Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan, has a simple pitch to voters. Imagine, he says, a health-insurance plan with “no premium, no copay, no deductible — just healthcare when you need it.” El-Sayed and other proponents call the idea Medicare for All.

Free, on-demand care for everyone sure sounds good. ...Read more

We’ve just come through the hottest summer ever recorded in the contiguous United States, with August setting a record of its own. And cooler autumn days don’t mean we can stop worrying about extreme weather. El Niño has already surged into record territory months before its expected peak, supercharging extreme weather and raising the ...Read more

President Donald Trump has vowed to return America’s declining coal industry to its glory days. But the only real revival of trying to put this polluting fuel back at its peak is its ability to destroy the health of its miners.

U.S. coal miners are suffering from the highest rate of lung disease since 1978 in the mining heartland of central ...Read more

American parents are working harder than ever to give their children a leg up. Economists Garey Ramey and Valerie Ramey documented that college-educated mothers increased their childcare time by more than nine hours per week starting in the mid-1990s. They attributed this “ rug rat race” to intensifying competition for college admissions.

...Read more

For the last two years, Francesca Ortega insulted Latinos on social media with rhetoric that sounded straight from Stephen Miller.

Under the nom de plume Francesca Sin Filtro — Unfiltered — the small business owner opined that Chicanos have "obviously nothing good going for" them and "probably have baby mamas everywhere." That Latino men "...Read more

For much of my life funerals were, well, funereal, as black as attendees' attire. Yet in recent decades, I've found that I often leave memorial services less mournful than upbeat. They're inspiring, these so-called celebrations of life, with eulogies not from impersonal priests but from people who knew the dead person best. Tributes are seasoned...Read more

The California I grew up in had its pluses and minuses, just like the state I'm living in now.

But consider this:

In 1974, I wrote a check for a semester of college.

The fee was $98.

That was the cost of registration, by the way. Tuition for in-state residents was free at San José State University and other public universities in California...Read more

Just when you think Eric Schmitt couldn’t possibly embarrass himself and his constituents any more than he already has, he goes in for a rhetorical layup, gratuitously throws an elbow, spectacularly misses the shot and then stomps around the court indignantly when the ref calls foul.

That’s all metaphorical, of course. What Missouri’s ...Read more

If you've devoted even a moment's attention to the vibes percolating within the zeitgeist, you've probably heard about the possibility that artificial intelligence is poised to extinguish us all.

The current version of a scenario once chiefly identified with the Terminator movies and other examples of apocalyptic science-fiction derives from ...Read more

There is something genuinely strange happening at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency responsible for regulating derivatives markets. Under Chairman Michael Selig, the CFTC has challenged states seeking to regulate prediction platforms, arguing that federally designated contract markets fall within its exclusive ...Read more

It’s been two months since the fatal mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival. Questions about accountability within city government remain.

Three people are dead, four were injured and only one of as many as three suspects is in custody.

The Seattle Police Department recently presented its after-action report — an evaluation of ...Read more

A wise man once told us “I’m a Democrat at the local level, a Republican at the state level, and a libertarian when it comes to federal politics.”

It’s a philosophy that holds, essentially, that you should be more skeptical of government power the farther away that government is from the people it governs. It expresses a comfort with an...Read more

At an intersection near our house in Dallas, one home has a large Talarico sign in the front yard. The home directly across the street has a large Paxton sign. That’s what it’s like down here one month before Election Day. The candidates are neck-and-neck. Votes are split across streets and among families.

The latest poll by Texas Public ...Read more

The finale of Netflix’s dynamic and delicious retelling of “My Brilliant Career” delivers the kind of love story modern women have been craving.

The six-part miniseries based on the 1901 protofeminist novel follows a talented, wild young woman, Sybylla, played by Australian actor Philippa Northeast, who is recklessly bold and almost feral...Read more

Banks in the U.S. have plenty to celebrate these days, from record profits and higher stock prices to a strong economy and easier regulation. One thing they don’t need is an added discount on their deposit insurance — a crucial buffer that should be reinforced when times are good.

For the better part of a century, U.S. bank customers have ...Read more

In late August, Texas and Florida became the latest states to limit the use of Flock cameras, an artificial intelligence-powered network of automated traffic surveillance devices, in response to growing concerns about their misuse by law enforcement. But even in the consumer technology sphere, other digital surveillance devices pose similar ...Read more

Political deepfakes have marred elections worldwide. Deepfakes have influenced presidential elections in Argentina, affected parliamentary races in Slovakia, and spread misinformation widely.

In contrast, deceptive deepfakes have not swamped American politics. This is despite the easy availability of rapidly improving AI deepfake technology. It...Read more

A recent national poll conducted by Harvard University revealed that young Americans are a pessimistic bunch. People between ages 18 and 29 view inflation and the rising cost of housing as national crises. More than a quarter of young adults believe they’ll end up worse off financially than their parents. And only 13% say the country is on the...Read more

This year, a life-saving federal policy turns 50 years old. For half a century, the Hyde amendment has protected women, girls, and unborn children from taxpayer-funded abortions. In contrast, Roe v. Wade collapsed under the weight of its own bad reasoning just shy of its 50th “birth” day. How fitting.

In the wake of the devastation he knew ...Read more

The drumbeat for regulating artificial intelligence is growing louder by the day, largely due to a coordinated campaign that magnifies the technology’s risks. It ignores the critical question: Can we regulate effectively without causing a disaster for our technology leadership and economy?

That is not to say, however, that some form of ...Read more