George Orwell

Barcelona soccer fans make their feelings known about Catalan independence, at a game on Wednesday Oct 18th 2017

The roots of Catalonia’s differences with the rest of Spain

Culture

With Catalonia threatening to declare independence from Spain, we look into the origins of the dispute between Barcelona and Madrid.

Americans started drawing parallels between Orwell's realities and the Trump Administration as early as his first day in office, when Press Secretary Sean Spicer berated and lied to the media in his first briefing.

In our Orwellian reality, reach for ‘Animal Farm’ with your ‘1984’

Media
Samsung smart TV

Your smart TV may be spying on you — and stopping it is against the law

Technology
La Sagrada Familia

The coolest video you will ever see of the tallest church on earth

Arts, Culture & Media

CIA plays active role in managing its image in Hollywood films

Arts, Culture & Media

Preservationists worry economic growth may endanger Myanmar’s historic buildings

Because of Myanmar’s economic stagnation over the past decades, very little development has taken place — which has allowed the country’s historic colonial buildings to endure. But as the country loosens up, some preservationists are worried it may lead to destruction of relatively rundown, but still historic, buildings.

George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ resonated with Ukrainian refugees

Arts, Culture & Media

After World War II, millions of Ukrainians became refugees when the Soviet Union began ethnic cleansing. George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm” became popular among Ukrainian refugees, as it reminded them of the hardships they endured under Stalinist rule.

China’s creative set using humor in subtle challenge to authoritarian rule

In China, to question the government is to invite trouble. But in a digital media world, the ability to do that is easier than ever. That means those who are so inclined need to find a way to do it without getting in trouble and more often than not that means turning to humor.

Remembering an American contrarian: Christopher Hitchens dead of cancer

Arts, Culture & Media

Christopher Hitchens, a man who wasn’t afraid to take on anyone, died on Thursday of esophageal cancer. He was famous for his biting criticism of, well, everyone, from Henry Kissinger, “a war criminal,” to Mother Theresa, “a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud,”

What belongs on the Five Foot Book Shelf?

Arts, Culture & Media

“Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Shelf” was a list of literature classics compiled by Harvard president Charles Eliot back in 1909. Last week we asked YOU to tell us which books you’d put on a Five Foot Shelf in 2009.