Mississippi State sociologist Margaret Hagerman spent two years studying a group of affluent white kids in the Midwest. She wanted to see how they made sense of the stories popping up in the news: accounts of police shootings and unequal opportunity. She was surprised – and somewhat troubled – by what she learned.

Cuba has transformed in recent years, opening its economy to foreign investment and getting a young new president – the first modern Cuban leader who did not fight in Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Now, the country that once sent gay men to work camps may soon legalize same-sex marriage. But what’s more surprising, writes Cuban-American professor María Isabel Alfonso, is that churches in this secular Communist nation are publicly opposing the government’s LGBTQ rights initiative. (Leer en español)

What to do when the news proves overwhelming? Poet and scholar Rachel Hadas writes that in “the shadow of public dread … life still needs to be lived.” So play baseball, take your grandchildren to the park and, she advises – read poetry.