As the regime of Hosni Mubarak fell, the world witnessed the birth of a democracy. Today, the compelling images streaming in from Tahrir Square have mostly come to an end, but the struggles continue. Early this summer, the reborn nation will host its first presidential elections in 5,000 years. The candidates face a dismal economy, [...]

Supporters gather to hear Aung San Suu Kyi at the opening of an office for the National League for Democracy. Last week, at long last, the opposition leader was sworn into office after nearly 25 years of struggles against military dictatorship. Ms Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest for much of that time, today [...]

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 [...]

Downtempo introspection may not often come to mind when searching for descriptors for a Major Lazer single. On the other hand, you couldn’t possibly expect Diplo and Switch to rest on their laurels. The ever-evolving producers used spacey arpeggios and the angelic octave ascents of Amber Coffman to create this truly eclectic cut. Accompanied by [...]

Few things give one the perspective that staring into the cosmos can. These star trails were captured with long-exposure on their journey through the night’s sky. Get starry eyed with more images of alien galaxies here. Photograph by Jack Fusco

To have any kind of real understanding of the Arab Awakening, we must look to the role of women and challenge the word “revolution.” In the West, we tend to idolize the struggle for democracy, and rightly so, but that is no excuse to overlook the egregious misogyny pervasive across the Middle East, including institutionalized [...]

The inimitable Later… with Jools Holland had a pretty epic night, bringing some North American sonic exports to the Brits. The episode featured legends-in-the-making Jack White and Norah Jones, along with up-and-comers Grimes and the Alabama Shakes – all WILD favorites.

We’re all familiar with the ubiquitous screen print turned graphic design of Andre the Giant, the logo of Shepard Fairey and his brand Obey. How the icon became a staple of our pop culture catalog is somewhat less well-known. To date, the history of Fairey’s work comes mostly from a handful interviews with the street [...]

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 [...]

Fifty-seven years ago, Rosa Parks, “the first lady of civil rights,” made a stand of peaceful civil disobedience by refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Although we live far from a post-racial society, seeing President Barack Obama in remembrance on that very bus is indeed powerful. Photo courtesy of [...]

Not exactly a new video, or story for that matter, but definitely always worth a watch. In 1977 the Voyager 1 space probe was launched, and it has been up there in the cosmos for the last 33 years. It’s taken trips to the far reaches of the solar system including flyby’s through the lunar [...]

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 [...]

Soe Than WIN/AFP/Getty Images After two decades of democratic struggle, many of which under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi has been elected by the people of Myanmar (Burma) to hold a seat in parliament. As leader of the National League for Democracy, Suu Kyi’s triumph represents a profound shift from military dictatorship towards democracy. [...]

Dive into this self-directed low-fi clip for “Passenger” by Emily Wells. The collage of images were taken by the talented multi-instrumentalist while on tour in support of her new album Mama, which drops today. An additional side project with Dan the Automator, Pillowfight, will be released later this year. The Texas born, New York City [...]

Yesterday marked the 18th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. For this Good Friday edition of From the Live Vault, let’s take a look at this haunting interpretation of “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam.” In his introduction, Cobain explains that the tune is “a rendition of an old Christian song, I think. But we [...]

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 – [...]

The Western Sahara does not often frequent our thoughts, but in this mysterious desert, there lives a group of exiles under military occupation. The Sahara International Film Festival, or FiSahara, might be the world’s only film exhibition held in a refugee camp, bringing entertainment, culture and education to the Saharawi people. After Spanish colonists withdrew [...]

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust takes in orphaned elephants to their Nairobi-based nursery, caring for the creatures until they are no longer milk-dependant around the age of four. “Any wild elephant group is, in essence, one large and highly sensitive organism. Young elephants are raised within a matriarchal family of doting female caregivers, beginning with [...]

The Beatles are unmatched in their depth and diversity of style. One of their greatest influences, both sonically and philosophically, was the group’s introduction to Eastern thought. This included transcendental mediation and classical Indian music. As the legend goes, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds introduced George Harrison to the music of sitar guru Ravi Shankar [...]

Who: Renee Yohe What she does: Musician Where: Orlando, Florida What are you currently working on? Recording my first EP, this interview… and myself (always). What do you think there is too much of, and too little of? Too much comfortable complacency, too little practical action. With whom would you like most to go on [...]

WILD favorites Lily and the Parlour tricks have had a fit of March madness. Just after releasing their clip for “The Poison Song,” these city kids hit the road down to Austin for the music pilgrimage that is SXSW. The band’s return to the Big Apple begins next month with a gig in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If [...]

Nujood Ali was just 10 years old when she was married off by her father to a man in his 30s. After being subjected to rape and daily beatings, the little girl fled to the Yemeni capital of Sanaa where she wandered into a courthouse and demanded a divorce. According to TIME, 52 percent of [...]

Mozambique’s economic growth has been one of the strongest among African nations in the last decade, thanks in large part to the export of metals including aluminum and gold. But the GDP growth is not without human costs. Inhalation of silica dust from gold-bearing rocks, for example, can cause diseases like silicosis, which in turn [...]

