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There aren’t too many people openly calling themselves effective altruists these days. You can mostly give thanks to convicted felon Sam Bankman-Fried for having single-handedly made sure far more people hear “effective altruism” and think “cryptocurrency scams” rather than “donating lots of money to good causes.”  But there is still a great deal of work […]

Timothée Chalamet, Paul Mescal, Zendaya — the celebrity look-alike contests sweeping the US and the UK seem to be more than just a weekend fad. Despite sporadic attendance and skeptical media coverage, the events keep happening, sometimes with repeat contests for various celebrities in different cities. Disappointed by the lack of Jack Schlossberg look-alikes in […]

The US-Mexico border isn’t the only place where the impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policies is likely to be keenly felt. Major changes are likely to come to the US-Canada border, as well. Tom Homan, who Trump recently named his “border czar,” has sought to sound the alarm about immigrants entering the US without […]

Over the past few years, the public has stopped treating movie press tours like marketing fluff and started treating them like reality shows. These often tedious stretches of talk-show appearances, red carpets, and press junkets that have been part of the Hollywood grind for decades are suddenly getting as much attention on social media as […]

On Thursday, former Rep. Matt Gaetz announced he would be withdrawing his candidacy to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general after facing a furor over accusations of sexual misconduct, including having sex with a 17-year-old minor.  The accusations against Gaetz, who was the subject of a years-long investigation by the House Ethics Committee, as […]

The Department of Justice asked a judge this week to break up Google. Chrome? Sell it off. Android? Same. Paying other companies to make Google Search the default? Cut that out.  If the DOJ gets everything it wants, the entire technology industry would tilt on its axis. The internet, as we know it, would change. […]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has formally issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The arrest warrants do not guarantee that the men will be tried at The Hague, the Dutch city where the […]

Whenever Democrats lose an election, a debate inevitably ensues over whether they were done in by an unenthused base or an alienated swing electorate.  No matter how many times this drama gets restaged, the parts and scripts remain largely the same. Center-left Democrats insist that their party must win over swing voters with moderation, while […]

India and Pakistan are losing ground to a common deadly enemy. Vast clouds of dense, toxic smog have once again shrouded metropolises in South Asia. Air pollution regularly spikes in November in the subcontinent, but this year’s dirty air has still been breathtaking in its scale and severity. The gray, smoky pollution is even visible […]

Generally speaking, for many of the officials who served him during his first term, advising Donald Trump on foreign policy and national security does not appear to have been a very pleasant experience. Numerous former Trump officials have described him variously as a threat to the Constitution, either “a fascist” or “not capable” of having an […]

Every episode of Say Nothing, the FX/Hulu show based on the nonfiction book of the same name, ends with a disclaimer: “Gerry Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA or participating in any IRA-related violence.”  Disclaimers aren’t unusual in film and television (arguably even more shows should employ them) but the Adams […]

Welcome to Know-It-All. In the age of intellectual property grabs, docudramas, and so very many sequels, it can be difficult to find a way into the complicated worlds we see on screen. In this series, Vox experts explain what you need to know to get into the latest hot release. Human existence is full of […]

In recent decades, the average American has steadily increased their consumption of meat, milk, and eggs, to a staggering 224 pounds of red meat and poultry, 280 eggs, 20.5 pounds of fish, and 667 pounds of dairy per year — among the highest rates in the world. The dominance of animal products on Americans’ plates […]

Vox today released the 2024 Future Perfect 50 list, its third annual celebration of the thinkers, innovators, and changemakers who are working to make the future a better place. This year’s project is Vox’s most ambitious yet, including dedicated profiles of each honoree and interviews with a select few. The Future Perfect 50 includes both […]

While campaigning, President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to dismantle the US Department of Education (DOE), on the basis that the federal education apparatus is “indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material.”  “One thing I’ll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and […]

Welcome to Know-It-All. In the age of intellectual property grabs, docudramas, and so very many sequels, it can be difficult to find a way into the complicated worlds we see on screen. In this series, Vox experts explain what you need to know to get into the latest hot release. Like a friendship between a […]

During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump had a pointed tagline for his energy policy: “Drill, baby, drill.” That statement is emblematic of where Trump is poised to focus his efforts in a second term: He’s pledged US “energy dominance” and everything from “new pipelines” to “new refiners” that amp up fossil fuel production.  This approach […]

Long before he officially pursued the presidency, Donald Trump railed against US trade deals. In interviews dating back to the 1980s, he told journalists that deals that benefited Asian and Middle Eastern trading partners consistently “ripped off” the US.  Over decades, that charge may have turned into a winning election strategy. As a first-term president […]

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, Democratic lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates have maintained a clear strategy: Win a more progressive Democratic trifecta in 2024, eliminate the Senate filibuster, and pass comprehensive federal protections. When reporters asked about contingency plans — particularly given polls suggesting full Democratic control was unlikely — such questions were […]

If the popular song is to be believed, there’s no place like home for the holidays.  But getting there is going to cost you. Americans plan to spend an average of $2,330 on holiday travel this year, according to NerdWallet’s 2024 Holiday Spending Report. Factor in another $900 on gifts, per the report, and hundreds […]

Vox reader Jen Hawse asks: Why do hotels pump in very strongly smelling perfume into their lobbies and sometimes their guest rooms? What we think of as a “nice” hotel often comes down to a certain je ne sais quoi. Sure, it has all the amenities — a luxe restaurant and bar on the premises, […]

Did you donate to charity in the past, but no longer do so?  If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. For the second year in a row, the philanthropy research foundation Giving USA reported that fewer Americans are donating to nonprofits than they used to, and the total amount of giving is declining once […]

Nearly three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion into Ukraine, the Biden administration gave Ukraine the green light to strike deeper into Russia using US-supplied longer-range missiles. The Ukrainian military quickly put that permission to use: On Tuesday, it attacked a weapons depot about 70 miles from Ukraine’s border.  The US and NATO allies have hesitated […]

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly distanced himself from Project 2025, a 900-page opus of conservative policy recommendations published by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. But he has nominated two of the document’s co-authors to Cabinet-level positions, and many others served in his first administration, which suggests the document may be a window into […]