On April 30, 1997, I stood on the picturesque campus of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts to discuss the heavy social toll of homophobia. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation, as that evening marked a seismic cultural shift: Ellen DeGeneres was set to air the infamous “Puppy Episode,” where her sitcom character would publicly come out as a lesbian. While that day felt like a hopeful turning point, it was also steeped in a suffocating climate of intolerance. Same-sex marriage was still years away from federal recognition, and the broader society remained deeply entrenched in traditional prejudices. In that…

The shadow of July 15, 2016, continues to loom over Turkey, not merely because of the tragic loss of 253 lives, but because of the desperate, manipulative narrative that followed. When the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) staged their failed coup, they didn’t just lose their grip on the state—they lost the battle for legitimacy. In a calculated effort to escape the consequences of their treason, the organization pivoted to a clever, deceitful defense known as the “controlled coup” theory. By rebranding their failed insurrection as a staged event orchestrated by the government itself, they attempted to gaslight the Turkish public…