Christmas tours to mansions often present a ‘magical’ experience to tourists, but they ignore the realities of the lives of slaves who worked there.
Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau
Senator Chuck Schumer holds up the White House transcript of a call between President Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Cities around the world appear to be harboring increasing numbers of rats, including this one: the inflatable ‘Scabby the Rat.’
robert cicchetti/Shutterstock.com
Volcker's legacy involves more than fighting inflation – he showed why central banks need to remain free of meddling from politicians, including the president.
The countryside around Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, is home to the country’s largest Mennonite population.
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
Chronic violence was dampening the holiday spirit in Chihuahua, Mexico. So the Mennonite community planned a 'Parade of Lights' and holiday party where neighbors could celebrate safely even at night.
More than half of black people in the U.S. live in highly segregated areas.
Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com
Black Americans who grow up in racially segregated areas tend to have worse health, education and future economic prospects. Moving out can make a big difference.
U.N. technicians prepare an unarmed drone for flight over the Democratic Republic of Congo.
MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti/Flickr
A manufacturing engineer describes the concept for a technology that could lead to more efficient production – and perhaps a tool to revive US manufacturing.
Criticizing pregnant women about their weight can be bad for them and their babies.
kzenan/Shutterstock.com
Fat shaming is harmful to all women, but pregnant women face a particular danger. Shaming affects not only their health but also that of their children.
If you’re strangled by health care costs, are you really ‘free’?
jwblinn/Shutterstock.com
In the wake of the New Deal, the business community realized that appealing to widely shared American values could get the public to oppose measures that curbed corporate power.
Purity culture promotes sexual abstinence before marriage.
charlene trapp/Flickr
Evangelicals who were taught as children that Christians abstain from sex until marriage are coming out and revealing the dark side of the so-called 'purity movement.'
Some gifts may soon get more expensive.
imtmphoto/Shutterstock.com
Building a lasting peace in Afghanistan will take much more than an accord with the Taliban. In post-conflict nations, economic development and job creation are critical to national security.
U.S. public opinion is divided over who faces discrimination.
fizkes/Shutterstock.com
Marginalized groups said that they had experienced discrimination at the workplace, at the doctor and with the police.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks to the media with members of the Senate Republican leadership, Oct. 29, 2019.
AP/Jacquelyn Martin
The Roman senate declined from a long-held position of authority under the Roman Republic to become almost wholly reliant on the whims of a given emperor, writes a classics scholar.
You probably know about the collection of microorganisms that live in, on and around us. But did you know that not everyone in society has equal access to them? That needs to change.
A man stands on the rubble of his home in the Haitian Quarter, after the passage of the Hurricane Dorian in Abaco, Bahamas, Sept. 16, 2019.
AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa
The economy of the Bahamas depends on Haitian labor. But some Bahamians see no place for migrant workers in their country's long, slow recovery from Hurricane Dorian.
Dogs' lives have monetary value, and several researchers recently measured it. Their method shows how research and funding decisions can be made. Just don't tell Bowser he's worth only $10,000.
Will quantum computers ever reliably best classical computers?
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Google claims quantum supremacy – IBM says not so fast. One researcher explains why he doesn't see quantum computers outpacing classical computers any time soon ... and maybe not ever.
Some people fear we’re interacting more with our phones at the expense of our loved ones.
Ana Blazic Pavlovic/Shutterstock.com
While there are negative impacts, many of the risks of too much screen time are overblown. A scholar who has studied the topic for years offers some tips for finding the right balance.
A new housing project in the West Bank settlement of Naale, part of the Israeli government’s recent push to increase its presence in the disputed territory, Jan. 1, 2019.
AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
The US delighted Israel and outraged Palestinians by announcing it sees nothing illegal with Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Here, a brief history of this hotly disputed land.
From left, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union affects Ireland, too.
alexfan32/Shutterstock.com
Politicians who want to unite Ireland under a Dublin-based government are stuck choosing whether to participate in the UK in an effort to stay in the EU.
Vice President Mike Pence joins military officers and a chaplain on Aug. 23, 2019 in a prayer for two Army men who died during operations in Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
When the US entered World War I in 1917, military chaplains catered to majority white and Christian soldiers. Today the armed forces recognize over 200 denominations and religious groups.
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