If Joe Biden is elected in November, his presidency will likely be defined by history-shaping decisions made after long, deliberative, some might say operatic processes. Biden’s selection of Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate—the first woman of color to appear on a major-party ticket—was precisely that sort of careful, drawn-out decision.
Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.It’s Kamala. Joe Biden’s vice-presidential pick is one you might’ve guessed from the start. Read Edward-Isaac Dovere on what Harris’s selection reveals about Biden—and the future of the Democratic Party.
The historic choice makes the California senator the first Black and South Asian woman to run as vice president for a major party.
Paul Byrne loves Mars. He wrote his doctoral thesis and several research papers about the planet. Most of his graduate students study Mars. And yet, earlier this year, he posed this question on Twitter: “If you could end the pandemic by destroying one of the planets, which one would you choose and why would it be Mars?”What does Byrne, a planetary scientist at North Carolina State University, have against the red planet? Nothing, he told me.
At a September 2012 academic conference in Rome, Karen King, a historian at Harvard Divinity School, made a major announcement. She had discovered a fragment of papyrus that bore a shocking phrase: “Jesus said to them, My wife.” If the scrap was authentic, it had the potential to upend centuries of Roman Catholic tradition.
Not all of us are cut out to be murderous KGB agents.
California’s notorious San Quentin State Prison is experiencing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the United States. At least 2,200 prisoners have been infected, and 25 have died. More than 260 staff members have also been infected.
As the world passes a grim milestone of 20 million coronavirus cases, we look at how the pandemic humbled and humiliated the world’s most powerful country. Over a quarter of the confirmed infections and deaths have been in the United States, which has less than 5% of the world’s population. Ed Yong, a science writer at The Atlantic who has been covering the pandemic extensively since March, says existing gaps in the U.S.
After days of protests, Lebanon’s government has resigned following the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut that killed 200 people and injured thousands. The port blast, the source of which was 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate left unattended in a warehouse for more than six years, occurred as Lebanon was already facing political, economic and public health crises.
Stand-up comedian Tig Notaro knows all too well how humor can help you overcome adversity.
“My wife says to drop it because any conversation will look racial in nature.
When space is at a premium, it’s time to get creative.
Parenting advice on toxic in-laws, bisexuality, and messy toddlers.
Jim Tankersley visits Slate Money to talk about his book on America’s middle class.
Jim Tankersley visits Slate Money to talk about his book on America’s middle class.
Two of the president’s ideas are useless, and none will rescue the economy. But some could actually help.
Two of the president’s ideas are useless, and none will rescue the economy. But some could actually help.
Manufacturers of antigen tests say they are nowhere near able to meet demand.
The governor initially tested positive for the virus ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump.
Manufacturers of antigen tests say they are nowhere near able to meet demand.
The governor initially tested positive for the virus ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump.
The pace of job creation slowed in July, and unemployment remains above 10 percent. New jobless claims remain above 1 million per week.
More jobs are disappearing for good, dashing hopes of a rapid economic rebound.
The problem? The Main Street lending program isn’t set up to bail out the companies that need it the most.
For young people who grew up amid financial crisis, the pandemic is dashing hopes of job security and a comfortable future.
“In my family, being kind was considered being weak,” says Mary Trump, President Trump’s niece, a clinical psychologist and author of “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.
World War II began in 1939. And the Spanish flu pandemic began in 1918.
Days after more than 97,000 children tested positive for the coronavirus in July, some teachers have taken to penning their own obituaries to get officials to delay school reopening plans. Whitney Leigh Reddick, a Florida special education teacher, wrote in a Facebook group dubbed the Duval Schools Pandemic Solutions Team Tuesday that in her 33rd year of teaching she “left us while alone in isolation and on a ventilator at a Duval county hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.
