This series examines the challenges the young face in a post-pandemic world. The perils are many: accelerated climate change, pervasive corporate and government surveillance, wealth gaps, record migration, increased risks of new pandemics, nuclear weapons, authoritarian regimes, recovering from the aftermath of wars, and government and religious censoring of films and TV shows. The stories will illustrate the struggles the young must navigate along with flashes of inspiration in how they might overcome a planet on the brink.

The world’s youth are more closely connected than any generation in history, linked at light-speed across continents and cultures. They are the children of TikTok and Twitter, and many are seeking new solutions on race, justice, civil and economic freedoms, and the environment. Yet they are inheriting a fractured world threatened by the old, stubborn ways of power.

Our foreign correspondents will tell these stories from China, India, Uganda, and across the globe. The World They Inherit grew out of conversations between editors and reporters about how trends—including poverty, nationalism, and the dangers of technology—intensified during the age of a pandemic that is still with us. We’ll explore these problems in real time while also asking the question: Can the young change a planet often stacked against them?

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