Interest in the multiverse theory, suggesting that our universe is just one of many, spiked following the release of the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. The film follows Evelyn Wang on her journey to connect with versions of herself in parallel universes to ultimately stop the destruction of the multiverse.
The multiverse idea has long been an inspiration for science fiction writers. But does it have any basis in science? And if so, is it a concept we could ever test experimentally?
That’s the topic of the third episode of our podcast Great Mysteries of Physics – hosted by me, Miriam Frankel, science editor at The Conversation, and supported by FQxI, the Foundational Questions Institute.
“One way to think of a multiverse is just to say: ‘Well, the universe might be really, really big – much bigger than our observable universe – and so there could be other regions of the universe that are far beyond our horizon that have different things happening in them’,” explains Katie Mack, Hawking chair in cosmology and science communication at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada. “And I think that idea is totally well accepted in cosmology.”
Everything Everywhere All At Once’s rock scene.
The idea that there could be other parts of the cosmos with different physical laws, processes and histories is hard to ignore. And the concept is consistent with the theories of quantum mechanics, which governs the micro-world of atoms and particles, string theory (an attempt at a theory of everything) – and also with cosmic inflation, which says the infant universe blew up hugely in size during a brief growth spurt, and then continued to grow at a less frantic pace. These theories each give rise to their own version of the multiverse theory.
For Andrew Pontzen, a professor of cosmology at University College London in the UK, quantum mechanics is the best reason to believe in the multiverse. According to quantum mechanics, particles can be in a mix of different possible states, such as locations, which is known as a “superposition”. But when we measure them, the superposition breaks and each particle randomly “picks” one state.
So what happens to the other possible outcomes? “There’s a brilliant way of understanding this which is to imagine that, actually, the reality we experience is just one kind of facet of a much more complicated multiverse, where pretty much anything that can happen does happen and we just experience one version of events,” explains Pontzen. “Although it sounds crazy, it’s sort of the least crazy option for understanding how quantum mechanics can be right.”
Not all physicists are fans of the multiverse, though. Many argue that if it’s impossible to ever observe other universes, the multiverse can’t be a scientific theory. “I think it’s fine for entertainment,” says Sabine Hossenfelder, a research fellow at the Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies, who describes the multiverse as “ascientific”. “You sometimes hear people talk about some kind of mathematical evidence. [But] that’s just not a thing – evidence is something that you actually observe.”
There is currently no observational support for the multiverse theory. However, Mack doesn’t think that necessarily means it is unscientific. “I don’t think that hypothesising the existence of something unobservable is inherently unscientific,” she argues. “The wave function [in quantum mechanics] is unobservable. We have ways to infer the existence of the wave function because the maths all works perfectly. That we never directly observe it is a little beside the point, because it’s such a basic part of the science.”
Pontzen, though, is optimistic that we may one day be able to see signs of a collision with another universe in the cosmic microwave background, which is the light left over from the Big Bang. He is also working on a laboratory experiment trying to shed light on how a baby universe could actually physically be born from a multiverse.
You can listen to Great Mysteries of Physics via any of the apps listed above, our RSS feed, or find out how else to listen here. You can also read .
For centuries, wood, masonry and concrete formed the basis for most structures on Earth.
In the 1880s, the adoption of the steel frame changed architecture forever. Steel allowed architects to design taller buildings with larger windows, giving rise to the skyscrapers that define city skylines today.
Since the industrial revolution, construction materials have been largely confined to a range of mass-produced elements. From steel beams to plywood panels, this standardized kit of parts has informed the design and construction of buildings for over 150 years.
That may soon change with advances in what’s called “large-scale additive manufacturing.” Not since the adoption of the steel frame has there been a development with as much potential to transform the way buildings are conceived and constructed.
Large-scale additive manufacturing, like desktop 3D printing, involves building objects one layer at a time. Whether it’s clay, concrete or plastic, the print material is extruded in a fluid state and hardens into its final form.
As director of the Institute for Smart Structures at the University of Tennessee, I’ve been fortunate to work on a series of projects that deploy this new technology.
