by Gene Gibbons | 4 Sep 2023 | Environment
The idea of setting aside land back in 1872 has spread into a movement across the world. When a nation creates a national park, it is a gift to the globe. Yellowstone Falls in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Gene Gibbons. This article was produced exclusively for...
by Gene Gibbons | 8 May 2023 | Politics, United States
The upcoming U.S. presidential election might already seem like déjà vu, but in many ways it will be unprecedented. What’s in it for the rest of the world? This article was produced exclusively for News Decoder’s global news service. It is through articles like...
by Gene Gibbons | 11 Jul 2022 | Politics, United States
A half century ago, I watched Richard Nixon plunge the U.S. into a constitutional crisis. Now I wonder if American democracy will survive Donald Trump. Former U.S. President Donald Trump as he spoke to supporters from the Ellipse at the White House in Washington on 6...
by Gene Gibbons | 10 Sep 2021 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Personal Reflections, Politics, Religion, World
Primitive tribes helped topple the powerful Roman Empire. Did attacks on the U.S. by Islamist extremists 20 years ago augur the end of a superpower? The Statue of Liberty and New York City’s skyline as smoke rises from the ruins of the Twin Towers, four days...
We often hear that history repeats itself. A core tenet of News Decoder’s mission is to help students place current events in a broader historical context. Correspondent Gene Gibbons looks beyond today’s headlines all the way back to ancient Rome to show how pride, corruption, strategic overreach and other political mistakes have contributed to the decline of superpowers, then and now.
Exercise: Ask students to debate the question in the headline, providing evidence for their position.
by Gene Gibbons | 19 Aug 2021 | Journalism, Personal Reflections, World
My birthday is a chance to survey the state of the world. So much news is full of despair, yet I feel mostly upbeat about progress that’s been made. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses marchers during his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln...