In the past 20 years, more than 3,000 Colombian unionists have been assassinated. In 2007, Colombia remained the most dangerous country in the world for unionists with thirty-nine labor leaders killed; a number significantly lower than the 197 assassinated in 2001—the year before President Uribe assumed office. Consequently, the Bush administration is clearly correct when it points out that there has been a marked decrease in the number of unionists killed under the Uribe administration. Read more →

In Sunday's New York Times Magazine, Ann Hulbert warned against the problem with advocating for arts education by citing its ability to help kids perform well in other areas, particularly on the "testable" areas of education. A recent study released by the Dana Foundation explored the connections between arts education and coginition. Here, we've invited Mark Cooper, co-author of Making Art Together: How Collaborative Art-Making Can Transform Kids, Classrooms, and Communities, to discuss how he feels an education in the visual arts benefits students. Read more →

We recently posted about Beacon Press author Bill Ayers and his connection to Barack Obama. Stanley Fish posted about the controversy on his blog at the New York Times, and "confesses" his own association with Bill Ayers: Did I conspire... Read more →

Immersed as we are these days in discussions of carbon emissions and carbon offsets, food miles and feedback loops, Earth Day has come to feel more and more outmoded, a throwback to an earlier era before melting ice caps and the prospect of the end of life as we know it made the environment no longer a periodic concern but an everyday worry. Read more →

Frederick Lane discusses the aging of the liberal members of the Supreme Court, and what this year's election might mean for the future of the court. "Change is an inevitable feature of the Supreme Court, but few presidential elections have taken place in the shadow of such potentially momentous change as this one." Read more →

David Gessner puzzles over the problem of the environmental essay. "Nature essays, at their worst, are narrated by people who give little indication that any of them have the quality that many of us find most important for living on earth: a sense of humor. From their writing you'd never guess that they have ever laughed or farted." Read more →

by Stephen Puleo Stephen Puleo's latest book is The Boston Italians: A Story of Pride, Perseverance and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day. His previous books include Due to Enemy Action: The True World... Read more →

Since Wednesday night’s Pennsylvania Democratic Presidential Debates, Beacon author Bill Ayers has been in the news for his connection to Barack Obama, after George Stephanopoulos pressed Sen. Obama to discuss his association with Ayers. Ayers is a widely respected and... Read more →

Frederick S. Lane is an expert witness, lecturer, and author who has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the BBC, and MSNBC. His fourth book, The Court and the Cross: The Religious Right's Crusade... Read more →

Matt Kailey is the author of Just Add Hormones: An Insider’s Guide the Transsexual Experience (Beacon Press, 2005), the editor of Focus on the Fabulous: Colorado GLBT Voices (Johnson Books, 2007), and the managing editor of Out Front Colorado, Colorado’s... Read more →

I am almost reluctant to mention it, since I don't want to clue their editors in if they didn't notice, but Beacon Press was all over the Boston Globe this weekend. A review of Renée Bergland's Maria Mitchell and the... Read more →

Faith in Public Life are hosting the Compassion Forum this Sunday, April 13th. The discussion of "wide-ranging and probing discussions of policies related to pressing moral issues that are bridging ideological divides now more than ever, including poverty, global AIDS,... Read more →

by Allison Trzop Boston recently hosted an assembly of smart and passionate people focused hard on the buzzword "change." The event wasn’t a political rally, but the 2008 Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, themed "Storytelling in Many Voices, Many Media."... Read more →

by Joan Murray No matter what we believe, we seem to share a human inclination to speak to someone or something greater than ourselves--someone we like to think is in control of things. Prayers arrive like a spiritual emergency kit... Read more →

Kai Wright, author of Drifting Toward Love: Black, Brown, Gay, and Coming of Age on the Streets of New York, wrote a piece for the American Prospect online in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination on April 4,... Read more →

by Helene Atwan I have the honor to serve as the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award administrator for PEN-NE (please visit the web site if you don’t know this wonderful organization, devoted to the causes of literacy and freedom of expression). Last... Read more →

I was on a semi-vacation last week, so this week's link roundup is a bit larger than normal. Enjoy! Howard Zinn is adding to his People's History of the United States with a new graphic novel, A People's History of... Read more →

by Kelly Bulkeley As of today a total of 116 dream reports about Barack Obama and 104 about Hillary Clinton have been posted on the metaphysicalpoll.com website. Here are some of the questions I've heard people asking about these intriguing... Read more →