While some roadblocks to the widespread adoption of this technology still exist, I can foresee a future in which buildings are built entirely from recycled materials or materials sourced on-site, with forms inspired by the geometries of nature.
Promising prototypes
Among these is the Trillium Pavilion, an open-air structure printed from recycled ABS polymer, a common plastic used in a wide range of consumer products.
The structure’s thin, double-curved surfaces were inspired by the petals of its namesake flower. The project was designed by students, printed by Loci Robotics and constructed on the University of Tennessee Research Park at Cherokee Farm in Knoxville.
Other recent examples of large-scale additive manufacturing include Tecla, a 450-square-foot (41.8-square-meter) prototype dwelling designed by Mario Cucinella Architects and printed in Massa Lombarda, a small town in Italy.
The architects printed Tecla out of clay sourced from a local river. The unique combination of this inexpensive material and radial geometry created an energy-efficient form of alternative housing.
Back in the U.S., the architecture firm Lake Flato partnered with the construction technology firm ICON to print concrete exterior walls for a home dubbed “House Zero” in Austin, Texas.
The 2,000-square-foot (185.8-square-meter) home demonstrates the speed and efficiency of 3D-printed concrete, and the structure displays a pleasing contrast between its curvilinear walls and its exposed timber frame.
The planning process
Large-scale additive manufacturing involves three knowledge areas: digital design, digital fabrication and material science.
To begin, architects create computer models of all the components that will be printed. These designers can then use software to test how the components will respond to structural forces and tweak the components accordingly. These tools can also help the designer figure out how to reduce the weight of components and automate certain design processes, such as smoothing complex geometric intersections, prior to printing.
A piece of software known as a slicer then translates the computer model into a set of instructions for the 3D printer.
But advances in 3D printing technology have allowed the hardware to scale up in a serious way. Sometimes the printing is done via what’s called a gantry-based system – a rectangular framework of sliding rails similar to a desktop 3D printer. Increasingly, robotic arms are used due to their ability to print in any orientation.
Robotic arms allow for more flexibility in the construction process.
The printing site can also vary. Furnishings and smaller components can be printed in factories, while entire houses must be printed on-site.
A range of materials can be used for large-scale additive manufacturing. Concrete is a popular choice due to its familiarity and durability. Clay is an intriguing alternative because it can be harvested on-site – which is what the designers of Tecla did.
But plastics and polymers could have the broadest application. These materials are incredibly versatile, and they can be formulated in ways that meet a wide range of specific structural and aesthetic requirements. They can also be produced from recycled and organically derived materials.
Inspiration from nature
Because additive manufacturing builds layer by layer, using only the material and energy required to make a particular component, it’s a far more efficient building process than “subtractive methods,” which involve cutting away excess material – think milling a wood beam out of a tree.
Even common materials like concrete and plastics benefit from being 3D-printed, since there’s no need for additional formwork or molds.
Since there is no need for tooling, forms or dies, large-scale additive manufacturing allows each part to be unique, with no time penalty for added complexity or customization.
Another interesting feature of large-scale additive manufacturing is the capability to produce complex components with internal voids. This may one day allow for walls to be printed with conduit or ductwork already in place.
In addition, research is taking place to explore the possibilities of multi-material 3D printing, a technique that could allow windows, insulation, structural reinforcement – even wiring – to be fully integrated into a single printed component.
One of the aspects of additive manufacturing that excites me most is the way in which building layer by layer, with a slowly hardening material, mirrors natural processes, like shell formation.
A 3D-printed house in Shanghai that was built in less than 24 hours out of construction waste.Visual China Group/Getty Images
This opens up windows of opportunity, allowing designers to implement geometries that are difficult to produce using other construction methods, but are common in nature.
Despite the many positive aspects of large-scale additive manufacturing, there are a number of impediments to its wider adoption.
Perhaps the biggest to overcome is its novelty. There is an entire infrastructure built around traditional forms of construction like steel, concrete and wood, which include supply chains and building codes. In addition, the cost of digital fabrication hardware is relatively high, and the specific design skills needed to work with these new materials are not yet widely taught.
