海角大神

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2022
October
18
Tuesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

October 18, 2022
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April Austin
Weekly Deputy Editor, Books Editor

How does a protest song become an anthem? For Iranians entering a fifth week of demonstrations against the government, the song captures pent-up longing, frustration, and sadness.聽

鈥淏补谤补测别鈥� was composed by a young Iranian singer, Shervin Hajipour, after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini. Using tweets from protesters, Mr. Hajipour stitched together lyrics that unfold the hopes and dreams of the Iranian people 鈥� in their own words:聽

鈥淔or my sister, your sister, our sisters
For changing rusted minds.鈥�

The song also reflects exhaustion with theocratic rule, gender inequality, economic sanctions, and lack of opportunity. The video of Mr. Hajipour singing 鈥淏补谤补测别鈥� went viral, racking up more than 40 million views on Instagram before authorities made him take it down. He was arrested Sept. 29 and briefly detained before being released on bail.聽聽

The message of 鈥淏araye,鈥� which means 鈥渇or the sake of鈥� in Farsi, is both particular and universal, says 海角大神e Karam, a professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. She grew up in Lebanon during the civil war, and found refuge in her music. Now, at Berklee, she teaches a class in songwriting as social change.聽

鈥淢usic has that ability to cut through our defenses and go straight to our hearts,鈥� she says in a phone interview. 鈥淚t brings us to a place where we鈥檙e reminded of our shared humanity.鈥澛�

Mr. Hajipour is 鈥渟peaking his own truth,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd this is why it鈥檚 touching us so deeply. This is at the heart of any powerful and impactful song.鈥澛�

Professor Karam isn鈥檛 alone in her admiration. 鈥淏补谤补测别鈥� garnered over 85% of the 127,000 submissions for a new Grammy special merit award, best song for social change, as of Oct. 13, according to the Recording Academy.聽

鈥淭his is how momentum is built,鈥� she says. 鈥淎 momentum for positive change and momentum where we all are reminded that we are all in this together.鈥澛犅�

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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Story Hinckley/海角大神
Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman speaks at a rally in Bristol, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 9, 2022.

With midterms looming, Democrats play defense on crime

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Republicans running on crime is nothing new. But as many Democratic-run cities struggle with elevated levels of violence and disorder, the GOP message may be resonating.聽

By Story Hinckley , reporting from Bristol, Pa.
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The Explainer
Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters
In the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, some of the more than 25,000 residents displaced by gang warfare collect water from a well. The government has requested international military intervention to stop the violence, which has immobilized day-to-day activity because people can't get to work or markets, and banks and hospitals have been shut down.

Intervention in Haiti: Can the world respond without interfering?

( 4 min. read )

Haiti鈥檚 government is asking for international military help to regain control from violent gangs that have immobilized the capital city, Port-au-Prince. Now world leaders 鈥� including Haiti鈥檚 鈥� must weigh the consequences of intervention and its controversial history.

By Sophie Hills , reporting from Washington
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Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
Agriculturist Soladoye Gbenjo (right) and a volunteer from his community walk through a forest filled with young trees they've planted, in Igbajo, Nigeria, in August 2022.

Planting trees 鈥� and hope 鈥� in a flood-prone Nigerian town

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Developing nations are bearing the brunt of extreme weather caused by the climate emergency. In Nigeria, some communities are creating their own solutions.

By Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi , reporting from IGBAJO, NIGERIA
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Points of Progress

What's going right

From beach to desert, efforts that add up

( 4 min. read )

When leadership sets a positive tone for a community鈥檚 conduct, the results can be transformative. In our progress roundup, a Western U.S. program in prisons is nurturing nature. And on Australian coasts, towns and their volunteers have significantly reduced the trash on beaches.

By Erika Page
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Books

Humans use tech to connect. A novelist explores whether it鈥檚 working.

( 5 min. read )

How much does technology alter human behavior?聽It鈥檚 a question that invites a deeper debate on the nature of connection and communication.聽

By Colette Davidson , reporting from Paris
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The Monitor's View
AP
Gamblers at a casino in Rohnert Park, Calif.

California鈥檚 wrinkled brow at sports gambling

( 2 min. read )

In two different ballot measures next month, voters in California have an opportunity to approve legal sports betting in America鈥檚 most-populated state. Given the 40 million people who live there, the potential market for this fast-paced type of gambling could be the second largest in the world, behind that in Britain.

In promoting the measures, special interest groups have broken state spending records. On the table are billions of dollars in yearly revenue from legal sports betting.

The referendum vote is being closely watched in other states. Since a Supreme Court ruling four years ago opened the floodgates to sports gambling, more than 30 states have lifted their bans. The rest have been reluctant to follow. Yet they could shift if California joins the rush to tap the money in sports betting.

Despite so much at stake, polls now indicate the two measures, known as Propositions 26 and 27, will not pass. Why the public鈥檚 hesitation?

For one, the state is saturated with betting places, from 66 tribal casinos to 23,000 stores selling lottery tickets. 鈥淭he last thing聽California聽needs is more gambling,鈥� states an editorial by the Bay Area News Group.

Two, California doesn鈥檛 even know how many people struggle with gambling addiction, according to a new state audit. The social costs in dealing with this public health issue could skyrocket with legal sports betting. The San Diego Union-Tribune cites 鈥渓egitimate apprehensions over the risk to society when the barriers to legally betting on sports are lowered.鈥�

Yet another reason may lie in concerns about 鈥渉ow Americans think about wealth, luck, and success,鈥� as historian Jonathan Cohen puts it in a new book, 鈥淔or a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America.鈥�

While the modern state lottery has been around for decades, its impact is very mixed and could be influencing public debates on legal sports betting, which Mr. Cohen calls 鈥渢he new frontier of American gambling.鈥�

One big problem with lotteries, he says, is that state agencies running them appear to run counter to the purpose of all other branches of state government: 鈥渢o promote the greater good, not to sell a product to the public.鈥�

As new types of gaming continue to grow, he says, government guidance on gambling remains 鈥渓acking and unsuited,鈥� especially as it is well known that state lotteries hit hardest on 鈥渁 population that is disproportionately poorer, less educated, and nonwhite.鈥�

Lessons from state lotteries could be giving pause to many Californians about sports betting. Americans, Mr. Cohen advises, need to think critically about the 鈥渆conomic forces鈥� that limit social mobility and financial security, driving many people to gamble.

California may be due for a discussion on whether a belief in luck 鈥� or 鈥渉itting the jackpot鈥� 鈥� has anything to do with wealth and success.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board
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A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥� in its various forms 鈥� is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥� The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥� whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Capable? Yes!

( 3 min. read )

If we鈥檙e feeling in over our head with a task we鈥檝e been called upon to do, there鈥檚 strength and inspiration to be found in considering our God-reflected nature and abilities.

By Mark Swinney
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A message of love

Nasser Nasser/AP
Palestinian farmers ride a tractor-trailer to their lands to harvest olives in the West Bank village of Salem, Oct. 18, 2022. The Israeli army opened the security gate that separates Palestinian farmers from their olive groves in Salem, east of Nablus, and granted them access for three days to gather their olives at the beginning of the harvest season.
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( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. Come back tomorrow, when our Scott Peterson examines how Ukrainians are preparing for winter, especially as Russian airstrikes target energy infrastructure.

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2022
October
18
Tuesday

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