Ashoka Mukpo
@shokes.bsky.social
Features Writer, @mongabay.bsky.social ☀️
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.
January 22, 2026 at 3:58 AM
I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.
my life with infant right now
January 21, 2026 at 3:32 PM
my life with infant right now
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
I've been thinking about this a lot, for months: Gaza was a breaking point between verifiable reality and liberal governance. "AI" sparks fears ppl will believe things that aren't true, but Gaza SHOWED things that WERE true—& western governments, universities & news outlets pretened they were not.
What did we think Trump was going to do, if Europe showed him we would fully collaborate on the total destruction of the Gaza Strip and ferociously repeat even the most absurd lies about it to our citizens? Did we think he would decide: best to not push the law breaking and war crimes, be sensible.
January 21, 2026 at 10:28 AM
I've been thinking about this a lot, for months: Gaza was a breaking point between verifiable reality and liberal governance. "AI" sparks fears ppl will believe things that aren't true, but Gaza SHOWED things that WERE true—& western governments, universities & news outlets pretened they were not.
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
[FOUNDER'S BRIEF - @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social]
Decades after the 1988 murder of rubber tapper and labor leader Chico Mendes, the logic he argued for — that forests are better protected when people can make a living from them — has returned to the center of Brazilian conservation policy.
Decades after the 1988 murder of rubber tapper and labor leader Chico Mendes, the logic he argued for — that forests are better protected when people can make a living from them — has returned to the center of Brazilian conservation policy.
Brazil bets reducing poverty can protect the Amazon
In the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, in Brazil’s western Amazon, daily life still depends on the forest. Families tap rubber, collect Brazil nuts, and manage small plots without clearing large…
news.mongabay.com
January 21, 2026 at 12:17 PM
[FOUNDER'S BRIEF - @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social]
Decades after the 1988 murder of rubber tapper and labor leader Chico Mendes, the logic he argued for — that forests are better protected when people can make a living from them — has returned to the center of Brazilian conservation policy.
Decades after the 1988 murder of rubber tapper and labor leader Chico Mendes, the logic he argued for — that forests are better protected when people can make a living from them — has returned to the center of Brazilian conservation policy.
Carney's speech was eloquent but there are big holes in it. It feels entirely aimed at Europe ("middle powers"). That's not enough. If you want a non-aligned movement you need to talk to the Brazils, South Africas, Kenyas, and Vietnams of the world. And you better have something to offer.
January 21, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Carney's speech was eloquent but there are big holes in it. It feels entirely aimed at Europe ("middle powers"). That's not enough. If you want a non-aligned movement you need to talk to the Brazils, South Africas, Kenyas, and Vietnams of the world. And you better have something to offer.
Europe sputtering about international law while the blood in Gaza isn't dry yet is the most "leopards are eating my face??" geopolitical development imaginable
Secretary General of the Council of Europe says “International law is either universal or meaningless. Greenland will show which one we choose.” Yes, well. Did Gaza show which one we choose?
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Opinion | I’m the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. This Is Something I Thought I’d Never Have to Write.
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Europe sputtering about international law while the blood in Gaza isn't dry yet is the most "leopards are eating my face??" geopolitical development imaginable
This is the same argument the UK used to try and turn Liberia into a directly administered colony in the early 1900s
Miller: Denmark is a tiny country with a tiny economy and a tiny military. They cannot defend Greenland… Under every understanding of law that has existed about territorial control for 500 years, to control a territory you have to be able to defend a territory…
January 17, 2026 at 3:27 PM
This is the same argument the UK used to try and turn Liberia into a directly administered colony in the early 1900s
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
An excellent, devastating critique of a field of policy practice & academic study that became an industry of liberal institutionalism all about procedure rather than substance, by @wlacher.bsky.social & @yguichaoua.bsky.social:
The Demise of Conflict Studies
dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
The Demise of Conflict Studies
dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
The Demise of Conflict Studies - Dissent Magazine
An entire industry specializing in mediation, peacekeeping, disarmament, and transitional justice has become largely obsolete.
dissentmagazine.org
January 17, 2026 at 9:27 AM
An excellent, devastating critique of a field of policy practice & academic study that became an industry of liberal institutionalism all about procedure rather than substance, by @wlacher.bsky.social & @yguichaoua.bsky.social:
The Demise of Conflict Studies
dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
The Demise of Conflict Studies
dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
Last month, after years of bribery scandals and corporate tussling, the first shipment of iron ore from Simandou left Guinea.
Simandou - the world's most expensive iron mine - is strategically critical for China. My writeup for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2026/01/hope...
Simandou - the world's most expensive iron mine - is strategically critical for China. My writeup for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2026/01/hope...
Hopes and fears as Guinea exports iron ore from Simandou mines
On Dec. 2, 2025, Guinea celebrated a milestone when a ship loaded with iron ore departed from the newly constructed port of Morebaya on the Atlantic coast. The shipment of 200,000 tonnes of ore, pulle...
news.mongabay.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Last month, after years of bribery scandals and corporate tussling, the first shipment of iron ore from Simandou left Guinea.
Simandou - the world's most expensive iron mine - is strategically critical for China. My writeup for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2026/01/hope...
Simandou - the world's most expensive iron mine - is strategically critical for China. My writeup for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2026/01/hope...
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
Hats off to whoever did this (and the beautiful model).
January 16, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Hats off to whoever did this (and the beautiful model).
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
This is 10th-grader Arnoldo Bazan.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
January 13, 2026 at 10:20 PM
This is 10th-grader Arnoldo Bazan.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
A citizen.
Immigration agents grabbed him and put him in a chokehold.
