Queen Arsem-O’Malley focuses on grassroots labor organizing, youth-led social movements, anti-carceral feminism, and critiques of mainstream media. @qaween

“The NSA’s greatest hiring strength is students, but resistance is growing,” by Hannah K. Gold. The Guardian, May 1, 2015.

When an agency gives students scholarships and lends universities prestige through its recruiting process, there aren’t a lot of people who are going to argue. When that agency is the NSA, things get more complicated, as Hannah Gold reports on NSA recruitment of students around the country.

Cole Delbyck focuses on LGBT politics, East Asia, and representational issues in film and television. @cdelbyck

“When Baltimore Shook With Anger, Here’s What China Saw,” by Viola Rothschild. Foreign Policy, May 5, 2015.

Since the late 1990s, hundreds of thousands of Africans have migrated to China. Although the relationship between the China and African workers has been economically successful, interactions between Chinese citizens and African immigrants on the ground have been fraught with tension and racism—Africans are often characterized as drug-dealing troublemakers and criminals. Rothschild positions Chinese reactions to the recent death of Freddie Gray and the ensuing riots to provide an important commentary on the state of black lives not only within our borders, but also around the world.

Khadija Elgarguri focuses on MENA issues, including women’s rights, the relationship between foreign policy and cultural change, and women’s roles in protest movements in the region. @dijaawad

“Double Standards: US Accused of ‘Hypocrisy’ Over Yemen, Ukraine Conflicts.” Sputnik, May 6, 2015.

The Saudi-led, US-backed bombing campaign in Yemen has killed hundreds of civilians and created a humanitarian crisis in yet another invasion piloted by faraway global leaders who somehow still believe the “bombs will restore stability” argument. Critics say “the US and Saudi geo-strategic interest in containing the influence of Iran” is the driving force in this latest bout of blatant “international lawlessness” precipitated by the United States’ “War on Terror.”

James F. Kelly focuses on labor, economic inequality, world politics, and intellectual history. @jamesf_kelly

“France passes new surveillance law in wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack,” by Angelique Chrisafis. The Guardian, May 5, 2015.

It’s difficult not to draw parallels between the controversial new surveillance law passed by the French parliament and the Patriot Act. While Snowden’s revelations about the NSA have provoked a considerable re-evaluation of mass surveillance, there’s no doubt that equipping intelligence agencies with new powers is more palatable when national anxiety is heightened by recent acts of terror.

Abigail Savitch-Lew focuses on urban policy, labor and race. @savitchlew

“America’s trailer parks: the residents may be poor but the owners are getting rich,” by Rupert Neate. The Guardian, May 3, 2015.

Thanks to the national divestment from public housing, trailer parks have become one the last places a poor family can find affordable housing, especially in the American South. Six percent of Americans live in a trailer park, and it’s become a lucrative business for owners and investors. With the provision of affordable housing increasingly privatized, who is to stop those investors from raising rents when they feel like it?

Hilary Weaver focuses on reproductive rights, feminism and related political, health, and education issues. @Hilary_Weaver

“A Cancer Survivor Designs the Cards She Wishes She’d Received From Friends and Family,” by Kristen Hohenadel. Slate, May 6, 2015.

My 23-year-old friend with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma shared this post from Slate’s design blog and said, “These are perfect.” She has been so tired of people trying to console her by saying, “Things happen for a reason”; then, she saw 24-year-old Hodgkin’s survivor Emily McDowell’s cards with messages cancer patients might want and need to hear. And, as her friend who spent days searching for the right thing to say, I love these, too.