Noam Chomsky’s Green New Deal
This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Several books on the Green New Deal have been released in the past year or two, but none boasts a more illustrious set of authors than Climate Crisis and the Green New Deal, out Tuesday from Robert…
How Trump let Covid-19 win
As America, and even his own administration, woke up to the threat of Covid-19, President Donald Trump still didn’t seem to get it. Within weeks of suggesting that people social distance in mid-March, the president went on national TV to argue that the US could reopen by Easter Sunday in April. “You’ll have packed churches…
Pigs are as smart as dogs. Why do we eat one and love the other?
Imagine a dog. She spends her entire life in an iron crate so small that she cannot turn around. Her tail has been cut off so that other dogs in cages jammed up against hers won’t chew it off in distress. When she has puppies, the males are castrated without painkillers. They are left close…
How the coronavirus outbreak is roiling the film and entertainment industries
The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, which was first identified in China in December, has had sweeping effects in the public health, business, and travel sectors, among others. And while the repercussions for the entertainment industry may seem to pale in comparison to the clear threat the virus poses to human life, the ripple effects do have…
Scientists fear the Western wildfires could lead to long-term lung damage
During the peak of the recent wildfires, cities like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, suffered some of the dirtiest air in the world, making breathing the air like smoking a pack of cigarettes in a day. The smoke from these fires has shrouded millions of people in dirty air, as you can see in this…
“It isn’t a question of politics”: Fauci on calling out Sen. Rand Paul’s misinformation
Six months into the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, remains one of the most visible and steadfast defenders of science in an increasingly politicized environment. On Thursday, Vox and Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram spoke to Fauci about calling out Sen.…
On climate change, oil and gas companies have a long way to go
This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The oil and gas industry has found itself under a harsh spotlight as concern over climate change increases across the world. Lately, oil and gas majors have responded to the scrutiny with a series of pledges, plans,…
Coronavirus is in the air. Here’s how to get it out.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, can float in the air. In particular, it can linger in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, spreading farther than 6 feet from its source. These indoor public spaces are high risk and should be avoided while the virus is still spreading. But, increasingly, people are returning to those spaces: Bars…
What Biden can do to fix Trump’s Covid-19 mess
If Joe Biden beats Donald Trump this November and ends up in the Oval Office in January, he’ll quickly face one of the gravest challenges any president has seen in the modern era: Hundreds of thousands of Americans will be dead from Covid-19. Public trust in scientific and government institutions will be depleted. If the…
How the air travel industry is scrambling to convince people to fly
Kyle Potter, the editor of the travel deals website Thrifty Traveler, is used to flying a lot. But things haven’t been the same since the pandemic. Back in June, when he flew for the first time since Covid-19 hit the United States, it was an eerie experience. “Pretty much everyone just really feels on edge.…