In order for 3D printing in architecture to become more widely adopted, it will need to find its niche. Similar to how word processing helped popularize desktop computers, I think it will be a specific application of large-scale additive manufacturing that will lead to its common use.
Perhaps it will be its ability to print highly efficient structural frames. I also already see its promise for creating unique sculptural façades that can be recycled and reprinted at the end of their useful life.
Either way, it seems likely that some combination of factors will ensure that future buildings will, in some part, be 3D-printed.
Many of these arguments would emerge as poorly grounded, given later events.
In 2004, then Secretary of State Colin Powell reflected on the weak rationale behind the main arguments for the invasion: that there were weapons of mass destruction. He acknowledged that “it turned out that the sourcing was inaccurate and wrong and in some cases deliberately misleading.”
But the Bush administration’s rhetoric of building a more free, open and democratic Middle East persisted after the weapons of mass destruction claim had proven false, and has been harder to evaluate – at least in the short term. Bush assured the American public in 2003 that, “A new regime in Iraq would serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom for other nations in the region.”
“The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution,” Bush said in November 2003. He also said that the U.S. would be pursuing a “forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East.”
Twenty years on, it is worth considering how this “forward strategy” has played out both in Iraq and across the Middle East. In 2003, there was indeed, as Bush noted, a “freedom deficit” in the Middle East, where repressive authoritarian regimes dominated the region. Yet, in spite of tremendous upheaval in the Middle East over the past two decades, many authoritarian regimes remain deeply entrenched.
Iraqis demonstrate to show support for Saddam Hussein in February 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq.Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images
Measuring the ‘Freedom Gap’
Political science scholars like myself try to measure the democratic or authoritarian character of governments in a variety of ways.
The non-profit group Freedom House evaluates countries in terms of democratic institutions and whether they have free and fair elections, as well as people’s civil rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and a free press. Freedom House rates each country and its level of democracy on a scale from 2 to 14, from “mostly free” to “least free.”
One way to think about the level of democracy in the region is to focus on the 23 countries and governments that form the Arab League, a regional organization that spans North Africa, the Red Sea coast and the Middle East. In 2003, the average Freedom House score for an Arab League member was 11.45 – far more authoritarian than the global average of 6.75 at the time.
Put another way, the Freedom House report in 2003 classified a little over 46% of all countries as “free,” but no country in the Arab League met that threshold.
A newsstand sells papers reporting the capture of Saddam Hussein, former leader of Iraq, by U.S. forces in 2003.Graeme Robertson/Getty Images
Post-invasion Iraq
The U.S. 2003 invasion succeeded in ousting a brutal regime – but establishing a healthy and thriving new democracy proved more challenging.
Rivalry between Iraq’s three main groups – the Sunni and Shiite Muslims as well as the Kurds, the largest ethnic minority in the country – paralyzed early attempts at political reorganization.
While Iraq today has a constitution, a parliament and holds regular elections, the country struggles both with popular legitimacy and with practical aspects of governance, such as providing basic education for children.
Indeed, in 2023, Freedom House continues to score Iraq as “Not Free” in its measure of democracy.
Since the U.S. military withdrawal in 2011, Iraq has lurched from one political crisis to another. From 2014 to 2017, large portions of western Iraq were controlled by the extremist militant Islamic State group.
The protests prompted early parliamentary elections in November 2021, but the government has not yet been able to create a coalition government representing all competing political groups.
While Iraq’s most recent crisis avoided descending into civil war, the militarized nature of Iraqi political parties poses an ongoing risk of electoral violence.
Yet sustaining stable democracies has proved challenging even where the Arab Spring seemed to succeed in changing political regimes. In Egypt, the military has reasserted itself and the country has slid steadily back to authoritarianism. In Yemen, the political vaccum created by the protests marked the start of a devastating civil war.
The average Freedom House democracy score for members of the Arab League is today 11.45 — the same as it was on the eve of the Iraq invasion.
It is hard to know if U.S. efforts at democracy promotion accelerated or delayed political change in the Middle East. It is hard to know if a different approach might have yielded better results. Yet, the data – at least as social scientists measure such things – strongly suggests that the vision of an Iraq as an inspiration for a democratic transformation of the Middle East has not come to pass.
