Sacrifice Zone & A Fleeing Forest

Featured Articles

Scenes From a Sacrifice Zone: South Baltimore Residents Fight Back Against Industrial Pollution

In These Times • 14 Aug 2024 • ~3400 words

The residents of South Baltimore are fighting back against the industrial pollution that has turned their community into a "sacrifice zone." This article takes us inside their struggle against rail giant CSX and the broader system that allows corporations to prioritize profits over people's health and well-being.

The physical toll that living in a sacrifice zone takes on people is perhaps only outweighed by the psychological toll of knowing you’re being sacrificed.

A Forest In Flight

The Lever • 15 Aug 2024 • ~4300 words

The boreal forest, one of the world's largest and most vital ecosystems, is undergoing a dramatic transformation. This piece explores the delicate balance between the forest and the billions of birds that depend on it, shedding light on the impact of climate change and human activity on this vital biome. Also, should we intervene to help species adapt to new conditions, or could that also have unintended consequences?

In a series of satellite images from 1985 to 2019, scientists at Northern Arizona University found that the warmest margins of the forest are now browning, with so many trees perishing you could watch them die from space. Meanwhile, its northern edge has been racing toward the pole, new trunks sprouting on formerly treeless plains.

Recommended Articles

The Surprising Message That Made a British Economist a Celebrity

The New Republic • 14 Aug 2024 • ~2500 words

Is economic growth the key to human flourishing? Tim Jackson, a British economist, has become a celebrity of sorts by challenging this foundational belief of modern economics. As interest in degrowth economics gains traction, Jackson's vision of a post-growth society raises important questions about what true prosperity looks like in a world with finite resources.

Ecologists often note the perversity of a system in which both creating problems and (partially) remedying them count as growth. In the classic example, one company pollutes a river, another tries to mitigate the mess. Both boost gross domestic product, but the loss to ecosystems is ignored.

Genetic Variation Impacts Drug Efficacy. Could Testing Help?

Undark Magazine • 14 Aug 2024 • ~4000 words

Does your genetic makeup determine how well a medication works for you? This article explores the emerging field of pharmacogenetics, which aims to tailor drug prescriptions based on individual genetic variants. With evidence suggesting that a significant portion of the population carries these variants, the potential for personalized medicine is exciting and complex.

In recent decades, researchers have uncovered numerous genetic variants that seem to play a role in people’s responses to painkillers, cancer drugs, heart disease pills, and other medicines, spawning a field known as pharmacogenetics or pharmacogenomics. The FDA lists a few hundred medicines linked with poor performance or concerning side effects in people who carry certain genetic variants.

Yes, You Do Have to Tolerate the Intolerant

persuasion.community • 14 Aug 2024 • ~3100 words

The limits of tolerance and free speech are being hotly debated, with many arguing that intolerant views should be censored for the sake of a tolerant society. This piece challenges that, contending that true tolerance requires us to tolerate even the intolerant, and critiques the misuse of Karl Popper's Paradox of Tolerance. This is a well-written argument, regardless of which side of the discussion you see yourself in.

The cartoonish version of the Paradox of Tolerance, in other words, is based on a conceptual confusion built atop an empirical falsehood. It’s a conceptual confusion because it refuses to acknowledge the fundamental distinction between offensive words and violent actions. And it’s an empirical falsehood because it wrongly assumes that intolerant views will, unless they are censored and those espousing them punished, win out in the market of ideas.

On Joining and Leaving the Border Patrol

The MIT Press Reader • 10 Aug 2024 • ~6000 words

What is it like to work for the U.S. Border Patrol? In this firsthand account, former Border Patrol agent Francisco Cantú shares his uncommon path to joining the agency, the complex realities he encountered, and his struggle to make sense of his participation in what he describes as a "violent institution."

And there I was, fascinated by the desert, and having these questions about how do these policies and this enforcement shape our ideas and notion about the landscape? And how has it changed the desert and how is the desert being weaponized in all of these ways?

The tide has turned – evidence shows ordinary citizens in the Western world are now richer and more equal than ever before

Aeon • 15 Aug 2024 • ~4000 words

Do you know how wealth distribution has evolved over the last century? This analysis of historical data reveals that we are richer and more equal today than in the past, challenging the more popular narrative of a new gilded age. I have my disagreements with it, especially regarding whether home ownership is real wealth, but it’s a good read regardless.

It is evident that, over the past 130 years, a monumental shift in wealth composition has taken place. A century ago, wealth comprised primarily agricultural land and industrial capital. Today, the majority of personal wealth is tied up in housing and pension funds.

Talent is scarce. Yet many countries spurn it

The Economist • 15 Aug 2024 • ~3800 words • Archive Link

In a world where talent is increasingly mobile, many countries still struggle to attract the skilled immigrants they need. This article explores the how governments often make it difficult for clever individuals to settle, despite the clear benefits they bring.

Clever immigrants . . . bring huge benefits to the countries where they relocate. Yet many governments make it hard for them to settle or turn them away outright. Even governments receptive to skilled immigrants often bungle the job of attracting them. Some, however, do it ruthlessly and reap big rewards.

Let Them Eat Invoices

The American Prospect • 13 Aug 2024 • ~3600 words

In a troubling story from the healthcare sector, Steward Health Care faces serious allegations of financial mismanagement, including failing to pay its medical staff and using fake checks to cover its debts. This in-depth report sheds light on the shocking downfall of one hospital chain and the alleged web of corruption and deceit that led to its collapse.

In other words, Steward may be bankrupt, the subject of criminal investigations on two continents and the first congressional subpoena in the 41-year history of the HELP Committee, and an industry laughingstock. But the company still strikes fear into the hearts of its workers past and present, in large part because no sign has yet emerged that the company will face legitimate consequences.

An Ode to Old Bay, the Great American Condiment

The New Yorker • 15 Aug 2024 • ~2200 words

This article from The New Yorker takes us on a journey through the origins of Old Bay, from its creation by a Jewish immigrant fleeing Nazi Germany to its ubiquitous presence in Maryland cuisine and culture. This is a delightful read on one of the US's most iconic and enduring spice blends.

You can flip through family albums around here and, though the hair styles and lapel widths will change, the sweet-corn yellow, steamed-crab red, and deep bay blue of Old Bay tins never do.