The documentary Tiger King tells the story of many eccentric big cat collectors and their community as a whole. This doumentary pitches Joe Exoctic, the owner of many big cats against the Animal Rights group Big Cat Rescue and its starter Carol Baskins. The presentation of the story sparked controversy, as it portrays Exotic as a sympathetic figure even though he abused his animals and employees, and Baskins as an antagonist even through her conservation efforts. There is no body that dictates how a story must be told in filmmaking, which has led to the makings of ethically dubious shows such as this.

American Dirt, a novel about the journey of a mother and her son seeking refuge in the U.S. was released to mixed reviews. Many immediately attacked the book upon release, saying that it was stereotypical and did not accurately show the challenges Latin Americans face, and that it lifted the voice of a white person who has never experienced these issues. Those in support of the book believe that it may be able to reach a wider audience than other books on the same topic.

Protests erupted in the summer of 2020 over the killings of two African-Americans at the hands of the police. This led to a national call to "defund the police." This desire to "defund the police" has those in favor split into two groups: those who want to abolish policing, and those who want to take money from the police and put it into other community initiatives. There are still many Americans who do not want the police abolished or defunded, citing worries about safety and a lack of an alternative.

In July 2020, Harper's Magazine published an open letter saying that the ability to freely exchange ideas is currently being constricted. This is due to what has become known as "cancel culture," the practice of preventing certain people from being able to freely exchange information because of the negative or derogatory nature of the content. While some see this as an attack on democracy, those in favor of "cancel culture" attest that some ideas should not be allowed to be spoken to create a better society.

Jeremy and Ayla are both involved in the Heritage High School PTA, which is trying to decide on a better way to prevent teenage pregnancy at school. One person proposed the idea of providing condoms in the bathrooms for the students, destigmatizing sex and allowing the students to partake safely. Jeremy believes that providing condoms is a bad idea as it would encourage students to have sex who may otherwise not, thus bringing more problems to the school.

Antoine and Jack recently sat down and talked about what dating was like after being released from prison. Antoine went to prison at eighteen for a crime he didn't commit, while Jack admits to committing the crime, but has changed his ways while in prison. When the two of them are looking for a relationship now that they are free from prison, they struggle with when and how they should tell their dates, or even if they should since it does not define them as anymore.

The aim of discipline has often been to punish a person for wrongdoings that they have committed, but this has a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged students. Instead of punishing students to discipline them, many schools have turned toward wholesome discipline. Rather than punish for something done, schools try to rehabilitate the aggressor to understand their actions and return them to a state before they commit a wrongdoing. This leads to a more supportive environment with accountability, but makes academic and disciplinary outcomes worse.

Fast fashion, the practice of large companies producing trendy, low cost items, has become more controversial with the more clothing waste that it produces. Many major fast fashion brands, such as H&M and Gap, produce items at high rates to keep costs low, but at the expense of quality and major environmental impact. These brands do however provide nicer clothing to those who may not be able to afford sustainable and designer brands.

Since 2014, Korean pop music, or K-Pop, has become increasingly popular all over the world. Many see this rise in popularity as a good thing, as it allows for the rest of the world to experience and connect with new cultures. However, many K-Pop artists are forced into grueling contracts, and experience everything from long hours and high demands to forced plastic surgery and sexual exploitation. Many still see K-Pop as a net good since performers willingly sign their contracts and because a high work ethic is valued in South Korea.

A pastime of Megan and Andy's before the COVID-19 pandemic was to explore new restaurants. When COVID hit, and the government shut down all non-essential businesses, they were unable to do this. When restrictions started lifting, Megan and Andy continued to explore while following safety precautions. Megan was worried that what they were doing was too risky, putting the workers and their families in danger. Andy assured her that what they were doing was ok: with so many unemployed, it was good that people were going back to work and to support the businesses that did not permanently close.

Across America, many universities and other institutions have struggled with the racial inequality in America's past as it relates to the namesakes of many buildings. Many universities, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have found it within their best interests to change the names of buildings whose namesakes were directly involved in enforcing racial inequality. Many people argue that these buildings should keep their namesakes because they are not as bad as their contemporaries, while others argue that it is demoralizing to see these racist names on campus.

With the continuation of COVID-19 into the 2020-2021 school year, people were divided on whether or not K-12 students would be virtual or in-person. People argued that because of the low risk that children faced from the virus, it was safe to send them back to school. Some parents need a safe place to send their children while they work. Still, many argued that while children have less risk, much is still unknown about the virus's long term effects, and that adults would have to gather in order to teach the children.

Mary had leftover money in her budget for the month, so she decided to donate it to charity. She decided that Kiva, a charity that offers microloans to women entrepreneurs, was her charity of choice. When she told her friend Sam, he warned her that microloans can cause more harm than good, and encouraged her to give her money to GiveDirectly, a charity that gives money to the poor with no conditions on how to use it.

TikTok, a social media app, has quickly risen to be one of the most popular social media platforms among younger generations. However, many different countries, such as the United States and India, have taken measures to ban the app because of its ties to the Chinese Government. Because Tik-Tok is owned by a Chinese company, the Totalitarian regime of China can demand access to user data gathered by TikTok, making TikTok an alleged threat to national security in the eyes of many lawmakers.

Many animal products that can be found today in stores come from a factory farm, which are industrial scale farming facilities that process large amounts of animals in a condensed area. These factory farms allow for cheap and widely available meat products across the United States, bringing necessary nutrients to American diets. However, factory farming has many negative costs, such as pollution, poor working conditions, and negative health effects to consumers.