Recycling One Aluminum Can Will Power a Laptop for More Than Five Hours
And other facts you should probably know.
YES! Article archive
Issues
Legalization is a Human Rights Issue: Latin America Steps Up Resolve to End the Drug Wars
On the heels of pot legalization in Washington and Colorado, the movement for less punitive drug policy is coalescing at every level. Its new leaders could come from the very countries that have suffered the most.
Proponent of Bush Administration’s No Child Left Behind Law: “I Was Wrong”
In her new book, Diane Ravitch—one of the leading thinkers behind the controversial Bush-era law—explores how the faulty logic of high-stakes testing, charter school expansion, and privatization hinders education.
These Seattle Teachers Boycotted Standardized Testing—and Sparked a Nationwide Movement
Parents, students, and teachers all over the country have joined the revolt to liberate our kids from a test-obsessed education system.
John Lewis’ Moving Graphic Novel Brings the Civil Rights Struggle to a New Generation
In the tradition of “Maus” and “Persepolis,” “March” tells the story of young African Americans who, like its author, rose up from the Jim Crow South to assert their human rights.
This Is What Happened When Scholastic Tried to Bring Pro-Coal Propaganda to School
“The United States of Energy” was a colorful series of lessons on the advantages of coal, aimed at 4th-graders—and sponsored by Big Coal. Here’s how educators and activists worked together to get it out of classrooms.
Remember When We Toppled SOPA/PIPA in Just 24 Hours? How the People Can Still Win on Net Neutrality
When it comes to limiting digital rights, big companies are in cahoots with governments like never before. But the belief that everyone deserves safe, affordable, and private access to the Internet is taking off.
Nothing to Hide? Why Facebook’s Fine Print Is Still Worth Fighting
Devices we use every day are turning our personal data over to huge corporations. But can we win our privacy back?
Why Corporations Want Our Public Schools
There are huge profits to be made in privatization, and much of it will come from teacher pay.
Meet the New Rebels Taking Back Our Public Schools
For decades the myth of failing public schools justified industrial-scale testing and a privatization agenda. Now radical educators are bursting the bubble test, getting culturally relevant, and restoring justice to the classroom.
The Myth Behind Public School Failure
In the rush to privatize the country’s schools,
corporations and politicians have decimated school budgets, replaced teaching with standardized testing, and placed
the blame on teachers and students.
Discipline With Dignity: Oakland Classrooms Try Healing Instead of Punishment
As executive director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, Fania Davis sees programs like hers as part of the way to end the school-to-prison pipeline.
A Passion for Peppers: The Movement to Save New Mexico’s Treasured Chiles
New Mexico's traditional landrace chile varieties have adapted to hot days, cold nights, and long dry spells. But can they survive modern agribusiness?
Do Backyard Bird Feeders Spread Salmonella? The Human Role in Avian Disease
Immunologist Peter Doherty shows us that the fate of birds and humans are more connected than we might think.
When Her Photo Became an Anti-Feminist Meme, This College Woman Fought Back—and Thousands Joined Her
From internet memes to campus quads, young people are reworking feminism to meet today's challenges.
What If Winston Churchill Were Leading the Fight Against Climate Change?
"The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close."
Remember that Famous Study About Obedience to Authority? Here’s How Stanley Milgram Got it Wrong
According to conventional wisdom, psychologist Stanley Milgram's famous experiment revealed that human beings are hardwired to obey authority. But author Gina Perry looked at Milgram's data—and she's not convinced.
Be a Maptivist! (And 4 Other Tips to Unleash Your Inner Cartographer)
Feeling a little lost? Looking for some direction in your life? Here are five unconventional ways to help you get where you're going.
Portland’s Food Trucks Bring Fast Food and Social Justice
Immigrants and other restaurant workers get a way to rise in local economies. Communities get the best fast food they've ever had.
Infographic: The U.S. Food That Europe Won’t Touch
13 ways the European Union differs from the U.S. on food safety issues like GMOs, hormones, questionable chemicals, and other food additives.
How a Chicago Mom Liberated a Foreclosure and Got a Home for Her Four Kids
Displaced by foreclosure, this family took direct action—and got a place to live.
A Chef’s Perspective on Revering Life—Even When It’s Raised to Be Slaughtered
I always knew the goats across the street were raised for food, but this was my first personal relationship with an animal that would later become my food.
8 Lifestyles for Healthy Eating (and They All Include Kale!)
Have a New Year's resolution to eat better in the coming year? We set out to find out what a healthy diet really looks like. Turns out, they all have a few things in common.
Abolish the Aisle: Would Divided Legislators Work Together If They Had to Sit in Alphabetical Order?
Marco Rubio would be next to Bernie Sanders, and Paul Ryan would rub elbows with Ohio Democrat Tim Ryan. If we closed the personal gap, maybe we could close the political one.
An Economy That Benefits Ordinary People? What We Learned From the 1%
When thinking 40 years into the future, people step out of the current political situation, and our sense of what's possible becomes much more expansive. We are not only able to think bigger—we crave it.
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