Erika Schelby

Erika Schelby is a contributor to the Observatory and author of Looking for Humboldt and Searching for German Footprints in New Mexico and Beyond (Lava Gate Press, 2017) and Liberating the Future from the Past? Liberating the Past from the Future? (Lava Gate Press, 2013), which was shortlisted for the International Essay Prize Contest by the Berlin-based cultural magazine Lettre International. Schelby lives in New Mexico.

October 20, 2026

Editor's Choice/Human Rights

Will Sri Lanka Witness Its Own Saffron Revolution?

Sri Lanka is not Myanmar, but the Colombo monks’ protest raises an uncomfortable question about how far the state might go to enforce its authority against Buddhist clergy. As Ranil Wickremesinghe invokes

Editor's Choice/Geopolitics

Europe’s Youth Rise in Revolt

Across Europe, young people are increasingly taking to the streets to demand change, confronting governments over everything from unaffordable housing and underfunded education to corruption, economic insecurity and a perceived lack of political accountability. In recent days, hundreds of thousands

October 20, 2026

Singapore Warns Agricultural Firms Over Haze Links as Shares Fall

Business

Shares in several Singapore-listed agricultural companies fell on Tuesday after Senior Minister K Shanmugam warned that businesses potentially linked to fires causing regional haze

Sri Lanka Accused of Diplomatic Misstep Over Thai Deputy PM’s Visit

Geopolitics/Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s opposition United National Party (UNP) has accused the government of failing to provide Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suphajee Suthumpun with appropriate diplomatic

The Intricate Connection of Birdsongs to Human Language

February 13, 2025

Columns

Birdsongs have inspired poets and lovers, becoming one of the philosophical focal points in ancient Greece and Rome. They have also led to several long-ago debates about the relationship between birdsong and human language.

Sustainability Is Not as New an Idea as You Might Think—It’s More Than 300 Years Old

August 30, 2023

Defence/Diplomacy/Geopolitics/United States

The proverb “necessity is the mother of invention” has roots that go back to Aesop’s fable “The Crow and the Pitcher” and to Plato’s “Republic.” It is realistic to assume that Hans