Subterms
The bubonic plague pandemic — the Black Death — was arguably the greatest catastrophe to hit Western Europe in the Middle Ages, killing tens of millions of people or around a third of the continent’s population. The disease originated in the vast plains of central and eastern Asia, from where it was carried to the […] More
Donald Trump is all about boundaries. At a personal level, he doesn’t like touching strangers for fear of infection. Politically, he makes no long-lasting close alliances. And geopolitically, he obsesses over strong borders: big walls, more stringent immigration requirements, tariffs on foreign imports. But Trump is nothing if not a walking contradiction. For a guy who shies […] More
The spectacle of a televised presidential debate in the US throws little light on politics and does nothing to clarify issues of governance. Debates exist as specific moments of entertainment in a serial drama abusively called a “democratic election.” When candidates go slightly off script, they do, however, manage to reveal unexpected clues about the […] More
On February 21, Italy woke up to reports of the country’s first case of COVID-19: a 38- year-old manager from Codogno, a small town located roughly 55 kilometers southeast of Milan. Six days later, the cases of the new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, in China’s Hubei province in December last year, are up to […] More
New York Times journalist Lisa Lerer may see herself as US media’s top expert on the phenomenon of disinformation, which includes fake news. Even before Donald Trump’s inauguration, in December 2016, she was among the first to promote Hillary Clinton’s delirious ravings accusing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of directing Trump’s 2016 campaign because, in Clinton’s […] More
On February 23, Hamburg’s voters were called upon to elect a new parliament. Hamburg is Germany’s second-largest city and its most important port. But, for historical reasons, it is also one of Germany’s 16 Länder, and one of three city-states (the other two are Berlin and Bremen), that compose the Federal Republic. The Social Democrats […] More
When a journalist asked Joe Biden on the day of the Nevada caucuses how he could slow down Bernie Sanders’ electoral momentum, Biden replied: “I beat him by going to — just moving on. People want to know who’s the most likely to beat Donald Trump.” Chris Cillizza at CNN, sensing that the argument Democrats […] More
On February 24, the World Health Organization declared that the world should prepare for a possible coronavirus pandemic. Outbreaks in South Korea, Iran and Italy have caused alarm. Clearly, the virus has traveled widely and rapidly. Authorities have canceled concerts, carnivals and football matches as well as closed schools, imposed curfews and restricted travel. Despite […] More
