Herder, living in Riga, may have experienced his first folk songs, and I look to this year’s Latvian Eurovision entry, Tautumeitas’s “Bur man laimi” (Chant of Happiness). To complete the rhetorical framing of this blogpost, I close with the bridge of a song from Latvian folk song tradition. I return to “Bur man laimi” to remember—and to remind us—that the journey into darkness can pave the way to new light.

I didn’t know my own happiness
I didn’t know my own happiness
Until I met my misery

_{Featured image: the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 by MrSilesian. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.}

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How to speak truth (or a reasonable facsimile) to power

One of the earliest depictions of the human form, painted on the wall of a cave in the Iberian Peninsula, seems to show a man with his middle finger extended. The gesture is probably not in this instance the near-universal sign of contempt it has become, but it may nevertheless serve as a reminder that the urge to make our feelings known has a long history. Today, that urge expresses itself most fully in our need to tell our leaders when we think they are wrong, a practice commonly known as “speaking truth to power.”

But getting up the courage to do so is only half the battle. As our recent election cycle has shown, getting power to listen is a whole other matter. Leaders across the political spectrum tend to surround themselves with people who share their views, and the resulting echo chamber simply drowns out other voices.

So how does one do it? The Bible has a couple of examples.

In Genesis, the patriarch Abraham gets God to think twice before wiping out Sodom, the original Sin City. He does it by haggling. “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city,” he asks. When God agrees to spare the city if fifty righteous individuals can be found, Abraham cautiously but firmly starts bringing the number down. What about only 45, he asks. Or 30? How about 20? 10? Each time, God agrees to the new number, and we are left to believe not a single righteous person could be found in that moral cesspool.

A more earthly example comes from the Second book of Samuel, where the prophet Nathan publicly shamed King David for wrongfully arranging the death of Uriah the Hittite so that he could take the voluptuous Bathsheba as his wife. Ostensibly seeking the king’s justice, Nathan shared a story about a rich landowner who nevertheless seized his neighbor’s only ewe for a feast. When David predictably exploded over this rampant injustice, Nathan sprang his trap, telling the king that this was what he had done when he lusted for Bathsheba. Even though Nathan had tricked and humiliated David, the king responded, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Abraham and Nathan were special cases. As patriarch and prophet, respectively, they had acquired the right to exercise what Greek and Roman scholars called parrhesia, literally, “frankness,” or “freedom of speech.”

More ordinary folks had a problem, as the Greek philosopher Plato discovered when he travelled all the way from Athens to teach the ruler of Syracuse in Sicily how to become a philosopher-king. When Plato said that being a king or slave made no difference to a true philosopher, that ruler decided to try out the idea by selling Plato into slavery. (Legend has it that Plato used the money raised to pay his ransom to found the Academy.)

Under the Romans, public speaking became a primary skill, especially when it came to getting a favorable response from the emperor. As a result, a fairly large number of speeches, and handbooks on how to deliver a successful one, survive. Here are some simple rules that can be distilled from these works.

Do such rules matter in our postmodern age, when truth itself seems to be up for grabs? We are not as unique as we like to think. Two millennia ago, Pontius Pilate asked, “What is truth?” If a skilled speaker had been on hand, the subsequent course of history might have been very different indeed.

^{Featured image: ‘The School of Athens’ by Raffaello Sanzio, c.1509-1511, via Wikimedia Commons.}

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Pride isn’t arrogance; it’s love

Shae Washington, a Black queer Christian woman, struggled to reconcile her sexuality and her spirituality. Her church had always taught that you cannot be both Christian and queer. After years of praying about her struggle, one day she heard God say, “I have already set you free on the cross. Why are you still in the closet? Come out, be who I created you to be.” That day, when Shae chose to trust God’s authority over her own certainty, she said she felt a tremendous peace from God. That peace kept her grounded as former friends now demanded she show them where in the Bible it said this was okay and as church members charged her with arrogance for elevating her own experience over years of tradition.

Shae was among those living on the frontlines of the so-called culture wars—conservative Christians who are also LGBTQ+. Some of the things that make a lot of their lives hell make a lot of other people’s lives hell, too, in less direct ways. We all gain by understanding their situations. As we think about pride this month, the lives of LGBTQ+ conservative Christians can help us to see the link between pride and humility, and how both are necessary for love and justice. Knowing that you are a human being, worthy of love, is the kind of pride that a lot of straight, cisgender people take for granted. It is often denied to LGBTQ+ people. That is the pride we celebrate during Pride Month. As Shae’s story illustrates, many LGBTQ+ Christians find it is their humility that helps them recover or develop a healthy sense of pride: the belief in their fundamental worthiness of love and belonging.

Many LGBTQ+ conservative Christians have had loved ones cut them off from all connection out of fear that they are not just sinful, but dangerous to those they love. They are accused of “turning their backs on God,” even though many have begged and pleaded with God to take away the feelings that they thought made them unworthy of love. Still, many LGBTQ+ Christians stay connected to their faith communities, and more and more are being honest about who they are and engaging with their churches. LGBTQ+ Christians who are also people of color may need church as the one place where they find the support they need to survive living in a racist world from week to week. But unlike straight, cisgender people who may have church support groups to help with their marriages or families, LGBTQ+ people may not feel welcome to talk about their intimate relationships or find support for how to navigate them. And in predominantly white LGBTQ+ spaces, they may be free to express their sexual and gender identities, but might endure racism. Their stories make clear that it’s hard to flourish when you have to hide parts of yourself, and that we thrive when we are unconditionally loved and accepted as whole people. But getting there can be a tough road.

Looking at life from LGBTQ+ conservative Christians’ perspective, we see how actions that look like love might not actually be loving. In our research, we heard about a dynamic we call sacramental shame, where churches required LGBTQ+ members continually to feel and display shame—an emotion that signals they know they are unworthy of love—as a sign that they have not rejected God. This requirement was often shrouded in the language of love, “we love you, but we hate your sin,” and in expressions of affection and care. Being gay, bi, or trans was compared to being a murderer, or cheating on a spouse, or embezzling funds—all things that violate other people’s trust and break relationships. Yet the same people who taught that God could forgive people for these things also taught that being LGBTQ+—which is generally involuntary and doesn’t actually hurt anyone—makes a person uniquely unworthy of God’s love. When you treat being LGBTQ+ itself as a sin—the worst sin—you treat your own understanding of gender and sexuality as greater than God’s love, as a commandment more important than the Ten Commandments (which, Jesus said, all boil down to loving God and neighbor).

