Maura Elizabeth Cunningham

Good morning and happy Super Bowl Sunday to all who celebrate. I’m not a football fan, but I am a forever Philadelphia fan, so Go Birds.

Something I’ve been wrangling in my brain these past few weeks is how to approach writing and sharing and, well, living during a time that feels very unstable and scary. Uncertainty and foreboding have been ever-present for quite a while, of course, but 2025 has already been marked by an intensification of those forces from all sides. Donald Trump and his acolytes are working to dismantle and destabilize the federal government, climate change has upended communities, and no one knows what’s coming next. It can feel like these times demand constant vigilance and action.

I keep up with the news—probably too much—and am anything but oblivious to what’s happening in the world. I don’t want what I write or post (here, on Bluesky, Instagram, etc.) to ignore the realities around us. At the same time, I also don’t want to focus exclusively on crises; living in an ongoing state of heightened alertness isn’t healthy for anyone. People are still writing, creating art, working for change, and celebrating life: I want to amplify those things, too, whenever I can. It’s possible for me to worry about what would happen if federal research funding all but disappears and want to tell people about a great novel I’ve read or recipe I’ve tried. (Since returning from New Orleans, I’ve been on a vegan red beans and rice kick.) I contain multitudes.

It’s a privilege to split my attention; I know this. I never want my privileges to blind me to the needs or anxieties of others. I want, always, to be sensitive to the troubles of our world, to call them out, and to do my part to remedy those problems when I can.

All of this leads me to the broadly-conceived, still-evolving approach I’m bringing to my work these days. In these Weekly Wanderings posts, you’ll continue to find a mix of stories: those that spotlight problems and dangers, as well as those that celebrate creation and hope. The presence of the latter doesn’t mean I’m ignoring the former. Our world still contains multitudes.

Thanks for joining me this week. 🦅

Recommendations

China Stories

James Baron, “Taiwan’s Literature Is Having a Moment in Central and Eastern Europe”

The Economist, “Cuts in American aid are crippling groups promoting rights in China”

In the years since the exodus began, China’s influence in Southeast Asia — in the form of investments, aid and military agreements — has grown considerably, and with it the ability to pursue Uyghurs wherever they may go. As a result, more than a decade after leaving home, many have found neither safety nor refuge. Hundreds have been forcibly returned to China, and hundreds more have been imprisoned or detained for years. They believe the world has abandoned them.

— Nyrola Elimä and Ben Mauk, “He Made a Daring Escape From China. Then His Real Troubles Began.”

Isabel Hilton, “How Covid changed China”

Marc Novicoff, “How ‘Sour Raspberry Gummy Bear’ — and Other Chinese Vapes — Made Fools of American Lawmakers”

David Pierson, Keith Bradsher, and Sui-Lee Wee, “For China, Trump’s Moves Bring Pain, but Also Potential Gains”

Beijing’s playbook for riding out the Trump years, meanwhile, focuses on making the domestic economy more resilient, reconciling with key neighbors, and deepening relationships in the global South. Trump may well be able to score some short-term victories, but Beijing’s plans look beyond him. Chinese leaders remain convinced of the country’s historic destiny to rise and displace the United States as the world’s preeminent power. They think that Trump’s policies will undermine U.S. power and reduce U.S. global standing in the long run. And when that happens, China wants to be ready to take advantage.

— Yun Sun, “China’s Trump Strategy: Beijing Is Preparing to Take Advantage of Disruption”

Wanderings Around the World

Tanushree Bhasin, “Contemporary Fiction’s Responses to a Changing India”

David W. Blight, Beth English, and James Grossman, “Trump May Wish to Abolish the Past. We Historians Will Not.”

On August 8, 2014, Zakia and Zahra helped organize the Tour de Bamyan, the first coed cycling race in Afghanistan. In concert with nonprofit groups in Bamyan, they planned the event and mapped a course. They enlisted men and boys as officials, course marshals, and cheerleaders, making them allies in the process. Zakia’s father and brother were two of the Tour’s biggest supporters. “We wanted to make it an annual event,” Zahra says, “to demonstrate the equality and freedom in Bamyan, which could be a model for other cities.”

— Kim Cross, “The Alchemists”

The convergence of U.S. development policy and human rights ideas in the late 1970s unleashed a new form of foreign policy activism that envisioned the United States as responsible for supporting grassroots efforts to realize those rights—a change in repertoire which continues to shape the agency’s work today. Then and now, USAID aims to promote socio-economic improvement in other societies by channeling money and expertise into projects with tangible social benefits—updated infrastructure, increased literacy rates, or improved agricultural techniques for example.

— Evan D. McCormick, “From the American People” (published 2021)

Darren Rosenblum, “Why the ‘X’ on my passport matters”

Standout Story

The numbers of people affected by the executive orders are also alarming: 10,000 flights were cancelled after Trump signed the first executive order on January 20. With the January 24 stop work order, more than 30,000 resettled refugees who arrived after October 1 lost critical Reception and Placement support. Most resettled refugees get three months of support and they have to pay the US government back for their plane tickets. It’s ludicrous and impossible. Losing even that little bit of help leaves tens of thousands of vulnerable people on the edge of homelessness, and resettlement agencies cratering. It will be weeks or months before we fully understand the full scope of what just happened.

— Jessica Goudeau, “The Death of US Refugee Resettlement”

Featured photo: Swoop, mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles, at the 2018 Super Bowl victory parade. Governor Tom Wolf from Harrisburg, PA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons