Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

The real reason Americans hate the economy so much

Americans’ doom and despair about the economy is mounting. In fact, by one measure, the public is more depressed than they’ve ever been in the postwar era. The University of Michigan has been surveying American consumers’ sentiment since all the way back in 1952 — and their result from last month was the lowest level […]

The Supreme Court abortion pills case, explained

Abortion pills have been on a bit of a journey in the United States over the past few weeks. It starts in Louisiana: The state sued the Food and Drug Administration late last year, seeking to eliminate access to the abortion pill mifepristone through telehealth and mail order. On May 1, the US Fifth Circuit […]

What is an aging face supposed to look like?

A few months ago, while engaging in one of my more recent pastimes (or compulsions), I verbalized a fear I’d long kept buried, perhaps out of shame or denial or some combination of both. First, the compulsory ritual: Before bed, with the precision of a brain surgeon, I arrange a layer of stickers on my […]

We’re asking the wrong question about the hantavirus outbreak

Should you be worried about the hantavirus outbreak? Should you be afraid? Should you be panicking? Should you start freaking out? If you’ve been following the coverage of the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, these are the questions you’ve seen posed in headlines. And a small tip from inside  the media: If […]

Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected

President Donald Trump has never had a strict foreign policy doctrine, but coming into office, the influential figures around him could be classified into three broad camps. There were the so-called “primacists,” who supported a traditional muscular and assertive US rule in the world; the “restrainers,” who wanted to dial back US commitments abroad and […]