Volcanoes are erupting in The Philippines, but on-fire Australia received some welcome rain. The Iran war cries have been called off and The Donald’s military powers are about to be hamstrung by the Senate. Meanwhile, his impeachment trial is starting, and we’re all on Twitter for a front-row seat.
What Could Go Right? Ordinary People Rescue Democracy
What does Poland look like over a year after record voter turnout swung the country back into liberalism?
Emma Varvaloucas
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Ordinary People Rescue Democracy
What does a country whose descent into illiberalism was brought to a standstill by ordinary people look like on the other side?
Over a year ago, Polish voters wrested control of their country away from the Law and Justice (PiS) party that had been elected in 2015. In the ensuing time, PiS illegally flooded the judicial system with judges loyal to the party, took over state media, and in a country with a near-total abortion ban, tried to tighten rules so fast that even miscarriages would be investigated.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, leader of a broad coalition that defeated PiS, was voted in on a massive upswell of support primarily among young people and women. He assumed office promising a bevy of changes, including liberalizing abortion policies, introducing same-sex civil partnerships, repairing Poland’s relationship with the European Union (EU), and undoing the damage to the judiciary.
His results so far have been mixed, to the disappointment of some. While Tusk has brought Poland back into the fold of the EU, he has not fulfilled his other pledges, for instance struggling to depoliticize the judiciary without running afoul of the law himself.
Tusk’s efforts have at times been stymied by a PiS-affiliated president, Andrzej Duda, who still holds veto power on certain legislation. Elections for Duda’s replacement will be held in May, which could grant Tusk an easier road. If the candidate of Tusk’s coalition wins, he has vowed to take immediate action on two legislative items vetoed by Duda: overhauling the constitutional court and reestablishing over-the-counter access to the morning after pill. Further abortion reform, however, has stalled in parliament.
Tusk is also taking criticism from the left for his tough approach to immigration, a winning tactic for other centrist parties in Europe that have fended off a rise in rightwing populism.
There is no fairytale ending here, just the messy reality of figuring out how best to pick up the PiS-laid pieces.
One thing to note is that in Poland, it was not only those ensconced in the system who turned the ship around. An old Guardian piece from 2021 profiled a team of Polish lawyers who showed how impartial judges might directly affect people’s lives by publishing funny skits on social media. They got celebrities involved and played off of cultural touch points like the movie Love Actually and the Beastie Boys.
And in the October 2023 election that resulted in Tusk taking office, it was voter turnout at record-breaking levels that made the difference—voter shares in 2023 were eleven percentage points higher than they were in the historic 1989 vote that got rid of communism.
I have been thinking about Poland this week as the foundations of American rule of law shake. American democracy is still showing signs of life. Fights are playing out in courtrooms, people are showing up at town halls and protests, and leaders of nonprofits and faith-based organizations are trying to mitigate damage behind the scenes. But damage has already been done, from the abandonment of our Western allies to that of the global poor, who have already begun to sicken and die after foreign aid was abruptly slashed.
It’s not too early to start thinking about what picking up our own pieces might look like, and how each of us could find our part to play.
What Could Go Right? S7 E3: Everything Is Tuberculosis, But It Doesn’t Have to Be with John Green
Today, Zachary and Emma are diving into a global health crisis that doesn’t get nearly enough attention—tuberculosis (TB). It’s one of the deadliest infectious diseases in the world, yet it has been largely ignored by wealthy nations and Big Pharma. But one person who refuses to let that stand is #1 New York Times bestselling author, YouTuber, and activist John Green. You probably know him for his bestseller The Fault in Our Stars or his YouTube series Crash Course, but he’s also been waging a public battle to make TB treatment more accessible. His new book, Everything Is Tuberculosis, explores the history, science, and injustices surrounding this disease. We talk to John about why he took on this fight, how public pressure actually changed corporate policies, and what we can all do to help. | Listen now
By the Numbers
128: The number of moons orbiting Saturn that were just discovered. The planet now has a total of 274 moons, almost twice as many as all other planets combined.
3.6: The percent drop in the United Kingdom’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, due to the closure of its last coal plant and a surge in electric vehicles, among other factors. Larger annual cuts would be required to meet climate targets, however.
49: The number of casualties in Cambodia from uncleared landmines in 2024, down from over 4,000 in 1996. Cambodia’s timeline to fully eliminate all landmines from the country has been delayed to 2030, but the country has still made phenomenal progress.
Quick Hits
After 15 years of American youngsters self-reporting rises in mental health issues, the trend has started to reverse. “The data suggest that America’s kids are feeling slightly more cheery,” reports The Economist.
Doctors in London have found a way to restore a sense of smell and taste in patients with long Covid by using a surgery that expands the nasal passageways. It is normally performed in cases of a deviated septum.
Last year’s breakthrough drug for HIV prevention, lenacapavir, can protect against infection of the virus with a twice-yearly injection. Newly released data from the pharmaceutical company Gilead suggests that the same feat may be possible with only one annual injection. This eliminates the need to take a daily pill.
An international cactus heist led to more than one world first in the case’s prosecution, including the first time a plant—in this instance, an endangered cactus that was sent back to Chile—has ever been repatriated back to its home country.
An Australian man has become the first to live for three months with a titanium heart, “a stopgap for people with heart failure who are waiting for a donor heart,” reports Nature. Previous recipients of titanium hearts have required constant medical supervision in a hospital, but this man was living at home until his transplant surgery 100 days later.
Nearly 100 million people in Africa gained access to electricity between 2015 and 2019, and that trend continued through 2024, according to the African Development Bank Group. Outside of well-connected North Africa, countries like Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal are approaching universal access, and solar power is growing sharply.
The city of Oslo, Norway is aiming to make all of its municipal construction sites emissions-free this year by transitioning to all-electric construction machinery, which in addition to being better for the climate is also much quieter. The industry is in its infancy, but Oslo’s vice-mayor was surprised how smooth, and popular with residents, the transition has been.
The HPV vaccine, which prevents cervical cancer, has had a remarkable effect in the United States, reducing cervical precancer rates by 80 percent among young women and suppressing mortality rates overall.
Legislative and training changes in Texas that have freed up social workers to focus on the worst abuse and neglect cases have halved the number of children removed from their homes and saved dozens of children’s lives in the past three years.
What we’re watching: Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have added several medical exceptions, such as an ectopic pregnancy, to the state’s abortion ban. As of late, lawmakers in Texas have also sought to clarify medical exceptions (as well as target access to abortion pills, along with several other states).
Editor’s pick: Can Ukraine—and America—survive Donald Trump? The New Yorker‘s David Remnick asks historian Stephen Kotkin.
TPN Member Originals
(Who are our Members? Get to know them.)
- Trump is lying about dead people and Social Security | Slow Boring | Matthew Yglesias
- The real problem with tariffs | The Edgy Optimist | Zachary Karabell
- Why buyer’s remorse is boiling over in congressional GOP town halls | WaPo ($) | Theodore R. Johnson
- The US–Canada trade war | Tangle | Isaac Saul
- A great unraveling is underway | NYT ($) | Thomas L. Friedman
- We’re relearning what pandemics do to a society | NYT ($) | Charles Kenny
- Estonia next? | Diane Francis | Diane Francis
- The WASPs are gone | Yascha Mounk | Yascha Mounk
- It isn’t just Trump. America’s whole reputation is shot. | NYT ($) | David Brooks
- Are men okay? | The Nation | Richard V. Reeves
- Europe becomes a union | No Mercy/No Malice | Scott Galloway
- We are living through moral collapse. How Democrats can strike back | Lucid | Ruth Ben-Ghiat