How Melissa Joan Hart Gets Relief for Her Dry Eyes
Whether Melissa Joan Hart is on set directing her latest movie, recording an episode of her podcast or driving her kids to school, she is always on the move. When she first began experiencing dry, irritated eyes, she wasn’t sure how to relieve her symptoms. However, after a recommendation from her friend, she learned there was a line of eye lubricant products designed to relieve dry eye symptoms of eye dryness, burning, itching and discomfort.
“My eyes get dry and irritated, especially during long days on set when I’m spending hours staring at monitors,” Hart said. “I learned I am one of 35 million people in the United States who experience dry eyes. I didn’t know how I could find relief – until I discovered Refresh.”
Hart is teaming up with Allergan, an AbbVie company, to share her experience using the number one doctor-recommended family of products. The Refresh line was developed from more than 30 years of dedicated eye research and includes artificial tears, ointments and gel drops to relieve symptoms of eye dryness. The drops offer fast-acting relief for a wide range of individuals based on their symptoms and severity levels, including products for daytime, nighttime and anytime use.
“Many people experience eye dryness for many reasons and have different needs, which is why I like that the Refresh portfolio has several different products that offer fast-acting relief for a wide range of individuals,” Hart said. “Right now, I use Optive Mega-3 and Relieve PF Multidose to relieve my eye dryness and prevent further irritation. There’s a great tool on the Refresh website to help you figure out which product may be right for you.”
Hart continued, “Refresh has quickly become a part of my daily routine, on and off set. I have a few bottles tucked away in different rooms around the house and in my purse to use throughout the day. I don’t leave the house without them.”
Refresh eye drops can be found at all major retailers and online. Learn more at refreshbrand.com and take the quiz to see which product may help relieve your symptoms.
(Family Features) Making small changes to focus on your health, like following a healthy eating plan, can make a big difference in protecting your heart.
Developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is a flexible and balanced eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life. It requires no special foods, and instead provides daily and weekly nutritional goals to help lower two major risk factors for heart disease: high blood pressure and high LDL (bad) cholesterol.
As an added bonus, sharing DASH-friendly meals with your loved ones can help take the guesswork out of putting nutritious dinners on your family’s table. For example, this easy and delicious Turkey and Beef Meatballs with Whole-Wheat Spaghetti recipe is one the entire family can help prepare.
In addition to a following a healthy eating plan, other self-care habits like taking time daily to destress, being more physically active and getting enough quality sleep can all benefit your heart. It’s also important to know what your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels are and what a healthy weight is for you.
Learn more about the DASH eating plan and find recipes at nhlbi.nih.gov/DASH.
Turkey and Beef Meatballs with Whole-Wheat Spaghetti
Recipe courtesy of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
3 quarts water
8 ounces dry whole-wheat spaghetti
2 cups chunky tomato sauce
4 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh basil, rinsed, dried and chopped
Turkey Meatballs:
6 ounces 99% lean ground turkey
1/4 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fat-free evaporated milk
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tablespoon fresh chives, rinsed, dried and chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, rinsed, dried and chopped
Beef Meatballs:
6 ounces 93% lean ground beef
1/4 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fat-free evaporated milk
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tablespoon fresh chives, rinsed, dried and chopped
1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, rinsed, dried and chopped
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In 4-quart saucepan over high heat, bring water to boil.
Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
To make turkey meatballs: In bowl, combine ground turkey, breadcrumbs, evaporated milk, Parmesan cheese, chives and parsley; mix well. Measure 1 1/2 tablespoons turkey mixture and roll into ball using hands. Place meatball on nonstick baking sheet. Repeat until eight turkey meatballs are made.
To make beef meatballs: In separate bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, evaporated milk, Parmesan cheese, chives and parsley; mix well. Measure 1 1/2 tablespoons beef mixture and roll into ball using hands. Place meatball on nonstick baking sheet. Repeat until eight beef meatballs are made.
Bake meatballs 10 minutes until minimum internal temperature of 165 F is reached.
Warm sauce, if necessary.
To serve: Serve four meatballs with 3/4 cup pasta, 1/2 cup sauce, 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese and 1 pinch basil per portion.
The latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including the synthesis report released March 20, 2023, discuss changes ahead, but they also describe how existing solutions can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help people adjust to impacts of climate change that can’t be avoided.
The problem is that these solutions aren’t being deployed fast enough. In addition to pushback from industries, people’s fear of change has helped maintain the status quo.
To slow climate change and adapt to the damage already underway, the world will have to shift how it generates and uses energy, transports people and goods, designs buildings and grows food. That starts with embracing innovation and change.
Fear of change can lead to worsening change
From the industrial revolution to the rise of social media, societies have undergone fundamental changes in how people live and understand their place in the world.
Residents of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati describe the changes they’re experiencing as sea level rises.
Other transformations have had both good and bad effects. The industrial revolution vastly raised standards of living for many people, but it spawned inequality, social disruption and environmental destruction.
People often resist transformation because their fear of losing what they have is more powerful than knowing they might gain something better. Wanting to retain things as they are – known as status quo bias – explains all sorts of individual decisions, from sticking with incumbent politicians to not enrolling in retirement or health plans even when the alternatives may be rationally better.
This effect may be even more pronounced for larger changes. In the past, delaying inevitable change has led to transformations that are unnecessarily harsh, such as the collapse of some 13th-century civilizations in what is now the U.S. Southwest. As more people experience the harms of climate change firsthand, they may begin to realize that transformation is inevitable and embrace new solutions.
A mix of good and bad
The IPCC reports make clear that the future inevitably involves more and larger climate-related transformations. The question is what the mix of good and bad will be in those transformations.
If countries allow greenhouse gas emissions to continue at a high rate and communities adapt only incrementally to the resulting climate change, the transformations will be mostly forced and mostly bad.
For example, a riverside town might raise its levees as spring flooding worsens. At some point, as the scale of flooding increases, such adaptation hits its limits. The levees necessary to hold back the water may become too expensive or so intrusive that they undermine any benefit of living near the river. The community may wither away.
Riverside communities often scramble to raise levees during floods, like this one in Louisiana.Scott Olson/Getty Images
The riverside community could also take a more deliberate and anticipatory approach to transformation. It might shift to higher ground, turn its riverfront into parkland while developing affordable housing for people who are displaced by the project, and collaborate with upstream communities to expand landscapes that capture floodwaters. Simultaneously, the community can shift to renewable energy and electrified transportation to help slow global warming.
Optimism resides in deliberate action
The IPCC reports include numerous examples that can help steer such positive transformation.
For example, renewable energy is now generally less expensive than fossil fuels, so a shift to clean energy can often save money. Communities can also be redesigned to better survive natural hazards through steps such as maintaining natural wildfire breaks and building homes to be less susceptible to burning.
No one group can enact these changes alone. Everyone must be involved, including governments that can mandate and incentivize changes, businesses that often control decisions about greenhouse gas emissions, and citizens who can turn up the pressure on both.
(eLivingtoday.com) Because most colleges and universities require applicants to submit ACT or SAT results as part of admissions consideration, prepping for the test itself can be a critical component of that process.
While it can oftentimes be hard to deal with the anxiety that comes with a rigorous test meant to show your mastery of certain subjects and concepts, such as reading and mathematics, consider these test prep tips to help boost your score while simultaneously lowering stress.
Register Early
To allow yourself as much flexibility as possible, taking college entrance exams during your junior year of high school is encouraged. If you don’t get an ideal score, you can refine your approach and retake the exam with a better idea of what to expect.
Take a Practice Test
Any test prep plan should start with a practice SAT or ACT exam. Taking practice tests under realistic conditions can help you gain a better understanding of the content of the test, improve your time management and help combat test anxiety. You can use your practice test as a baseline to set goals and focus the rest of your prep on areas you would like to improve before the real thing.
