Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

News

Spend Some Time With: Indonesian Assassins, Sudan’s songs, Victor Hugo

Alex Kliment
By Alex KlimentApril 16, 2019
Alex Kliment

Alex wears a few different caps and tips them all regularly. He writes for the GZERO Daily, works as a field correspondent for GZERO's nationally syndicated TV show GZERO WORLD WITH IAN BREMMER, and writes/directs/voices GZERO's award-winning puppet satire show PUPPET REGIME. Prior to joining GZERO, Alex worked as an analyst covering Russia and broader Emerging Markets for Eurasia Group. He has also written for the Financial Times from Washington, DC, and Sao Paulo Brazil. In his spare time, he makes short films and composes scores for long ones. He studied history and Slavic literature at Columbia and has a Master's from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He's a native New Yorker, a long-suffering Mets fan, and owns too many bicycles.

See Full Bio
Make us preferred on Google

Readers, a new weekly segment where I'll recommend three good things to watch, listen to, and read. Usually it'll be longer stuff that merits tuning out the kaleidoscopic screaming mania of daily news. Let me know what you think here. -Alex

Watch: Act of Killing – A gripping documentary about the history of Indonesia's right-wing dictatorship, in which former government assassins stage plays to re-enact and repent for their killings. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 2014.

Listen: Afropop Worldwide: Music and History in the Two Sudans – A podcast on how the legacies of slavery, colonialism, independence, and war have left their mark on the enchanting popular music of Sudan and South Sudan. Next level.

Read: Notre Dame of Paris Book V Section II – Sandwiched into the novel, a wonderful essay called "This Will Destroy That" in which Victor Hugo identifies the one human invention that destroyed architecture's historic role as "the great book of the human race." Hint: it wasn't fire.

Latest Videos

Democrats’ midterm sweep is a rebuke of Trump’s presidencyplay icon
ask ian

Democrats’ midterm sweep is a rebuke of Trump’s presidency

Will the US midterm elections bring a blue wave?
Quick Take

Will the US midterm elections bring a blue wave?

Can Europe keep Ukraine in the fight?
GZERO World Clips

Can Europe keep Ukraine in the fight?

Europe under threat from Russia
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Europe under threat from Russia

MBS CONFRONTS Trump!
Puppet Regime

MBS CONFRONTS Trump!

Who has the upper hand in the Ukraine war?
GZERO World Clips

Who has the upper hand in the Ukraine war?

More For You

Three takeaways from the US midterm elections

Supporters react after media outlets projected Democratic US Senate candidate and Texas State Representative James Talarico's victory in the US midterm elections in Austin, Texas, US, November 3, 2026.

Supporters react after media outlets projected Democratic US Senate candidate and Texas State Representative James Talarico's victory in the US midterm elections in Austin, Texas, US, November 3, 2026.

REUTERS/Mike Segar
In the end, the long-predicted “blue wave” turned into a tsunami as the Democrats, harnessing widespread frustrations over high living costs, opposition to the war in Iran, and misgivings about Trump’s deportation policies, swept back to power on Capitol Hill.Team Blue reclaimed control not only of the House of Representatives, but the Senate too. [...]

A night of historic firsts

A night of historic firsts
Natalie Johnson
Last night’s wins were not only pivotal but also broke multiple glass ceilings in American politics. There were at least ten historic firsts: Abdul El-Sayed will be the first Muslim to serve in the Senate.Keisha Lance Bottoms will be the country’s first-ever Black woman to serve as governor.Chris Pappas will be the first openly gay man to serve in [...]

South Africans head to the polls, Meloni wants to keep wealthy people in Italy, Russia’s return to the ice draws causes controversy

Election posters of South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and other political parties are displayed on street poles ahead of South Africa's municipal elections on November 4, in Pretoria, South Africa, October 29, 2026.

Election posters of South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) and other political parties are displayed on street poles ahead of South Africa's municipal elections on November 4, in Pretoria, South Africa, October 29, 2026.

REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
South Africans vote in pivotal local elections Voters in Africa’s wealthiest country have a pivotal election of their own today, with over 250 local contests nationwide. The elections are widely seen as a referendum on the African National Congress (ANC), the party that has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid, amid frustration over [...]

The midterms: Races that could decide the Senate

The midterms: Races that could decide the Senate
Eileen Zhang
If predictions hold, Democrats are on track to win a majority of seats in the House. The real battle today is for the Senate, where Republicans currently hold 53 seats. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to hold a true majority, since Vice President JD Vance can cast a tie-breaking vote in their favor. We’ve put together a cheat sheet of 11 [...]