Few ideas in modern economics are as powerful, or as misleading, as the notion of the “free market.” In popular imagination, an unregulated market is […]
We Know How to Prevent Black Lung. So Why Are Workers Still Dying?
There was a time when black lung was considered an inevitable consequence of working in a coal mine. Miners spent decades underground breathing coal dust, and many eventually developed the respiratory disease that became one of the most recognizable occupational hazards in America. We know better now. Scientists have understood the connection between inhaling dust and developing serious lung disease for generations. Workplace regulations have been written specifically to limit those exposures. Monitoring programs exist. Protective equipment exists. Medical screening exists. And yet American workers are still developing severe, sometimes fatal lung diseases caused by what they breathe on the…
The 9/11 Victims We’re Still Learning About
Twenty-five years after the September 11th terrorist attacks, researchers are preparing to study a group of people whose experiences have received considerably less attention than those of the firefighters, police officers, and other adults who responded to the disaster. They were children. Some were old enough to remember the planes striking the World Trade Center. Others were infants. Some were still in the womb. Many lived in Lower Manhattan or attended school nearby and were exposed to the enormous cloud of dust and debris created when the towers collapsed. Now, a major federal research effort is being established to examine…
The Cost of Closing Forest Research
The U.S. Forest Service is closing 23 research and development facilities across more than a dozen states as part of a sweeping reorganization of the agency. The move has received considerably less attention than many of the administration's other changes to the federal government, but its implications reach far beyond the offices and employees directly affected. The Forest Service conducts research into some of the most fundamental questions facing America's forests. Its scientists study wildfires, invasive species, forest diseases, water resources, wildlife, and the ways forests respond to changing environmental conditions. The agency says the research itself is not being…
Where Is the Opioid Settlement Money Going?
When opioid manufacturers, distributors, and other companies agreed to pay billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over their role in the nation's opioid crisis, the…
America’s Historic Drop in Homicides Deserves More Attention
For years, Americans have been told that crime is one of the country's most pressing problems. Political campaigns have been built around fears of rising…
When AI Reads Your Medical Records
For years, artificial intelligence in health care was largely discussed as a future technology. Doctors might someday use AI to identify diseases, analyze medical images,…
The Growing Alarm Over Facial Recognition and ICE Detentions
For years, debates about facial recognition technology largely centered on local police departments, airport security, and private sector data collection. More recently, however, a different…
The Cost of Closing Forest Research
The U.S. Forest Service is closing 23 research and development facilities across more than a dozen states as part of a sweeping reorganization of the…
When Politics Enters the Science: The Fight Over What Judges Should Know
The courts routinely deal with questions that judges cannot answer through legal precedent alone. What caused an environmental disaster? How reliable is a particular scientific…
Why Financial Literacy Matters More Than Ever
For generations, financial literacy has been viewed as a personal skill that helps people budget wisely, save for retirement, and avoid unnecessary debt. Today, it…
How Speculators Move Gas Prices
For most Americans, the price of gasoline feels deeply personal. It determines commuting costs, shipping prices, airline tickets, and, indirectly, the cost of groceries and…
We Know How to Prevent Black Lung. So Why Are Workers Still Dying?
There was a time when black lung was considered an inevitable consequence of working in a coal mine. Miners spent decades underground breathing coal dust,…
The 9/11 Victims We’re Still Learning About
Twenty-five years after the September 11th terrorist attacks, researchers are preparing to study a group of people whose experiences have received considerably less attention than…
The Difference Between Scientific Evidence and Scientific Headlines
If you follow science through news coverage alone, it can feel like reality changes every week. Coffee is bad, then good. Eggs are dangerous, then […]
The Internet Isn’t Decentralized Anymore
The Internet was built to route around failure. That origin story is not just nostalgia. It describes a set of architectural instincts that shaped how […]
The Myths of U.S. Immigration and What the Evidence Actually Shows
Immigration debates in the United States rarely fail for lack of passion. They fail because a handful of persistent myths flatten a complex reality into […]
Debt Isn’t a Moral Failure; It’s an Economic Strategy
Debt is often treated as a character test. If you have too much of it, the story goes, you must have lived beyond your means, […]
Why “The Science Is Settled” Is Almost Always Misleading
“The science is settled” is one of the most common phrases in modern public debate and one of the most misunderstood. People use it to […]
Why Healthcare in the U.S. Is Designed Around Billing, Not Healing
American healthcare does not feel like a single system because it is not one. It is a dense web of payers, contracts, benefit designs, coding […]
Why Tech Companies Keep Selling “Safety” Instead of Solving Problems
“Safety” has become one of the most profitable words in modern technology. It appears in press releases, product demos, keynote speeches, and glossy trust centers. […]
When Did Protest Become a “Security Threat”?
For most of American history, public protest has been treated, at least in principle, as a civic pressure valve. Loud, inconvenient, sometimes disorderly, but fundamentally […]
Alex Pretti, Civil Liberties, and the Dangerous Expansion of Federal Force
The most unsettling thing about the shooting of Alex Pretti is not the now-familiar argument over whether an agent felt “threatened.” It is the quiet […]