Editor's note

Since 9/11, media outlets have often depicted Muslims in unflattering terms, with today’s Islamophobic political rhetoric fanning the flames. But Virginia Commonwealth University’s Katie Logan explains how Marvel superhero Kamala Khan – a Muslim, Pakistani-American teenager – is upending this script: Khan’s patriotism and heroics exist “because of her Muslim heritage, not despite it.”   

While President Trump threatens to slam the brakes on U.S. climate change programs, California is pushing forward with the most ambitious greenhouse gas reduction policies in the nation. Advocates say these measures will jump-start new green industries, but USC Dornsife economist Matthew Kahn explains why it’s hard to verify such claims.

And as part of our collection of articles for Black History Month, Drake University’s Shontavia Johnson describes how American slaves were shut out of the U.S. patent system – they could hold no property, including patents on their own inventions.

Nick Lehr

Editor, Arts and Culture

Top story

Kamala Khan is a Muslim, Pakistani-American teenager who fights crime in Jersey City. Marvel Comics

Why America needs Marvel superhero Kamala Khan now more than ever

Katie M. Logan, Virginia Commonwealth University

The Marvel superhero directly confronts a 'war on terror culture' that regards Muslim-Americans as threats.

Science + Technology

Environment + Energy

  • How will native tribes fight the Dakota Access Pipeline in court?

    Monte Mills, The University of Montana

    More than an easement: A scholar of Native American law lays out the legal arguments in the Dakota Access Pipeline and why they matter to all of us.

  • Will blazing a low-carbon path pay off for California?

    Matthew Kahn, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

    California has set ambitious goals for cutting carbon emissions and shifting to a clean energy economy. How will this strategy affect the state's huge economy? An economist weighs the evidence.

Politics + Society

  • Trump's border plan for Canada? So far, not a wall

    Jessica Trisko Darden, American University School of International Service; Stéfanie von Hlatky, Queen's University, Ontario

    Can Canada manage to keep up trade while also meeting US expectations for a safe border?

Health + Medicine

Economy + Business

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