Sign Up for a Prep Course
If you find studying on your own difficult or not as successful as you’d hoped, a prep course can put you through the paces and hold you accountable. Complete with homework and in-class practice, prep classes can range from small groups to larger classes taught by test experts. Some school districts even offer after-school programs dedicated to ACT or SAT prep.
Gather Supplies
To help reduce test day stress, gather everything you’ll need the night before. Check the list of banned items – cellphones aren’t permitted – to make sure you don’t accidentally bring something you’re not allowed to have. Ensure your bag is packed with your admission ticket, valid photo identification, several sharpened pencils with erasers, an approved calculator (with fresh batteries) and a watch, if allowed.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep and Eat Breakfast
While it can be tempting to stay up late the night before the test to cram, you’re likely to perform better with a full night’s sleep. Sleep is important for retention, and eating a balanced breakfast before heading out the door can aid in your ability to focus. To make your morning easier, prep breakfast before bed to keep an early morning from starting even earlier.
Remember, the college admissions process involves more than just test scores. Visit eLivingtoday.com for more education tips and information.
Usually banks, like all companies, fail after a prolonged period of lackluster performance. But SVB, the nation’s 16th-largest bank, had been stable and highly profitable just a few months before, having earned about US$1.5 billion in profits in the last quarter of 2022.
The demise of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, two prominent investment banks, and Countrywide Financial Corp., a subprime mortgage lender, during the 2008-2009 financial crisis; the Savings and Loan banking crisis in the 1980s; and the complete collapse of the U.S. banking system during the Great Depression didn’t unfold in exactly the same way. But they had something in common: An unexpected change in economic conditions created an initial bank failure or two, followed by general panic and then large-scale economic distress.
The main difference this time, in my view, is that modern innovations may have hastened SVB’s demise.
Great Depression
The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to 1941, epitomized the public harm that bank runs and financial panic can cause.
The massive losses investors suffered weakened the economy and led to distress at some banks. Fearing that they would lose all their money, customers began to withdraw their funds from the weaker banks. Those banks, in turn, began to rapidly sell their loans and other assets to pay their depositors. These rapid sales pushed prices down further.
As this financial crisis spread, depositors with accounts at nearby banks also began queuing up to withdraw all their money, in a quintessential bank run, culminating in the failure of thousands of banks by early 1933. Soon after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inauguration, the federal government resorted to shutting all banks in the country for a whole week.
Determined to avoid a repeat of this debacle, the government tightened banking regulations with the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. It prohibited commercial banks, which serve consumers and small and medium-size businesses, from engaging in investment banking and created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insured deposits up to a certain threshold. That limit has risen sharply over the past 90 years, from $2,500 in 1933 to $250,000 in 2010 – the same limit in place today.
The government created the FDIC to protect depositors from bank failures.
S&L crisis
The nation’s new and improved banking regulations ushered in a period of relative stability in the banking system that lasted about 50 years.
But in the 1980s, hundreds of the small banks known as savings and loan associations failed. Savings and loans, also called “thrifts,” were generally small local banks that mainly made mortgage loans to households and collected deposits from their local communities.
By the early 1980s, Congress began allowing banks to pay market interest rates on depositers’ accounts. As a result, the interest rate S&Ls had to pay their customers was much higher than the interest income they were earning on the loans they had made in prior years. That imbalance caused many of them to lose money.
Even though about 1 in 3 S&Ls failed from around 1986 through 1992 – somewhere around 750 banks – most depositors at small S&Ls were protected by the FDIC’s then-$100,000 insurance limit. Ultimately, resolving that crisis cost taxpayers the equivalent of about $250 billion in today’s dollars.
Because the savings and loans industry was not directly connected to the big banks of that era, their collapse did not cause runs at the bigger institutions. Nevertheless, the S&L collapse and the government’s regulatory response did reduce the supply of credit to the economy.
High inflation spurred failures of many small savings-and-loan banks in the 1980s.Bettmann via Getty Images
Great Recession
Against this backdrop of relative stability, Congress repealed most of Glass-Steagall in 1999 – eliminating Depression-era regulations that restricted the scope of businesses that banks could engage in.
