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Articles on Noam Chomsky

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Approach with caution, advises a journalism scholar. simon kr/E+/Getty Images

Don’t trust the news media? That’s good

Journalism has been fodder for politicians’ contempt for generations. A huge percentage of the public doesn’t trust the news media either. That mistrust isn’t a bad thing in a democracy.
The rally – fed by citizen-spread misinformation and disinformation – that turned into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Jon Cherry/Getty Images

We are all propagandists now

America’s public sphere is broken because propaganda has replaced political communication. How did we all become propagandists?
Humans are constantly changing our languages in terms of sounds, words, meanings, and grammar, so much so that it becomes increasingly difficult to understand our own distant relatives across time and space. (Unsplash/Lucrezia Carnelos)

Curious Kids: How are languages formed?

A young reader asks: How are languages formed?
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Carson City Airport on Oct. 18, 2020, in Carson City, Nev. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Can America survive the re-election of Donald Trump?

Americans can survive a second Trump term if they resurrect a language of critique and possibility that draws from history and shields the U.S. from authoritarianism.
To some, White House aide Jennifer Williams and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman are impartial truth-tellers; to others, they are power-hungry bureaucrats. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

In impeachment spotlight, dueling views of professionalism appear

Public officials are now in the spotlight: Does the public view them as professionals, bound by duty, or as elites who invoke ideals while pursuing their own agendas?
England fans celebrate the team’s World Cup penalty shoot out victory on the beach in Brighton. Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Sport may be an opium of the people – but it matters

Some on the left view sport as a distraction. But life is a struggle. And there shouldn’t be anything wrong with finding something to celebrate.
Don’t underestimate what I get about the world around me. Baby image via www.shutterstock.com.

Children understand far more about other minds than long believed

A revolution in the tools and techniques developmental psychologists use to investigate kids’ knowledge and capabilities is rewriting what we know about how and when children understand their world.
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni signs an anti-gay bill into law on February 24 2014. Reuters/James Akena

‘Gays the new Jews’: African media homophobia vs Twitter empathy

Consensual same-sex conduct is a crime in 38 African countries. The media in those countries are very much in cahoots with their rulers. But they’re getting their comeuppance from Twitter.
‘What’s in it for me?’ is a common question today, but not one that necessarily produces the best answers for collective wellbeing. Shutterstock/iQoncept

Explainer: the greater good and why it matters more than ever

The concept of the greater good has made a comeback in Europe in an era of budget austerity, but in Australia too few of us are alive to its meaning – and to its vulnerability.

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