There is a particular harm that is caused by treating someone like their capacity to love is dangerous. It can make people feel like monsters. We heard from people for whom life had become completely unlivable because they felt unworthy of human connection and God’s love. They kept friends at arm’s length out of fear that getting too close would condemn them both to hell.

When someone has been treated this way, and comes out of it recognizing that they are not monsters but human beings, they feel alive again. That is pride: knowing that they are worthy of love and belonging, with their gifts and flaws, simply because they are human. In contrast to arrogance or hubris, we call this “relational pride.” Relational pride is taken for granted by many cisgender and heterosexual Christians, because no one ever questions that they deserve love. Knowing they are worthy of love only seems like arrogance to those who think LGBTQ+ people are uniquely unworthy. And yet they accuse LGBTQ+ people of being the arrogant ones.

Relational pride is not the opposite of humility, but its counterpart. Humility is a realistic knowledge of your gifts as well as your limitations. Humility enables us to admit that we might be wrong even when we feel pretty certain; it keeps us honest about our humanity, that none of us is all-knowing and that we need to learn from each other. Shae’s humility allowed her to be open to the possibility that she might be wrong about what she had always thought about gender and sexuality. It allowed her to trust God’s message that she is worthy of love, just as she is. What looked like arrogance to fellow church members was an act of submission to God, taking the harder path of being who God was telling her she was made to be. Shea’s humility led her to a healthy sense of pride—the joy of knowing she is worthy to give and receive love.

Humility also helps those who have devalued LGBTQ+ Christians to reconsider. Conservative Christian parents, pastors, and friends tell stories of the moment they realized that maybe they didn’t know everything about human sexuality and gender. That maybe they didn’t fully understand what the Bible was really saying. They showed humility, which led them to prioritize love over certainty.

Conservative Christians often say their job is to love others, not try to bring about social justice. But there is no love without justice. When we love other people, we are humbly open to learning from them and growing through our connection. We listen to them when they tell us we’ve been hurting them, and because we love them, we work to stop hurting them. Love also means listening when people tell you that your organization’s—or country’s—policies are hurting them, because of their sexual orientation, or gender, or race, ability, or because the policies themselves deprive them of things they need to live. Helping them to thrive might mean working to change those policies—out of love.

We on the left can also be arrogant, dismissing those we disagree with as backwards or even evil. To be sure, there are some pretty evil things happening in the world right now. It can be harmful to try to empathize with someone who treats you as if you shouldn’t exist. But trying to understand the fears behind their actions—when we can do so without personal harm—can help us all to find a way forward, to a society in which people are all treated as worthy of love and care not just from their friends and family, but by institutions and policies. Humility and pride foster solidarity—a relationship of love that works for justice.

^{Featured image by Jason Leung via Unsplash.}

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Does the media we consume impact our emotions?

There’s a saying in Western philosophy, echoed in some other philosophical traditions globally: “the end of labor is to gain leisure.” It’s a reminder that for all of the toil and turmoil that we engage in our daily lives, the fruits of such labor come in securing a means to pursue our own self interests. Such a claim is a cornerstone of contemporary theorizing on psychological well-being, from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory. 

Perhaps I’ve taken this phrase a bit too literally, as I’ve devoted the last two decades of my life to the serious and rigorous study of entertainment and leisure, especially through media technologies. Although I’m unsure if we’ve collectively moved the needle on debates regarding the perils and pearls of an increasingly mediated daily existence, one thing is clear: media have, do, and will continue to play a critical role in how we manage our feelings and dispositions. 

The premise is both elegant and simple: our emotions and moods fluctuate throughout the day as we cope with myriad stressful or monotonous events, and we rarely have control over the many things causing our noxious mood states. However, one thing we have a great deal of control over (usually) is the media content we consume. In the 1980s, some of the earliest media psychology scholars proposed the theory of affect-dependent stimulus arrangement–what later became known as mood management theory. If we presume that some of the most common noxious mood states include frustration and boredom, we can start to see how different media content might be useful for disrupting moods. For example, research using television, films, and music found that stressed people benefit best from slower-paced content with a more relaxing tone, and bored people benefit from somewhat the opposite: action-packed content that requires a bit more attention.

We found these same effects with video games but with one really important caveat: gaming can also back-fire. How is that possible? Video games require a lot more attention to play, because they are interactive–the player has to monitor and respond to the action as it unfolds. Because of this, video games were especially good at disrupting boredom, but games that are too difficult ended up being an additional source of stress, which ended up stressing out already-stressed people. In a sense, we found that video games have the potential to be especially potent for mood repair, but too much challenge disrupted the effect. 

Studies like these are important because they remind us that entertainment media are quite functional in our day-to-day lives. Although it might seem that we’re just playing around and “amusing ourselves” in ways that pull us away from worldly concerns, it’s also the case that our psychological well-being depends on our ability to recover and be resilient–these latter notes being the focus of the latest scholarship into media-induced mood repair. Of course, others have found that some of mood management’s predictions don’t always hold up. For example, there are times where people do want to ruminate in noxious moods; such as when reflecting on the loss of a loved one or getting focused for a major event or competition. Yet even in these theoretical challenges, we see an enduring truth: we engage with media in ways that help us satisfy our needs. 

So rather, maybe we are just playing around, but there are good and useful reasons for doing so. Other theories of functional media use include uses and gratifications theory (that we have deliberate motivations for our media selections, with intended and unintended consequences) and the broader suite of selective exposure theories (of which, mood management is conceptually aligned with). 

In an increasingly mediated and hybrid society, it becomes even more crucial that we observe, describe, and explain our complex relationship with media content. Functional approaches do this by avoiding moral panics over presumed negative influences and instead, they step back to try and understand the role media plays in daily life. Such approaches are equally capable of understanding negative and positive influences (for example, the stressful impact of video games, or the broader discovery of “unintended consequences” through uses and gratifications theory), which makes them especially robust. 

Soon, we will be launching the latest journal of the International Communication Association, Global Perspectives in Communication. The primary focus of GPC is to provide an additional top-tier outlet for communication scholarship, and to do so in an open-access environment so that we can remove barriers to globally relevant scholarship. “Global” in our name is less about a specific focus on intercultural or international scholarship but rather, meant to be an open invitation to a journal built globally from the beginning: from our reviewer pool and editorial board to the many different regions and perspectives that we expect to be represented in our issues and volumes. We hope that if your own scholarship takes you into the study of human communication–from interpersonal interactions to massively mediated systems–that you’ll consider GPC as an outlet for this work. 

