The Great Mashup

Watch: Aziz Ansari had an amazing ten minute long monologue at SNL about Donald Trump and racism one day after Trump’s inauguration

“My parents love it here. We’re not leaving.”

Gifs: Saturday Night Live

Play is the language of children and in Denmark protecting children’s right to free play is taken very seriously; it’s considered crucial, not optional. Over scheduling kids is actively avoided; you’re more likely to hear a Danish parent say their child is going to play in the backyard on Saturday rather than take part in organised sport. And by “play” they mean kids are left to their own devices, with a friend or alone, to play exactly as they see fit, for as long as they want.

I was there in Copenhagen in 2009.

I remember the quiet conference hall and trains, filled with disappointment and despair as the international negotiations to address climate change unraveled. Rather than a detailed roadmap to a low-carbon future, nations “took note” (the technical United Nations term of agreeing something matters but not agreeing enough to sign it) of a two-page document filled mostly with platitudes. As I headed home, the indomitable, late climate scientist Stephen Schneider said to me, “Saving the world takes time. It’s a long dance. We stumbled this time, but the dance goes on.”

Fast-forward six years. On Saturday evening in Paris, 187 nations ratified a landmark climate accord known as the Paris Agreement. This 31-page document is a big, big deal. Here’s why it matters and what we learned.

Sen. Bernie Sanders talked to students at the evangelical Christian university about his steadfast beliefs in gay marriage, the right to an abortion, and paid family leave.

1. “I came here today because I believe from the bottom of my heart that it’s vitally important for people who hold different views to be able to engage in a civil discourse.”

2. The U.S. was founded “from way back on racist principles. That’s a fact.”

Study: Very Few People Use Guns In Self-Defense