There are many ways you could measure the health of a city — its air quality index, its population growth, the number of jobs it added last year. My favorite is one not often high on the priority lists of city governments in the US: How safe is it to walk?  The US has the […]

How well do you know your neighbors? Could you ask them for a favor? The internet and its promise of limitless connectivity has led many people to overlook those kinds of connections, which used to be far more common. But things are starting to shift back the other way: Americans are rediscovering the value of […]

The most shocking thing about the attempted attack on the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton was how not shocking it was.  Even before an armed man attempted to breach the secured area outside the hotel’s ballroom, the event’s guest list was a grim self-portrait of political violence in […]

More than 63 million people in America are caregivers — of kids, of parents, and loved ones. And nearly half of caregivers under the age of 50 are taking care of a parent and a child at the same time. Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you’re also trying to hold down a job and […]

This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here. It’s been just over eight weeks since the US and Israel started a war with Iran for contradictory and incoherent reasons. Virtually nothing about the conflict — except maybe its stakes — has gotten […]