JESSE FROST – Winter: The Hottest Thing in Farming

Seeing fresh produce on the grocery store shelves throughout winter is nothing new—places like California, Florida, and Mexico have been making it happen for years. What is new, however, is how much of it has started coming from your local farmer, even in the northern half of the country. Because, as it turns out, winter farming is kind of having …

Adam Fisher – The Blind Spots of Liberalism

I grew up in what could be called the California Appalachians. My town’s population was around a thousand, with a median household income of $37,000. The local public school consisted of a series of air-conditioned, double-wide trailers that served as classrooms for combined grades (first and second in one, third and fourth in another, and so on). The only permanent building …

Utpal Dholakia Ph.D. – The Little-Known Downsides of Mindfulness Practice

As I pointed out recently, mindfulness practice has entered the mainstream of western culture to such an extent that 2014 was proclaimed as “The Year of Mindfulness” by the New Republic, and futurists see “mindful living” as a top trend that will influence consumers in the years to come. Most readers may know this already, but here’s a quick refresher. Mindfulness practice refers to a set …

Mel Gurtov – Manipulating Reality: Facebook Is Listening to You

One thing we have become all too used to is that our reality can be manipulated to create the appearance of something else entirely. Invading another country is defensive, rigged elections are passed off as democracy in action, more guns (or more nuclear weapons) ensure the peace, trade and foreign investment increase jobs at home. Orwellian logic has become commonplace. …

Henry A. Giroux – Political Frauds and the Ghost of Totalitarianism

In the current historical moment in the United States, the emptying out of language is nourished by the assault on the civic imagination. One example of this can be found in the rise of Donald Trump on the political scene. Trump’s popular appeal speaks to not just the boldness of what he says and the shock it provokes, but the …