I am always on the lookout for historians who can fashion well-worn stories from the past into sparkling new dramas filled with cliffhangers and near-catastrophes that keep me turning pages in taut expectation of an outcome decided centuries ago. Author Scott Ellsworth provides just that in Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the […]
Part of being a student — even an old one, like me — is spending time in the library. As I write this, I am sitting in the Firestone Library at Princeton University, looking up at a wall festooned with names of honored, illustrious alumni and super-rich donors, two categories that do not always, or […]
Godzilla has terrorized the Land of the Rising Sun for decades. Known as a kaiju (monster) in Japan, and King of the Monsters in the United States, Godzilla’s fearsome roar and atomic breath is a child’s nightmare come to life. It’s fought with and against other gigantic creatures. It’s struck fear in the hearts of […]
Until it closed last year, Monarch Novelties was the only souvenir store in Washington, D.C., that sold campaign memorabilia exclusive to the three presidential elections of the 1960s. The store was an oddity, a decaying building on 14th Street that, for more than 80 years, trafficked in eccentricities: not just Kennedy– and Nixon-era nostalgia but […]
Recently, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has argued that during the Biden years, Army basic training became too soft and lost some of its hardcore edge. He wants basic training to toughen up. Which brings us to a phenomenon in the Army I’ll call the Hardcore Paradox: Soldiers enjoy comfort and dislike pain, stress, and […]
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) rallied support Thursday for his redistricting proposal in response to Texas’s plans, telling the country to “wake up” to what President Trump is trying to do in office. “Wake up, America,” Newsom said at the rally, formally announcing the special election he is planning that would allow California to propose...
President Trump backed up his wife, first lady Melania Trump, in her threat to sue Hunter Biden, former President Biden’s son, over comments linking her to convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. “Well, I said go forward, you know, I’ve done pretty well on these lawsuits lately, and I said, go forward with...
{beacon} PRESIDENT TRUMP and Russian President Vladimir Putin face a potentially a defining moment on the world stage when they arrive in Alaska on Friday for a bilateral summit, as Trump hopes to broker an end to Putin’s three-year war with Ukraine. Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time...
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a bill to provide legal pathways for Afghans who supported U.S. forces, offering hope for Afghan allies living in the U.S. and the American community members who now call them neighbors and friends.
Video above: FDA announces in April 2025 that it will phase out food dyes. (NEXSTAR) — While several other food companies had confirmed they would drop artificial food dyes in response to a mission set forth by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this summer, Mars Wrigley was considered a holdout....
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will speak to reporters Thursday afternoon as the mid-decade redistricting battle heats up across the U.S. ahead of the 2026 midterms, a day after announcing the "Liberation Day" event. His remarks come as Democrats push back against GOP "gerrymandering" efforts in Texas that could give Republicans five additional seats in next...
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to block Mississippi from enforcing its social media age-verification law against nine major platforms, for now. In an emergency ruling, the justices denied an internet trade group NetChoice’s request to reinstate a lower court’s order protecting social media giants like Meta, X and YouTube from the new requirements. The...
A federal appeals court panel declined Louisiana’s invitation to gut a key provision of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) that has required the state to draw additional majority-minority districts, ruling Thursday that the argument is foreclosed by binding precedent. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision upholds a judge’s ruling that blocked Louisiana’s state...
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Wednesday said he is not looking to privatize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or its air traffic controllers, an idea floated by President Trump during his first term. “I could spend my time the next three and a half years fighting over privatization. I'm not going to do that,” Duffy...
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday the Washington, D.C., man accused of throwing a sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer was employed by the Department of Justice (DOJ). “I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER. Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a...
A new bill in New York State legislature targets tax-exempt nonprofits that participate in political campaigns, creating a new state process to enforce the federal Johnson Amendment and allowing for lobbying for or against new laws so long as it doesn't impede a campaign.
