The Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng has become an icon in representing the fight against the repression and torment frequently employed on dissidents against the country’s authoritarian regime. The blind activist – often referred to as a “barefoot lawyer,” a term used to describe self-taught legal representatives in the country – became embroiled in [...]

Politics and legislation are often slow to adapt to public sentiment, but neither the American public nor its representatives can deny that 2012 has been one of the gayest years—politically speaking—in American history. The past four and a half months have seen gay marriage legalized in two states (Delaware and Washington), legislation passed in one [...]

A timely and strategic response to the challenges of global climate change is more that an environmental issue; it is a humanitarian crisis in-the-making that our institutional leaders have failed to seriously address. Three plus years into the Obama Administration, there has yet to be any comprehensive energy legislation. While the President clearly recognizes the [...]

The political career of the newly elected Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has not only been characterised by her determination to lead her country towards democracy, but also by the many personal sacrifices she had taken in the process. Amongst them is the decision she made to remain in Myanmar (Burma) throughout her [...]

Following yesterday’s Earth Day, The WILD will be sharing with you some positive initiatives which will help shape tomorrow’s carbon neutral world. This week we choose to highlight Bosco Verticale. Designed by Stefano Boeri – architect, academic and former editor of design and architecture magazine Domus – his Bosco Verticale, composed of two residential towers [...]

It’s hard to avoid the headlines accusing Republicans of waging a ‘war on women.’ Questionable semantics aside, there are certainly a broad scope of policy decisions and initiatives that call into question the sincerity of the GOP’s commitment to supporting women. National issues get a lot of coverage, but much of the action is happening [...]

Whether you are a fast fashion junkie or a slow fashion gourmand, there is no disputing that today’s fashion tragedies are not just about outrageous celebrity tastes or luxury brand designers with major burnout, but rather the crimes committed against the enslaved individuals who make our clothes under abysmal conditions. With last week’s announcement in [...]

A modern day slave trade may seem unimaginable, but it is in fact all around us. Two and a half million people just this year have fallen victim to this $32 billion industry. The United Nations reports that 80 percent of these exploited persons were involved in sexual services. Human trafficking and the sex work [...]

The exploration for new sustainable energy sources is in a way an effort to regain harmony with our natural world. If this is the case, it only makes sense to look at the organic mysteries that have been under our collective nose all along. Recently, scientists have been studying the elegant wings of butterflies – [...]

Conventionally known for its tequila and tacos, Mexico is making a breakthrough in the clean technology sector. Few would associate Mexico with innovation and sustainable technology, but one competition is attempting to change this: the Cleantech Challenge Mexico 2012. Competing for up to US$30 million in venture capital investment, 128 cleantech projects submit their proposals [...]

… and to keep a strong leader in the fight against climate change in the battle: We need to unite and spread the word! Photo by Todd Wilson For a week, my friend Denyse Dookie, had planned for a group of us to go to the Film Forum (here in New York) to see The [...]

March 31st 2012 8.30 pm: As the largest ever Earth Hour wraps up across Asia, Nelson Mandela showed his support on Twitter for a cause to unite the world to protect the planet: “Let us stand together to make of our world a sustainable source for our future as humanity on this planet” #NelsonMandela #EarthHour,” [...]

Just a few days after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama stated: Iran will have to face the consequences of not cooperating with the United Nations about their atomic energy research; something blew up the internet, and it wasn’t a bomb. Thanks to a new Facebook movement, now the whole world [...]

The world’s media has recently shone considerable spotlight on the developments at the Apple Foxconn manufacturers in China, regarding the inhumane treatment of workers and the brutal conditions they are forced to endure. Recently, the radio programme This American Life broadcasted a monologue titled The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs; it featured Mike [...]

In recent years, the question of the corporation’s role in our democracy has been weighed by activists, pundits and politicians. Perhaps the ultimate arbiter of arguments over corporate personhood is the United States Supreme Court. The highest court in the land often avoids daily media scrutiny, but has an understated influence on policy decisions (consider [...]

Of the endless amenities afforded to the burghal dwellers of New York City, green space is one that comes at a premium. Urban planners the world over are having to consider new paradigms of metropolitan environmental integration. Two entrepreneurial architects in the Lower East Side of Manhattan are doing just that with their vision of [...]

Lucia, an eight year-old girl from a Mexican indigenous village, tells me how, when she grows up, she wants to be ‘white’. It’s no wonder–you never see a ‘non-white’ woman in the Mexican media, except as a servants. Mixed-race (mestizo) and indigenous people make up nearly 90 percent of the Mexican population, and a mestiza, [...]

