Things You Should Know Archives

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the unlearned lessons of history

Two decades after the invasion of Afghanistan, veteran journalist Jon Anderson and Afghan filmmaker Tamana Ayazi reflect on the colossal misjudgements of the U.S. invasion

Chocolate’s sustainability conundrum

Climate & Sustainability, Health & Wellbeing, Insights, Things You Should Know

While chocolate provides our bodies and souls with immense joy, it also comes with a darker side of environmental destruction. Paying farmers a living income and investing in a circular economy could make chocolate less of a guilty pleasure. 

The Crime That Underpins All Other Crimes

Economic Empowerment, Insights, Radical Realist, Things You Should Know

Money laundering costs the global economy an estimated $2 trillion a year and sustains everything from drug trafficking to war. At a recent talk at The Conduit in London, journalist Oliver Bullough argued that decades of effort to stop it have failed, and explained why.

In Sudan’s forgotten war, civilians have built their own lifelines

Insights, Peace & Security, Radical Realist, Things You Should Know

As Sudan’s civil war enters its third year and the humanitarian crisis deepens, volunteer-run Emergency Response Rooms have become vital sources of survival and solidarity. Their work reveals both the scale of civilian resilience and the cost of an international inaction.

From surviving the Holocaust to international human rights judge

Insights, Peace & Security, Things You Should Know

Theodor Meron transformed his experience surviving genocide into a legal career that has shaped international human rights law for in the decades since.

What’s at stake if NATO falls? A deep dive on Russia’s hit list

Insights, Peace & Security, Things You Should Know

While Greenland and Venezuela dominate the headlines, our expert panel warned that there are simmering tensions we can’t afford to ignore

Spinning tunes of hope and survival

Arts & Culture, Insights, Radical Realist, Social & Racial Equity, Things You Should Know

Asylum seekers in the UK are finding healing and creative freedom through Our HeartBeats, a DJ collective that trains refugees to tell their stories through music.