Honoring everyday dignity and defiance in Holocaust

+ ripple effects of abortion decisions; 'effective altruism' US Edition - Today's top story: Defying the Holocaust didn't just mean uprising and revolt: Remembering Jews' everyday resistance [View in browser]( US Edition | 15 April 2023 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( The full name of Yom HaShoah, which begins Monday night, is “Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day.” It’s a name that “links remembrance with resistance in no uncertain terms,” Chad Gibbs writes: a day to remember not only victimization, but courage and dignity. Gibbs, a historian at the College of Charleston, has spent years researching Treblinka II, a Nazi extermination camp where one of the most dramatic acts of rebellion took place. In August 1943, several hundred prisoners managed to escape, though most were recaptured and killed. But it’s important not to lose sight of [more everyday resistance]( throughout the Holocaust, Gibbs writes – the daily acts of defiance and empathy, like hiding a friend’s illness from guards, or even in the ways people “carried themselves on the way to a certain death.” “In a place meant to destroy all Jewish life,” Gibbs writes, “the smallest acts of support and comfort were resistance.” This week we also liked stories about [China’s evolving beauty ideals](, the role of the social media platform [Discord in the huge Pentagon leak](, and new research on [how ancients apes – and humans – evolved in Africa](. Molly Jackson Religion and Ethics Editor Samuel Willenberg, the last survivor of the Treblinka uprising, poses for a picture at his art studio in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2010. AP Photo/Oded Balilty [Defying the Holocaust didn’t just mean uprising and revolt: Remembering Jews’ everyday resistance]( Chad Gibbs, College of Charleston Yom HaShoah, which falls on April 17-18, 2023, pointedly commemorates Jewish resistance to the Nazis. A goal of the Texas plaintiffs was to stop the practice of sending abortion medication by mail. Andrii Zorii/iStock via Getty Images Plus [Anti-mifepristone court decisions rely on medical misinformation about abortion and questionable legal reasoning]( Jamie Rowen, UMass Amherst; Tami S. Rowen, University of California, San Francisco If the ruling to reverse the use of mifepristone stands, it will not only severely restrict abortion access for women throughout the US – it will have far-reaching effects on health care. An ape that lived 21 million years ago was used to a habitat that was both grassy and wooded. Corbin Rainbolt [Wooded grasslands flourished in Africa 21 million years ago – new research forces a rethink of ape evolution]( Laura M. MacLatchy, University of Michigan; Dan Peppe, Baylor University; Kieran McNulty, University of Minnesota Contrary to the idea that apes evolved their upright posture to reach for fruit in the forest canopy, the earliest known ape with this stature, Morotopithecus, lived in more open grassy environments. - [What is Discord? An internet researcher explains the social media platform at the center of Pentagon leak of top-secret intelligence]( Brianna Dym, University of Maine Discord was initially a service to let gamers voice and text chat while playing. Most of its current users build and maintain online communities, though not always very big ones. - [A new femininity is starting to emerge in China]( Qingyue Sun, Drexel University Contemporary beauty culture in China blends traditional Chinese culture with modern aesthetics and global influences. - [‘Effective altruism’ has caught on with billionaire donors – but is the world’s most headline-making one on board?]( Nicholas G. Evans, UMass Lowell Effective altruism, often called ‘EA,’ is closely linked to utilitarian philosophy and calls for donors to carefully scrutinize whether their giving makes an impact. - [Anyone can claim to be a journalist or a news organization, and publish lies with almost total impunity]( - [Is college stressing you out? It could be the way your courses are designed]( - [Robots are everywhere – improving how they communicate with people could advance human-robot collaboration]( - [Banning TikTok could weaken personal cybersecurity]( The Conversation Quiz 🧠- Here’s the first question of [this week’s edition:]( A new study has confirmed that global warming is causing what in Major League Baseball? - A. Angrier umpires - B. More home runs - C. More ground balls - D. A rise in beer sales [Test your knowledge]( - - More of The Conversation Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly and biweekly emails: • [Weekly Highlights]( • [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( • [Global Perspectives]( • [Global Economy & Business]( Trying out new social media? Follow us: • [Mastodon]( • [Post.news]( • [Instagram]( • [LinkedIn]( - - About The Conversation We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. 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