ArcaMax

"Nomadland" is a remarkable movie about struggling Americans wandering the vast spaces of the interior west. Most of them are white, middle-aged and up, living in vans. The filmmaker, Chloe Zhao, is a Chinese woman who has captured their bare existence as they move through a bleak but beautiful landscape. Based on a nonfiction book of the same ...Read more

Kristine Hostetter is a fourth-grade teacher in San Clemente, California. Her husband has been a big promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, and she appears to be supporting his lunatic efforts. As the story is being told, liberal parents and students temporarily forced Hostetter's removal from the classroom. In response, local conservatives ...Read more

When Henry Ford introduced the Model T in 1908, he had a problem. There were almost no paved roads in America. To sell his product to the masses, he needed good roads.

No one would ever deny his place among titans of American capitalism, but Ford was not shy about urging the government to supply the infrastructure essential to his business. And...Read more

"We are not supporting doing any vaccine passports in the state of Florida," declared Gov. Ron DeSantis. "It's completely unacceptable," he said, for either government or the private sector to require showing proof of vaccination against COVID-19 "to just simply participate in normal society."

Actually, Florida requires proof of vaccination for...Read more

Ever since New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo bathed in praise for his daily briefings during the COVID-19 crisis, the right has tried to cut him down to size. That was understandable. But in the context of New York's Democratic-dominated politics, the right hardly matters.

It's the left that sees opportunity in flogging the moderate Cuomo over recent ...Read more

When will we be able to attend a live performance? That question is being asked angrily in France, where theater is more central to the national culture. (America has no national theater.) But we should ask that here as well. Broadway remains shuttered, as are indoor theaters and concert halls across the country. Can't they at least start their ...Read more

In the 14 days after the death of George Floyd, 19 people across the country died in violent protests. Not all the deaths were gun-related, and some of the dead were engaged in criminal activity. Nonetheless, the nation responded with shock and talked of little else in the weeks that followed.

This week, a single gunman killed more than half ...Read more

Undocumented immigrants have been surging to the U.S. border, some wearing T-shirts with the Biden campaign logo and the words "Please let us in!" What gave them the idea that they could just show up and come on in? President Joe Biden did.

Oh, Biden didn't exactly say that. He said to not come now, as we rebuild the immigration system. But ...Read more

On March 11, President Joe Biden gave a White House address touting his administration's response to the COVID-19 crisis. As it happened, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at another record high the day before. But about that Biden said not a word.

Had Donald Trump still been president, the stock market would have almost certainly topped ...Read more

Please explain again why New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo must resign. Or, put another way, what gives his political opponents, many of them fellow Democrats, the right to undo an election on the basis of unverified assertions of sexual misconduct -- some ridiculously trivial, none involving violence or threat to careers, several open to innocent ...Read more

As a pandemic hijacked the nation's attention, we pushed aside other, even bigger problems. But now that COVID-19 is being cornered, the crisis of climate change is returning to page one.

The threat of a rapidly warming planet is actually harder to deal with. It can't be fixed with a vaccine. Slower-moving, it's easier to put off addressing the...Read more

If you live in a place where people like to go to have fun, good for you. But if your fun place is full of Airbnbs or other short-term rentals, you may also suffer as revolving hordes of neighbors-for-the-weekend throw parties and blast music into the night.

Last October, a resident in Scottsdale, Arizona, woke to the sound of partygoers ...Read more

Three women have accused New York's Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment. The complaints center largely around unsolicited shows of affection.

He very well may have said the inappropriate things being reported, but none of the women were physically harmed by what was at most unwanted flirtation. You have to ask: What will these displays of ...Read more

Donald Trump was never forever. The former president is 74, obese and the subject of serious criminal investigations. Resurfacing after disgracefully inciting a rampage on the Capitol, he addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference. The delivery was tired and the grievances now boring.

The big difference is he's no longer in power. ...Read more

At age 11, Britney Spears played the wholesome American girl on "The All New Mickey Mouse Club." A few years later, she was on concert stages surrounded by big teddy bears as she bumped, grinded and moaned. There was also a pole dance.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is entry-level kiddie porn. The despoiling of innocence has always been an easy ...Read more

French news cameras were in California last week to capture America's spectacular drive to mass-vaccinate against COVID-19. What were the visuals? An amusement park with cars lined up, their passengers waiting for a jab.

"Armies" of volunteers are helping, the French reporter says as attendants in protective gear direct the snaking traffic. ...Read more

Are we at the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? Let's call it the middle.

The COVID-19 numbers are going decisively lower, both infections and deaths. Millions, meanwhile, are getting the vaccine and becoming mostly immune to the disease.

Still, the seven-day average of American deaths from this virus continues in the thousands...Read more

While cleaning out the garage of an elderly friend who died recently, what did I find under a pile of 1967 Playboys but a typewriter. It wasn't just any typewriter but a vintage IBM Selectric II. I moved all 37 pounds of it to the trunk of my car.

There's a scene in "Mad Men" where a new IBM Selectric arrives at the Sterling Cooper offices. It ...Read more

There are studies -- oh, there are studies -- on how hiking the minimum wage affects employment. And good studies contradict other good studies. The problem is that the mechanics linking wages to jobs have a lot of moving parts. The details matter.

Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour sits high on the progressive bucket list. The ...Read more

Let's start with Marjorie Taylor Greene but keep it short. The Georgia Republican's honking-mad commentary speaks of dementia, not anything approaching political discourse. She's getting gobs of attention, but then, so do car accidents.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had it exactly right when he said that "loony lies and ...Read more