US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is at war with the nation’s public health establishment. He’s overseen mass layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; canceled $500 million in federal funding for mRNA vaccine development; and promised to end the bias against “alternative medicine.”  The country’s leading scientists and physicians have started […]

We all know that it’s better to save five people’s lives than to save only one. But in 1977, one philosopher dared to argue…maybe it isn’t? “Should the Numbers Count?” by John Taurek is among the few modern philosophy papers that might fairly be described as infamous. When I was taught it as an undergrad, […]

Apple did something wild at its big annual new iPhone event on Tuesday: It announced a phone that’s actually new. It’s called the iPhone Air, and it’s thin — “the thinnest iPhone ever” — light, and eye-catching. Also its battery life sort of stinks.  You might not want a super thin phone with crappy battery […]

Donald Trump’s government is increasingly authoritarian.  The president is launching pretextual investigations against his enemies, while providing pardons and military honors to the most violent of his friends. He is extorting news organizations for friendlier coverage and blackmailing law firms for pro bono services. He is unilaterally nullifying congressionally ordered spending and firing federally protected […]

It’s back-to-school season and across the US, the aroma of freshly sharpened pencils, pumpkin spice everything, and ultra-processed pizza lunches is in the air. Sure, the Department of Education might be hanging on by a thread and teenagers keep buying walkie-talkies to circumvent cellphone bans. And the latest scores from the National Assessment of Educational […]