_{Featured image by Samsung Memory via Unsplash.}

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Gen Z and the future of audit

As Gen Z enters the audit profession, both educators and employers need to take note of their changing expectations around careers and adapt as needed. By aligning academic preparation with the expectations of employers, educators play a critical role in shaping future auditors who are engaged, resilient, and ready to lead. But before students enter the workplace, their understanding of what audit is and what it can be is developed largely in the classroom by our activities as educators. We have the unique opportunity to shape how Gen Z perceives audit—not just as an academic subject, but as a career.

Who is Gen Z?

Born roughly between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z students are ‘digital natives’ with strong values around diversity, inclusion, mental health, and work-life balance. They want careers that offer more than a good salary and security—they’re looking for meaningful impact in their work and flexibility in how they work. In the classroom, this often translates to a desire for engaging, applied learning experiences, not just memorizing rules taught in lectures. They also value autonomy and self-direction, meaning traditional, top-down teaching styles may not resonate as effectively. As educators, adapting our teaching approach to meet these expectations can make audit more accessible, relevant, and inspiring to Gen Z.

Why this matters for audit education

For many students, their university modules on audit and related topics are the starting point for understanding audit and developing perceptions about what working in audit might be like. If students see audit as rigid, outdated, or lacking in purpose, they are less likely to pursue it. But if they encounter audit as a dynamic, evolving profession—one that plays a vital role in upholding public trust and enabling business accountability—they are more likely to engage. As educators, our influence is powerful. We can shape not only students’ technical competencies, but also their sense of what kind of career audit offers.

A purpose-driven profession

It is crucial that audit is put forward as a purpose-driven profession. Today’s students care deeply about making a difference. They are more likely to engage with audit when they understand its role in protecting stakeholders beyond investors. In my own classes, the sessions where we consider the evolution of the profession in terms of sustainability assurance resonate strongly with students as they begin to see the importance of the profession beyond the purely financial. Using real-world cases and discussions to highlight how auditors contribute to ethical business and societal well-being is a great way to engage students and show them how the profession is dynamic and responsive to global challenges.

Digital advances

Audit has sometimes been unfairly perceived as dry, mundane and repetitive. But audit practice is rapidly changing, especially with the rise of audit data analytics and artificial intelligence. Integrating these topics into the classroom helps students see the relevance of what they’re learning and prevent worries about AI threatening the existence of the audit profession. Using simulations and providing demonstrations of audit software tools where possible gives students a taste for how audit is performed in the real world. Hands-on experience with emerging audit technologies introduces exciting new learning opportunities for students.

The importance of skills and behaviours

While technical proficiency remains essential, we know that audit firms value a range of skills and behaviours. Resilience, adaptability, and the ability to apply ethical judgment and professional scepticism are sought-after skills. Embedding these into our teaching and assessments—through group work, presentations, or ethical dilemma exercises—can help students build resilience and confidence. I use a role-play based on fraud to support students in developing a behaviour of professional scepticism—an activity that goes down well in class and which students remember and discuss in job interviews. Encourage students to think beyond “what” and explore “why” and “how.” Why do auditors need professional scepticism? How do they respond to emerging challenges like sustainability reporting?

Bring the profession into your classroom

Gen Z values transparency and career clarity. Help demystify the audit career path by inviting guest speakers from audit and assurance practice, professional bodies and business. Collaborate with local firms to develop teaching and learning activities such as mock audit tenders, audit planning meetings, and reviews of audit work. But it’s not just about the audit process. Gen Z students may not be aware of the strategic role auditors play in risk management, sustainability reporting, or data assurance. Including these developments in the curriculum can help students see audit as future-oriented and intellectually rewarding.

By making the curriculum more applied, aligned with the evolution of the profession, and engaging, we as educators can help to ensure that the next generation of auditors is not only technically competent and equipped with relevant skills but is also excited at the potential to join the profession. With the right teaching tools and approaches, we can inspire students to see audit not just as a job, but a rewarding career which aligns with the core values of Gen Z.

^{Featured image by Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash.}

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10 books to read this Pride Month [reading list]

Dive into ten remarkable books that illuminate the diverse and vibrant experiences of the LGBTQ+ community. From historical explorations that uncover the rich tapestry of LGBTQ+ history to biographies of influential musical figures who have shaped the cultural landscape, these books offer invaluable perspectives. Whether you’re looking to educate yourself, find inspiration, or simply enjoy compelling stories, these books are essential reads that honor and uplift LGBTQ+ voices.

Choosing Love: What LGBTQ+ Christians Can Teach Us All About Relationships, Inclusion, and Justice

What does the battle between conservative Christians and LGBTQ+ people look like from the vantage point of those who are both? Choosing Love brings together LGBTQ+ conservative Christian experiences with insights from civil rights thinkers, Black feminism, and queer thinkers of color.

Learn more about Choosing Love by Dawne Moon and Theresa W. Tobin

On Elton John: An Opinionated Guide

A lively and imaginative exploration of the career and music of the Rocket Man. Elton John is not only “still standing,” he is a living superlative, the ultimate record-breaking, award-winning survivor of the great era of pop and rock music that he helped to shape during his six decades in the music industry.

Learn more about On EltonJohn by Matthew Restall

The Dandy: A People’s History of Sartorial Splendour

The Dandy: A People’s History of Sartorial Splendour constitutes the first ever history of those dandies who emanated from the less privileged layers of the populace—the lowly clerks, shop assistants, domestic servants, and labourers who increasingly emerged as style-conscious men about town during the modern age. Discover the hidden history of the transgender dandy in interwar Paris and Berlin, the zoot suiter, the teddy boy, the New Romantic, and the many colourful dandies from the past that continue to influence us today.

Learn more about The Dandy by Peter K. Andersson

The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke

In the prize-winning The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke, Jeffrey C. Stewart offers the definitive biography of the father of the Harlem Renaissance, based on the extant primary sources of his life and on interviews with those who knew him personally. This year marks the 100th anniversary of The New Negro. What better way to celebrate than by learning more about the life of Alain Locke, the man who popularized the term.

Learn more about The New Negro by Jeffrey C. Stewart

The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse in America

The Things She Carried explores how purses have served as more than fashion accessories—they’ve been symbols of privacy, pride, and activism. Kathleen B. Casey examines their role in breaking social barriers, from Black women in the civil rights movement to LGBTQ+ individuals using bags to defend their bodies and as declarations of identity. This powerful history highlights how everyday objects can become tools for resistance and self-expression, making it a compelling read for Pride Month and beyond.

Learn more about The Things She Carried by Kathleen B. Casey

Colette: My Literary Mother

Colette was a pioneering, ground-breaking modernist writer, but has not always had her originality and worth recognized in Britain. Her work provocatively uses unstable narratives, gaps, silences, fairytale, mythical tropes, and sensual evocations of childhood, sex, and landscapes. Michèle Roberts examines how Colette expresses her unsettling content on desire, perversion, ageing, and different forms of love.

Learn more about Colette by Michèle Roberts

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”

James Baldwin’s work remains profoundly relevant, offering a lens into the intersections of race, sexuality, and identity. His fiction explores personal dilemmas amid complex social pressures, as seen in Giovanni’s Room, which centers gay and bisexual experiences, and Sonny’s Blues, where music becomes a metaphor for resilience. Tom Jenks’s analysis of Sonny’s Blues highlights Baldwin’s meticulous storytelling, showing how the narrative stays with readers. Baldwin’s exploration of masculinity, race, and class challenged norms and shaped conversations around LGBTQ+ rights, making his work essential reading.

Learn more about James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” by Tom Jenks

Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750

Until quite recently, the history of male-male sexual relations was a taboo topic. But when historians eventually explored the archives of Florence, Venice and elsewhere in Europe, they brought to light an extraordinary world of early modern sexual activity, extending from city streets and gardens to taverns, monasteries and Mediterranean galleys.

Learn more about Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe by Sir Noel Malcolm

The Well of Loneliness

The Well of Loneliness is among the most famous banned books in history. A pioneering work of literature, Radclyffe Hall’s novel charts the development of a ‘female sexual invert’, Stephen Gordon, who from childhood feels an innate sense of masculinity and desire for women.

Learn more about The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass stands as one of the most influential and innovative literary works of the last two hundred years. Widely credited as the originator of free verse in English, Whitman put forward a radical new language of the body, the nation, and same-sex love.

Learn more about Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Check out these books and more on Bookshop US and Bookshop UK.

_{Feature image by Steve Johnson via Unsplash.}

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Spain 50 years after General Franco

Few countries in the world have changed as dramatically as Spain has since the death of General Franco 50 years ago. Following his victory in a three-year civil war, Franco ruled as dictator for nearly four decades. His successor, King Juan Carlos, whose appointment by Franco in 1969 restored the Bourbon monarchy, abolished in 1931when the Second Republic was declared, used the dictator’s immense powers to transition Spain to democracy, for which there was a crying need among the population.

Today the country is one of only 25 nations out of 167 ranked as a “full democracy” by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The economy has moved from being very protectionist to a high level of openness, as measured by foreign trade and direct foreign investment. Spain was a founding member of the eurozone. Socially it is one of the most progressive countries; same-sex marriage was legalized in 2005, euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2021, and paid menstrual leave in 2023.

But in 2025 the country faces a host of challenges, some of them not new but becoming ever more urgent. The unemployment rate has come down from a peak of 27% in 2013, following the 2008 global financial crisis and the bursting of Spain’s immense property bubble, but at 11% it is still double the EU average. The economy is heavily reliant on tourism (94 million international visitors in 2024, the second largest number after France), a seasonal industry; R&D spending, central for technological change and innovation is low (1.2% of GDP), and the state pension system in a country with a fast-ageing population and one of the world’s highest average life expectancies is coming under increasing pressure.

There is also an acute housing crisis, which is deepening the divide between the relatively poor living standards of young adults, unable to get on the property ladder, and the more comfortable life of the elderly. This crisis is aggravated by the influx of immigrants in recent years, who are needed to work in sectors, such as agriculture, construction, and to care for the elderly, and to keep the population growing. Spain’s fertility rate of 1.2 children is far below the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. Most of the 8 million increase in the population between 2000 and 2024 was due to immigration.

Other problems include the colonization by politicians of state institutions and companies; the government’s overuse of decree laws that obviate the need for parliamentary debate; corruption that is perceived to be relatively high; political pressure on the judiciary, and the closed party system list to elect MPs. Under this system, candidates are elected in the order in which they appear on the voting list. Since that order is decided by the party’s leadership, MPs are then beholden to the leadership–a system that fosters unquestioning obedience and stifles debate. A Pew survey showed close to 70% of respondents in Spain dissatisfied with the functioning of its democracy, the second highest level among the EU countries included in the survey.

As if these problems are not enough, resolving them is in the hands of a highly polarized and fragmented political class that is identified by the state pollster CIS as one of the country’s biggest problems. Tackling the problems and structural challenges for the greater good requires broad consensus across the political divide. More than 80% of Spaniards, according to the private pollster Metroscopia, would like to return to the spirit of compromise of the 1975-1978 transition to democracy.

That spirit saw broad consensus between the Socialists and the conservative Popular Party (PP), the two main parties, to resolve issues for the good of the country as a whole. Since 2015, however, hard-right and hard-left parties have entered parliament, making consensus much more difficult. The combined share of the Socialists’ and the PP’s vote dropped from 73.4% in 2011 to 50.7% in 2015, and recovered to 65% in 2023.

Spain had five general elections between 2015 and 2023, but only 10 in the preceding 36 years.

The unwieldy Socialist-led minority coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that emerged from the November 2019 and July 2023 elections, with a hard-left alliance as the junior partner, depends for its survival on parliamentary support from Basque nationalist and separatist parties and two Catalan separatist parties.

The movement for an independent Catalonia, which came to a head with an illegal referendum on secession in 2017, has ebbed but not lost its hold over national political life. The maximalist Together for Catalonia’s support for the current government came at the price of a broad and deeply controversial amnesty for some 400 people who faced charges for offences related to the referendum and the secession push.

Meanwhile, Spain’s public administration is still needlessly opaque. Franco’s archaic Official Secrets Law of 1968, which allows classified information to be kept secret forever, remains in force. It is very much out of line with other developed countries. In the 50^th anniversary year of the dictator’s death, now would be a good time to scrap it and agree to a new one. Spain has come a long way but, in some areas, needs to go further.