"We're from the United States bro!' he screamed.
Agents took and sold his phone
And when he finally got home hours later, his shirt was ripped, he neck had angry, red welts, and he sobbed.
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
You need to understand the heroism of these everyday people in Minneapolis minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/13/i...
January 13, 2026 at 2:52 PM
You need to understand the heroism of these everyday people in Minneapolis minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/13/i...
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
X Is a Power Problem, Not a Platform Problem
my analysis of current events
connectedplaces.online/reports/a-po...
my analysis of current events
connectedplaces.online/reports/a-po...
January 9, 2026 at 3:17 PM
X Is a Power Problem, Not a Platform Problem
my analysis of current events
connectedplaces.online/reports/a-po...
my analysis of current events
connectedplaces.online/reports/a-po...
i think the best way to interpret how the right is reacting to Renee Nicole Good is making sure they all realize that if you lie, you can keep killing. it's a group check-in, not narrative warfare.
January 8, 2026 at 12:42 PM
i think the best way to interpret how the right is reacting to Renee Nicole Good is making sure they all realize that if you lie, you can keep killing. it's a group check-in, not narrative warfare.
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
As climate change and urbanization intensify flooding in Rwanda, the hilly capital of Kigali has pushed nature-based solutions, reshaping 18,000 acres of degraded wetlands, planting native species to filter and slow runoff and enhancing biodiversity.
Plagued by Flooding, an African City Reengineers Its Wetlands
As climate change and urbanization intensify flooding in Rwanda, the hilly capital of Kigali has embraced nature-based solutions. The city is restoring and reshaping 18,000 acres of degraded wetlands,...
e360.yale.edu
January 6, 2026 at 10:21 AM
As climate change and urbanization intensify flooding in Rwanda, the hilly capital of Kigali has pushed nature-based solutions, reshaping 18,000 acres of degraded wetlands, planting native species to filter and slow runoff and enhancing biodiversity.
historically what the US has done in Latam in situations like this is install a right wing dictator, generally from the ranks of the military. if anything elections have been an obstacle. my guess is Trump and his people are looking for their candidate.
January 5, 2026 at 11:39 AM
historically what the US has done in Latam in situations like this is install a right wing dictator, generally from the ranks of the military. if anything elections have been an obstacle. my guess is Trump and his people are looking for their candidate.
always forget how much i love Liberia until im back here
December 4, 2025 at 10:48 AM
always forget how much i love Liberia until im back here
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
the invasion of Afghanistan is among the most horrific recent chapters of the long history of elite impunity in the US. this coda is grim but fitting - the govt practically explicitly affirming that it should only be Afghans who live with the consequences amid fading public memory of the atrocity
November 27, 2025 at 3:58 AM
the invasion of Afghanistan is among the most horrific recent chapters of the long history of elite impunity in the US. this coda is grim but fitting - the govt practically explicitly affirming that it should only be Afghans who live with the consequences amid fading public memory of the atrocity
TotalEnergies is facing a criminal complaint in France over its support for a Mozambican army unit that's been accused of massacring civilians on its behalf: news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
TotalEnergies faces criminal complaint in France over alleged massacre in Mozambique
As French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies prepares to resume work on its multibillion-dollar offshore gas project in northern Mozambique, it faces a criminal complaint back home over its role in fundi...
news.mongabay.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:06 AM
TotalEnergies is facing a criminal complaint in France over its support for a Mozambican army unit that's been accused of massacring civilians on its behalf: news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Super proud of one of my favorite people I work with, Malavika Vyawahare, for winning a SEAL award. Well-deserved! news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Mongabay journalist Malavika Vyawahare honored with SEAL Award
Mongabay contributing editor Malavika Vyawahare has been awarded a 2025 SEAL environmental journalism award, which recognizes reporters covering the complexities of the environment and climate. “This ...
news.mongabay.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Super proud of one of my favorite people I work with, Malavika Vyawahare, for winning a SEAL award. Well-deserved! news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Reposted by Ashoka Mukpo
This is great news
Colombia will no longer approve new oil or large-scale mining projects in its Amazon biome, which covers 42% of the nation’s territory.
Acting Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said the entire Colombian Amazon will be made a reserve for renewable natural resources.
Acting Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said the entire Colombian Amazon will be made a reserve for renewable natural resources.
Colombia bans all new oil and mining projects in its Amazon
Colombia will no longer approve new oil or large-scale mining projects in its Amazon biome, which covers 42% of the nation’s territory, according to a Nov. 13 statement by its environment ministry.…
news.mongabay.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:41 AM
This is great news
The same pundits who advocated for the Iraq War are now telling us that, this time, it'll be a cakewalk. I mean what could go wrong, right? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/o...
Opinion | The Case for Overthrowing Maduro
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:48 AM
The same pundits who advocated for the Iraq War are now telling us that, this time, it'll be a cakewalk. I mean what could go wrong, right? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/o...
AI data centers tend to be built in arid regions to limit humidity corrosion - but that’s also where the water they use is scarce.
Good roundup of the ecological cost of AI from @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2025/11/ai-d...
Good roundup of the ecological cost of AI from @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2025/11/ai-d...
AI data center revolution sucks up world’s energy, water, materials
In 2024, the state of Querétaro in north-central Mexico suffered its worst drought in a century, impacting crops and communities. Seventeen of the state’s 18 municipalities were affected, putting drin...
news.mongabay.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:14 AM
AI data centers tend to be built in arid regions to limit humidity corrosion - but that’s also where the water they use is scarce.
Good roundup of the ecological cost of AI from @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2025/11/ai-d...
Good roundup of the ecological cost of AI from @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2025/11/ai-d...