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We’re building a guide for everyday life, where experts will educate you about our world.
Author Spotlight
John Feffer is the director of Foreign Policy In Focus and Global Just Transition at the Institute for Policy Studies.
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Zahara Nabakooza is an advocate for children’s rights and climate action.
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Mathilde Lépine is a co-founder of Prehistory Travel, which educates people of all ages on topics relating to human prehistory.
Ned Pennant-Rea is a London-based editor and writer.
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Sonja Smith is an award-winning journalist based in Namibia. She is a member of the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism and a correspondent for the Associated Press. Smith has worked for various Namibian media outlets, including Confidente, the Windhoek Observer, and the Namibian.
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Ellen Feld is a writer, editor, and educator.
Mark David Kaufman is an associate professor of English whose research explores literature, film, espionage, and the cultural history of secrecy.
Dr. Harriet Fraad is a mental health counselor and hypnotherapist whose writing and multimedia programs cover the interactions between global capitalism and personal life in the United States.
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Danna Smith is the founder and executive director of Dogwood Alliance.
Leslie Alan Horvitz is an author and journalist specializing in science. He serves as the science and tech editor at the Observatory.
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Guides
With new anthropological, biological and scientific findings, we are increasingly able to trace the outlines and fill in the blanks of our human evolutionary story. This can help us better understand the social and cultural processes that produced the world we live in now. This guide to Human Bridges explores the work of experts from the fields of human biology, human origins, and anthropology who want to contribute their individual expertise to a wider accessible body of information, and enlist in the cause to make this material a staple of education at all stages of life.
editorsourcearea“It really is godlike,” says Geoffrey Hinton about artificial intelligence. He’s been called the “godfather of AI,” so he should know. “Magical intelligence in the sky” is how Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, regards AI, while Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, warns that AI could bring about the appearance of the Antichrist. In contrast, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicts that AI will result in “the defeat of most diseases, the growth in biological and cognitive freedom, the lifting of billions of people out of poverty… a renaissance of liberal democracy and human rights.” Is AI really so transformative, or is it an evanescent trend whose importance has been overhyped?
This guide won’t give you the answers. It certainly won’t tell you whether AI is a harbinger of the Antichrist. What it can do, though, is explore AI’s unresolved issues, which will almost certainly be with us for years to come
editorsourceareaThis guide examines the challenges facing vulnerable youth in America and the role communities, institutions, and public systems play in protecting—or failing—them. Drawing on research into child welfare, poverty, health, justice, and systemic inequities, the series explores how overlapping crises—from hidden abuse and neglect to the criminalization of childhood and the long-term effects of economic instability—shape young lives and limit opportunity.
editorsourceareaThe first article explores America’s hidden crisis in child welfare, revealing how children in foster care, detention, and institutional settings often experience neglect, exploitation, and harm. The second article examines how the justice system criminalizes rather than protects vulnerable youth through punitive detention, weakened labor protections, and systemic inequities that push children toward incarceration instead of opportunity. The third article focuses on the relationship between poverty and youth health, arguing that inadequate healthcare, pollution exposure, malnutrition, and environmental inequality undermine children’s ability to learn, grow, and participate fully in society.
The fourth article shifts from diagnosis to possibility, exploring how communities might coordinate education, healthcare, mentorship, enrichment, and meaningful work opportunities under a shared developmental framework. Drawing on existing civic-service and workforce-development models, it argues that resilience is not simply an individual trait, but the product of sustained social investment and consistent support.
The fifth article broadens the lens further, asking why societies so often normalize harm to children across war, poverty, environmental contamination, displacement, and public policy. Drawing on developmental science, civil rights history, and international child welfare, it argues that protecting children requires more than compassion or legal commitments. Instead, it calls for stronger accountability, sustained prevention, coordinated institutions, and renewed community responsibility at every level of society.
