In Ukraine, No Election Doesn’t Mean the Electorate Is Happy

President Zelensky Is an International Star. At Home, It’s More Complicated

Regular presidential elections should have taken place in Ukraine this month.

But on day one of Russia’s full-scale invasion of our country, Ukraine’s government introduced martial law, under which presidential, parliamentary, and local elections are all suspended. Instead of getting to vote, my peers and I are stuck with a president we did not vote for, but whose image has changed drastically since February 24, 2022.

Has Ukraine’s democracy become another victim of war?

Though our country’s democracy has roots dating back to practices instituted by the ancient Greeks …

More In: Ideas

What Is the Future of the Digital Public Square?

Five People Who Study and Write About Technology on Their Hopes for Online Community

The public square is the meeting ground where people make society happen. In these spaces, physical or metaphorical or digital, we work through our shared dramas and map our collective …

My Father, the Madrasah, and Me

In Nigeria, Where Western Education Is King, an Arabic Studies Legacy Lives On

On a phone call the other day with a new friend, Zay, we ended up on the topic of religion. “Did you attend madrasah?” I asked her, referring to the …

California’s High-Speed Rail Dreams Could Go “Whoosh”

The Golden State Seems Primed to Repeat the Mistakes and Miscalculations of Indonesia’s New Bullet Train

The good news is that California will almost certainly have a high-speed rail line someday.

The bad news is that it may look a lot like “Whoosh.”

Whoosh is the name of …

Is ‘Uberveillance’ Coming for Us All?

It’s No Longer Sci-Fi. Trackers Embedded in Our Bodies Are Threatening Our Privacy—and Our Humanity

The smartphone has become a modern Swiss Army knife: driver’s license, e-payment device, camera, radio, television, map, blood pressure monitor, workstation, babysitter, pocket AI, and general gateway to the internet. …

Stop Trying to ‘Save’ Democracy

Or Waiting on a Politician To Do It for You. Instead, Practice It—At Work, School, and Little League

Please don’t save democracy.

If you’re a politician—stop promising to save it.

Please! Stop even trying.

Because you can’t. Democracy isn’t something you save. The sooner we stop talking about saving democracy, the …