Culture

From battlefield weapon to status symbol, from banned relic to pop culture icon — the katana's shifting meanings reveal how objects become mirrors of the societies that use them.

Artemis II astronauts witnessed a 54-minute solar eclipse from behind the Moon. What the science of awe tells us about why these moments matter beyond the spectacle.

The clean moral binaries of superhero films and blockbusters aren't ancient storytelling instinct—they're a relatively modern invention built for social cohesion. What does that mean for how we see the world?

The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais rewrites how Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act applies to redistricting—with major consequences for minority representation and the 2026 midterms.

Trump's inner circle reveals he now sees himself not as Washington or Lincoln, but as a peer of Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon. This psychological shift is reshaping his second term—and the world.

The minerals powering EVs, AI, and wind turbines are contaminating water and devastating communities in Congo, Chile, and Bolivia. A UN University report warns of a new resource curse.

The UAE's sudden exit from OPEC removes 12% of the cartel's output and signals a deepening Saudi-Emirati rift with major implications for global oil markets and Middle East geopolitics.

Megan Garber's new book Screen People argues that internet culture has trained us to see each other as characters in an endless show—and that this is making us sick.

From phantom glycine to Venus's disputed phosphine, astrochemistry's molecule hunts reveal how scientific excitement and rigor collide—and why that tension matters for all of us.

The UK just banned tobacco sales to anyone born after 2009, forever. It's framed as a public health win. But what happens when good intentions collide with bedrock liberties?

TMZ just opened a DC bureau. The story of why that matters starts in 1987, when reporters hid in bushes outside Gary Hart's house and changed American politics forever.

VCs are handing millions to 18-year-olds before they have a single idea. Inside Stanford's shadow ecosystem—where innovation and fraud grow side by side.