At that time, large banks, freed from the Depression-era restrictions on securities trading, as well as investment banks, hedge funds and other institutions outside the traditional banking system, had heavily invested in mortgage-backed securities, a kind of bond backed by pooled mortgage payments from lots of homeowners. These bonds were highly profitable amid the housing boom of that era, and they helped many financial institutions reap record profits.
But the Federal Reserve had been increasing interest rates since 2004 to slow the economy. By 2007, many households with adjustable-rate mortgages could no longer afford to make their larger-than-expected home loan payments. That led investors to fear a rash of mortgage defaults, and the values of securities backed by mortgages plunged.
It wasn’t possible to know which investment banks owned a lot of these vulnerable securities. Rather than wait to find out and risk not getting paid, most of the depositors rushed to get their money out by late 2007. This stampede led to cascading failures in 2008 and 2009, and the federal government responded with a series of big bailouts.
The government even bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, two of the country’s three largest automakers, in December 2008 to keep the industry from going bankrupt. That happened because the major car companies relied on the financial system to provide potential car buyers with credit to purchase or lease new cars. But when the financial system collapsed, buyers could no longer obtain credit to finance or lease new vehicles.
As with the Great Depression, the government responded to this financial crisis with significant new regulations, including a new law known as the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. It imposed stringent new requirements on banks with assets above $50 billion.
Traders in Chicago watch stock index futures plunge on March 17, 2008.Scott Olson/Getty Image
Notably, the most stringent requirements were now reserved for banks with more than $250 billion in assets, up from $50 billion. That change, which Congress passed in 2018, paved the way for regional banks like SVB to rapidly expand with much less regulatory oversight.
But still, how could SVB collapse so suddenly and without any warning?
Banks take deposits to make loans. But a loan is a long-term contract. Mortgages, for example, can last for 30 years. And deposits can be withdrawn at any time. To reduce their risks, banks can invest in bonds and other securities that they can quickly sell in case they need funds for their customers.
Unfortunately for SVB, these depositors were very close-knit, with most in the tech sector or startups. They turned to social media, group text messages and other modern forms of rapid communication to share their fears – which quickly went viral.
Many large depositors all rushed at the same time to get their funds out. Unlike what happened nearly a century earlier during the Great Depression, they generally tried to withdraw their money online – without forming chaotic lines at bank branches.
The government allowed SVB, which is being sold to First Citizens Bank, and Signature Bank, a smaller financial institution, to fail. But it agreed to repay all depositors – including those with deposits above the $250,000 limit.
While the authorities have not explicitly guaranteed all deposits in the banking system, I see the bailout of all SVB depositors as a clear signal that the government is prepared to take extraordinary steps to protect deposits in the banking system and prevent an overall panic.
I believe that it is too soon to say whether these measures will work, especially as the Fed is still fighting inflation and raising interest rates. But at this point, major U.S. banks appear safe, though there are growing risks among the smaller regional banks.
After I finished my Ph.D. in 2017, several newspaper reporters wrote about the job I’d accepted at the University of Virginia as an assistant professor of hip-hop.
“A.D. Carson just scored, arguably, the dopest job ever,” one journalist wrote.
The writer may not have meant it the way I read it, but the terminology was significant to me. Hip-hop’s early luminaries transformed the word’s original meanings, using it as a synonym for cool. In the 50 years since, it endures as an expression of respect and praise – and illegal substances.
In that context, dope has everything to do with my work.
In the year I graduated from college, one of my best friends was sent to federal prison for possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. He served nearly a decade and has been back in prison several times since.
But before he went to prison, he helped me finish school by paying off my tuition.
‘80’s’ is a song from the author’s dissertation album that describes his conception of ‘dopeness.’
In a very real way, dope has as much to do with me finishing my studies and becoming a professor as it does with him serving time in a federal prison.
Academic dope
For my Ph.D. dissertation in Rhetorics, Communications, and Information Design, I wrote a rap album titled “Owning My Masters: The Rhetorics of Rhymes & Revolutions.” A peer-reviewed, mastered version of the album is due out this summer from University of Michigan Press.
‘The Defense’ describes the composition of the author’s dissertation album and his dissertation defense.
