The Most Mysterious Cells in Our Bodies Don’t Belong to Us
You carry literal pieces of your mom—and maybe your grandma, and your siblings, and your aunts and uncles.
The Whole Country Is Starting to Look Like California
Housing prices are rising fast in red and purple states known for being easy places to build. How can that be?
An AI That Couldn’t Care Less About Humans
The quirky show Murderbot suggests that intelligent machines might be interested in something other than humanity.
What Moving Your Body Can Mean
Sometimes it takes a new community or type of exercise to reset your relationship with working out.
This Summer’s Most Pointless Sequel Is Here
The latest Jurassic World film somehow makes dinosaurs boring.
The Most Perverse Part of the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
The Republican megabill could be setting America up for the worst energy-affordability crisis since the 1970s.
Doomed to Be a Tradwife
Can a marriage ever truly be equal?
The Ciceronian Secret to Happiness
To feel good, do good.
A Sea Story
One of the worst maritime disasters in European history took place in 1994. It remains very much in the public eye. On a stormy night on the Baltic Sea, more than 850 people lost their lives when a luxurious ferry sank below the waves. From a mass of material, including official and unofficial reports and survivor testimony, our correspondent has distilled an account of the Estonia’s last moments—part of his continuing coverage for the magazine of anarchy on the high seas.
Hurricane Science Was Great While It Lasted
The U.S. is hacking away at support for state-of-the-art forecasting.
Trump Targets Google After Meta and X Payouts
Mark Zuckerberg paid $25 million. Elon Musk followed with $10 million. Now it could be Sundar Pichai’s turn.
Ah, Exactly What the Founders Wanted!
“Understandably, after almost 250 years, the legislature is tired of being a coequal branch of government and wants to take a nap.”
The Type of Love That Makes People Happiest
When it comes to lasting romance, passion has nothing on friendship.
Ken Casey: ‘I’m Not Going to Shut Up’
A conversation with the Dropkick Murphys front man about punk, politics, and Donald Trump
Why Can’t Americans Sleep?
Insomnia has become a public-health emergency.
The Nobel Prize Winner Who Thinks We Have the Universe All Wrong
Cosmologists are fighting over everything.
The Last Children of Down Syndrome
Prenatal testing is changing who gets born and who doesn’t. This is just the beginning.
DNA Tests Are Uncovering the True Prevalence of Incest
People are discovering the truth about their biological parents with DNA—and learning that incest is far more common than many think.
Trump World’s Wizard of Oz Problem
Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon don’t speak for Trump or his base. So why do people think they do?
Why Simple Is Smart
Complicated language can send a signal that a writer is dense or overcompensating.