Culture + Society
Author explores gratitude’s dark side — and how being grateful might still rescue us
For the author of a book on gratitude Diana Butler Bass has what might be a surprising admission: Gratitude didn’t come naturally to her. Bass published “Grateful,” her 12th book, five years ago. But before writing it, “I would not have considered myself a naturally grateful person,” she says. “I always struggled with cultivating gratitude, […]
Rosalynn Carter acclaimed by admirers for her pioneering advocacy for mental health, caregiving
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter leaves a rich legacy of championing mental health and women’s rights. She died Sunday just days after the family announced she had entered hospice at the home. She will be buried at the ranch house in Plains she and former President Jimmy Carter built in 1961. She was married for […]
Day of the Dead is taking on Halloween traditions, but is far more than a ‘Mexican Halloween’
Many Latinos regularly declare: “Día de los Muertos is not Mexican Halloween.” The declaration is increasingly repeated by non-Latinos too. Drawing a clear line between the two holidays is a rhetorical strategy to protect Day of the Dead’s integrity as Mexican cultural heritage and separate it from American popular culture. However, as a Mexican-American who […]
Regents, faculty push back on presentation by national group known for right-wing policies
Faculty from several Nevada colleges and universities criticized the Nevada Board of Regents Friday for entertaining a presentation from a national institute known for right-wing stances on diversity and ‘academic freedom.’ Although the presentation from James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal President Jenna A. Robinson centered on higher education board governance models, faculty argued […]
What a stalagmite from a Grand Canyon cave might tell us about climate change and groundwater
Summer monsoons in the Southwest are difficult to forecast with total accuracy, but the future of the temperamental rainstorms under climate change is an even bigger mystery. The North American Monsoon, a regional weather system ranging from Central America to the southwestern United States, is an important contributor to water budgets in regional deserts, when […]
The Supreme Court’s originalists have taken over. Here’s how they interpret the Constitution.
Today a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices are either self-described originalists or strongly lean toward originalism. Yet less than 50 years ago, originalism was considered a fringe movement, hardly taken seriously by most legal scholars. So, what is originalism, and why is it so influential today? Originalism is the theory that judges are bound […]
NASA report finds no evidence that UFOs are extraterrestrial
NASA’s independent study team released its highly anticipated report on UFOs on Sept. 14, 2023. In part to move beyond the stigma often attached to UFOs, where military pilots fear ridicule or job sanctions if they report them, UFOs are now characterized by the U.S. government as UAPs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena. Bottom line: The […]
A men’s movement takes reins in a nationwide quest to end abortion
Wendell Shrock doesn’t believe in condoms. “We should leave the uterus to God,” the street preacher from Tennessee tells States Newsroom, in front of an abortion clinic outside of Atlanta, mid-morning in late July. Sweat drips from his cowboy hat into his salt-and-pepper beard that stretches halfway down his red-plaid shirt. The retired police officer […]
Rescue sues Animal Foundation, claims failure to spay and neuter violates law
Southern Nevada’s primary government-funded animal shelter, The Animal Foundation (TAF) is failing to abide by the law by not sterilizing animals, and is engaged in deceptive practices by advertising services it doesn’t provide, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The suit alleges No-Kill Las Vegas, a non-profit animal rescue, and other members of the rescue […]
Anti-abortion ‘abolitionists’ take slavery rhetoric to the next level
The first time Tina Marshall heard anti-abortion protesters call themselves “abolitionists,’” she said she burst out laughing. Marshall, a Black woman who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, was counter protesting at an abortion clinic when a mostly white group — save one Black woman — surrounded her and told her they were abolitionists. “I rolled […]
Lion Habitat Ranch founder threatens euthanization in fundraising pitch
A fundraising letter from Keith Evans, the man behind Lion Habitat Ranch, says the roadside zoo in Henderson isn’t generating enough money to support the roughly 40 lions and other animals on site. In the lengthy, handwritten appeal, Evans says the “small fee” visitors pay “hasn’t been enough in the past few years to make […]
A truly great city needs truly great public transportation
Any list of the best cities in the world includes our home in Las Vegas, but you don’t see it at the top of those lists very often, as wasted money and poor priorities prevent Las Vegas from making the leap that takes us from ‘tourist destination’ to ‘world-class city’. Governmental boondoggles have cost taxpayers […]