The Fiction of American Democracy

Great writers have always challenged us to measure the compromised reality of politics against our national ideals.

‘No One Is Listening to Us’

More people than ever are hospitalized with COVID-19. Health-care workers can’t go on like this.

Elite Opinion Is Never Wrong

Reality may fail to measure up to cocktail party assumptions, but the chit-chat of the better people rings on, unchanged.

Norwegians Find Remnants of Elite Society

While excavating 1000-year-old Viking ship.

With Charisma to Spare

Franz Brentano, philosopher and psychologist, was an iconic teacher eclipsed by his students, Freud and Husserl among them.

Islamism: How Terror Attacks Have Shocked France

France has again been rocked by a series of Islamist attacks. Jürgen Ritte, a German professor at the Sorbonne in Paris, speaks about how France handles terror.

Island Health Reports COVID-19 Outbreak at Nanaimo Hospital

Five staff members on one NRGH unit have tested positive. Shit’s on.

And I Thought I Had Vineyard Problems

Thieves stripped a Canadian vineyard of grapes the night before harvest.

The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse

A historian believes he has discovered iron laws that predict the rise and fall of societies. He has bad news.

Hypocrisy

Trudeau government imported $19 BILLION in foreign oil last year.

Cane Toads Showing Signs of Rapid Evolution as They Continue Australian Invasion

Some might argue they should never have been brought here in the first place but they’re here now and they’re only becoming more widespread.

The Angry Arab: France’s Islam Problem

For Macron to speak of a ‘crisis in Islam’ is to pass judgment on a religion of 1.5 billion people and on individual Muslims. 

All Without Mentioning the Extreme Islamists Who Decapitated 50 People

Canada’s foreign minister condemns ‘horrific’ attacks on civilians in Mozambique.

Bear Dogs to the Rescue

Japan’s Karelian Bear Dogs help save lives, reduce injuries and educate both people and bears.

The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End

In a landmark series of calculations, physicists have proved that black holes can shed information, which seems impossible by definition. The work appears to resolve a paradox that Stephen Hawking first described five decades ago.

The Limits of the Viral Book Review

Why are literary critics fixating on one quality nowadays?

The Brain and Politics: Are We Wired to Vote a Certain Way?

Decades of research gives us some insight into why people vote the way they do.

The Last King of the American Middlebro

Who is Alex Trebek? For starters, he eats Snickers for breakfast and watches Fox News backstage.

Pfizer

Experimental COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective.

Trump’s Presidency May Be Over. ‘Trumpism’ Is Not.

Academics are grappling with what that means — even without Trump as head of state.

We Never Know Exactly Where We’re Going in Outer Space

Adventures in space travel remind us how imprecisely we measure reality.

The Supervolcano Under Yellowstone Is Alive and Kicking

Around 10,000 geothermal features in Yellowstone hint at a mysterious hot spot beneath the crust.

New Veggies for a Warming Planet

We need a diversity of crops to adapt to Earth’s changing climate.

People With A Dark Sense Of Humor Have A Higher IQ

I must be bloody brilliant...

The Joys of Being a Stoic

Science and ancient Greeks agree—Stoicism increases well-being.

Alex Trebek, Revered Host of ‘Jeopardy!’ for 36 Years, Dies at 80

Godspeed.