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Political Review

Scott Sawaya

Staff Writer
Economics

Minors in International Development and Sociology.
Wishes America had more trains. Will not tolerate Olive Garden slander.

More from this author
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March 2025

How to get to Sesame Street?

By Scott Sawaya
March 31, 2025 11:29 AM
TV has shaped my life more than I probably care to admit. Throughout my adolescence, the answer to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was primarily informed by what TV show I was watching (Suits, Alias, Scandal, etc). But in the years before there were spies and lawyers, there was Sesame Street.
4 Min Read
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February 2025

Manufactured Thorns

By Scott Sawaya
February 25, 2025 01:59 PM
We love stories that humanize villains. Just look at the box office successes of Maleficent, Cruella, and most recently Wicked. Each of these films takes an infamous villain and makes her sympathetic, demonstrating her humanity and the injustice that led to her inaccurate portrayal as a villain. But what happens when these stories get reversed in the real world? What happens when a princess gets inaccurately portrayed as the villain?
4 Min Read
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What now?

By Scott Sawaya
January 06, 2025 01:57 PM
Dr. Jane Goodall has a new mission. Propelled into the public sphere by her study of chimpanzees that redefined our understanding of the natural world, she has spent recent years supporting a new phenomenon that is uniquely human: hope[1]. As we look toward the future, I believe she has identified one of the most important tools necessary to empower us to build a world that we want to live in.
4 Min Read
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The Stories that Save Us

By Scott Sawaya
December 06, 2024 04:52 PM
“Bad guys aren’t real, right?” At six years old I had really hoped that the answer to this question would be “No, of course not!”, followed by something like“Let’s go get lunch at Carl’s Jr.” Having finished watching The Incredibles I was certain that the supervillains haunting the Parr family weren’t real, but I needed to be sure. My mom then carefully explained to me that no, there are no supervillains like Syndrome prowling the skies, but not everyone in the world has good intentions. There are people we need to be careful around and things we need to do to stay safe.
4 Min Read
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Lightning in Ohio

By Scott Sawaya
December 06, 2024 11:34 AM
Lightning rods keep us safe. By absorbing the powerful bursts of energy coming out of the sky, they transfer electricity into the ground to be safely dispersed, leaving the larger structure intact. Lightning rods as a metaphor carry a similar meaning. In moments of intense social pressure, specific individuals and demographics absorb the brunt of the vitriol, leaving the larger system intact. The problem is that these metaphorical “lightning rods” are not grounded. They themselves absorb the damage and are left to deal with the consequences.
2 Min Read
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April 2024

The Flowers in the Arena

By Scott Sawaya
August 28, 2024 03:22 PM
Rome, the Eternal City, is practically teeming with complexity. Its history and longevity have left behind what can only be described as a plethora of paradoxes. Ruins are interrupted by gift shops and brightly lit gelaterias. Monuments to pagan gods bear crosses of Christianity and adorn the smallest country in the world, which contains one of the largest churches in the world. Navigate through these wonders of past and modern civilizations and you will almost inevitably arrive at one of the most recognizable architectural wonders around the globe, the Colosseum.
3 Min Read
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March 2024

License to Swim: Underwater Spies in Unlikely Places

By Scott Sawaya
March 07, 2024 03:02 PM
It is not easy to hide when you are a runaway Russian spy. It is even harder to hide when your hiding spot happens to be an island in northern Finnmark whose population hovers right around 70 people [1]. Hiding becomes nearly impossible when you are also a 14 foot long, 2,700-pound beluga whale.
3 Min Read
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February 2024

The Cost of Space

By Scott Sawaya
February 12, 2024 02:46 PM
When Woody, the cowboy from Toy Story 2, is shocked to discover that a television show featuring himself was canceled following a cliffhanger (an all too familiar sensation nowadays), he is met with a curt response. Prospector Pete tells him, “Two words, Sput-nik. Once the astronauts went up, children only wanted to play with space toys”.
3 Min Read
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