Before we start, an apology. The next two paragraphs are going to sound a little sciencey: MDMA (chemistry class name: 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) is a synthetic drug that alters mood and perception by increasing the activity of neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain. It is often associated with recreational use at parties and raves […]
Summer is here. It’s time for a break, especially from politics. Why waste time thinking about Hunter Biden’s convictions and President Joe Biden’s lack of them when we could, like Donald Trump, be enjoying our freedom while we can? Let’s take a vacation in Europe. They have politics there, too, but a change is as […]
In a geopolitical climate dominated by creeping great-power competition, calls for renewed diplomacy sound misguided. Efforts at peace in Gaza and Ukraine have hitherto fallen on deaf ears as the prospect of negotiations drifts further away amid a current of chaos. Is this the new normal? Is it possible to broker peace when the U.S. […]
One of the best jokes in Whit Stillman‘s 1994 comedy Barcelona could apply to much academic writing of the past half-century. Fred, a naval officer who is a new arrival in Europe, asks his expatriate cousin Ted about something he noticed in the books he has been reading while waiting for the fleet to arrive. […]
San Francisco is opening a market where people can take food and walk out without having to pay for it. This time, they are doing it on purpose. San Francisco has opened what is being called a “free food market.” It is essentially a food pantry where approved residents in the neighborhood who fill a […]
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. -- A smattering of Hindi and Urdu mixed with American-accented English could be heard over the blasts of Bollywood music this past Sunday at a stadium on Long Island, N.Y., offering a signal that cricket had arrived in the United States. Fans were packed in like sardines at Eisenhower Park in East...
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and former President Trump made efforts on Thursday to bury the hatchet and end their long-running feud as GOP confidence grows that the party could win both chambers of Congress and the White House this fall. It was uncertain initially whether McConnell would even attend the lunch meeting hosted...
After launching a nonprofit that’s eliminated more than $10 billion of medical debt in the U.S., a Navy veteran is seeking to relieve the burden of debt for his fellow former service members. Jerry Ashton leveraged his experience in the debt collection industry to launch Undue Medical Debt, formerly known as RIP Medical Debt, in...
A global network of powerful entities, fueled in part by Wall Street, is buying up land and water around the world. This global land rush has led to wrecked wells and lost farms from Arizona to Zambia — and it risks sowing the seeds for future global conflict, according to "The Grab," a new documentary out today from...
U.S. gas prices started the summer driving season lower than usual, with experts pointing to mild demand and cheaper oil as factors contributing to the moderate costs. Though confounding variables, such as the hurricane season and downstream effects of extreme heat, could still shake things up, prices are expected to continue declining in the coming...