What We Gained from Artemis II

by Emerson Prentice for The 44 North, Contributing Writer - Politics

NASA's Artemis II Crew at the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on January 17, 2026 in Cape Canaveral, Florida: Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch (mission specialist), and Jeremy Hansen (mission specialist). Joe Raedle/Getty Images

"Real money and time went into launching this space mission, both of which will continue to be spent as NASA progresses toward reaching its ultimate goal: Returning to the moon. The natural question is: Is it worth it? What is the actual point of an extravagant mission of this kind?" 

The Artemis II mission is NASA’s next step in this generation's space race. Both the US and China have their eyes on the moon to further scientific exploration and build outposts. The Artemis mission is advancing astronomy and bringing humanity one step closer to putting humans back on the moon and exploring the cosmos.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPyl6d2FJGw

The cost isn’t small though. The Artemis toilet alone rings in at 23 million dollars and the whole mission is over budget. These exorbitant prices hit at a difficult time for many. Inflation in the US has surged as a result of the war in Iran and affordability continues to be top of mind for Americans.

Real money and time went into launching this space mission, both of which will continue to be spent as NASA progresses toward reaching its ultimate goal: Returning to the moon. The natural question is: Is it worth it? What is the actual point of an extravagant mission of this kind? 

An estimated 650 million people watched the first moon landing in July, 1969. It was a culturally iconic moment—the memories of the touchdown have echoed through generations. Young people today don’t necessarily have an equivalent moment to look upon with the same awe and wonder. Yet. 

The Artemis mission has immense potential to provide this touchstone for young people right now. It may foster belief in the unknown and real faith in lofty goals—something that feels impossible to imagine in politics. The participating astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—proved that the Orion spacecraft is up to the task of returning to the moon. These astronauts pushed the needle by being the first to leave earth’s low-orbit since 1972, traveling the farthest distance humans ever have before—248,655 miles from Earth. 

Viewers can now track the astronauts and spacecraft with more precise technology and a closer eye than ever before. The mission is both easy to follow and root for—it represents the advancement of not just one political party or individual but the entire human race. 

Users online can follow the Artemis II crew. Via NASA.

In addition to building the outposts, a return to the moon has the potential to catalyze scientific advancement—a chance to explore and collect resources from the surface like helium-3. It’s also the first step in enabling humans to live on the moon in an operation similar to that of the International Space Station (ISS). 

Even so, any mission to advance space exploration is a politically charged and costly one. From one angle, space is being explored and from another, it's being conquered. Building permanent outposts on the moon is not a far step from colonization. 

Astronauts setting up equipment on the moon

Even more, frontier research always has the potential to unveil unforeseen knowledge in its path. Pushing the boundaries of celestial research also means pushing the boundaries of research possibility as a whole. 

On their trip, the astronauts witnessed parts of the Moon’s surface never before seen by human eyes. They now have experiences to share and inspire the world. Such impactful, global motivation is difficult to quantify or put a price tag on. The goals of NASA’s space exploration are certainly remote and intangible for an average American living paycheck to paycheck—images of a solar eclipse from beyond the moon won’t put food on anyone’s table—but that doesn’t mean they can’t be empowering, influential, and perhaps even make economic struggles indirectly more manageable. 

The astronauts spoke of a complete shift in their world perspective upon their return to Earth. 

“You guys are talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth. But you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos,” said Glover in an Interview with CBS News.

The mission has real potential to be a motivating boost for disillusioned youth. The cost is big but the payout is too—especially now. Amid a loneliness epidemic and rampant violence across the globe, unity is a necessity. This is a moment to come together and watch what humans can do with determination, teamwork, and bravery. It’s motivation toward advancements that, even though remarkably distant, can be achieved. 

Artemis III, the next segment of the mission, is set for 2027 and will involve testing commercial landers. Until then, astronauts, scientists, and leaders are hard at work to make humans on the moon a reality, once again, for everyone to see.

---

Emerson Prentice is a Freshman at Stanford studying Anthropology. At school, she is the Campus Life desk editor for the Stanford Daily, a DJ for the campus radio station KZSU, and an associate producer for the Stanford Storytelling Project’s award-winning podcast, “State of the Human.” For fun, Emerson also loves to run, cook, and birdwatch!

---

The Gift Writers Give: What AI Can’t Do

by Catherine Mwitta for The 44 North, Contributing Writer - Politics

An orange-hued image of a page with handwriting on it. A modern quill is resting on the page.

"Burnout became inevitable, and writing fiction became a hustle rather than a creative art form. This pace of creation wasn’t sustainable, but unfortunately, something else appeared to be." 

When I was ten years old, I gathered sheets of printing paper to write stories whenever I found myself daydreaming. I remember the first time I wanted to write. Maybe I was bored, and writing kept me busy. Or rather, I was moved by novels, magic, and life in such a way that only writing could help me respond; help me wake up without leaving a dream. 

As I grew older, writing became an activity I returned to in my free time. Everyone turns to writing for different reasons, but each—no matter the form—is connected to a core desire to distill and share our relationship with the world around us. I didn’t start publishing my work until I was much older, and decided I wanted to pursue a career in writing, but I never lost sight of that very human feeling, propelling my words across the page: Being Seen. 

