In addition to his writing and activism, Alareer taught creative writing and literature at the Islamic University of Gaza. Through his work with We Are Not Numbers and the publication of literary anthologies, Alareer aimed to educate the world about the horrendous conditions Palestinians have been forced to endure under Israeli occupation.

The endemic trauma in American society, which is getting worse under the onslaught of the gig economy, pronounced social inequality, the climate crisis and the seizure of the political process and most institutions by corporations and the ruling oligarchs, is our most serious public health crisis. It has grave individual, social and political consequences.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s legendary anime film Akira (1988) celebrated its 35th anniversary on July 15, 2023. As CD film critic Kalden Dhatsenpa writes, we should remember the movie as a towering achievement of cinema, a cultural landmark depicting the turbulent economic and social history of Japan at the peak of “the biggest asset bubble in history.”

The Asianadian was the first publication of its kind in Canada to host national and progressive conversations about the state of anti-Asian racism. Undertaken by a collective of cultural workers who found their way to Canada, the magazine offered dynamic approaches to discussing Canadian history while celebrating pan-Asian Canadian writing, music, and perspectives.

Corporate Pride is not about liberation but about keeping the potentially unruly in line. If Pride must maintain its corporate sponsorships, then I can only work to abolish it in the same vein as I work for police and prison abolition. This June I will be attending Abolition and Anti-Fascist Pride events for the second year in a row, where politics and a good party are intimate partners.

Fortunately for Russian society, the crusade against classical culture and history initiated by the authorities is being thwarted by everyday practice, which is dominated by completely different trends. In the Internet age, censorship is extremely inefficient. A kind of cultural war has unfolded, in which one’s state acts as an occupying force, and citizens resort to guerrilla tactics.

Canadian physician and author Gabor Maté’s new book, The Myth of Normal, is a rich examination of the conditions that lead to individual illness and the cultural normalization of stress, alienation, and disenfranchisement. The book questions and dismantles notions of ‘normalcy,’ interrogating the factors behind the rise of what Maté calls trauma-related illnesses.

Despite the ubiquity of a legal and safer supply of alcohol⁠, beverage alcohol contributes to the deaths of some three million people around the world every single year via traumatic injuries, chronic diseases, self-harm, cancers, and alcohol use disorders, including alcohol dependency. Countless more people live with alcohol-related diseases, chronic pains, mental health issues, and various disabilities.

Cyberpunk 2077 may have squandered an opportunity to provoke thought, but cyberpunk never had the power to save us. A slick, shiny new computer game is no replacement for supporting your community, organizing in your workplaces and challenging the powers of capital wherever they rear their heads. Power stays with us as long as we have the strength, will and vision to use it.

At best, Adam McKay’s new Netflix film, Don’t Look Up (2021), is an emotional salve for those activists and climate scientists experiencing frustration at government inaction on climate change, and the media’s failure to inspire a response to the Anthropocene. For others who are already familiar with these inglorious trends, McKay preaches to the choir without offering any viable road to salvation.