Voltaire at his desk with a pen in his hand. Engraving by Baquoy, ca. 1795. Wikicommons/ Public domain.When a month ago the ‘Manifesto for Civil Liberties in Spain and Europe’ was launched in Madrid, it followed the shift from shock to outrage over the ‘case of the puppeteers’: the High Court had ordered the incarceration of two puppeteers for performing a play in which the police plant a banner with the text “Alka-ETA” to incriminate a social activist. What the play set out to denounce became a sordid reality: the puppeteers standing accused of inciting terrorism hours after the staging of their play, thereby becoming the main protagonists in a…

Fortune released its list of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” last week and slotted in at No. 11—right between German Prime Minister Angela Merkel and Ohio Governor John Kasich—was three-time NBA champion LeBron James. Fortune noted that it included LeBron among such luminaries as Pope Francis and Elon Musk because of his leadership on and off the court. “James has realized this ambition through the LeBron James Family Foundation, which will provide mentoring and full college scholarships to 1,100 underprivileged children in his hometown of Akron.” The program also provides bicycles for kids who can’t afford them, through it’s Wheels For Education program. James’ foundation even began offering educational and financial support…

Gualcarque river in Honduras, sacred for the indigenous community. Honduran environmental and indigenous rights defender Berta Cáceres, who was known internationally for opposing a major hydroelectric project, has been shot dead at her home. The murder of Cáceres has sent shockwaves throughout the world and once again highlights the dangers facing environmental campaigners in Latin America. According to UK-based NGO Global Witness, which worked with Caceres, the director of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous People of Honduras (COPINH in the Spanish acronym), was gunned down as she slept in the eastern city of Esperanza on the evening of March 2. Cáceres became well-known internationally for protesting against the impacts of…

A farm sits tucked inside one of America’s most notorious cities. The Compton Jr. Posse equestrian facility is hidden between single family homes in the Richland Farms area of Compton in Los Angeles. It looks, sounds, and smells like a real farm because technically, it is one, thanks to a zoning regulation put into place more than 100 years ago. On a Saturday morning, it’s sunny and the sound of birds chirping and kids laughing carries on the crisp air. Chickens cross the yard where horses are being cleaned and sheep laze in a small petting zoo. It feels like it’s a world away from what’s just outside its iron gate. “This is…

Hillary Clinton has been keeping a low profile since her stunning election day loss to Donald Trump. Save for a few sightings in the woods and a brief appearance at President Trump’s inauguration, Clinton has stayed out of the public eye, until now. In her first post-inauguration video statement Clinton is making it clear that she still believes the future is female.  On Monday, as part of the 2017 Maker conference, an invitation-only event bringing together hundreds of female leaders, the former secretary of state appeared in a brief video in which she emphasized how important it is to share “women’s stories and celebrate women’s vital roles in the past, present,…

Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Dilma Rousseff. Asuntos del Sur. All rights reserved. Are we witnessing the end of the progressive governments’ cycle in Latin America? Recently, when a number of progressive election victories took place in Uruguay, Brazil, El Salvador and Bolivia, the question seemed to fade. But the tide is turning.  And it goes beyond equally recent election defeats in large cities and regions throughout Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia. The latter have certainly carried some symbolic weight, but they seem to point towards a new equilibrium, rather than to a break in national support for progresismo. Beyond the polls, however, there looms the likelihood of a yet…

Twenty-five years ago, a Los Angeles jury acquitted four police officers who had brutally beaten a 47-year-old black man named Rodney King, sparking a city-wide rebellion that would last almost a week. After apprehending King following a high-speed pursuit, the officers proceeded to assault him mercilessly, kicking and striking him repeatedly with batons. Footage of the beating was broadcast across the country, provoking national outrage and forcing a public conversation about race and police violence in the United States. The day the four policemen walked out of that Los Angeles courtroom scot-free, the city flared up in insurrection. But Rodney King wasn’t the only flash point for the LA riots.…

Colonel Rainsborough's Plaque, St.Mary's Church, Putney. Flickr/Jim Linwood. Some rights reserved.Britain’s Labour party today is facing one of its most extreme challenges, and at the same time one of its greatest opportunities. Can it grasp this extraordinary moment, reforming itself into a broad-based popular movement that can also successfully enter the national institutions of the state? Earlier this summer, at a conference devoted to restoring republicanism’s radical tradition (co-convened with Stuart White and Bruno Leipold), a number of us were able to discuss just why this radical heritage still matters – never more so, it now appears, than in September 2015. The reason is that republicanism recaptures exactly what we…

Wounded man talks to media after suicide attack hits a procession of Shiite mourners in Kabul City, 2013.Demotix/ Pajhwok Afghan News. All rights reserved.Let’s take Obama’s strong statement for granted: What happened in Paris was an “attack on all humanity”. Yes, it was exactly that, an attack on my friends, on my colleagues, on humankind. At the same time, however, it was also a case of terrorist aggression like the others that have become almost quotidian – without the western media seeming to notice. Why can’t we open our hearts to everyone in the world who is a victim of terror, war and violence? I thought that the news could…

If you’ve ever been seated next to a stranger or even a friend noisily chomping away at their food and been overwhelmed by intense feelings of anger and frustration, you’ll be interested to know there’s more at play there than just a question of manners.  Your seemingly irrational and uncontrollable reaction could be the result of misophonia, a term that translates literally to “the hatred of sound.” There’s no diagnostic test, and you won’t find it in the DSM-IV, but it’s a condition that’s been extensively studied to understand why certain “trigger sounds” just rub us the wrong way.  A team at the University of Newcastle recruited 42 subjects, 20…