San Francisco’s luxury housing market is booming, fueled by the stunning wealth created by the nascent artificial intelligence industry and a record stock market. Sure, the California city has always been an outlier relative to the rest of the real estate market, but the recent developments nevertheless suggest the modest gains in ...Read more

Step within the stone gates of a liberal arts college, and it’s easy to see the appeal: small classes and sprawling lawns, neo-Gothic architecture and modern amenities. When such institutions were established, many hoped they’d foster an intellectual “awakening” among students. A string of recent closures suggests this mission has gone ...Read more

A cow named Veronika recently made headlines around the world, reportedly leaving scientists “stunned.” But Veronika was simply doing the same thing she’d done for years: scratching. Specifically, she was choosing the best scratcher for each itch, be it a stick, broom or rake, and holding it in her mouth to savor a satisfying rubdown. When...Read more

Dear graduates of 2026,

Welcome to the world you will be taking jobs in and where you will begin building careers, and at times shaping history.

It isn’t the world of your parents, and it isn’t the world your college has taught you about, because it is changing too fast. It begins anew daily. As Maya Angelou said, “This is a wonderful ...Read more

From the moment he took office, Pope Leo XIV became a distinguished proponent of peace, human dignity and concern for disadvantaged people wherever they might be.

He was critical of U.S. immigration policy, pointing out that people who had been living decent lives were being rounded up in a way that was “extremely disrespectful” and called ...Read more

Using artificial intelligence to forecast the weather is getting so good – and so cheap – that meteorological services are starting to retire the expensive physics-based systems they have relied on. That’s a potentially big problem – and not just for weather forecasting.

Models built by Google DeepMind, the European Centre for Medium-...Read more

The government agency responsible for handling natural disasters is something of a disaster itself. The good news is that its prospects are marginally better today than they seemed just a few months ago. The bad news is that those prospects would still mean a federal response and preparedness body that struggles to respond to and prepare for ...Read more

Last week, Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Noah Kahan revealed that in 2025, while on a trip to Joshua Tree, he was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder at age 28. This debilitating condition affects an estimated 10 million people in the U.S. and 240 million globally, causing unwanted intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors. ...Read more

Imagine you are sick with a serious medical condition. How would you feel if someone constantly told you to buy their product because it would cure you, but this “cure” is actually worse than other treatments, and the price tag is enormous?

This is the reality of prescription drug advertising. Whether on television or online, drug companies...Read more

In last week’s mayoral debate, candidate Spencer Pratt said “super meth” was driving homelessness in Los Angeles.

After several years reporting and writing a book on this topic, I can say that Los Angeles, indeed the United States, doesn’t necessarily have a “super meth” problem.

Meth is meth. Like aspirin is aspirin. What matters ...Read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis was trying to spin the news that he might have to close Alligator Alcatraz, his fetid, jerry-built concentration camp in the Everglades.

“If we shut the lights out on it tomorrow,” he said, “we will be able to say it served its purpose.”

It’s fair to ask just what that was.

It has cost Florida at least $608 million...Read more

Out in the high desert city of Barstow stand three Del Tacos that bill themselves as better than their corporate cousins.

They're the last ones owned and operated by Ed Hackbarth, the founder of the Mexican fast food chain. Two of them feature the word "Original" under their marquees, even though that's historically inaccurate — Hackbarth ...Read more

As a progressive economist, I wrote a paper in 2021 with a generally conservative colleague, Kevin Hassett, who now directs the National Economic Council in the Trump White House. We agreed then on the basic arithmetic of the American retirement crisis. We still do. That’s why people like him and people like me can all say: Trump’s executive...Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new diaper giveaway program is all wet. It is the latest example of Newsom addressing a costly California problem with a half-measure while claiming victory.

“This is what affordability looks like,” Newsom said on Friday in announcing a first-of-its-kind program in the nation. “It’s not a slogan. It’s a box. It�...Read more

The Republican Party began this midterm election cycle as the heavy favorite to retain the Senate majority. That was still the case just 10 weeks ago, on the eve of the Iran war. Today, the prospect of the chamber’s control changing hands can’t be dismissed.

That arc would suggest the war is the problem. But it’s not that simple.

Voters ...Read more

The U.S. Constitution is not an a la carte menu. States can’t pick and choose the amendments and clauses they’ll abide by and those they won’t.

But this is Massachusetts, and our Legislature is trying to do an end run.

Lawmakers are advancing House and Senate versions of the Protect Act (S. 3072) (H. 5158), which would prohibit ICE ...Read more

For more than four decades, I have navigated life managing a chronic disease. This experience comes with countless appointments, trying new medicines and learning to be my own advocate in a health system that can feel overwhelming for patients.

Along the way, I have discovered that staying informed isn’t just helpful. It’s survival. Over ...Read more

In an ideal world, this week’s resignation of Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary would signal the end of a troubling period at the agency — one where the job of overseeing a sizable chunk of the U.S. economy had steadily devolved into dysfunction and chaos.

Yet while Makary’s exit is welcome, it’s hard to imagine an ...Read more

Distraught that the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated a statewide referendum that would have enabled them to gerrymander their way to a 10-to-1 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation in November, up from the current 6-to-5 split, some Democrats are reportedly considering a novel response: firing the whole court.

They shouldn’t. ...Read more