Last night's Democratic primary debate was extremely good, actually
From the moment the six Democratic presidential contenders took to the stage at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino on Wednesday evening, it was clear that the Nevada primary debate was going to be an altogether different animal than the ones that had…
By Rafi Schwartz

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Relax, your dog probably can't get the coronavirus
By Melissa Pandika
Amid the new coronavirus outbreak, people are rushing to protect not only themselves from infection, but their dogs, too. Canine face mask sales have increased, USA Today reports, while Twitter user @camohanbn, who appears to live in India, posted…
I tried to turn my apartment into a jungle to see if it would make me happier
By Rajul Punjabi
When I stood on the sidewalk in front of one of the twin Bosco Verticale apartment buildings on a muggy July afternoon in Milan, it looked a lot more subdued than it did from a half-mile away. On my way to see the buildings — whose name translates…
Bad vibes: The real problem with Goop's breathless praise of 'energy healing'
By Elizabeth Brown
It’s deeply gratifying to see the all the critical reviews of Gwyneth Paltrow's Netflix miniseries, “The Goop Lab," which boasts the wellness elitism and woo that the brand's become notorious for. The reality show, Paltrow’s most recent expansion of…
Chelsea Manning's lawyers found a legal loophole that might get her out of jail
By Ray Levy-Uyeda
On Wednesday, the legal team of former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning filed a motion to release her from the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia, where she has been incarcerated since last May for refusing to testify before a grand…
Why China’s precipitous drop in carbon emissions isn’t really good news
By Tebany Yune
In today's 'news that gives you mixed emotions' comes a report showing that China's carbon emissions have dropped by about 100 million metric tons over the past two weeks. This amounts to nearly six percent of all global emissions produced in 2019…
7 times Mike Bloomberg forgot how to be a human being
By Ray Levy-Uyeda
During Wednesday night's Democratic primary debate, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg was eviscerated on stage for his record on everything from stop and frisk to his use of non-disclosure agreements in settlement cases for the 40…
How Rush Limbaugh and conservative ‘90s media made climate change a partisan issue
By AJ Dellinger
Most Americans are finally ready to take climate change seriously. According to a recently published report from Pew Research Center, 64 percent of Americans now believe that protecting the environment and combating climate change should be a top…
Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony and the shameless celebrity brand moment
By Shawn Cooke
Few moments are actually without historical precedent, but the Netflix Twitter account sexting with a number of other company accounts last December certainly felt like one. The last two or three years had been leading up to that speed date, as…
SZA says she's done doing interviews. Good for her
By Kara Weisenstein
On Wednesday, Rolling Stone released the cover photo of its March “Women Shaping the Future” issue starring SZA, Megan Thee Stallion and Normani. But one of the musicians wasn’t happy with it, evidently. Late in the afternoon, SZA tweeted she…
Roger Stone gets a 3-year jail sentence despite Trump's best efforts to meddle
By Rafi Schwartz
Longtime President Trump confidant, Republican political operative, and convicted criminal Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison Thursday, just over four months after the swinging "libertine" was found guilty of witness…
The modern adaptation of 'West Side Story' tackles our uneasy relationship with surveillance
By Kyle Turner
In Belgian theatre director and provocateur Ivo van Hove’s exhilarating revival of West Side Story — originally produced on Broadway in 1957 and conceived by choreographer Jerome Robbins — surveillance is embedded in the lives of its characters. A…
Surprise: Rich people waste more food than everyone else
By Tebany Yune
We might be going too easy on ourselves when it comes to the food waste we generate, and a team of Dutch scientists are calling us out. Researchers from Wageningen University & Research have published a study that suggests consumers are wasting…
Why are mattresses so expensive?
By Melissa Pandika
I’m not a mattress snob — far from it, actually. My partner and I make do with a $300 Ikea mattress he bought a few years ago, padded with an egg crate foam topper. Meanwhile, I’ve heard of people dropping $1,000 or more on mattresses, all for a…
Last night's Democratic primary debate was extremely good, actually
By Rafi Schwartz
From the moment the six Democratic presidential contenders took to the stage at Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino on Wednesday evening, it was clear that the Nevada primary debate was going to be an altogether different animal than the ones that had…
Growing up in a banking desert can hurt your credit for the rest of your life
By Tony Cookson
A banking desert is an area without traditional financial institutions and services. They are common in rural areas because large financial institutions are reluctant to operate in less populated areas that are less profitable. Two colleagues and I…
The science behind face blindness might soon become clearer
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Imagine never having to worry about running into the ex who tore your heart to shreds, not because they moved far far away, but because you simply wouldn’t recognize them. Face blindness, or prosopagnosia, is a condition that makes it difficult to…
We may have seriously underestimated humans’ methane emissions
By Vanessa Taylor
Gas and oil companies are some of the biggest contributors to climate change. Not only is the process of getting oil destructive but the product lets out a ton of greenhouse gas emissions. Now, a new study says humans are releasing more methane than…
50 million Americans have helped crowdfund health care. That's not a good thing
By Rafi Schwartz
You've probably seen them: Those "feel good" local news stories about some plucky grade-schooler who raises thousands of dollars at their lemonade stand to help pay for a classmate's medical treatment. Doesn't it just make you feel all warm and…
How sex toys finally evolved beyond the big fake penis
By Tracey Anne Duncan
Sex toys have basically been around since humans starting making tools. Most of the oldest were modeled after — yes, you guessed it — dicks. Archaeologists found a 28,000-year-old bronze dildo in China, and the Ancient Greeks were making them out of…
One of America's most notorious mobsters was apparently part of the CIA's secret drug program
By Ezra Marcus
One of the most bizarre and disturbing government programs in American history is in the news again. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that a member of the jury in the trial of James “Whitey” Bulger, the infamous Boston mobster convicted in…
Democrats seized on one goal at last night's debate: Destroy Mike Bloomberg
By Rafi Schwartz
Former Republican mayor of New York City-turned-Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg represents a unique threat to American democracy. No, he's not as obviously confused as President Trump sometimes appears to be, nor does he come across…
Right-wing radio host says Bernie Sanders is "embracing an Islamo-Nazi mentality"
By Ezra Marcus
Mark Levin and Michael Savage are two of the most prominent firebrands in the world of conservative radio, so it’s not surprising that they have a gift for hyperbole. Still, over the last two days, the hosts — both of whom are Jewish — have outdone…
Zoe Kravitz, coolest woman on earth, is the best part of the new 'High Fidelity'
By Kara Weisenstein
Let’s get one thing out of the way: the O.G. High Fidelity still rocks. I loved the movie as a teen in the early aughts. John Cusack’s tortured angst reflected my restlessness and my notions about love back then (which were entirely shaped by…