Africa: “A whole continent for helping white people understand poverty”
This is a series of photographs called “I Studied Abroad in Africa!” in which white people are called out/picked on for their real or…
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Einheitstag! Or, “That WWI loan consolidation really paid off…”
Today is Unification Day in Germany, aka Einheitstag, and I gotta say that I’m super-proud I remembered the word even though I haven’t lived…
Read MoreAmerican Politics 101, for anyone who can stomach it
One thing I love about living abroad are the questions and opinions about American politics. When I was here in 2008, in the leadup…
Read MoreOuting corruption in Kenya, and African authors you want to meet
Last year, I wrote about a new book on a Kenyan whistleblower, written by a British journalist. A reader pointed me to Kenyan writer…
Read MoreA Kristof must-read
No one needs me to tell them to read the New York Times, but I thought Nick Kristof’s column was worthy of a shout…
Read MoreA poetic pause for “The Brown Man’s Burden”
TexasinAfrica recently pointed me to a poem I hadn’t seen before, and I basically think it should be required reading for anyone in aid,…
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Can diamonds be a (socially responsible) girl’s best friend again?
Recently, I learned about The Clarity Project, an effort to bring fairly-mined, fairly-sourced diamonds into the jewelry market. Impressed by the venture and the…
Read MoreA roundup of ideas on tweeting rape
Update: For a broader look at constructing a relationship between readers and writers when covering rape and trauma, see my January/February 2011 article in…
Read MoreCheck out this corn (seriously)
I’m out in the forest for a few days — pay no attention to what you’ve heard about broadband in Rwanda; there’s no Internet…
Read MoreWant to open up some political space? Read a poem
A New York Times article about a poetry salon in Syria includes one of the more charming sentences I’ve read in the media lately:…
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