Future installments continue the series by turning from systems back to people, exploring the responsibilities of the adults who stand closest to children and the communities that support them. Taken together, the series asks readers to confront not only how children are harmed, but also what kinds of communities, institutions, and moral commitments are required to help them thrive. Readers are invited to reflect on a central question: Does your community care about children?The guide will help readers understand the global plastic crisis from multiple angles, including the impact of plastic on human health, wildlife and the environment, the upstream forces in the lifecycle of plastics, the complex reality of recycling plastic, the unique threat posed by tiny plastic particles called nanoplastics, and how two similar cities have handled the plastic issue in different ways.
editorsourceareaWhy do some authors pretend to be someone they are not? Why do they claim experiences that they don’t have? What drives them to create texts and claim that they are ancient? By examining some examples of literary fraud from the modern era, we can gain insight not only into a fraudulent writer’s perspective, but also into readers’ expectations, publishing practices, and what kind of story a culture values.
editorsourceareaWe use language every day—from spoken and signed words to written communication and body gestures—but how often do we pause to consider what drives it beneath the surface? Linguistics, the scientific study of language, seeks to answer this question by examining how language is acquired, how it functions, how it changes over time, and how it connects to both human evolution and society. Its insights reach far beyond the classroom, shaping our understanding of education, politics, technology, identity, and culture.
editorsourceareaThis Guide to Linguistics: The Science of Language explores how language both shapes and is shaped by our experiences, values, and identities. Through a diverse collection of essays, it invites readers to rethink the language they use and the assumptions they make about others based on how they speak. It also examines the power dynamics embedded in language—how words can reflect, reinforce, or challenge social hierarchies.
As you move through the guide, consider the contexts in which language is used. Ask: Who is speaking? Where, when, and why? These questions open the door to a more nuanced understanding of what language is, how it functions, and how it continues to evolve. Whether you are a student, a lifelong learner, or simply curious about the forces shaping everyday communication, this guide offers a deeper look at the many dimensions of language.The United States is facing an unprecedented care crisis, with millions of Americans providing essential care to relatives and friends living with chronic conditions, disabilities, mental health challenges, or age-related needs. Despite serving as a lifeline for loved ones, informal caregivers often lack the public support they deserve. As a result, many experience significant emotional, physical, and financial strain. Finding convenient and flexible ways to practice self-care is therefore critical.
editorsourceareaWriting can be one powerful way for caregivers to do this. Through journaling, storytelling, and other forms of writing, caregivers can process difficult emotions, gain new perspectives on their experiences, and explore evolving aspects of their identities. Writing can also connect caregivers with others who share similar challenges.
Beyond personal healing, storytelling can help caregivers build community and advocate for stronger care policies. This guide explores several forms of writing and storytelling that can help caregivers reflect, cope, and heal—while also contributing to a more supportive care system for everyone.Conscious consumption means recognizing that everyday purchasing decisions shape the well-being of nonhuman animals, ecosystems, and human communities. It includes choosing foods that minimize harm, supporting ethical and sustainable production, avoiding products linked to environmental destruction, and rejecting exploitative labor practices. From humane food labels and plant-based alternatives to shade-grown coffee, eco-friendly wine, and reduced reliance on fast fashion and fossil fuels, each choice carries impact. The Observatory’s Guide to Conscious Consumption brings together practical tools and deeper context to help you make informed decisions that support your health, reduce harm, and contribute to a more just and sustainable world.
editorsourceareaHumans have long used language, writing, and storytelling to make sense of the world—and to shape how it is understood. Writing takes many forms, extending from literature and journalism to scholarship, personal reflection, and everyday communication. Together, language and writing help develop our critical thinking, awareness, and curiosity.
The Observatory Guide to Language Arts and Writing explores how language and storytelling shape the human mind, foster empathy, and serve as tools for understanding ourselves, connecting with others, imagining new possibilities, solving problems, and questioning the status quo. Drawing on literature, history, psychology, neuroscience, and the social sciences, the guide highlights how writing and narrative shape not only expression, but perception, meaning, and action.
editorsourceareaFood production shapes the health of ecosystems, communities, animals, and the climate. Yet many modern agricultural systems rely on practices that contribute to soil degradation, biodiversity loss, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and animal suffering. As concerns about the environmental and social costs of industrial agriculture continue to grow, farmers, researchers, Indigenous communities, and advocates are developing and refining alternative approaches.
