Between the Sahara to the north and savanna to the south lies the semi-arid Sahel, a region stretching from Senegal to Sudan that has experienced desperate poverty, climate change, malnutrition, and violence. While every context is different, the Sahelian countries share some common challenges, including a pattern of recurring crises and fluid borders. Boko Haram’s reign of terror in northern Nigeria and Mali’s coup have both had cross-border components. [Video Below]

Psychological disorders following childbirth are incredibly common among women around the world, but are routinely ignored. It’s a “topic that has had to work hard to provide evidence about its fundamental importance,” said Jane Fisher at the Wilson Center. A Maternal Health Initiative panel on so-called perinatal common mental health disorders was the most popular story on the blog last month.

A pair of recently launched data sources offers visualizations to help people understand two hot-button issues in demography: the demographic dividend and changing fertility rates.

In 1968, Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich predicted hundreds of millions would starve to death over the next decade, many of them Americans, and the world would generally decline into chaos in his book The Population Bomb.

Conventional wisdom has been that wealthier countries have better environmental protections than poorer countries. However, a new annual report launched this year, the Environmental Democracy Index, reveals that a strong economy does not necessarily ensure strong environmental rights.

Between sessions on the value of creating a physical expression of digital brands (Evernote socks) and Bitcoin, this year’s South by South West (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, featured newcomers from a different background: the U.S. National Intelligence Council.