National

A Hard Pill to Swallow: Reigniting the SACKLER Act

From 1999 to 2021, opioids caused over 70 percent of the one million drug overdose deaths in America. The Opioid Crisis was declared a public health emergency in 2017, owing largely to Purdue Pharma’s 1996 release of OxyContin: a potent opioid similar to heroin. Purdue Pharma’s false advertising of the drug’s addictiveness led to overprescription, […]

Candace Owens: A Conservative Godsend for Racial Inaction

Candace Owens, an American political commentator, television personality, and New York Times bestselling author, has swiftly become a national star in conservative media. Boasting over four and a half million followers on Instagram, Owens has interviewed former president Donald Trump and entertained the idea of running for president herself.  Owens argues against transgender rights, abortion […]

Enabling Recovery: Safe Drug Consumption Sites in the Face of Opioids

130 people a day die from opioid-related drug overdoses in the US, ten times the number in 1999. The opioid epidemic is a crisis that has plagued Americans for decades, taking hundreds of thousands of lives. The United States fervently seeks a solution, yet many Americans in favor of addiction harm reduction argue that the […]

Green Line

From streetcar to supercar: how the MBTA is trying to transform the Green Line

“When I get confused on the train lines, I feel . . . helpless. The anxiety is always there; it’s like a shadow,” Casandra Xavier says. Casandra is a member of the Disability Policy Consortium’s board of directors and was born visually impaired and hard of hearing. On their own, these ailments would make everyday […]

John Shearer, Getty Images

The Rising Threat of Monopolies, as told through Taylor Swift

“I’m the problem.  It’s me.” Taylor Swift sang this lyric from her hit song “Anti-hero” in stadiums of tens of thousands of people. The lyric even made its way to US legislators, with Senators using “Anti-hero” to describe the top ticket-selling website, Ticketmaster. Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” is on its way to being the […]

America’s Warbound Addiction To Economic Development

Prior to becoming the world’s most prosperous nation, second largest trade exporter, and greatest influencer, the United States was an array of minor territories clinging to the solitary North American coast.  One tactic propelled this vulnerable, shattered mosaic of a nation to one of today’s world leaders: war. War is American history’s blood and bones, […]

Debt Ceilings for Dummies

With the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (“FRA”), the Biden administration boasts its commitment to bipartisanship at a time when political polarization reigns. The act follows months of contentious negotiations and allows Democrats to raise the debt ceiling—the maximum amount of money that the government can borrow—so long as they implement Republicans’ federal spending restraints. […]

Ozempic: The Diabetes Treatment Turned Celebrity Weight Loss Fad

Weight and health are not synonymous, but many associate weight loss with looking and feeling healthier. This imperfect relationship between weight and health can make maintaining a certain size challenging, and many Americans do not have the time or energy for the lifestyle change required to alter their appearance. Fad diets offer a fast, low […]

Conservatism: The Key to Salvation?

It’s no secret that Conservatism and Christianity in the United States are two sides of the same coin. The Republican party preaches Christian family values, and Republican voters elect congressperson after congressperson to carry those Christian values into office. Only 3 percent of Conservatives don’t believe in God, and 78 percent are certain of their […]

Incarcerated and Expecting? Another Way America is Failing Women

Tiana Hill was excited to welcome a child into the world. It’s hard to stay optimistic in prison, but Hill—a nonviolent offender incarcerated for violating probation—found hope in the future of her child. Yet, the prison system’s failure to provide healthcare killed her innocent baby four days postpartum. Going into labor, Hill pleaded with the […]