Via Authors Guild

For a long time, choosing writing as a career was discouraged based on income.  According to a 2022 Authors Guild survey, referenced in Publishers Weekly, established full-time authors earn $23,329 a year—up 21% from 2018. The job site Indeed.com says authors in the United States earn on average $52,625 per year, which translates to $22.57 per hour. Change the search to “Writer,” and these numbers climb to $70,641 and $30.24, respectively.

These numbers are well-known and circulated, but even so, many writers, including me, see writing as an opportunity to escape the rat race of a nine-to-five job. Yet, unbeknownst to most (myself included), pivoting to a writing career means entering a whole other race. Another, perhaps unanticipated change was on the horizon.

The rise of indie/self-publishing technology and markets.

During the digital revolution, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) launched in 2007. This technological innovation allowed anyone to publish a novel without having to bypass the well-guarded gates of traditional publishing. For much of the early and mid-2000s, self-publishing was a surefire way to bar yourself from traditional publication, often seen as a last resort for frequently slush pile-rejected writers. This all changed during the pandemic.

Around this time, indie/self-publishing by writers increased exponentially (Vancouver Sun, Self-publishing Advisor, EA Books Publishing). Publishers no longer catered to their mid-list-tier authors, resulting in lower advances and a lack of marketing that often prevented them from recouping already abysmal advances to earn royalties as passive income. KDP offers a 30 percent to 70 percent ratio on royalties, an enticing upside considering traditional publishers offer a 15 percent split after factoring in literary agents (who take another 15 percent of the cut).

Writers opted for self-publishing over traditional publishing due to its high return on investment. They uploaded digital novels to Kindle and advertised them to readers through social media ads. The biggest bestsellers were (are) romance novels, and many indie-published writers made six figures writing Romantasy and now dark romance. 

Becoming a full-time writer was more accessible and possible than ever before. But, as always, there were conditions: Authors had to release at least three to four books a year to meet readership demands, and marketing became a side job, considering most “self-pubbed” authors didn't have the same connections as “trad-pubs.” Burnout became inevitable, and writing fiction became a hustle rather than a creative art form. This pace of creation wasn’t sustainable, but unfortunately, something else appeared to be.

The Indie & self-publishing demand meet generative AI.

Why spend years on a novel when you could write solely to generate income and pump out a book within an hour? 

In the New York Times piece, “The New Fabio Is Claude: The romance industry, always at the vanguard of technological change, is rapidly adapting to A.I. Not everyone is on board,” romance novelist Coral Hart stated that she used to write 10-12 novels per year. Her output is now 200 novels per year using generative AI. 

A phone with AI apps on a dark screen.

“If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” Hart said.

Readers debate the quality of Hart’s books, but what’s certain is that she’s sold around 50,000 copies and currently earns six figures. 

Traditional publishers have also recognized the profitability of AI, much like how many of them have now recognized the profitability of signing bestselling self-published authors, rather than cultivating submissions from their slush piles. In 2024, HarperCollins inked a deal with an unknown AI company to train their models on non-fiction books, and last year announced plans to use AI for translations, deciding to replace employees with tech. Regarding content creation, many readers contend that Silver Elite by Dani Francis (a pen name) was an AI-written novel, and that the Hachette-acquired book Shygirl by Mia Ballard was as well. 

As AI-generated books flood the market, I wonder when readers will no longer be able to tell whether a book was written by a large language model or by a human. I fear that day is soon. But even so, writing isn’t dead. Writers have and will continue to tell the stories closest to their hearts. We just have to look for them—and listen. And personally, quality over quantity not only matters most, but shows.

For example, Tomi Adeyemi signed a six-figure book and movie deal with Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, for her first novel, Children of Blood and Bone. Jill Bearup has sold over 54,468 copies of her book Just Stab Me Now since its release in 2024, published by an independent press. Adeyemi wrote a West African-inspired YA fantasy, uncommon in 2018, and Bearup wrote a meta fantasy novel about an author’s characters acting out-of-character, a book no publisher knew how to sell. These two authors have done well in the publishing market because they chose to write deeply personal stories. 

When I feel I could be writing stories faster, or worse, that I’m not writing for market trends, I come back to my core beliefs and values: I don’t use AI for research, writing, or editing. The stories I write come from a part of me. Likewise, synthesizing what I hope to communicate to an audience during revisions is just as important to me as the final copy. All aspects of writing challenge me as a human, and as a reader, books do the same. 

What AI can’t do isn’t profitable. Maybe that’s a good thing.

As Western society pushes for more efficiency and higher profit margins, I continue to search for how to exist within this system. 

AI might be able to move me deeply as a reader, but it can’t expand my worldview. Anthropic recently settled a lawsuit over the illegal use of pirated books to train Claude, widely regarded as one of the better generative AI applications. Human experiences are not singular, and large language models can only replicate preexisting ideas. 

And thus, the greatest gift a writer can ever give a reader is the ability to think differently.

