In the spring of 2015, few outlets predicted that the US would soon face a democratic crisis. Barack Obama was the president, and the conventional wisdom was that he’d be succeeded by Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush. Donald Trump wouldn’t announce his presidential bid until June, and most people in Washington treated it as a […]

This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox’s member-exclusive magazine. To get access to member-exclusive stories every month, join the Vox Membership program today. Had William Foege been a military general or a CEO or a politician, his death on January 24 would have been bold-type, front-page news. Elementary schools and highways would have been named […]

The world is hungrier than ever for energy.  Demand for heating, cooling, lighting, computing power, and just getting around is rising. In particular, the buildout of data centers to power technologies like AI has set off a rush for new power plants in countries like the US and China. Fossil fuel consumption reached a record […]

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was the longest ever given. But to understand its core purpose — arguably, the core purpose of his presidency — you need only to hear one line. It came during a discussion of the SAVE Act, a Republican bill designed to combat the fictitious scourge of noncitizen voting. […]

Tax season starts early this year. Or at least it should for you, because this one is a doozy. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which Congress passed in 2025, there are some significant and potentially confusing changes coming to your tax return. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, even if […]