This guide explores a range of alternatives to industrial agriculture, including organic farming, small-scale farming, regenerative agriculture, carbon farming, veganic farming, Indigenous land stewardship practices, and emerging innovations such as agrivoltaics. Together, these approaches offer different pathways toward producing food while protecting ecosystems, improving soil health, supporting biodiversity, reducing environmental impacts, and building more resilient agricultural systems for future generations.
editorsourceareaNew Additions
As keyboards and touchscreens replace pens and pencils, the decline of handwriting raises questions about cognition, culture, and creativity.
By: Danica Tomber
A 19th-century hyperpolyglot reported to have known up to 72 languages, the biography of Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti explores the boundaries of how we characterize multilingualism.
By: Michael Erard
Before Freudian psychoanalysis became the dominant approach to psychotherapy, physician Morton Prince pioneered influential ideas about dissociation, hypnosis, habit formation, and talk therapy that helped shape the early development of American psychotherapy.
By: George Prochnik
Humanitarian organizations invest in education to promote safety, resilience, and social cohesion, but researchers continue to debate its long-term impact on conflict and human well-being.
By: Chloe Bruce
Buraq, the winged steed associated with the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey, evolved from a briefly described figure into a richly imagined symbol through Islamic literature, visual art, philosophy, and centuries of religious and cultural interpretation.
By: Yasmine Seale
Was it their mastery of the horse and chariot, or a revolutionary social structure that allowed them to absorb their neighbors so effectively?
By analyzing the landscape where the Onon and Kherlen rivers form, we are hunting for the site which was allegedly altered to hide the Mongol Emperor forever.
Was Alexander the Great swallowed by the rising tides of the Mediterranean, or perhaps hidden by a populace protecting their god-king from religious fervor?
Classics
This two-volume book is an “exposé about the Standard Oil Company, run at the time by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, the richest figure in American history.” More from Wikipedia:
“Originally serialized in nineteen parts in McClure’s magazine, the book is a seminal example of muckraking, and inspired many other journalists to write about trusts, large businesses that (in the absence of strong antitrust laws in the 19th century) attempted to gain monopolies in various industries.”
“The History of the Standard Oil Company is credited with hastening the breakup of Standard Oil, which came about in 1911, when the Supreme Court of the United States found the company to be violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.”
“The original book was a two-volume hardcover set. An abridged paperback edition was released later.”
By: Ida M. Tarbell
From Wikipedia:
- “A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South is the first book by American author, educator, and activist Anna J. Cooper. First published in 1892, the book is widely viewed as one of the first articulations of Black feminism. The book is divided into two parts, ‘Soprano Obligato’ and ‘Tutti Ad Libitum.’ Each section contains four individual essays. This book led to the term ‘Cooperian’ being coined when speaking about Anna J. Cooper. It is considered one of the first, full-length Black feminist texts.”
- Overview
- “A Voice from the South compiles a series of essays that touched on a variety of topics, such as race and racism, gender, the socioeconomic realities of Black families, and the administration of the Episcopal Church.”
- “The book advanced a vision of self-determination through education and social uplift for African-American women. Its central thesis was that the educational, moral, and spiritual progress of Black women would improve the general standing of the entire African-American community. She says that the violent natures of men often run counter to the goals of higher education, so it is important to foster more female intellectuals because they will bring more elegance to education. She noted Black women whose accomplishments could rival those of men, including Phillis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, Fanny Jackson Coppin, and Edmonia Lewis. Cooper advanced the view that it was the duty of educated and successful Black women to support their underprivileged peers in achieving their goals. Through this view Cooper’s style was deemed ‘Cooperian,’ as a direct comparison to other male canonical theorists. …”
- “A Voice from the South was published during a period that saw a burst of intellectual publications by Black women. Cooper’s book was published the same year as Lucy Delaney’s From the Darkness Cometh the Light; or, Struggles for Freedom, Ida B. Wells’s Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s Iola Leroy; or, Shadows Uplifted.”
