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Talk of the Town: What Selena Gomez’s Critics Get Wrong About Her Spanish
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K Street

The east-west boulevard through downtown Washington that has become synonymous with the lobbying and advocacy industry. There's no evidence it's the address for a disproportionate number of such firms.

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Lessons for Democracy Reformers in the Legacy of President Jimmy Carter

ATLANTA -- SEPT 14: Former President Jimmy Carter interviewed for "The Presidents' Gatekeepers" project at the Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia, September 14, 2011.

(Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

Lessons for Democracy Reformers in the Legacy of President Jimmy Carter

President Jimmy Carter touched the lives of millions, in countries around the world, through contact points as diverse as public health campaigns, Sunday school lessons, rural homebuilding, or appreciation of southern rock. Included in his huge roster of impact is the organization I lead, Election Reformers Network, which was founded by international democracy experts inspired by his leadership. Like many others, I had the good fortune to work with President Carter on election missions overseas and to support The Carter Center’s expansion of its work into the United States. Carter’s legacy has much to teach democracy reformers here in the U.S.

President Carter learned early in his career about the anti-democratic forces he would challenge so often throughout his life. He lost his first election for Georgia state senate because of election fraud so blatant that “the dead voted alphabetically.” Georgia had long been a one-party state ruled by insiders and local Democratic Party bosses. Blacks were systematically disenfranchised, and voting rules gave rural counties vastly disproportionate power through an in-state version of the electoral college.

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Wicked: Art Mirrors Our Modern Social Divides

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 28: Cynthia Erivo attends an Special Cast and Filmmakers Screening Of WICKED at DGA Theater on October 28, 2024 in New York City.

(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)

Wicked: Art Mirrors Our Modern Social Divides

The 2024 film adaptation of Wicked arrives as more than mere entertainment—it emerges as a powerful commentary on our contemporary societal fractures. With Cynthia Erivo's groundbreaking portrayal of Elphaba, the film more effectively conveys its central plot line about identity and marginalization, speaking directly to viewers' personal experiences of exclusion, self-affirmation, and activism.

At its core, Wicked offers an artful critique of how society constructs and maintains differences. Elphaba's green skin is an unmistakable metaphor for visible racial, physical, or ability-based differences. The casting of Erivo, a Black actress, in this role interestingly drives home the racism allegories, transforming what could have been abstract commentary into immediate, resonant social criticism. The film's treatment of ability and difference extends beyond mere skin color. Also, the character of Nessarose, Elphaba's wheelchair-using sister, presents a complex examination of ableism and the intersection of physical difference with power. Wicked challenges moviegoers to confront their preconceptions about ability, worth, and the right to occupy societal space.

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The press must resist Trump’s bullying lawsuits

President-elect Donald Trump leaves after their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France on December 07, 2024. (Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Photo by Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images

The press must resist Trump’s bullying lawsuits

In his first week as a federal judge, Murray Gurfein was assigned the biggest case of his life.

He’d just been nominated to the Southern District of New York by President Richard Nixon in April 1971, and confirmed by the Senate in May when the Pentagon Papers case landed on his desk.

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