A Young Conservative’s Case for Environmental Activism
At 27, Benji Backer is rallying people across the political spectrum around a market-driven climate philosophy and a desire to ‘Make America Beautiful Again.’
By M.J. KOCH
||Politics
M.J. KOCH
New York, New York
M.J. Koch is a Contributor of The New York Sun.
Ms. Koch graduated in 2023 from Harvard College, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student weekly, the Harvard Independent. She reports on issues of higher education and foreign policy at The New York Sun.
Latest Articles
Emma Ashford, With the End of the Unipolar Era, Proposes a New American Strategy
The scholar urges Washington to narrow its ambitions in a multipolar world, but risks mistaking complacency for realism.
By M.J. KOCH
||Culture
‘New Kind of Partnership’ Emerges in Trump’s Plan To Lead a ‘Second Space Race’ to the Moon and Beyond
As China and Russia race to stake their claim, America is bidding to get ahead through a fusion of federal funding and corporate ambition.
By M.J. KOCH
||National
Austria’s Apprenticeship Program Energizes Economy in Possible Model for America
A dispatch from Vienna, where students as young as 15 gain skills, earn salaries, and help keep youth unemployment among the lowest in Europe.
By M.J. KOCH
||Foreign
Mamdani, as New York City Schools Struggle, Appears To Be Pushing a Risky New Education Strategy
The democratic socialist frontrunner to lead the city would end mayoral control of the schools, which are now spending $89 billion a year.
By M.J. KOCH
||Education
Young Americans, Drowning in Debt, Are Running Into the Arms of Democratic Socialists Like Mamdani
Money owed on student loans has more than tripled, growing to $1.73 trillion from $520 billion since 2006.
By M.J. KOCH
||Politics
Foreign Policy ‘Realists’ Fear Further Escalation Following Iran Strikes, Regardless of What Trump and Company Say
‘It’s naive to think a successor government would be more friendly to the U.S.,’ one analyst says. ‘Iranian nationalism won’t disappear even if the mullahs do.’
By M.J. KOCH
||Foreign
Amid Campus Protests and Trump’s Targeting of Elite Universities, Student Journalists Step Up To Tell the Stories Close to Home
Young reporters are living at the heart of some of the nation’s biggest news — and often breaking it faster than the professionals.
By M.J. KOCH
||Politics
Brown University Student Who Caused Uproar by Sending DOGE-Style Emails to School’s Bureaucrats Is Due To Testify in Congress About Alleged Bloat in Ivy League
‘My goal is to make education more affordable,’ Alex Shieh tells the Sun.
By M.J. KOCH
||Education
As Young Catholics Move Toward Traditionalism, Views Are Mixed Whether Pope Leo XIV Can Lead the Way
‘Young people are hungry for something real,’ says a Roman Catholic YouTuber.
By M.J. KOCH
||National
For More Than Half of Gen Z, Having Children Is Not an Important Life Goal
New data from Harvard show a startling trend among those of prime child-bearing age, as Pew finds religion recedes and CDC reports plummeting birth rates.
By M.J. KOCH
||National
Can Harvard, Up Against an Antagonistic President, Go It Alone and Set a Precedent for Other Ivies To Follow?
The university’s president, Alan Garber, has some challenging days ahead.
By M.J. KOCH
||Education