_{Header image: Photo by Sam Williams on Unsplash.}

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50 years after the fall of Saigon [reading list]

On 30 April 1975, the Vietnam War came to a historic end with the fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, to North Vietnam forces, marking a significant turning point in world history. This day is remembered for the profound impact it had on the lives of millions, the geopolitical landscape, and the course of modern history. As we commemorate the anniversary of this pivotal event, we reflect on the sacrifices made, the lessons learned, and the enduring hope for peace and reconciliation.

Access the featured books and chapters on this reading list via your institution’s library or recommend to your librarian to gain access.

Fire and Rain by Carolyn Woods Eisenberg

This gripping account interweaves Nixon and Kissinger’s pursuit of the war in Southeast Asia and their diplomacy with the Soviet Union and China with on-the-ground military events and US domestic reactions to the war conducted in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Drawing upon a vast collection of declassified documents, Eisenberg presents an important re-interpretation of the Nixon Administration’s relations with the Soviet Union and China vis-à-vis the war in Southeast Asia.

Read more.

Vietnam at War by Mark Philip Bradley

The Vietnam War tends to conjure up images of American soldiers battling an elusive enemy in thick jungle, the thudding of helicopters overhead. But there were in fact several wars in Vietnam, including an anticolonial war with France and a civil war between the North and South. Vietnam at War looks at how the Vietnamese themselves experienced all of these conflicts, showing how the wars for Vietnam were rooted in fundamentally conflicting visions of what an independent Vietnam should mean that in many ways remain unresolved to this day.

Read more.

Death of a Generation by Howard Jones

For many historians and political observers, what John F. Kennedy would and would not have done in Vietnam has been a source of enduring controversy. Based on new evidence—including a revelation about the Kennedy administration’s involvement in the assassination of Premier Diem—Howard Jones argues in his book that Kennedy intended to withdraw the great bulk of American soldiers and pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Vietnam.

Read more.

Number One Realist by Nathaniel L. Moir

In a 1965 letter to Newsweek, French writer and academic Bernard Fall (1926-67) staked a claim as the “Number One Realist” on the Vietnam War. This is the first book to study the thought of this overlooked figure, one of the most important experts on counterinsurgency warfare in Indochina.

Read more.

“Hanoi’s National Liberation Strategy, 1954–1975” by Pierre Asselin

This chapter from The Oxford Handbook of Late Colonial Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies considers the strategies and tactics used by Vietnamese communist leaders to defeat the United States and its allies in the Vietnam War. It demonstrates that the guerrilla warfare that has come to define the war in the West was in fact only one aspect of a highly sophisticated campaign to “liberate” the Southern half of the country and bring about national reunification under communist aegis.

Read more.

“The Literature of Peace: A War Refugee’s ‘Orphaned Voice’ in The Sympathizer”by Pamela J. Rader

This chapter from The Oxford Handbook of Peace History considers The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Vietnamese American refugee’s perspective on the war waged on Vietnamese soil. In the tradition of novels as vehicles for social change, the fictional confessional chronicles the lasting devastation of war, cultural imperialism, and nationalism through its eponymous, biracial, double-agent narrator who subscribes to the loyalty of two brothers instead of the two countries he serves.Art, specifically fiction, becomes an act of resistance to assert the loss of individualism and freedom of thought in promoting a culture of peace.

Read more.

The Dragon in the Jungle by Xiaobing Li

Western historians have long speculated about Chinese military intervention in the Vietnam War. It was not until recently, however, that newly available international archival materials, as well as documents from China, have indicated the true extent and level of Chinese participation in the conflict of Vietnam. For the first time in the English language, this book offers an overview of the operations and combat experience of more than 430,000 Chinese troops in Indochina from 1968-73.

Read more.

_{Feature image by USMC Photo by GySgt Russ Thurman. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.}

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Subversion: history’s greatest hits

Subversion—domestic interference to undermine or manipulate a rival—is as old as statecraft itself. But most of what we know about the subject concerns the Cold War and focuses on big powers maliciously manipulating the domestic politics of small ones. To understand how subversion fits into the new epoch of great power rivalry, to know what’s really new and what’s old hat, we need a primer on great power subversive statecraft through the ages. And we need this history to look at all forms of subversive statecraft, not just conventional ones, such as election meddling or propaganda. 

A Measure Short of War provides just that, revealing that most of today’s fears and hopes surrounding subversion would have been familiar to the statesman of earlier ages. Check out highlights from some of the cases detailed in the book:

_{Featured image by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash.}

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Organizations are our greatest achievement 

There are many contenders for the award of humanity’s greatest achievement. Some say its writing. Others say its agriculture. Electricity, space travel, and human rights are also possibilities. I disagree with them all. 

It’s not that I don’t like writing, agriculture, human rights, and all the rest. They’re fab. It’s just that I think the greatest thing we humans ever did was figure out how to form ourselves into organizations. My vote goes to the weird and wonderful social structures we humans build to get more or less complicated stuff done, from launching spaceships  to brewing craft beer. 

Nothing really happens in the world without organizations. We enter the world in an organized way, with the help of hospitals and maternity wards. We also leave the world in an organized way, with the help of funeral homes and religious ceremonies. Everything in between is stuffed full of organizations of every kind imaginable—schools, universities, social clubs, gossip groups, government agencies, banks, tech companies, and so on. Even the time I set my alarm in the morning involves an organization. I don’t want to be up at seven, but the organization I work for starts early, so I fit in with that. It seems only fair. 

It’s also worth keeping in mind that many of the things touted as our greatest achievements are intimately linked to organizations—even writing. In fact, especially writing, which was developed out of arithmetical techniques used in record keeping. The point here is that we figured out how to write, not to record the intricate beauty of human life, but to better process, store, and manage information. It is precisely because of organizations that our oldest written document is a list of ‘goods received’ at a brewery, not a love letter from some long-lost beau. 

This might feel a touch tragic, but it says something very profound about what it is to be human. Most obviously, that we’ve always had a predilection for booze—but more importantly, that fundamentally we’re an organized species. It’s who we are. Humans build organizations, of all sorts of different shapes and sizes, and for all sorts of different reasons. 

At some points in our history our capacity to build organizations has been really quite impressive. At other times, less so—the demise of the Roman Empire was a particularly dark period. The organizations we have today are arguably the most impressive that have ever existed—they’re incredibly complex and productive. The very biggest, like the UK’s National Health Service, have upwards of a million people in them. Some, like the US Department of Defense, have more than twice that, and they’re literally reshaping the world we live in right before our very eyes.  