No matter how mild a winter, the vernal equinox is always a welcome arrival. Mark Twain once said, “In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” The Earth’s axis has tilted in favor of the sun in the northern hemisphere, bringing life to our limbs and color to [...]

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 [...]

When the question was posed, “What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?” Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson replies with a brilliant existential perspective on our place among the stars. If one were to put the subjects of science in a sort of hierarchy with biology near the top; [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Music has an incredible power to engender empathy for those on the other side of the planet. As central Africa has suddenly become a part of western social discourse, let’s take a look at a local group of musicians making beautiful music in an ugly setting. We’ve previously explored the contemporary collaborations of Damon Albarn’s [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Check out the new video from the electro pop musician, Yuksek. Based out of Reims, France, Pierre-Alexandre Busson recently released this kaleidoscope clip for the single ‘Off the Wall.’ To avoid complacency with blasé club-hopping, Yuksek decided to explore pop melodies in his sophomore album. Living on the Edge of Time was inspired by “the [...]

Some artists convey an unmistakable message that transcends language barriers. Reading between the lines, or listening between the sound waves, fans the world over just seem to get it. Ana Tijoux, a French Chilean hip hop artist uses her subtle flow and classic beats to convey social messages that have grabbed hold of America Latina [...]

Children in Uganda are the ongoing victims of the longest-standing armed conflict in Africa. Led by Josephy Kony, The Lord’s Resistance Army have reigned terror across central Africa for over two decades. The LRA have only maintained their existence through the recruitment of thousands of child soldiers; brainwashing them with a twisted preaching of fanatical [...]

The ever-classy Norah Jones just dropped the first single to her May 1 release, Little Broken Hearts, but it is the album’s cover art that has caught our attention. The illustration that adorns Jones’ fifth LP was inspired by “a sadistically sensual motion picture,” set in the days of the Depression and Prohibition. The 1965 [...]

For this edition of From the Live Vault, we travel back to 1983 to join the Talking Heads on stage for a performance that still seems progressive by today’s standards. Shot at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre over three nights, director Jonathan Demme teamed up with cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth and the legendary David Byrne to create one [...]

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody. Here’s a visual and sonic treat for you. Jesse Ware teams up with Sampha for this downtempo, emotionally heavy track shot in black and white. The two are label mates at Young Turks records, and were both heavily featured on SBTRKT’s breakout debut album. We hope to see more to come [...]

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 [...]

Who: Robin Bacior Born: Northern California Resides: Brooklyn What she does: Musician What are you currently working on? Musically, I’m working on instrumental melodies. I’ve been listening to a lot of different genres of music and taking a theory course to strengthen my songwriting. I tend to get really wrapped up in lyrics, but instrumentation [...]

On Monday, the online music hub Stereogum was kind enough to share a list of Fred Armisen’s top Portland bands. Armisen is of course the co-star of the awesomely weird sketch comedy show Portlandia that takes endearing jabs at progressive and alternative subcultures. For this edition of Heavy Rotation, we are going to dive into [...]

Live from the Shangri-La Studios in Brooklyn, St. Vincent puts on a dazzling display of art rock in this 4AD Session. Led by the breathtaking Annie Clark, the band play four tracks in support of their critically acclaimed 2011 release, Strange Mercy. Clark, formerly a member of the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Steven’s touring band, [...]

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 [...]

Burka Som Sistema are the 150 beat per minute connoisseurs ripping up dance clubs across the globe. Recently, while on a tour stop at The Bowery Ballroom in New York City, The WILD got a chance to sit down with the progressive heart rate augmenters. Buraka’s core is made of João, Andro, Kalaf, and Rui. [...]

Feist has just debuted a striking video shot in the beautifully gritty aesthetic of Mexico. Directed by Martin De Thurah, the images capture feelings of love and loss, the vulnerabilities of relationships, and ultimately a feeling of inevitable isolation in the world. While this is one interpretation of the video, Feist explains that everyone will [...]

Full Name: Chris Sadek Born in Singapore; Lives in Chicago What He Does: Producer, Singer, Songwriter, Multi-Instrumentalist What’s on his mind today? I literally just got an email from my dad that said he heard “Let it Burn” by Usher and that he thinks I sound like Usher in that song. So mostly I’m wondering [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Who: Lily Claire Where: New York City What: Musician What’s on her mind today: Sandwiches. What she is currently working on: Keeping my sanity, and a couple of new songs. What do you think there is too much of, and too little of? Too much concrete. Too little silence. With whom would you like most to [...]

This is a very special edition of Heavy Rotation, taking a look at the unforgettable experience that was globalFEST.  My first goal of the night was to keep track of how many new instruments I would be exposed to, needless to say, I quickly lost count. Twelve bands encompass all three stages of Webster Hall [...]

This weekend, dynamic musicians from around the world converge in New York City’s East Village for the ninth annual globalFEST. Webster Hall’s three stages play host what is one of the most eclectic and influential world music showcases in the country. Twelve artists from five continents will fill the venue, experimenting with heritage and captivating [...]