Culture

Three weeks into the war, Iranians inside the country fear the bombs—but many fear what comes after even more. A rare window into voices from Tehran.

Fiber optics turns 60 in 2026. Made from the same material as beach sand, this hair-thin glass strand quietly underpins the internet, AI, and nearly every digital interaction in modern life.

The IEA has ordered the largest strategic oil reserve release in history—412 million barrels from 32 countries. But with the Strait of Hormuz blocked, is it enough, and what happens when the reserves run dry?

Atmospheric scientist Perry Samson survived being swallowed by a tornado in Kansas. His account reveals the physics, the fear, and what it means to face something truly uncontrollable.

Developmental psychology suggests forcing toddlers to share may undermine autonomy and produce people-pleasers. Here's what the research says — and what works better.

A 1926 Dutch gynecologist's sex manual became a half-million-copy bestseller by insisting on women's orgasms. A century later, its hidden logic feels uncomfortably familiar.

Iran's drones and missiles are destroying key U.S. radar systems across the Middle East. Here's how America's layered missile defense network works—and where it's starting to crack.

Nancy Pelosi told a packed SXSW crowd Democrats will win the House "substantially" in 2026. Is that veteran instinct or wishful thinking from a party still searching for its identity?

The New York Times report on Cesar Chavez's sexual abuse of minors has prompted California to rename his holiday. What do we do when a movement's hero is also its predator?

Romance novels are selling at record highs while Hollywood abandons love stories entirely. This cultural split reveals something deeper about gender, loneliness, and what we're losing.

As Democrats unite against Trump's Iran campaign, the ghost of Obama's 2002 Iraq speech looms large. But is this political courage — or just political math?

Four weeks into the Iran war, a near-total internet blackout is silencing 90 million people. The voices getting out reveal something the casualty figures can't.