The Big Idea
Outside contributors’ opinions and analysis of the most important issues in politics, science, and culture.
Especially within minority groups, parents and doctors are getting better at identifying the condition.
Long before the Cosby trial, black women paved the way for our current robust national conversation about sexual violence.
Liberals and neoconservatives agree that illegality is no obstacle to action. You might call this attitude ... Trumpian.
Racial justice energized the party in the past. It can today too.
A modest proposal on 4/20: a user-set quota system could help people moderate their marijuana use.
Displaced workers need targeted help. But they’d also benefit from unions, a higher minimum wage, and infrastructure spending.
A computer scientist explains how you have way less control of your data than Mark Zuckerberg says.
A member of the New Orlean Saints squad has lodged a complaint with the EEOC. The issues are trickier than you think.
Thanks to decades of research on political economy, we know how hard it is to check the powers of a king.
The trend can explain slow growth, “missing” workers, and stagnant salaries.
The progressive freakout makes no sense.
Advocates have been pushing for changes surrounding mass shooting reporting for years. After Parkland, let’s act.
“Firearm localism” may offer a way out of the current political impasse.
The rise of the “citizen protector” has reshaped the gun control battle.
Direct contributions to candidates aren’t the only way to wield clout.
A philosopher explains why addiction isn’t a moral failure.
Naloxone can be a “moral hazard,” a new paper concludes.
What happens when faith and hard work aren’t enough?
History shows that policy always has to bend to reality.
If the Trump administration lets the state get away with it, health care for millions could be at risk.
Democrats debate policy as Trump pursues a radical ethnonationalist agenda.
There’s little to no evidence that immigration takes jobs from African Americans.
He’s scapegoating people with disabilities following the Parkland shooting. But he made the correct call on ending an Obama-era restriction.
Orwell said international sports spawned “orgies of hatred.” The Olympics prove him wrong.
They got jobs, continued their education, and boosted the US economy.
The proportion of medical procedures unsupported by evidence may be nearly half.
The Bastille Day parade celebrates citizens’ rights, not military might.
National solidarity is an old, powerful theme on the left — one it shuns at its peril.
While pundits debate the left’s fate, the DSA knocks on doors.
Child care costs are rising, yet there’s a massive reserve army of potential babysitters.
The claim is empirically wrong and, if used to alter aid policy, potentially catastrophic.
Our country has an ugly history of using police and prisons to stop sexual violence.
In these nations, self-dealing goes unpunished and the civil service gets co-opted.
Debunking the bad advice that Democrats should ignore working-class whites.
Nassar’s victims deserve an advocate. But that advocate shouldn’t be a judge.
Affirmative consent is an excellent sexual ideal. It makes for terrible policy.
Chaotic closures may work against the cause of limited government.
The Academy just tilted the playing field in favor of The Emoji Movie — and against indie animation.
Judges are wary of second-guessing politicians who redraw district lines. These tools are changing their minds.
Language norms are changing, but not all media outlets are up to date.