2021
November
22
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

November 22, 2021
Error loading media: File could not be played
 
00:0000:0000:00
00:00

What does it mean to have a real conversation?

That question has come to mind as I’ve watched the journey of Little Amal, which started in Turkey in July and concluded in England this month.

Little Amal is a puppet representing a 9-year-old refugee – albeit a larger-than-life puppet that stands 12 feet tall. Amal has garnered lots of attention as part of an art project aimed at “changing the conversation and bringing people together” around migration, where the most recent flashpoint is the border of Belarus and Poland.

Can you do that at a time of hard lines around complex issues?

“I can walk into any room in America and say that we need systems that keep all communities safe, that uphold the values of equal justice … and never get pushback,” Alan Jenkins, a Harvard Law School professor, recently told “On the Media.” “Then we all have to fight about, does the system currently uphold those.” But by making connections through fundamental values, “you already have brought people together in a way to work through how to achieve them.”

Amal evoked all sorts of responses as she walked, propelled by four handlers, nearly 5,000 miles: wide-eyed wonder, tears, shock, the desire to clasp her massive hands. People spoke about welcoming all refugees as well as tightening border controls. But extended exchanges I saw in online comments often moved toward ideas for progress, despite giving voice to significant differences. Maybe that was because it was hard to look at this “child” and not think about the security we all desire.


You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.

Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Brian Witte/AP/File
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, speaks at a news conference on Aug. 5, 2021, in Annapolis, Maryland. In October, he announced a $150-million plan to “refund the police,” two-thirds of which would go to police aid and salary and one-third to accountability programs, neighborhood safety, and victim services.
Ilya Naymushin/Reuters/File
A vessel carries hundreds of candles to be released on the water to commemorate the victims of Soviet repression in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Oct. 30, 2006. The action was organized by the human rights group Memorial, which was long a partner of the Kremlin but is now at risk of being shut down in a Kremlin crackdown.

Points of Progress

What's going right

Books


The Monitor's View


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

A message of love

Bilal Hussein/AP
Anti-government protesters on scooters parade to mark the 78th anniversary of Lebanon's independence from France, in Beirut, Nov. 22, 2021. Independence Day this year came as Lebanon faces its most serious economic crisis, described by the World Bank as one of the worst in the world in 150 years.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

We hope you enjoyed your Monday Daily. Tomorrow, Moscow correspondent Fred Weir will walk us through the Russian priorities and practical realities that test the narrative about a looming Russian invasion of Ukraine.

More issues

2021
November
22
Monday
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us