Seventy miles North of Phoenix in the Arizona desert lies an arid stretch of land inhabited by a vision for a future city. Arcosanti, as the city is called, was founded by architect Paolo Soleri in an attempt to create a physical manifestation of his ecologically enlightened convictions. Soleri coined the term ‘arcology,’ a merging of the words architecture and ecology, to define [...]

I admit, I had been swept up by the Invisible Children bandwagon. But it didn’t happen yesterday. In fact, my first ever post in The WILD Magazine highlighted IC’s work with the African music group, The Very Best. I admired Invisible Children’s creative, albeit at times unbearably cheesy, way of producing compelling narratives that a [...]

It’s a subject that divides and embarrasses Australians- the intervention into indigenous communities? In 2007 stories broke of rampant child abuse in several Aboriginal communities. The women of these communities told their story in desperation to the media because the government and police weren’t acting. When finally it hit the national papers, it shocked nation. [...]

The phenomenon of globalization has interconnected the world in ways never before experienced by mankind, yet there remains a distinct lack of empathetic human connection. This is especially true in the western world where out of sight and out of mind are the wars waged, the natural resources pillaged, and the human hands that piece [...]

Although the South African constitution protects people from violence and discrimination based on their sexual orientation, homophobia is widespread, especially within the townships and poorer communities. Corrective rape is the idea that a lesbian woman will be “cured” and “punished” if she is raped. As a result, violence against lesbian and transgendered women in South [...]

Without any glimpse of surprise, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won Russia’s presidential election held last Sunday, with a landslide of over 63% of the popular vote. After declaring victory, a tearful Putin claimed the process as ‘an open and clean struggle’. For his opposition and global monitors, it was anything but. Allegations of fraud began [...]

Economic downturns have a way of bringing out the worst in people. In the face of employment uncertainties and changing demographics, it has become all too easy to scapegoat cultural groups foreign to one’s own. Illegal immigration into the United States, as in Europe, is a real issue void of simple solutions, but marginalizing minority [...]

Over the years, the severe environmental damages caused by the many fast-paced developments in Hong Kong have been well documented. Which is why it came as a surprise to many marine conservationists this week, when the South China Morning Post reported on an amateur fisherman reeling in a one-metre sea bass on the Victoria Harbour. [...]

Sok Shabdrung Dujom Dorjee Rinpoche was recognized as a lama at birth. This meant he was subjected to humiliation from the Chinese and local villagers who were forced to abuse him even as a boy. As an adult he was imprisoned; first for six years and then for seven. It was in prison that he [...]

Like many creative young people in his home country, Venezuela-native artist OneChot had a desire for expressing himself; his fears, his hopes, his dreams. Music seemed the ultimate vehicle, where his reggae and dancehall beats served as the background for a thoughtful and profound message, pleading for the end of a tragic violent wave that [...]

It’s six in the evening. The counters of Tel Aviv’s famous market, Shuk HaCarmel are about to close. Oddly enough this is the time when some of the regular visitors of this colourful paradise of fruits and spices, are arriving to collect their dinner. The only difference between them and the people with bulging plastic [...]

The raw and unspoiled beauty of starry nights is not something that most of us get a chance to experience very often…or ever. Light pollution, an excess of artificial light, is a reality and yet another way in which we are diminishing the exquisiteness of our planet. In the Atacama Desert in Chile, a place [...]

On a recent episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart lambasted Time Magazine over a “fluff” cover story used for a recent U.S. issue. While European, Asian, and South Pacific editions led with a piece on Italy’s new prime minister and his struggles to stabilize the country’s economy, the American edition led with a story [...]

THREE OUT OF FOUR people in Japan today distrust nuclear energy. Last September, some 60,000 citizens rallied in the capital to say goodbye to nuclear power plants. Other massive demonstrations followed. One would think that among the parties most interested in decommissioning nuclear power plants are those who live nearby them. Or are they? The [...]

Whoever thinks that word peace could ever come from war clearly never understood the meaning of love. But Madonna’s new single (the one with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. screaming “L.U.V.”) made it’s way to changing the world as Israeli art student, Kobi Zvili (28) took the words of the pop goddess and turned it into [...]

The democratically-elected president of a tiny nation, who has had a giant voice in the climate change debate, has been forced to resign at gunpoint in a coup d’état. Mohamed Nasheed made his resignation under duress as president of the Maldives earlier this week. This is a disturbing setback for both global democracy and the [...]