Yet, most of the organizations we have today have distinctly ancient origins. They’re not old, as such, but they’re based on some pretty ancient innovations. For example, bureaucracy can be tracked back to the invention of writing, while the concept of organizing for the ‘public good’ similarly dates back millennia. At the very least to a 5,000-year-old chain of left-luggage offices in Syria’s Balikh River valley. 

State-run bureaucracies like the ones governments use to collect taxes today are basically a Chinese invention. The Qin Empire (c.220 BCE) gave us large large-scale public administration, as well as the concept of an HR department and entrance exams. 

The corporation was invented by the Romans, where it was at least partly responsible for the meteoric rise and fall of their empire. Did you know that pretty much all the ancient Roman monuments we goggle over today (and indeed many of Europe’s major roads) were built by corporations under contracts from the Roman state? 

Even the founding principles of the industrial revolution are not that new. Modern factories and the idea of mass-produced, standardized products can trace their linage back at least 4,000 years to the Harappans of the Indus River valley. 

Of course, another part of the story of human organization is that most people in the world do not actually work in mainstream, ‘formal’ organizations. The truth is that most people on this planet will never hold a contract of employment in organization of any kind—they’ll work informally, in shadow factories and on pop-up market stalls. Indeed, a significant number will work in organizations that are explicitly banned in the countries they live in—they’ll work in criminal organizations, like the Japanese Yakuza or the Italian ‘Ndrangheta. 

The point is that there are an infinite variety of different organizations out there, all doing different things in different ways. Sure, some of them aren’t that great, but the rest have done some pretty awesome things—like codify and disseminate the concept of human rights, put people into space, and build computers capable of outthinking us. Organizations define the world we live in, and they reflect the best and worst of what humanity is capable of. 

_{Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash.}

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What actually happened during the 1970s?

Working-class politics is back in vogue in the West, but for whom does it speak? An AfD candidate in Germany won over 14% of the vote after claiming the SPD was ‘no longer a workers’ party in the classic sense’ and that his organisation was ‘taking on this role’. The US Vice President, JD Vance, emphasises he is a ‘a working-class boy, born far from the halls of power’ and promises to reshore industrial jobs. Marine Le Pen claims to lead the ‘party of French workers’ and Fratelli d’Italia wins a majority of manual workers after asking if ‘the Left is now no longer in the factories and amongst the workers, where can you find it?’ (its answer: a Pride parade). These political visions define themselves against an identity politics of the urbane, the educated, and the socially liberal. They seek to reverse the impacts of deindustrialisation, globalisation, and social liberalisation which began in the mid twentieth century and rapidly accelerated after the 1970s.

Histories of contemporary Europe tend to argue that the defeat of a certain kind of industrial politics associated with the Left was both inevitable, permanent, and an event long in the making. Viewed from the year 2000, the dividends of adaption to broadened social bases, reformulated programmes, and a post-class image seemed self-evident to many. Twenty-five years later, this consensus has been challenged. The British Labour Party’s chief strategist believes winning back working-class voters is the fundamental test of power. Others stress the polarisation of values between graduates, professionals, and ethnic minorities and pensioners, school leavers, and workers. Though many trace the origins of contemporary uncertainty to the 1970s, fewer have concretely analysed what actually happened in that decade.

West Europeans experienced that decade differently to its retrospective representation. The trade unions and social democratic and Communist parties grew and a diverse new generation entered the labour movement. Marginalised young, female, and immigrant workers led strikes to gain rights. White-collar workers unionised and sections of a previously hostile middle class appeared to be switching allegiances. Immigration, women’s entry into the workforce, widening educational access, increasing service employment, and minority movements were believed to have expanded the reach and magnetism of the Left. Many on the other side of politics thought that this trajectory would continue. Successful strikebreaking movements, new automation technologies, and organisational recasting helped to interrupt this momentum. A generation of workers felt bewildered, unable to understand their predicament, and bereft of the means to resist the shift to a new era. Only under specific circumstances at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s did the old Left’s expanded coalition fracture with enduring and sometimes traumatic results. The reliance on ideas of decline has contributed to the flattening of a complex history.   

Asking different questions of the 1970s may require experimentation with methods, incorporation of neglected forms of evidence, and analysis of various cases within unitary frameworks. Archivally-driven accounts rooted in spaces of common deliberation and action can address the absence of a certain kind of working-class voice in existing narratives. Combining transnational and comparative approaches can provide insights on periods where the forces of change traverse states and delimited frameworks, institutions, and cultures channel their energies, manage their impact, and decide on priorities. Looking beyond that decade, it might be worth developing more granular accounts of the relations between technology and society, following the scholarship of David Edgerton and Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, and establishing a deeper understanding of how machines are used at work. The conditions of possibility of a moment when the Right seeks to occupy the space where classical working-class politics once stood merits further study.

_{Feature image by André Cros. CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.}

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Towards dynamic accountability

Accountability is a fundamental component of governance, whether the governed entity is a country, a company, or indeed any other corporate entity, including charities, cooperatives, the NHS, or universities.

What is meant by governance? Most definitions of governance, particularly corporate governance, focus on what governance does (direct and control). An alternative definition considers what governance really is:

“Corporate governance describes the way that trust is achieved, power exercised, and accountability shown, in corporate entities, for the benefit of members, other stakeholders, and society.”

Consequently, accountability is a fundamental part of governance. Yet, accountability remains the least discussed aspect of the subject.

The corporate governance matrix

The well-known corporate governance matrix suggests that the process involves strategy formulation, policy-making, monitoring/supervising management, and providing accountability.

The right-hand side of the matrix (strategy formulation and policy-making) is essentially forward-looking, covering the overall responsibility for corporate performance, whereas the left-hand demands (monitoring/supervision and accountability) are concerned with the present or past and reflect responsibility for corporate conformance and compliance with law and regulations.

On passive accountability

Many directors think of accountability as the last step in the governance process, reporting the result of recent corporate performance. The literature on accountability has focused predominantly on financial reporting, independently audited in line with the relevant accounting principles or standards. Recent calls for reporting non-financial information have added a further dimension, including, for example, reports on strategy, sustainability, and ESG (Environment, Society, and Governance).

Such reporting suggests a passive approach to accountability, which provides information in line with regulations. Passive accountability typically takes credit for good results but blames poor results on external circumstances, such as market conditions, economic developments, or geo-political issues.

