What does the post-Voting Rights Act world look like?
Last week’s Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais gutted the Voting Rights Act, giving state lawmakers a free pass to redraw their state’s district lines to their political advantage. But what will that look like moving forward? We’re already seeing some Republican-led Southern states using the decision to their advantage, all but eliminating the voting power of their Black, Asian, and Hispanic constituents, but what does that mean for Democrat-leaning states? Will this devolve into a war of eliminating opposing influence in each state’s districts? Christian Paz’s story takes us through possible scenarios. We’ll have to see where we end up after the gerrymander scramble.
These tropical forests are critically important. Why is this religious sect cutting them down?
Unfortunately, it’s not new news that so many lush tropical forests have been razed in countries across the globe to make way for farming and livestock. But one religious sect is fueling Bolivia’s deforestation in a big way: the Mennonites. A mostly white religious group that has similar roots as the Amish, Mennonites have migrated across Latin America over the years, taking with them their farming lifestyle. One of the biggest and fastest-growing populations of Mennonites is in Bolivia. Benji Jones breaks down how the Mennonites, alongside the country's policies that incentivize deforestation, have unfortunately played a big role in the loss of the country’s forests and their ecosystems.
Falling birth rates don’t have to be a crisis
Call me morbid, but I think a lot about what the logistics of my later years will look like. I am happily child-free and am often grappling with the reality that our country isn’t really built to manage aging without the help of family members. And with our country’s falling birth rate, it has never been more evident that the ending period of one life and the start of another are very much logistically linked — and that link influences how our country utilizes its infrastructure. This story by Elliot Haspel about the realities of a falling birth rate gives examples of actions that other countries like Japan have taken to adapt to becoming a low-birth country. It breaks down the ways to prepare for a future that’s less populous, but still functional and actually manageable to age gracefully in. With a wave of baby boomers now reaching retirement age, what are we waiting for?
Why teens in DC and elsewhere are staging “takeovers”
In this episode, Today, Explained’s Sean Rameswaram dives into the trend of “takeovers,” where a large group of teens gathers in public spaces to connect with their peers in-person — to meet new people, and to just have exchanges that aren’t through a screen. And while some of these “takeovers” have led to incidents of violence and petty theft, through organizing these gatherings, these teens were able to show their local government that their community is in need of a place for young people to hang out and socialize. And these efforts actually lead to some change. In response, the DC Parks and Recreation Department started hosting events to allow for just that. While the face of this story looks a little like another story about teens causing a ruckus, the heart of it gave me hope that the human need for connection crosses generational lines, even for those who grew up online.