Part of my reasoning for writing it that way involved my ideas about dope. I want to question who gets to determine who and what are dope and whether any university can produce expertise on the people who created hip-hop.
Clemson is not the only school to recognize hip-hop as dope.
In the 50 years since its start at a back-to-school party in the South Bronx, hip-hop, the culture and its art forms have come a long way to a place of relative prominence in educational institutions.
UCLA announced an ambitious Hip Hop Initiative to kick off the golden anniversary. The initiative includes artist residencies, community engagement programs, a book series and a digital archive project.
Perhaps my receiving tenure and promotion at the University of Virginia is part of the school’s attempt to help codify the existence of hip-hop scholarship.
When I write about “dope,” I’m thinking of Black people like drugs to which the U.S. is addicted.
Dope is a frame to help clarify the attempts, throughout American history, at outlawing and legalizing the presence of Black people and Black culture. As dope, Black people are America’s constant ailment and cure.
To me, dope is an aspiration and a methodology to acknowledge and resist America’s steady surveillance, scrutiny and criminalization of Blackness.
By this definition, dope is not only what we are, it’s also who we want to be and how we demonstrate our being.
Dope is about what we can make with what we are given.
Dope is a product of conditions created by America. It is also a product that helped create America.
Whenever Blackness has been seen as lucrative, businesses like record companies and institutions like colleges and universities have sought to capitalize. To remove the negative stigmas associated with dope, these institutions cast themselves in roles similar to a pharmacy.
Even though I don’t believe academia has the power or authority to bestow hip-hop credibility, a question remains – does having a Ph.D and producing rap music as peer-reviewed publications change my dopeness in some way?
Legalizing dope
Though I earned a Ph.D by rapping, my own relationship to hip-hop in academic institutions remains fraught.
Part of the problem was noted in 2014 by Michelle Alexander, a legal scholar and author of “The New Jim Crow,” when she talked about her concerns about the legalization of marijuana in different U.S. states.
“In many ways the imagery doesn’t sit right,” she said. “Here are white men poised to run big marijuana businesses … after 40 years of impoverished black kids getting prison time for selling weed, and their families and futures destroyed. Now, white men are planning to get rich doing precisely the same thing?”
I feel the same way about dopeness in academia. Since hip-hop has emerged as a global phenomenon largely embraced by many of the “academically trained” music scholars who initially rejected it, how will those scholars and their schools now make way for the people they have historically excluded?
In ‘crack, usa’ the author explores America’s relationship to drugs.
This is why that quote about me “scoring, arguably, the dopest job ever” has stuck with me.
I wonder if it’s fair to call what I do a form of legalized dope.
America’s dope-dealing history
In the late 1990s, I saw how fast hip-hop had become inescapable across the U.S., even in the small Midwestern town of Decatur, Illinois, where I grew up with my friend who is now serving federal prison time.
He and I have remained in contact. Among the things we discuss is how unlikely it is that I would be able to do what I do without his doing what he did.
‘nword gem’ describes the author’s relationships with friends and family.
Given the economic realities faced by people after leaving prison, we both know there are limitations to his opportunities if we choose to see our successes as shared accomplishments.
Depending on how dope is interpreted, prisons and universities serve as probable destinations for people who make their living with it. It has kept him in prison roughly the same amount of time as it has kept me in graduate school and in my profession.
This present reality has historical significance for how I think of dope, and what it means for people to have their existence authorized or legalized, and America’s relationship to Black people.
Many of the buildings at Clemson were built in the late 1880s using “laborers convicted of mostly petty crimes” that the state of South Carolina leased to the university.
Similarly, the University of Virginia was built by renting enslaved laborers. The University also is required by state law to purchase office furniture from a state-owned company that depends on imprisoned people for labor. The people who make the furniture are paid very little to do so.
The people in the federal prison where my friend who helped me pay for college is now housed work for paltry wages making towels and shirts for the U.S. Army.
Even with all of the time and distance between our pasts and present, our paths are still inextricably intertwined – along with all those others on or near the seemingly transient line that divides “legal” and “illegal” dope.
