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Painting with Light in Zierikzee: An Evening at the Sea Light Festival
Most weeks, I write about politics and history for The Planet—usually on Thursdays.
Feb 14
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Alexander Verbeek
67
14
19
After the Fall: What Happens When American Democracy Returns
Why democratic societies always recover, and why the recovery is never clean
Feb 12
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Alexander Verbeek
196
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63
The Bills That Never Arrive: What European Healthcare Can Teach Anxious American Voters
Forty-five years of US spending surging past Europe while life expectancy lags behind tells one story: the American system serves profit, not people
Feb 7
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Alexander Verbeek
99
9
51
Minneapolis’s Resistance Art Should Give Trump Nightmares
Artists in Minneapolis build on the resistance tradition Franco couldn't crush, communism couldn't silence, and that terrifies Trump
Jan 30
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Alexander Verbeek
205
48
83
The Week Europe Stopped Living the American Lie
I watched something shift this week.
Jan 24
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Alexander Verbeek
173
10
45
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The Walk That Made Me Forget About ICE Raids and International Chaos
A few days ago, on an afternoon on the Dutch island, the weather pulled me outside.
Jan 17
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Alexander Verbeek
166
52
34
Third-Hottest Year on Record Gets Buried Beneath Trump Headlines
Berkeley Earth and Copernicus confirm what scientists predicted: warming accelerates while political chaos dominates headlines
Jan 14
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Alexander Verbeek
76
4
35
When the Country Stopped
A few days ago, I woke up with a strange light in the bedroom, as if the world had turned a whiter shade of pale.
Jan 11
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Alexander Verbeek
111
24
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From Bloody Sunday to Minneapolis: When States Kill in Public and the Politics of Denial
The Minneapolis shooting follows a script that Europeans know too well
Jan 9
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Alexander Verbeek
165
15
74
The Award That Answers Trump
From Caracas to Kyiv: A European perspective on democracy's shifting front lines
Jan 6
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Alexander Verbeek
77
7
27
Where Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms Were Born
Why Almost No Americans Visit the Province That Shaped Roosevelt
Jan 3
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Alexander Verbeek
108
15
29
A New Year Reflection
"Happy New Year" isn't a token message. It's a real wish for the society we create together when forces of good unite.
Jan 2
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Alexander Verbeek
104
24
33
From Franco's Spain to Trump's America: When Journalists Kill Their Own Stories
Trump targets even the BBC over content Americans couldn't watch
Dec 22, 2025
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Alexander Verbeek
96
22
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Accidental Café Models
At 60, I accidentally became a model. Sort of.
Dec 21, 2025
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Alexander Verbeek
85
17
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Exploring our world's beauty and challenges through stories of nature, climate, and human resilience. Join our collective journey of hope and understanding.
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