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In the days before Christmas, as measles, whooping cough and influenza continued to spread and surge across the country, the Department of Health and Human Services came perilously close to scrapping the nation’s long-standing list of recommended childhood vaccines.
Best. Political year. Ever. Amirite? For all of us who rolled into the year wondering “How much more chaotic could a second Trump term be?” 2025 did not disappoint.
I disagree with the anti-immigrant, anti-feminist, bitterly reactionary right-wing pundit Matt Walsh about basically everything, so I was surprised to come across a post of his that precisely sums up my view of artificial intelligence. “We’re sleepwalking into a dystopia that any rational person can see from miles away,” he wrote in November, adding, “Are we really just going to lie down and let AI take everything from us?”
Welcome to the 21st edition of the Sidney Awards. Every year, I give out extremely nonlucrative prizes, in honor of philosopher Sidney Hook, celebrating some of the best nonfiction essays of the year, especially the ones published in medium-size and small magazines. I figure this is a good time to take a step back from the Trump circus and read some broader reflections on life. The Sidneys are here to help.
This is the season when I customarily argue that the year just ending has been the best in human history.
As many readers know, I’m on a mission to see all my music heroes live before they depart the stage for good – and to urge you to do the same. This year, my message is: Hurry up, because the curtains are closing.
When pundits and media talking heads warn that the American family is in decline, what they’re really saying is that it looks drastically different today than it did even five years ago.
It’s fitting that the Oxford University Press’ 2025 word of the year is “rage bait,” because I’m convinced that’s the only way to describe the trend predictions for next year.
Much has been written about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) since it was signed into law last summer, but one of its more interesting provisions has been somewhat overlooked: the expansion of charitable contribution benefits for all taxpayers, which allows all Americans to potentially lower their tax bills by giving to qualified organizations. This provision underscores how free-market ...
In my corner of the world, it feels like 2020 all over again, experiencing the push and pull between losing someone I love due to medical misinformation, all while holding respect for free speech. The tension between combating medical misinformation and protecting free speech represents one of the most challenging dilemmas of our age. On one side lies the very real danger of false health ...
There have been at least 75 school shootings in the United States in 2025. Some of the victims of the Dec. 13 shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, had even faced a shooter at school before.
For a president who is stingy with the Epstein files and refuses to release the video of the extrajudicial executions (probably) of a couple of shipwrecked Venezuelan mariners/criminals (maybe), Donald Trump has had a very transparent week. How much more do we need to know about a person than was revealed by Trump’s erroneous and tasteless Truth Social post suggesting that the murders of Rob ...
Every year around this time, the noise starts to drop. The pace eases a bit. Families gather, neighbors reconnect, and people who disagree on just about everything still manage to pass plates across the same table. Something about late November into December nudges us toward reflection. Whatever you call it — holiday spirit, cultural memory, or just a pause in the chaos — it’s real. And in a ...
Just a week ago, we saw how fast a viral video could virally whip around the world. It was taken during Australia’s Hanukkah-by-the-Sea family-fest that turned into a mass shooting tragedy. Yet it ended with that astonishing, made-for Hollywood heroic twist. It was quickly seen by just about all the planet’s most powerful deciders; and also, just about everyone you know. But we’re all so ...
The holidays have arrived once again. You know, that annual festival of goodwill, compulsory spending and the dawning realization that Santa and Satan are anagrams.
You are watching the 2016 Republican primary campaign, trying to figure out if Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio can stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination. A man from the future steps out of a shimmering portal and informs you that the winner of the primary campaign will go on to be the Republican president who will finally bomb Iran’s nuclear program.
People are talking about America’s “K-shaped economy,” so named because charts show different sectors’ fortunes diverging like the two arms of that letter. Recently, for example, data services firm ADP reported 32,000 lost U.S. jobs in November — a sharp reversal from October’s 47,000 gain, but not unexpected. But within that data, smaller firms employing from 1 to 49 workers laid off 120,000 ...
The fact that Dick Van Dyke turned 100 on Dec. 13 is remarkable enough. But the entertainment icon hasn’t simply made it to the century mark; he’s remained purposefully engaged in life and with those around him: acting, dancing, mentoring younger performers, and spreading joy to millions. Van Dyke is a reminder that aging does not diminish our capacity to contribute. In fact, it often enhances ...
A standard journalistic practice at this time of year is to list the high points of the past 12 months. But a review of President Donald Trump’s year finds far more lows than highs. Trump can justifiably take credit for brokering the end of the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza that the Biden administration was unable to stop, though sporadic clashes still occur and a permanent peace still seems far ...