Abu Dhabi is looking towards the future. Situated in the crossroads of three major continents this small island capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considered as one of the fastest growing in the world today. A rich investment from international corporations and the presence of luxurious hotels, spas and leisure facilities at every [...]

In March 2011, Vogue published a glowing portrait Asma al-Assad, the “glamorous, young, and very chic” first lady of Syria. The story and subsequent controversy are not new, but worth reexamining given the catastrophic pro-democracy crackdown at the hands of the subject’s husband, President Bashar al-Assad. Photo by Blaine Skrainka [New York street art by [...]

There is no love lost between Hong Kong and their neighbours who hail from China. Popularly referred to as Mainlanders, which has since become a negative connotation in its own right, visitors from north of the Hong Kong border are often stereotypically portrayed by the media as being inherently rude and obnoxious. The aforementioned characteristics [...]

Lately, the subject of photography seems to have attracted more international attention on Hong Kong – even more so than is normally bestowed on her. After the on-going Dolce and Gabbana fiasco, photographers Jason Hawkes and Brian Cassey have separately made Hong Kong a part of various foreign press’ headlines through their capturing of living conditions [...]

Movie of the End of the Weekend, numéro 4, January 22nd 2012 Angels in the Dust (2007) – Director: Louise Hogarth Filmmaker Louise Hogarth’s documentary Angels in the Dust chronicles one of the most uplifting yet unsung stories of our time: that of the Botshabelo Orphanage outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. Founded by Marion and [...]

In the West, where we don’t think twice about enjoying three hearty meals a day, it is difficult to fathom what real hunger is; hunger so severe that it colors your daily existence. For many in the Democratic Republic of Congo, famine is a way of life. Recently, New York Times’ correspondent Adam Nossiter captured [...]

SOPA and PIPA have been thrust onto public consciousness with a sudden sense of urgency that has some of the most significant technology, information sharing, and social networking platforms, as well as the general public up in arms. SOPA and PIPA are legislations that if passed will give the U.S. Government supreme authority in enforcing [...]

Plans to extend the Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta Tar Sands in Canada, to the Gulf Shores in the United States have officially been put on hold this afternoon. In a statement, President Obama said, “the Secretary of State has recommended that the application be denied.  And after reviewing the State Department’s report, I [...]

Ever wondered if there was an easier way to locate eco-friendly food and businesses, all with the touch of your fingertips? If the answer’s yes, OK Go’s Andy Ross and Eytan and The Embassy’s Eytan Oren has that covered. The two musicians, who became friends since college and worked both in the music and tech [...]

In the center of the western hemisphere, where LGBT rights are flourishing, lies a pocket of violent discrimination that this part of the world hasn’t witnessed since the height of the American civil rights movement. Jamaica, suggested as possibly “The Most Homophobic Place on Earth” by TIME Magazine, has become a prison for its LGBT [...]

Bocas Del Toro in a dramatic archipelago of tropical islands just across the Panama border from Costa Rica. Less spoiled and commercialized than Costa Rica, the Ngobe people have farmed and fished the water for thousands of years. The Ngobe also fought off pirates and Spanish conquistadors to remain independent through most of the last [...]

Depending on how you look at it, the promises that we make to ourselves at the start of each year can be inspiring or daunting. While losing weight, keeping a journal, and reading more often are all noble goals, taking them all on at once — and by ourselves — probably isn’t the best recipe [...]

2011 was a year of worldwide unrest. Traditional social structures that favor the interests of those with money and power are being called into question by the masses. These are the most striking moments of 2011. 5. Death of Bin Laden & End to the War in Iraq 10 years after the September 11 attacks, [...]

After all the New Year’s Eve festivities, let’s take a moment to look back at 2011: In the midst of all it brought to us, a few things popped out to our editors as their favorite 2011 discoveries, check them out! Diana Cenat The film Drive and 90.7 WFUV “What can I say about Drive? [...]

2011 was a year of worldwide unrest. Traditional social structures that favor the interests of those with money and power are being called into question by the masses. Here are the first set of striking moments of the year, many of which fed into the larger phenomenons to follow. 11. Tim Dechristopher Sentenced Over the [...]

The holiday time is synonymous for most of us with a bunch of family obligations, as well as a time of giving and sharing. Going home and running out of time to prepare your holiday gifts? Look no further: Here The WILD’s top 10 holiday gifts: No 1: Unwrapped green gift Give your friends and [...]