This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of federal student loan borrowers have existed in a peculiar gray zone: They’re not making payments on their debt, but the government hasn’t come after them. Under […]

In her late 20s, Christie Tate struggled with crushing loneliness, bulimia, and suicidal thoughts. Then, she had a conversation that changed her life. Try group, a friend told her — as in group psychotherapy.  Like most people, Tate had thought of therapy as a two-person endeavor: a therapist smoking a pipe and a patient on […]

In Iran, a series of massacres may be taking place out of sight. More than 12,000 people are thought dead as anti-regime protests enter their third week, according to news reports from the country on Tuesday.  The protests, which began in late December, initially centered on economic issues but have grown in scope and scale. […]

There was never much reason to hope that the Supreme Court, which heard two cases on Tuesday asking whether transgender women have a right to play women’s high school or college sports, was going to side with those athletes. The Court has a 6-3 Republican majority. And, even if it didn’t, existing law isn’t particularly […]

This story originally appeared in The Guardian as an exclusive and is republished here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called […]