Consider some examples of directors’ reports in such companies:

• “Revenues this year increased by a satisfactory 8.3%”—ignoring the fact that a large part of that increase was due to price increases reflecting inflation and that, in fact, the company had lost market share to competitors.
• “This year the company has faced shortages of imported components and supply chain difficulties, which have adversely affected results”—taking no responsibility for the board policies which relied on imported components or strategies that approved the supply chains.
• “Shareholder value, reflected in our share price, has increased substantially this year, justifying higher dividends and directors’ remuneration”—ignoring the comparable rise in the stock market overall, and failing to recognise that dividends and directors’ bonuses depend more on cash flow than share price.

Board reports showing good results under passive accountability too readily become congratulatory public relations exercises, rather than serious explanations or, worse, opportunities for self-promotion by the chief executive or board chair. However, if the results are less satisfactory, passive accountability blames unavoidable external factors, outside the board’s control.

Prior to each of their collapse, the boards of Northern Rock Bank, Enron, and Carillion produced congratulatory annual reports:

• Northern Rock took credit for its significant growth, outpacing competitors, without recognising the increased risk associated with junk-bond rated financing.
• Enron took pride in its growth, which was based not only on supplying energy, but by creating a market for energy futures, without realising that, in the process, their strategic risk profile had changed from a low-risk energy producer to a high-risk financial institution.
• Carillion gave shareholders a stream of high dividends, based on profit growth, but did not draw attention to the funding of those dividends, which was based on increasing financial leverage (debt/equity ratio), relying on interest-bearing loans, which led to corporate collapse when interest rates rose.

In other words, passive accountability tends to provide the minimum data required by reporting regulations, does not accept responsibility for poor results, and sees accountability as the final step in the corporate governance process.  

On dynamic accountability

By contrast, dynamic accountability recognises that passive accountability, routine reporting, and compliance with regulatory demands is not enough. Dynamic accountability believes that reporting performance in terms of financial profit or loss, income and expenditure, or even Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), is insufficient: a complete picture needs to show not only what the results were, but how and why they occurred.      

Overall transparency needs to provide information on the context in which the results were achieved. Only then can readers see the full picture. That might include, for example, comparing the entity’s performance with industrial sector norms, describing market conditions, even comparing competitors’ performance.

Accepting responsibility for performance follows in dynamic accountability. The governing bodies of all corporate entities should not only report their organisation’s performance, but accept responsibility for it—whether good or bad, above or below expectations—explaining why those results have occurred. Then, in dynamic accountability, boards describe how they intend to build on the reported results as the basis for future strategic developments, policies, projects, and plans.

It is apparent that the governance matrix (Figure 1) has an underlying dynamic—strategy formulation leads to policy-making, which underpins management plans, budgets, and decisions, which produce the outcomes monitored and supervised by the board, leading to accountability, which, in dynamic accountability feeds into future strategy formulation and policy-making.

In other words, dynamic accountability is concerned with transparency, making visible the entire picture. Moreover, dynamic accountability accepts responsibility for all results—good or bad. It also recognises the need to build reported outcomes into future strategies, policies, and projects.

The significance of culture in accountability

Much of the literature on accountability assumes Western accounting rules. Most countries following these Western practices are democracies, with judicial system and law courts independent of the state. Increasingly, however, economic activity, wealth creation, and associated governance practices are found in countries with autocratic or oligarchic systems of governance. In many of these countries, the law courts are not independent of the state, but respond to state demands, “in the interests of the people.”

Consequently, corporate entities operating in these states need to recognise political influences in their governance processes. Two examples from China illustrate such situations:

• The Initial Public Offering (IPO) flotation of Ant Financial Services on the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges would have been the world’s largest IPO. But it was withdrawn by the Shanghai Exchange, at the last moment, following state intervention.
• Ant was originally the financial services arm of the vast Alibaba Group, which provides retailing/communication platforms, similar to, but larger, than Amazon. The board of Alibaba was forced to change its organisation structure and unusual governance processes following government intervention.

China is a one-party state and companies operating there need to be sensitive to the political component of corporate governance. Similarly, companies in some countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East need to be aware of political and other cultural influences in their governance processes, including accountability.

AI support for dynamic accountability

We have seen that dynamic accountability can provide higher transparency, requires boards to take responsibility for results, and feeds these results into future strategies. Each of these processes can be enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) tools. For example, Workiva combines, on one platform, financial with non-financial records to support regulatory requirements, ESG reporting, internal audit, and risk management routines. NICE Actimize can flag compliance with both financial and non-financial reporting needs. Diligent Boards is a suite of AI tools that can support board strategic thinking through data-driven insights that identify relevant competitive, economic, environmental, or socio-political issues.

AI can monitor news sources, social media, and internal systems for early warning of stress, which could result in financial or reputational loss. AI can also assess mass data to suggest money-laundering, bribery, insider dealing, and conflicts of interest. Nevertheless, when using AI, boards should ensure that their AI systems are compatible with their corporate strategies, ethics, and accountability goals.

The way ahead for dynamic accountability

In dynamic accountability, performance reports are not seen as the final step in the governance process, but as an ongoing phase in the corporate governance cycle. Responsibility is accepted by the board for all results, good or bad, explaining how and why these results have occurred. Boards with dynamic accountability also explain how they intend to build current results into future strategies, policies, and projects. Introducing dynamic accounting will need a change of attitude in some boardrooms.

^{Featured image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.}

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We the Men

Amidst the flurry of headlines about the Trump administration’s first weeks in power, who will notice that the federal government’s largest agency no longer celebrates Black History Month or Women’s History Month? The Department of Defense’s January 31 guidance declaring “Identity Months Dead at DoD” may have been lost in the news cycle.

But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the time to make this change because commemorations are important. They shape how Americans understand the past, think about the present, and envision the future. That is why the Trump administration has already launched its plans for marking America’s semiquincentennial in 2026. President Donald Trump himself chairs the task force.

Although the Trump administration is unlikely to acknowledge it, America’s commemorative landscape remains starkly uneven. Almost 250 years after the Declaration of Independence proclaimed “that all men are created equal,” only three women made a recent list of the 50 most frequently commemorated people in America’s public monuments. In comparison, the list includes 44 white men, many of them slaveholders. Congress has never designated a legal public holiday—the kind that closes federal offices—to celebrate an important woman in American history.

