Over a decade ago, when political parties didn’t treat their rivals as mortal enemies, the Republican president of the Florida Senate, Jeff Atwater, would remind his colleagues: “Don’t fear the debate.” I remember them as…

This month, a brief, ambitious and many would say calamitous experiment came to an end: Oregon rolled back Measure 110, its policy decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. Rather than handing out…

Springfield, Ohio is the latest example of the damage rumors can cause. What began as mean-spirited insults has spiraled into death threats for the community. Over the past week, the mid-sized town has received more…

With a coveted Taylor Swift endorsement rolling out earlier this month, everyone seems to be talking about the engagement of young voters this election cycle. Young people — typically, this is measured by those under…

The Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese rivalry has been a central W.N.B.A. story line this season. The two most-watched games have been between Clark’s Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, Reese’s team, even though both…

If you watched last week’s presidential debate or clips from it, you probably heard my hometown of Springfield, Ohio, referenced in a less-than-favorable way. The back-and-forth has ignited a surge of outside opinions on our…

After every shooting, blame and rationalizations fly. I know, because I was shot in the head at a 2011 congressional event near my home in Tucson, Ariz. Eighteen other people were shot at that event,…

Near the end of Tuesday night’s meeting of the Lawrence City Commission, a man in a jester’s hat approached the speaker’s podium with a smile on his face.  The room was tense.  “Public comment time?”…

It is late August, and I’m standing in the beautiful Place de la Concorde in Paris trying to plug an Ethernet cable into my camera. The sun is bright, and I can feel the excitement…

Debate Night in America was a big night for Kansas — Donald Trump called us liberal and our most famous resident’s even more-famous girlfriend jumped in and endorsed Kamala Harris.  It was a not-bad night…