Infobase’s Issues & Controversies database is known for its pro/con articles, but what you may be less aware of is the remarkable amount of media you can find on divisive topics in Issues & Controversies, including Fresh Air podcasts from NPR that can give you an even more in-depth look at the issues most talked about in the news and in the classroom.
Get Some Fresh Air on Today’s Hot Topics
Hosted by Terry Gross, Fresh Air from WHYY is a Peabody Award–winning weekday magazine broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR) that features wide-ranging interviews and discussions with prominent authors, journalists, and experts on a broad variety of issues. We’ve recently added new Fresh Air recordings to Issues & Controversies from late 2023 on high-interest topics including:
- The Israel-Hamas War
- Climate change and renewable energy
- Voting rights
- AI
- U.S.–China relations.
- And more
These audio articles are all linked to relevant pro/con articles in the database. They include written transcripts and can be accessed via the “Media” tab at the top of each article.
Other Media You Can Find in Issues & Controversies
Fresh Air isn’t the only resource you can find linked to each Issues & Controversies pro/con article. Students and educators will also find:
- QuickTake videos produced by the global information and technology company Bloomberg, covering major topics.
- Oxford-style debate videos from the renowned Open to Debate Foundation series, featuring some of the most prominent political figures, journalists, academics, and experts in the United States and throughout the world debating and discussing key conflicts in the news.
- Overview videos to introduce the topics discussed in the articles.
- Exclusive Enhanced Lessons to help instructors extend the lesson beyond the articles.
- Infographics that present vast amounts of information in easy-to-access charts, graphs, and tables to make it simple for users to visualize statistics and quickly grasp essential ideas.
- Original stand-alone articles that summarize key court cases—including those decided by the U.S. Supreme Court—on major issues in contemporary society.
- Editorials and opinions from prominent newspapers and magazines worldwide and across the political spectrum—including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, Jerusalem Post, China Daily, Nation, and Atlantic.
- And much more.
What Is Issues & Controversies?
The multiple-award-winning Issues & Controversies database helps researchers understand today’s crucial issues by exploring hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture. Updated weekly, with an extensive backfile, Issues & Controversies offers in-depth articles—each presenting both sides of an issue clearly, coherently, and without bias—made to inspire thought-provoking debates. Its straightforward presentation of the key facts, arguments, history, and current context of today’s most important and timely issues makes the database an ideal resource for research papers, debate preparation, and persuasive writing assignments.
Are you looking for ideas on how to use Issues & Controversies in the classroom? We’ve got you. Check out the “Four Keys to Using Issues & Controversies in Instruction” PDF.
Get some Fresh Air today with a FREE TRIAL of Issues & Controversies!
See also:
- Plan Your Academic Year with the Issues & Controversies Databases
- FREE webinar: Empower Critical Thinking and Informed Reasoning in Your Social Studies Curriculum: Primary Sources
- Teach Controversial Topics in the Classroom with Issues & Controversies
- FREE webinar: Infobase Quick Hits: Think Critically, Debate Respectfully
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