Reformers have been fighting for generations to expand America’s commemorations. Decades after the creation of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, efforts to include all Americans in the nation’s commemorations have had limited success—largely because these efforts continue to face vehement opposition.

Trump joined that opposition long before his current presidential term, speaking out against placing Harriet Tubman’s image on the $20 bill.

Only two women have ever appeared on America’s paper currency. Martha Washington graced the front of a $1 silver certificate that the United States first issued in 1886. Pocahontas knelt for baptism on the back of a $20 bill first issued in 1863.

Many Americans have noticed women’s absence. After years of activism from women in and out of Congress, the Obama administration announced a plan in 2016 to redesign the $20 bill, with Tubman replacing President Andrew Jackson on the front.

At the time, Trump was pursuing the Republican nomination for President. He immediately denounced the decision to place Tubman on the twenty as “pure political correctness,” as if Tubman did not merit such prominent recognition. In contrast, Trump insisted that Jackson had “a great history.”

To put Trump’s claims in context: Jackson was a slaveholder who removed Native American tribes from their lands. Tubman was an abolitionist and suffragist who freed herself and hundreds of others from bondage before becoming a Union scout, spy, and nurse during the Civil War. Each historical figure foregrounds different aspects of America’s past. To my mind, Tubman’s record is far worthier of celebration.

Trump, however, declared in 2016 that “it would be more appropriate” to have Tubman’s image on “another denomination,” suggesting “maybe we do the two dollar bill or we do another bill.” If you have rarely seen a $2 bill, there is a reason for that. The two is the least-used bill.

After Trump became President in 2017, his Treasury Department delayed introduction of the new $20 bill and spent years repeatedly refusing to indicate whether the redesigned twenty would feature Tubman.

One of Trump’s former White House staffers published a tell-all memoir in 2018. She recounted Trump’s reaction when she gave him a memo in 2017 about placing Tubman on the twenty. Trump reportedly looked at a photograph of Tubman and asked: “You want to put that face on the twenty-dollar bill?” The question implied that Tubman did not look like someone who belonged in that place of honor, or did not look like someone Trump found physically attractive, or both.

After Trump’s defeat in 2020, the Biden administration reported that it was committed to placing Tubman’s portrait on the front of the twenty. However, Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election has made that commemoration uncertain again.

America’s Constitution purports to speak for “We the People.” But too many of our commemorations include only We the Men. That usually means white men. Amidst the many other struggles that will mark the Trump presidency, it is well worth fighting to include all of us in the stories America tells about itself. The celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States are just one year away.

_{Featured image by Ben Mater via Unsplash.}

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Making economics more human

As the “official doctrine of neoclassical economics, enshrined in all respectable textbooks,” the esteemed game theorist Ken Binmore says, revealed preference theory “succeeds in accommodating the infinite variety of the human race within a single theory simply by denying itself the luxury of speculating about what is going on inside someone’s head. Instead, it pays attention only to what people do.”

So great is its reach that it doesn’t stop with the entire human race. The first papers on experimental economics I ever read as an undergraduate were about how pigeons and rats exhibit ordered preferences and downward-sloping demand curves. How absolutely thrilled was I to learn that I could apply intermediate microeconomics to the entire animal kingdom.

Economists and our students alike read Binmore’s statement and nod in agreement. It doesn’t seem to occur to us, as economists, to question what we ask of our first-year students: What are the benefits and costs of stretching a theory to accommodate all forms of human and animal life? Mid-twentieth-century economists like Paul Samuelson and Hendrik Houthakker developed the tool of revealed preferences to organize consumer behavior in markets. They were interested in the orderly way that consumer purchases change when budget constraints shift. They were not interested in why people switch from butter to margarine when the price of butter increases, just like the experimental economists Ray Battalio and John Kagel were not interested in why a rat switches from Tom Collins mix to root beer when the number of lever presses for Tom Collins mix increases.

Lest I be misunderstood, let me clearly state upfront, for the record, that utility maximization is both important and useful for understanding economics. But let’s also be clear-eyed and honest about its usefulness. Utility maximization is not a sufficient foundation for understanding economics. Economists designed the utility maximization problem to explain intelligible economic consequences—that is, outcomes and outcomes only. The tool provides answers to questions like: What happens to a consumer’s purchases when the price of a good increases? How much of the change is due to their purchasing power, and how much is due to switching to cheaper alternatives?

Economics, however, omits something rather important—namely, that which makes us human—when we do not study ourselves as purposeful beings. If a captor offers us either root beer or Tom Collins mix for pressing a lever, sure, to an observer from Mars, we would look just like a rat in a cage and prefer root beer to Tom Collins mix if and only if we choose root beer over Tom Collins mix. But to state the obvious, we, as human beings in our everyday lives, do much more than simply prefer good B to good A if and only if we choose B over A.

Human beings make meaningful decisions. We understand what one another does as intelligent conduct. We make sense of what people do by what they feel, think, know, and want. Human beings value A in the moment and value B in the future, and we imagine how good it would be for us to have B but not A in the future. We jointly imagine a better future and exchange A for B with another human being.

Human beings are the only species that routinely exchanges one thing for another thing, and all human communities do this. Primatologists have tried their hardest to create the conditions for captive chimpanzees to trade fruit they liked less for fruit they liked more. But chimpanzees would not give up something in this moment for something else they favored more in the next moment. For chimpanzees, there is no favored fruit in the future. There is only now and the fruit in their physical possession now.

Humans stand alone in nature as beings who purposefully turn natural-born enemies into exchanging friends. Humans stand alone as beings who deliberately extend their own average life expectancy and intentionally decrease their own rate of infant mortality. Humans stand alone as beings who actualize healthier and more comfortable lives for themselves. Humans are a marvel. We … are a marvel! Understanding humankind’s place in the world is key to understanding why economics is necessary to explain the wonder and surprise of the human condition. 

Our common humanity tends to get lost, however, in modern social science. We doggedly search for quantitative differences among people—statistically significant differences, of course. The very foundation of economics, however, is about what all human beings do, a point that seems to go unmentioned in every principles of economics textbook. As Adam Smith clearly recognized, the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, however, rests on “the certain propensity in human nature … to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.” What sets us apart is not just what we choose or trade, but that we choose to trade—purposefully, imaginatively, and with an eye toward a future that only human beings can envision.

_{Featured image by sydney Rae on Unsplash.}

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