Despite the positive connotations surrounding the terms improvement and development, their denotations encompass the process of acknowledging and bringing change to embedded flaws. In its essence, getting better at something has much more to do with understanding what got you in a worse-off position than excessively pacifying your imperfections for the sake of self-improvement. This uncomfortable – at times, disturbing – aspect of change is the overarching theme of The Granite Tower’s (GT) October issue, where we shed light upon the sacrifices made in various fields by biting the bullet.

In its October issue, GT provides its readers with engaging commentary on the disconcerting realities besieging our society. Our Cover Story exposes the increasing unpredictability of climate change and society’s growing incompetency to effectively tackle this issue instead of sugarcoating or exaggerating global efforts. Our Foreign Reports both expound upon the unsettling past and present of high-named institutions, followed by disconcerting implications for the resolutions of these issues. Even our Arts & Culture articles represent creative works that are editorials on society, with I’m Glad My Mom Died being a raw telling of generational trauma and Only Murders in the Building serving as a critique on true crime culture that glamorizes murder.

To some, this may feel like the most negative issue of GT published in 2022. However, raising awareness of such imperfections in our world is integral in stimulating an informed discussion on how to resolve these problems. GT hopes to do so within its October issue by enticing the minds of its readers in a variety of different fields by letting them in on problematic realities they do not – or cannot – see for themselves.