Oklahoma Thunder are NBA Champions
TOPIC: The Oklahoma Thunder have beaten the Indiana Pacers to win the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each team and how did that play out in the finals? Who won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the finals and why? What was the Thunder’s record this season and how does it rank in NBA history?
SEARCH TERMS: NBA AND Thunder AND Pacers AND (champion OR champions OR finals OR championship)
South Africa Wins the ICC World Test Championship
TOPIC: South Africa cinched the World Test Championship (WTC) by defeating Australia; the last time South Africa won the ICC trophy was in 1998. Which competitors had standout performances? Why did this win end decades of heartbreak “chokers”? How does this historic win impact South Africa’s reputation globally, and what will it mean for the country’s future in Test cricket?
SEARCH TERMS: (Johannesburg OR "South Africa") AND (cricket OR "World Test Championship")
Buss Family Selling Los Angeles Lakers
TOPIC: The Buss family has made an agreement to sell majority control of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA team to Mark Walter, the CEO of financial services firm Guggenheim Partners and to the owner and chairman of MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers. What impact is this sale expected to have on the Lakers? How long has the Buss family owned the Lakers and what has been their influence on the team? What was the reason for the sale?
SEARCH TERMS: Buss AND Lakers AND “Mark Walter
Brazil: The Rise of Women’s Professional Surfing
TOPIC: The World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour heads to Rio and is showing the unpredictability and the depth of talent in the women’s professional surfing world – there have been many upsets with rising stars showing superb riding abilities while making it through elimination rounds. Who are the standout competitors, and which countries are they from? Where have the previous stops of the WSL been, and which ones are considered iconic surfing locations? How have the riders trained, and what are both the land and water workouts like?
SEARCH TERMS: ((women AND ("pro surfing" OR "professional surfing" OR "professional surfers")) OR "female surfers" OR (she NEAR5 surfing)) NEAR40 (Brazil OR Rio OR "World Surf League Championship Tour")
U.S. Open
TOPIC: American J.J. Spaun has won this year’s U.S. Open Championship golf tournament. What are the major strengths of J.J. Spaun’s golf game and what were some of the most exciting shots in this tournament? What course was this year’s U.S. Open Championship played on and what are some interesting aspects of that course?
SEARCH TERMS: (“US Open” OR “U.S. Open”) AND (“J.J. Spaun” OR “J. J. Spaun”)
Capital Brutalism
TOPIC: The National Building Museum in Washington DC has put on a long exhibition called Capital Brutalism. What Washington DC buildings and transit system does this exhibit explore and why? What is Brutalism and what is the history of it?
SEARCH TERMS: “National Building Museum” AND Brutalism
Italy: Venice Biennale Architettura
TOPIC: With 66 city-wide installations, Viennale Architettura shows how architecture can address climate change. Which countries have memorable exhibits as the architectural design combats climate change? How do built environments adapt to climate change? This year’s curator, Carlo Ratti, claims that architecture is “no longer about form,” and he thinks it is very important that universities are playing a key role in this year’s Biennale: what is behind Ratti’s statement?
SEARCH TERMS: "Venice Architecture Biennale" AND ("climate change" OR "global warming")
Ukraine: Forgottenness
TOPIC: A novel with dual narratives of a former political theorist of Ukrainian statehood and a contemporary unnamed female narrator, Forgottenness has received impressive critical acclaim and has been shortlisted for the 2025 EBRD Literature Prize. What are the themes in the novel? How does its author, Tanja Maljartschuk, weave the personal and the collective into Ukraine’s past and present?
SEARCH TERMS: Forgottenness OR (Maljartschuk AND novel)
William Langewiesche
TOPIC: William Langewiesche was an author, journalist, and pilot. What journalism awards did he win or become a finalist for and why? What were the primary magazines he wrote for and what kind of stories was he most known for covering? What were his most popular books and why?
SEARCH TERMS: “William Langewiesche” AND Pulitzer
BET Awards
TOPIC: Rapper Kendrick Lamar was the major winner at this year’s Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards with five wins and ten nominations. What works did Lamar win for and what were the qualities in those works that impressed the critics? Who were some of the other major winners and what impressed the critics about their work?
SEARCH TERMS: (“BET Awards” OR “Black Entertainment Television”) AND “Kendrick Lamar” AND Awards
Indonesia: The Bali International Film Festival
TOPIC: The filmmakers’ predominant themes of the 18th edition of the Bali International Film Festival focused on Indigenous heritage and environmental sustainability. Local films and regional narratives garner substantial international attention at this particular film festival -- considered Indonesia’s most prestigious. Why? What are the recognition categories of the Bali International Film Festival, and which film won awards? Why is the Bali Film Festival seen as being especially supportive of local filmmakers?
SEARCH TERMS: "Bali International Film Festival" OR ((Bali OR Balinale OR Sanur) NEAR30 "film festival")
Finland: Music and the Brain
TOPIC: A landmark imaging study from the University of Turku PET Center reveals that listening to one's favorite music activates opioid receptors in the human brain, triggering a neurochemical response associated with one’s biological reward responses. How does listening to your favorite music activate your brain’s opioid receptors? What types of receptors in the brain are affiliated with rewards? How might this study help to understand further the brain’s role in providing pain relief?
SEARCH TERMS: Finland AND "music AND (brain OR opioid OR relief)
Brian Wilson
TOPIC: Brian Wilson was a leading member and composer for the rock band the Beach Boys. What kind of music were the Beach Boys primarily known for when they started out in the early 1960s and how did their music progress from the middle 60’s and into the 70’s? What kind of innovative orchestration and arrangements had Wilson developed by the mid-1960s, and why did it have such an impact on music critics and other musicians?
SEARCH TERMS: “Brian Wilson” AND “Beach Boys”
South Africa: National Arts Festival
TOPIC: “Vivid. Bold. Unfiltered.” is the title of this year’s edition of the National Arts Festival. The festival is renowned for its roots in creative freedom and boundary-pushing artistic expression. What are some of this year’s program highlights? What are some of the 2025 innovations, and what makes the festival unique this year? What is the economic and cultural impact of the National Arts Festival?
SEARCH TERMS: "South Africa" AND "National Arts Festival"
Tony Awards
TOPIC: Purpose, Maybe Happy Ending, and Sunset Boulevard all did well at this year’s Tony Awards. What were the aspects of these works that impressed the critics? What were some other winners in this year’s Tony Awards and why? When did the Tony Awards start and what do they recognize?
SEARCH TERMS: “Tony Awards”