Dreaming Up Inventions for an Afrofuturist World Three magical tools necessary for both liberation and laughter.

    Was Gamification a Terrible Lie? Turning work into play was sold as a miracle for increasing productivity–but was that ever really plausible?

    The Most Subversive Way to Travel Perhaps the humble bicycle, a transportation mode that puts people in contact with one another and gives them back that control they seem to crave, offers a unique opportunity to remake those realities for the better.

    The Aesthetics of Feeling Safe Rape is added to the lengthy list of the things a woman should keep in mind before going out, in addition to skin oil and bra lines and the effect that gravity can have on our hair.

    Beats: Disability “Disable” is an active verb, and disability describes the social and environmental barriers that prevent access just as much as an individual body’s physical reality.

    Your Classroom Is Making You Fail Almost everyt traditional classroom design makes it harder to learn–yet the fixes are often simple.

    Breaking the Cycle

    The future of reproductive health in India, from early ideas about population control to on-the-ground interventions happening now, to a world where men and women share contraceptive responsibility.
    Hannah Harris Green
    Sep 26, 2018

    The Roots of an Epidemic

    From apartheid labor policies to everyday sexism, socio-political issues influence the spread of TB disease and the effectiveness of health responses. To tackle the epidemic, we need systemic changes.
    Paula Akugizibwe
    Apr 11, 2019

    The ID Question

    Who decides who you are? You, or the world around you?
    Anjali Ramachandran
    Nov 22, 2017

    Beats: Space

    Space is where we project our dreams–and our nightmares–of the future.

    Beats: Food

    Food structures our day, and food systems shape our world

    Beats: Disability

    “Disable” is an active verb, and disability describes the social and environmental barriers that prevent access just as much as an individual body’s physical reality.

    Beats: Health

    Access to health care is as much a matter of public policy as it is the size of a person’s pocketbook; within a doctor’s office, many factors affect the quality of treatment.

    Space Photography is Helping to Fight Light Pollution

    The Cities at Night project uses photos taken from the ISS to study the problem.
    Patricia Rey Mallén
    Dec 2, 2014 2 min read

    I Tried Dieting With a Chatbot. I Hated It.

    “Here I am, inside a chat app, with no agency to ask the most basic questions about how the product works.”
    Abigail Hartstone
    May 18, 2016 10 min read

    Please YouTubers, Don’t Make Us Pay To Interview You

    Why should someone whose days are spent talking to a camera for money not talk to a journalist for money as well? Where’s the collaboration? Where’s the audience sharing? Where’s the contract?
    Ian Steadman
    Apr 5, 2018 2 min read