Vivienne Walt and Sebastian Meyer traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to most of the world's cobalt, to see how huge global demand can be met without rampant child labor and corruption.
Photojournalist Sebastian Meyer spent six days photographing the mines, the people and the cobalt.
On PRI's The World, Vivienne Walt discusses her and Sebastian Meyer's recent story "Blood, Sweat, and Batteries," which documents the children working in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Two-thirds of the world's cobalt, an essential ingredient in our smartphones and electric cars, comes from one of the planet's poorest countries. All too often it is mined by children.
Researchers aim to understand how the world’s second-largest rainforest is responding to — and influencing — global warming.
Decaying notebooks discovered in an abandoned research station contain a treasure trove of tree growth data dating from 1930s.
For the past 20 months, the Congo Research Group has documented the vast and eclectic business portfolio of Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and his family.
Photojournalist Neil Brandvold recounts his journey to a village called Kahemba, or "The Town of Suffering," to look for those afflicted by Konzo.
In Dungu’s Belgian chateau, UN peacekeepers maintain a small base where they have partied for nearly a decade. To reach Dungu means navigating a highway that has been a hotbed of LRA activity.
A rare known paralytic disease konzo has inflicted polio-like symptoms on thousands of the most impoverished people in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other African countries.
Five years after its viral video broke the internet, Invisible Children is on the front line of a covert war against the Lord’s Resistance Army.
President Joseph Kabila and his relatives have built a network of businesses that reaches into every corner of Congo’s economy. Is that why he won’t step down?
Vivienne Walt and Sebastian Meyer traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to most of the world's cobalt, to see how huge global demand can be met without rampant child labor and corruption.
An investigation into the business and financial links of Congo's President Joseph Kabila as he clings to power, throwing the country into a constitutional crisis.
An unintended planet-wide experiment is underway–leading to warming temperatures and an acidifying ocean.
Konzo, a disease associated with irreversible paralysis is caused by improperly processed or hastily prepared cassava, which can retain cyanide.
How close are we to a yellow fever pandemic?
Over the past two decades fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has torn through the region, leaving widespread poverty and hopelessness. Project Kirotshe helps one community rebuild hope through a youth running program.
Crashes by heavy commercial vehicles not only lead to loss of lives but also have a negative impact to the economy in East Africa.
The Lord's Resistance Army is in remission. Ugandan forces will soon be heading home. But a radio network tracking the rebel group's movements indicates Joseph Kony is mounting a comeback.
A scientific detective story that crisscrosses the globe, tracing the origins of HIV and its lessons for today.
For two decades, the eastern Congo has been ravaged by civil war. Can a former U.S. senator help bring peace?
UN enforcement of "responsibility to protect" has too often focused more on protecting UN troops than civilian populations. In eastern Congo UN military leaders are talking—and taking—a tougher line.
Children in the DRC who have lost families, homes and schools prove to be resilient as well as vulnerable. Arts, sports and vocational training help them to re-connect and start life anew.
Vivienne Walt and Sebastian Meyer traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to most of the world's cobalt, to see how huge global demand can be met without rampant child labor and corruption.
How does a country fail? Peter Gwin spent three years traveling to the Central African Republic to look at how a rebellion destroyed the nation and what's happened to its wealth of resources.
Photojournalist Neil Brandvold investigates the paralytic disease Konzo that has inflicted polio-life symptoms on thousands of the most impoverished people in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Meet Beatrice Obwocha, a Kenyan journalist reporting on road safety.
Journalists Eleanor Bell and Will Fitzgibbon discuss the process behind "Fatal Extraction," the ICIJ investigation about Australian mining companies in Africa.
Pulitzer Center editor Kem Knapp Sawyer opened the Global Classrooms Model UN conference with a talk on child soldiers—and on programs aimed at helping them find "the resilience to begin again."
Journalist Pete Jones discusses his reporting from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Fiona Lloyd-Davies has reported on Eastern Congo since 2011. Here she discusses the twin aims of her new project, assessing the aftermath of a mass rape and efforts to establish conflict-free mines.
Some of the biggest criticisms of international aid are coming from self-reflective aid workers who question their role and the role of their employers in developing nations.
Meyer's project investigates the child labor and corruption behind the global demand for cobalt.
This week: cobalt mining comes from one of the planet's poorest countries and all too often it is mined by children, skepticism about Kosovo's deradicalization and rehabilitation programs for returning jihadists, and Pulitzer Center welcomes new Executive Editor, Indira Lakshmanan.
Panelists at the "Beyond War" conference share stories of local peacebuilding efforts.
Journalists and policymakers discuss the impact of external intervention in global conflicts during a panel at the Pulitzer Center Beyond War Conference.
Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group, discusses a comprehensive report that documents the network of business interests of the Congo's President and his extended family.
This week: President Kabila's vast network of family-owned businesses, a comedy group in India fights ISIS with laughter, and Syrian refugees look for a sense of belonging in Germany.
Neil Brandvold takes over @PulitzerCenter Instagram with project, Konzo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This week: the far reaches of President Kabila's Kleptocracy, refugees born without a nation, and the forgotten story of Latin America's Schindler.
Daniel Socha tells of program where kids' school fees paid if they participate in running club. One of those runners: a soft-spoken young 19-year-old woman who represented the DRC in 2016 Olympics.
Student Fellow Daniel Socha reports on how the DRC's Olympic runners are giving back at home.
2016 fellows report on a range of complex issues from around the world—from global health and perceptions of identity to environmental degradation and innovation.
International media organizations nominate 'Fatal Extraction' for innovation in multimedia storytelling.
Students explore the relationship between politics and economics in the Democratic Republic of Congo and create concept maps to visualize the connections impacting the country.
Students explore the relationship between politics and economics in the Democratic Republic of Congo and create concept maps to visualize the connections impacting the country.
This is a painting lesson that combines Pablo Picasso's famous 1937 Guernica with current day issues presented from The Pulitzer Center.
This lesson uses “What Makes the Kids of Congo Run” by Daniel Socha to introduce students to the situation in Eastern Congo, the challenges youth face, and ways to effect change.
This plan includes lesson plans connected to the work of journalists that presented at the UChicago Summer Teacher Institute in June 2016.
This is a painting lesson that combines Pablo Picasso's famous 1937 "Guernica" with current day issues presented by the Pulitzer Center.
This is a painting lesson that combines Pablo Picasso's famous 1937 Guernica with current day issues presented by the Pulitzer Center.
Introduce students to the impact of mining by Australian companies in Africa. Students explore a multimedia slideshow and use what they discover in a structured debate.
Fatal Extraction examines the impact of Australian mining companies on African communities. Through exploration and discussion, students will learn about the concept of corporate responsibility.
Students learn about the impact of mining companies on African communities. Accusations of violence and poor safety regulations are explored using photographs, videos, court documents, and...
Uses resources from Fatal Extraction to support understanding around interdependent global forces, social vs individual needs, legacies of discrimination and environmental impact of human activity.
In this lesson, students will investigate their daily cost of living and develop and understanding of the safety structures in their environments.
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