---

Catherine Mwitta has a bachelor’s in creative writing from Kwantlen Polytechnic University and a certification in Journalism from Langara College. She is an editor at Augur Magazine and INKspire. Likewise, bylines at Stir Vancouver, SAD Mag, This Magazine, C Magazine and Bluffs Monitor.

---

Growing Divide Over Iran’s Future Puts U.S. Policy Under the Spotlight

by Wardah Malik for The 44 North, Contributing Writer - Politics

Lindsey Graham (left) with President Donald Trump, who is holding a signed “Make Iran Great Again” hat. (Lindsey Graham/X)

"The future of Iran remains uncertain. But what is clear is that democracy cannot be forged through violence, repression, or outside interference." 

Two days after the United States announced the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump was photographed on board Air Force One with a hat that said “Make Iran Great Again,” foreshadowing the war that now involves nearly 10 countries across the Middle East. 

While the dynamics that define U.S. involvement in Caracas do not exactly mirror Tehran, what remains the same is the commitment to a new approach to foreign affairs that is swift, harsh, and openly involves regime change. 

“They have waged war against civilization itself. Our resolve, and likewise that of Israel, has never been stronger,” Trump said of U.S. military attacks against Iran. Yet, this resolve and the U.S.’s objectives beyond regime change have been ill-defined, a reality that has 56% of Americans opposing military action. The American public that elected Trump on the basis of a “no new wars” promise is not eager to participate in a conflict with no clear end, raising the question: Who wants this war? In part, the answer is found in the Iranian diaspora, many of whose visions for a “new Iran” seem to rely on Trump.  

Via PBS News/NPR/Marist Poll, National Adults

On February 28, 2026, Iranians across the world took to the streets to celebrate the U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led Iran for more than thirty years. “We needed this help for decades,” claim Iranian-Canadians, a number of whom attended rallies waving pre-revolutionary Iranian flags alongside the Israeli flag and photos of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah. 

Often seen wearing a “Trump Was Right About Everything” or a MIGA hat, this segment of the Iranian diaspora routinely borrows rhetoric to push forward a pro-monarchist agenda that positions Pahlavi as a democratic, secular figure—a reliable Western ally in the Middle East. For example, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in 2025, the National Union for Democracy in Iran, a U.S.-based pro-monarchy group, released its “Emergency Phase Booklet,” a nearly 200-page document that echoes international democratic norms whilst framing the U.S. as a valuable partner in Iran’s “peaceful transition to a democratic future.” It directly names Pahlavi as the “leader of the national uprising.” Notably, this title gives Pahlavi the power to veto the institutions and selection processes in a transitional government—a highly undemocratic right.  

Despite United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insisting that Iran is “not Iraq,” historians cannot help but to note several instances where U.S. intervention in the Middle East—and its preference for certain leaders—has led to decades of conflict, worsening human rights, and heightened instability. Furthermore, those familiar with Iran’s history note the Pahlavi dynasty’s tendency towards authoritarian rule, from banning the hijab (Kashf-e hijab) to the establishment of the SAVAK Secret Police that executed hundreds of political dissidents; an experience that sparked the 1979 Islamic Revolution and ultimately gave rise to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. 

While Reza Pahlavi cannot be held responsible for the autocratic nature of his family’s rule, his supporters, cult of personality movement, self-appointment as Iran’s transition leader, and his open disregard for federalism or language rights for Iran’s ethnic minorities indicate that his rule will likely mark a return to autocracy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fs2xL_DmIA

As pro-monarchists insist that Pahlavi is the democratic future of Iran and others in the diaspora scramble to find alternative viable leaders, Iran has strengthened hardline elements in its establishment, effectively narrowing political space and deeming any form of legitimate dissent or opposition as a security risk. It’s under these conditions that the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been appointed; a move that Trump argues won’t “last long” without the U.S.’s approval.

Trump told ABC News, “We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it.”

With the war entering its sixth week, thousands of civilian lives—including those of Iranian schoolchildren—have been lost in Iran, Lebanon, and Israel. Now a regional and global crisis, the U.S.’s initial military attack proves that the collapse of a regime, especially when driven by foreign actors, does not automatically lead to democracy. Instead, it creates an intense power vacuum that exacerbates political unrest and silences the voices that demand a better future for ordinary people. 

So, where does this leave the Iranian people?

Some in the diaspora who thank the U.S. and Israel for their involvement—arguing that “nothing is scarier than the [Islamic] regime”—overlook just how frightening cycles of foreign intervention can be. And while both the U.S. and Israel justify their military actions as acts of solidarity with Iranian protestors, there are clear strategic interests in dismantling the Islamic regime that undermine civilian life in pursuit of geopolitical advantage in the region. 

The future of Iran remains uncertain. But what is clear is that democracy cannot be forged through violence, repression, or outside interference. Those desperate for regime change must remember that the way change is pursued is fundamental to lasting peace and stability.

---

Wardah Malik is a Toronto-based researcher, editor, and historian. She is the founder of Historyless Magazine, an independent publication covering global affairs and underreported political narratives. Her work spans media, human rights, and community-based research, including projects on press freedom, public health, and gender-based violence. Her research interests include governance, decolonizing language, and the preservation of underrepresented histories. Wardah holds an MPhil in World History from the University of Cambridge.

---