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Issue 530 of New Internationalist

Reader-owned global journalism

March-April 2021

Democracy on the edge

Disinformation. Polarization. And flat denial of election results. Democracy seems to be in trouble today. But are these death throes - or perhaps growing pains?

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Included in this issue

10-year-old Ruth Bitrus from Michika, in northeastern Nigeria, whose parents were killed by Boko Haram following the invasion of her hometown. IMMANUEL OFOLABI

Country profile: Nigeria

Almost half of Nigerians want to move abroad in the next five years, Nosmot Gbadamosi writes, and the country’s population is...

Agony Uncle

As his comrades argue about trans women, a reader feels conflicted. Step forward Agony Uncle.

Is homeschooling socially harmful?

Does being educated at home limit or enrich children’s experiences? Lindsey T Powell and Cheryl Fields-Smith have different...
Illustration by Sarah John

Holding out for a hero

Iris Gonzales reflects on the human cost of the state’s war against its critics. 
arkakinari.org

Spotlight: Arka Kinari

Claire Fauset is on board with Arka Kinari, an extraordinary ecological live music project staged from the deck of a...
METAMORWORKS/SHUTTERSTOCK

The space invaders

Psychoanalyst Adam Phillips talks about our need for privacy in a digital age.
Conspiracy theorist graffiti alleging terrorism behind the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster of 2013, pictured in Montreal. Credit: Cold, Indrid/Flickr

How to talk with conspiracy theorists

Vanessa Baird offers some nifty tips in tackling a growing problem.
Activists in New York City protest against the influence of ‘dark money’ from the billionaire Koch brothers on many areas of political decision-making, including healthcare. ERIK MCGREGOR /SIPA USA/PA IMAGES

Dark money

It twists and corrupts democracy in hidden ways. Peter Geoghegan explores the murky world of think tanks and billionaire...
AVIER RODRIGUEZ/ PIXABAY

How we are gulled

Propaganda and media expert Peter Pomerantsev on tackling disinformation and the power of the digital platforms. 

The interview: Michael Fakhri

Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has a bold vision for a trade system that reflects how people...
andy carter illustration

What if…we banned the intensive farming of animals?

Hazel Healy imagines an end to cheap meat.

Saving the Sundarbans

Nilanjana Bhowmick on the double whammy of natural disaster and Covid-19 that has brought a vulnerable ecosystem to the brink.

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