By: Anna J. Cooper
This article on "the woman question" of the right for American women* to vote appeared in Popular Science Monthly, Volume 49, in June 1896. Two months later, Popular Science Monthly's editors attacked Tweedy's argument in an Editor's Table section titled "Women and Politics," reproduced below for historical context depicting the attitude of most men (and some women) of Tweedy's time:
"The Monthly has lately given place to two articles on the subject of the demand which is now being made by some women on behalf of their sex to be allowed to participate in political life on a footing of perfect equality with men. One of our contributors [George F. Talbot, 'The Political Rights and Duties of Women'] has tried to show cause why the demand should not be granted, taking the ground that the change would be injurious to society as a whole and particularly injurious to the female sex. The other [Tweedy, below] treats the arguments of the first with scorn, and, if we are not mistaken, betrays not a little of that 'antagonism of the sexes' which nevertheless she declares to be 'unnatural and vicious.' The question is one which ought to be discussed with complete dispassionateness; and we think that on this score there was no fault to find with the earlier of the two contributions, that by Mr. George F. Talbot, in our May number."
The editors go on to dismiss Tweedy's argument because "As long as men alone do the voting, they are supposed to represent the non-voting sex. Every man has or has had a mother, most have one or more sisters, and a very large proportion have wives. Every man's vote, therefore, … ought to express his consciousness of and respect for the family tie." They continue, "What is mainly needed, in our opinion, is the deepening of the sense of trusteeship in men." Nevertheless, the "women agitators," described below by Tweedy, fought on until women won the right to vote with the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment.
✲ It should be noted that the public debate at the time often considered the voting rights of only white women. While women gained the vote in 1920 with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the right to vote for Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color was guaranteed.By: Alice B. Tweedy
A survivor’s perspective on what it was like to be on the Titanic as it sank, with detailed accountings of his and other passengers’ accounts.
“The Shame of the Cities is a book written by American author Lincoln Steffens. Published in 1904, it is a collection of articles which Steffens had written for McClure’s Magazine. It reports on the workings of corrupt political machines in several major cities in the United States, along with a few efforts to combat them. It is considered one of several early major pieces of muckraking journalism, but Steffens later claimed that the work made him ‘the first muckraker.’” (Source: Wikipedia)
By: Lincoln Steffens
The famous novel about government and business corruption in the early 20th century by muckraker author Upton Sinclair.
From Wikisource:
- “The Jungle is a 1906 novel written by author and socialist journalist Upton Sinclair. It was written about the corruption of the American meatpacking industry during the early 20th century. The novel depicts in harsh tones the poverty, absence of social programs, unpleasant living and working conditions, and hopelessness prevalent among the ‘have-nots,’ which is contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption on the part of the ‘haves.’”
By: Upton Sinclair
This 1847 memoir was written by prominent activist and writer William Wells Brown to support the abolitionist movement. It chronicles Brown’s cruel treatment as an enslaved man, the horrors that he witnessed, and his multiple escape attempts for freedom.
Note: This book is part of a historical collection and may include offensive language.
In this memoir, Frederick Douglass chronicles life as an enslaved boy in the American South, his eventual escape, and his new beginnings as a free man and abolitionist.
Note: This historical memoir may include outdated and offensive language.
From Wikisource:
- “Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book written by newspaper reporter Nellie Bly and published by Norman Munro in New York City in 1887. The book comprised Blyʼs reportage for the New York World while on an undercover assignment in which she feigned insanity to investigate reports of brutality and neglect at the Womenʼs Lunatic Asylum on Blackwellʼs Island.”
By: Nellie Bly
From Wikipedia:
- “Woman in the Nineteenth Century is a book by American journalist, editor, and women’s rights advocate Margaret Fuller. Originally published in July 1843 in The Dial magazine as ‘The Great Lawsuit. Man versus Men. Woman versus Women,’ it was later expanded and republished in book form in 1845.”
- “The basis for Fuller’s essay is the idea that man will rightfully inherit the earth when he becomes an elevated being, understanding of divine love. There have been periods in time when the world was more awake to this love, but people are sleeping now; however, everyone has the power to become enlightened. Man cannot now find perfection because he is still burdened with selfish desires, but Fuller is optimistic and says that we are on the verge of a new awakening. She claims that in the past man, like Orpheus for Eurydice, has always called out for woman, but soon will come the time when women will call for men, when they will be equals and share divine love.”
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