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Protesters gather at the Wisconsin State Capitol, holding signs.

Trump's Water Policies Put America's Drinking Water at Risk

I Alone Can (Fix) Destroy It

I Alone Can (Fix) Destroy It

a house made of brown cardboard in a person's hands.

Homelessness Just Declined in the U.S.–Trump’s Plans Will Take Us Backwards.

America at 250: A Country in Distress

America at 250: A Country in Distress

Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!

Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!play icon
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumJan 13, 2023
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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Aziz Abu Sarah started Mejdi Tours to create a new kind of experience for travelers within conflict zones. Their trips, through places like Israel and the Palestinian territories, Northern Ireland, Colombia and the Baltics, present multiple perspectives on each site they visit, building ties with local communities and creating lasting friendships.

Aziz joins Braver Angels leader Randy Lioz for a conversation about his work and his life story that brought him to the world of peace building, as they take on tough questions about power dynamics, victimhood, and what the U.S. can learn from conflicts in other places.


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A gavel.

The rule of law, American democracy, constitutional rights, and judicial independence.

Getty Images, David Talukdar

In Texas, People Don’t Kill People, Guns Kill People

It has been said that a good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. Apparently, that’s not the case in very red Collin County, Texas, where a self-described recovering alcoholic fatally shot his daughter in the chest, only to be the beneficiary of a particularly lenient grand jury. As a retired justice of the New York State Supreme Court, the case intrigued me and I tried to understand why the prosecutor had failed to obtain an indictment against him.

In January 2025, the victim and her boyfriend traveled from their home in England to visit her father at his home in Collin County where the shooting had occurred. Although the evidence presented to a grand jury cannot be disclosed, it is reasonably assumed that the grand jury heard the statement made by the father to the police at the scene immediately following the shooting. He related how he had taken his daughter, at her request, to see his gun, and that when he brought her to his bedroom and removed the gun from a cabinet in which he kept it, “it went off.” He could not recall if his finger had been on the trigger.

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Two college students presenting project to class

As America nears its 250th anniversary, learn why schools, mentoring, and leadership development are critical to preparing the next generation of leaders.

10'000 Hours / Getty Images

America at 250: A Wake-Up Call for Leadership Development

As America approaches its 250th birthday, we've been reflecting on the leadership that built our nation and sustained it through two and a half centuries of challenge and change. From local communities to national institutions, America's progress has always depended on people who were willing to take initiative, serve others, and help navigate moments of uncertainty and opportunity.

As we celebrate these leaders for the impact they had on history, a critical question surfaces: Where—and how—did they learn to lead?

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Toy tank on the background of dollar bills

The true cost of war with Iran goes far beyond the battlefield. Learn how military spending affects gas prices, national debt, infrastructure, healthcare, and American taxpayers.

Sinenkiy / Getty Images

The Cost of the Iran War Isn't Just Measured in Bombs

A farmer in Ames, Iowa, pulls up to a gas station and stares in shock at the numbers on the pump. The price of fuel has jumped sharply since the outbreak of war with Iran. His next thought is simple: every extra dollar spent on diesel is a dollar he cannot spend elsewhere. Before long, those higher costs will show up in the price of food, shipping, and countless other goods Americans buy every day.

Most Americans experience the costs of war not on a battlefield thousands of miles away, but at the gas pump. But higher fuel prices are only the most visible expense. The true cost of war extends far beyond oil markets. It includes billions spent on military operations, the interest on borrowed money, and the opportunities lost when scarce public resources are diverted from schools, housing, infrastructure, and other urgent social needs.

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A drone view of dry land with trees around and a lake near the center.

After the Central Oregon Irrigation District delivered water to landowners near Redmond, Oregon, in July 2025, what’s left pooled in a silty pond where it eventually drained away or evaporated. The district said it has 24 ponds that catch water at the ends of its system.

Brandon Swanson/OPB

An Oregon Law Lets One Wealthy Region Turn the Desert Green. When Drought Hits, Farmers Pay the Price.

Chris Casad awakens each day before dawn on the Central Oregon property he bought nine years ago, the farm where he once grew tons of potatoes before water shortages forced him to fallow fields and take a job feeding someone else’s cattle on someone else’s land.

At 38, he’s got tractors older than he is. His two kids are under 5. His wife, Cate, has two jobs. They’re staring down a pile of debt from their 85 acres and its unending supply of things in the process of breaking.

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