Culture & Society

From badass educators to solving homelessness, we cover the people and ideas changing the world in Culture and Society. We believe that together, we can push the human race forward, one remarkable story at a time.

Favorites in Culture & Society

Relentless

How Hamish Brewer is Changing the Game

The Tattooed, Skater Principal Making Education Fun Again

Relentless

How Hamish Brewer is Changing the Game

The Tattooed, Skater Principal Making Education Fun Again

October 24, 2017

To hear Hamish Brewer speak is to be inspired. About education. About life. About the possibilities of it all. And for disadvantaged youths that come from poverty and broken homes, the New Zealander with an infectious energy works hard to encourage them to excel, not only in school, but in life. About Hamish Brewer With a shaved head, tattoos, and one of those loud, larger-than-life personalities, Hamish Brewer is hard to...

Wrong

Did the Food Pyramid Make Us Fat?

Wrong

Did the Food Pyramid Make Us Fat?

To address rising health problems in the 1980s, scientists and policymakers developed the US Food Pyramid to...

November 9, 2017

To address rising health problems in the 1980s, scientists and policymakers developed the US Food Pyramid to encourage healthy eating. But despite a massive public education campaign, obesity and diabetes continued to rise. What happened? How did we get it so… wrong?

Psychology

Steven Pinker Makes the Case for Optimism

Psychology

Steven Pinker Makes the Case for Optimism

Are things really worse than ever, or are we missing the bigger picture?

October 30, 2018

Author and Harvard professor Steven Pinker lays out what he see as a basic paradox. The news today seems worse than ever - but based on a number of key metrics, Pinker argues the world is better than it’s ever been. Pinker explores the data and makes the case for how can we tackle the world’s problems while not drowning in negativity. That’s the focus of his latest book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science,...

Future of Cities

Urban Sustainability is at the Heart of Copenhagen Culture

The Sustainable City of the Future: Copenhagen, Denmark

Future of Cities

Urban Sustainability is at the Heart of Copenhagen Culture

By 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas (up from 50% now). With the climate crisis worsening, how can we support this urban trend in a sustainable way?

September 13, 2019

By 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas (up from 50% now). With the climate crisis worsening, how can we support this urban trend in a sustainable way?

June 20, 2019

Enter the Kentucky Reptile Zoo—one of the largest collections of venomous reptiles in the world—and meet Jim Harrison, the man that spent his 42-year career milking King Cobras for anti-venom and saving lives across the globe. He’s a former cop, bounty hunter, and professional kickboxer - but for decades now his main focus has been extracting venom from snakes, or “snake milking.” He and his wife, Kristen Wiley, run the...

Culture of Change

Drone Racers Are A Thing and They’re Amazing

Culture of Change

Drone Racers Are A Thing and They’re Amazing

Blistering speed. Big money. 11-year-old world champions. Is drone racing the next big sport?

May 25, 2019

Yes, drone racers are a thing and they’re amazing. The Drone Racing League has gone from a dream to ESPN in a few short years. We met world champion Paul Nurkalla, aka Nurk FPV, and got an inside look at how the DRL is striving to be the next big sports league. Somewhere between esports, NASCAR and Star Wars sits drone racing, also known as FPV racing. It’s a breathtakingly fast spectacle where drone pilots fly quadcopters...

Thinking Differently

The Joy of Being Wrong

Thinking Differently

The Joy of Being Wrong

Can practicing intellectual humility make us smarter and happier? Science says yes.

May 6, 2019

Arguments on social media are notorious. People often naturally form an echo chamber of people with similar beliefs, and when people outside it start arguments, the discussion often becomes antagonistic. Is there a better way? Science suggests that a good starting point is by practicing intellectual humility. By admitting the possibility that we ourselves could be wrong, we’re able to better evaluate arguments and construct...

#FIXINGJUSTICE - harm reduction

24 Years For a Crime He Didn’t Commit

#FIXINGJUSTICE - harm reduction

24 Years For a Crime He Didn’t Commit

When a prisoner serving a life sentence is suddenly found to be innocent, it often makes national news. But what happens after the cameras go away?

April 18, 2019

There are around 2,500 exonerees in the U.S.—people who were convicted of a crime and then later proven innocent by their own doggedness or new evidence in a case. When they are freed from prison, their lives are often saddled by the same issues that hold back people who actually committed a crime—lack of education, no job skills or employment history, and the stigma of having spent years in prison. While their release is...

#FIXINGJUSTICE - policing

Why the 6th Most Dangerous City is Turning to Community Policing

#FIXINGJUSTICE - policing

Why the 6th Most Dangerous City is Turning to Community Policing

Police departments around the country are increasingly looking at community policing programs as a tool to help reestablish trust in the communities they serve.

April 15, 2019

While community policing programs are nothing new, they fell out of popularity after a big push in the early 90s due to shifting priorities and budget crunches of the Great Recession. But with growing scrutiny of police and their often strained relationships with minority communities, police departments are increasingly looking to community policing programs to bridge the gap and rebuild trust. The Rockford Police...

Stand Together

This Restaurant Gives At-Risk Youth a Second Chance

Stand Together

This Restaurant Gives At-Risk Youth a Second Chance

Cafe Momentum offers an alternative to the revolving doors at Texas jails.

November 5, 2018

Chef Chad Houser was a rising star in the Dallas restaurant scene, but after volunteering with kids in the criminal justice system, he felt a calling to do more. He gave up his job to start Cafe Momentum, a restaurant staffed by kids from the criminal justice system. They’re given year-long paid internships where they are taught the skills to succeed in restaurants and society. It’s his way of trying to fix the problems...

#fixingjustice - policing

The Dad Changing How Police Shootings Are Investigated

#fixingjustice - policing

The Dad Changing How Police Shootings Are Investigated

After his son was killed by police, Michael Bell fought for over a decade to change how we investigate police shootings.

October 11, 2018

For over a decade, ever since police killed his son, Michael Bell has been trying to get an independent investigation into the shooting — and he's fighting to make sure that every family is entitled to one, whenever police use lethal force. In November 2004, his son, Michael Bell, Jr., was pulled over in front of his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for an alleged traffic violation. Although a dashcam video captures the initial...

Crossing The Divide

LGBT Rights: The Power of a Single Conversation

Crossing The Divide

LGBT Rights: The Power of a Single Conversation

Why a gay rights activist started a movement to talk to thousands who voted against gay marriage.

June 12, 2017

After Californians voted against gay marriage in 2008, Dave Fleischer, head of the Leadership LAB at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, knew he had to do something different to reach people. Dave and his team embarked on an ambitious task to talk to as many people who who disagreed with them as they could. They used a technique called “deep canvassing” where activists connect with people using personal stories to a make deeper...