Training in how to translate data

On June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican from Maine, stood up against Republican Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin and his supporters, who were undermining American democracy in a c...

Sam Sifton, the host of The Morning newsletter for The New York Times, led with a poem this morning, asking for a pause before the news, a moment of contemplation on this Memorial Day.

For a while now, I’ve been hinting that my team was up to something.

A translucent sea slug missing since the 1860s, a spider no one had ever uploaded, and why the City Nature Challenge is now producing the most valuable biodiversity data of the year.

Libraries remain one of the institutions that help make the American Experiment possible: open, free, and committed to the belief that knowledge belongs to everyone.

Six years ago today, I put my baby in a camping carrier, strapped her on, opened my laptop on my dining room table, and started typing as fast as I could.

These have been invaluable for me. Maybe they will help you too.

The tech backlash is now mainstream—and even tech companies are joining in

Trump’s White House website welcomes visitors with a pop-up that reads: “WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN AGE!” But on this heavy news day a year into Trump’s second term, it is increasingly clear that as his re...

A backwards glance to fuel our forward gallop.

Federal nutrition advice has evolved over the years.

OCTOPUS

In his new book, professor Randall Balmer warns of the growing erosion of the separation between church and state in the United States.

I’ve told this story other places over the years, but it bears repeating:

On collective grief, love meeting loss, and what happens when our nervous systems are asked to absorb the world all at once.

On the surface, the Tao is impractical, illogical

The demands of citizenship in a divided time, as tested in the Texas legislature

Big business, and its political enablers, have turned tail. They need to take a page from the resistance

The return to cursive must not become a return to shame.

“The Handbook for Constitutional Observers” explains how to safely document law enforcement interactions, inform people about their rights and connect families to support resources.

We Are All Renee Good

What your AI chatbot learned from the internet's loudest voices.

How did we get here? And how do we get back?

The virtues of spending two years watching something in nature do basically nothing

We have, in a sense, acted as though we own Greenland for decades.

This week has felt like the bad shift when winter first begins and all of a sudden in the morning it's dark, and it is dark in the early evening, and the whole day becomes elliptically squeezed.

This week has felt like the bad shift when winter first begins and all of a sudden in the morning it's dark, and it is dark in the early evening, and the whole day becomes elliptically squeezed.

The verification tricks that would make fact-checkers weep with joy.

This is what's coming in 2026

All the news the headlines missed in 2025.

I just finished the new biography of Octavia Butler (Positive Obsession), one of the great writers of my lifetime. Whether you know her work well, or are just being introduced to it, this book is both...

"My name's Leonard. I'm 74. I answer phones at Murphy's Plumbing. Been here six years, ever since my knees gave out and I couldn't crawl under sinks anymore. Now I just sit at this desk, take call...

Ranger Betty Reid Soskin passed away on December 21, 2025, at the age of 104, in her Richmond, California home. She was surrounded by loved ones in her final moments. Betty Reid Soskin was a trailblaz...

Will this be the cool new thing of 2026?

Quiet intelligence with civilizational power

With Putin manipulating every aspect of the "peace" negotiations, we need to imagine what happens "If Russia Wins."

Or why clarity is overrated

A global review finds rising fear and discomfort toward nature, with major impacts on health and conservation.

A tragic tale...

The last video rental store is your public library. https://www.404media.co/the-last-video-rental-store-is-your-public-library/

77 years of song.

It rhymes with creepy.

Don't wait to say the things you need to say.

This is something I will never forget

I forget to make sure I am wearing matching sneakers sometimes, and—five minutes later, standing at the bathroom sink—whether I took the meds or just planned to take the meds.

A Failure to Preserve your National Parks

I recently received a letter from a young man—but what can I say to him?

The US Army Garrison Bavaria removed references to German food banks and other discounted food provision services from its "shutdown guidance" web page.

One hears wise and evolved spiritual teachers and their students say with confidence that you can’t have faith and fear at the same time, and I think that is very nice, and I wish it was true for me.