By Rachel Kyte | – Janet Yellen is poised to be the next U.S. Treasury secretary, and her inbox will require every ounce of her vast experience to pilot the economy through a daunting confluence of challenges. How the U.S. manages the economic recovery from COVID-19, the financial risks from climate change and inequality together […]
How Trump’s language shifted in the weeks leading up to the Capitol riot: Linguists can Tell
By Roger J. Kreuz and Leah Cathryn Windsor | – On Jan. 6, the world witnessed how language can incite violence. One after another, a series of speakers at the “Save America” rally at the Ellipse in Washington redoubled the messages of anger and outrage. This rhetoric culminated with a directive by the president to […]
Climate Crisis: what would 7.1° F. ( 4°C) of global warming feel like?
By Robert Wilby | – Another year, another climate record broken. Globally, 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year ever recorded. This was all the more remarkable given that cool conditions in the Pacific Ocean – known as La Niña – began to emerge in the second half of the year. The Earth’s mean […]
What is the ‘boogaloo’ and who are the rioters who stormed the Capitol?
By Jeff Inglis | – In the wake of the insurrection on Jan. 6, the U.S. is bracing for the possibility of additional violent demonstrations and potential riots at the U.S. Capitol and state capitol buildings around the nation. While many were in Washington, D.C., ostensibly to protest what they wrongly saw as a stolen […]
White Supremacist Trump Backers to Storm state capitols on Jan. 20: How Defenseless are We?
By Jennifer Earl | – Americans witnessed an alarming and deadly failure in planning and policing at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The FBI failed to sound intelligence alarms, including about dozens of targets on the terrorist watch list traveling to Washington, D.C. U.S. Park Police, D.C. police and the National Guard, who collectively […]
The Confederate battle flag, which rioters flew inside the US Capitol, has long been a symbol of white insurrection
By Jordan Brasher | – Confederate soldiers never reached the Capitol during the Civil War. But the Confederate battle flag was flown by rioters in the U.S. Capitol building for the first time ever on Jan. 6. The flag’s prominence in the Capitol riot comes as no surprise to those who, like me, know its […]
Is impeaching President Trump ‘pointless revenge’? Not if it sends a message to future presidents
By Michael Blake | – A House majority, including 10 Republicans, voted on Jan. 13 to impeach President Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” The vote will initiate a trial in the Senate – but that trial will likely not be finished before Trump’s term of office comes to an end on Jan. 20. There is […]
US Capitol riot: the myths behind the tattoos worn by ‘QAnon shaman’ Jake Angeli
By Tom Birkett | – The defining image of the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 was undoubtedly that of a bare-chested man posing resplendent in a horned fur hat and face paint. Images of him in his weird costume have been shared across the globe – he seems to perfectly encapsulate the […]
The Last time the US Capitol was stormed, it was by Enemy British Troops
By Matthew Ward | – As rioters forced their way into the US Capitol Building on January 6, astounded CNN presenters noted that this was the first time something like this had happened for more than 200 years. And that on the occasion it was the British, an enemy power, which was responsible. This was […]