Politics

• The Presidential Election is sure to dominate the news in 2020. The first caucus in Iowa is scheduled for Feb. 3, with the rest of the primaries scheduled in the following months up until the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. The Democratic National Convention happens July 13-16 in Wisconsin. The Republican National Convention happens Aug. 24-27 in North Carolina. University of Notre Dame will host the first presidential debate on Sep. 29. Election Day is on Nov. 3.

Pop culture

• This year, TikTok rose to popularity to become the fourth most downloaded app, reaching one billion users. It is available in 150 markets and in 75 languages. The app has created many viral trends and social media personalities and pushed multiple songs to fame. It is credited with making “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X one of the most popular songs of 2019, along with “Roxanne” by Arizona Zervas, “Lalala” by bbno$and”Stupid” by Ashnikko. The app even introduced a multi-year partnership with the NFL, which includes launching an official NFL account. However, with an investigation by the House of Representative to look at its merger with musical.ly, 2020 is sure to be an eventful year for TikTok.

News

• 2019 saw great public reaction to social causes. In April, when Missouri introduced “heartbeat bill” legislation banning abortions as soon as doctors can detect a heartbeat, it saw national backlash, prompting protestors to cite the Roe v. Wade case and reintroducing the division between pro-life and pro-choice people. The biggest issue in 2019, however, was climate change. More than ever, people are going to the streets to participate in climate strikes to push politicians to make impactful legislation that will reverse the effects of industrialization. As the strikes continue, climate change will sure be in the news in 2020.

Influential People

Though the list of influential people is long, no one captured the spirits of Gen Z as well as Greta Thunberg. Seemingly like every other environmentally-conscious teenager, Thunberg managed to unify the global youth and started the iconic Fridays for Future climate strike. By skipping school to strike in front of Swedish parliament, Thunberg caught the attention of world leaders, enough for her to speak at the United Nations Climate Action Summit. Regardless of one’s personal beliefs, it’s hard to den