By Sasha Zinchenco Did you know that the Carnival in Brazil had a much more violent sister festival? This other event, called Entrudo, was finally prohibited in 1830 in order to give way to the more “civilized” Carnival. Initially it involved brutal and violent pranks and throwing of disgusting liquidsContinue Reading
By Ayse Mısırlıoğlu A couple of years back, I started noticing a curious pattern in several of the New York-based TV series or movies that I was watching. Whenever certain characters had a cup of coffee in their hands, it was always the same cup of coffee. I could seeContinue Reading
By Radoslaw Gryczka Translated by Zuzanna Mietlinska What is this all about? We all know the topic: the Second World War started on September 1st 1939, and ended on May 8th 1945. But just between us, this information is anything but interesting – as we endlessly repeated it in school.Continue Reading
By Nick Psomas Democracy is dead, and we have killed it. Paraphrasing the 19th century philosopher Friedich Nietzsche, the current state of democratic institutions resembles the political ‘Death of God’. Radical polarisation, surge in national and populist sentiment, a twisted bewitchment of the public by demagoguery and hostility to the political “Other”, areContinue Reading
By Juni Moltubak The world is changing and it’s changing fast. By the year 2050 the amount of people living in urban areas will increase from 50 to 70% of the world’s population. Energy demand will have increased by 40%. And 140 million people are likely to be displaced asContinue Reading
By Lea Schiller Decorations, music, delicious meals and most importantly, spending time with family and friends: as we move closer to the end of the semester, the holidays are waiting after the last exams. Because of the stress of the last block, relaxing at home is something many of usContinue Reading
By Zhayra Escalona In a city far from nature, autumn days go by as if autumn were not present. If it weren’t for the decreasing temperatures and the dampness of the day, one would see no difference between the warmer seasons and the colder ones. Life is limited to theContinue Reading
By Alon Küster The Paradox of Simplicity Simple is easy to understand, you can easily share it with other people. If you want to effectively organize people, you need a simple idea. A good idea spreads fast and sticks in people’s minds. One example throughout history would be religion. ItContinue Reading
By Lea Schiller North Korea’s shrinking island in Japan For these young kids, being accompanied by guards on their way to school is normal. Their uniforms are safely tucked away in their backpacks to be worn later, when they are in the safety of the school building, away from pryingContinue Reading
By Alon Küster In Bullshit Jobs, David Graeber looks at the increase of jobs that do not contribute anything meaningful society. He reasons that the role of bureaucracies and perverse incentives are to blame for the rise of this phenomena. The book reviewed here is an expansion of an essayContinue Reading