Author: Lance Garrison
Klein: Well, let me try to live in this world for a minute, try to imagine how it would feel and what would happen. Let’s think August, maybe July, right? There are a couple of months here.Here’s what I see happening. There is a mad dash. I mean, Joe Biden gives a sort of heroic, honorable speech: I’ve decided that it’s the right thing for me is to be a bridge to the next generation, that we all need to know when our time is up, that I have important work that I still need to focus on and trying…
When asked what drives the economy, many Americans have a simple, single answer that comes to mind immediately: “greed.” They believe the rich and powerful have designed the economy to benefit themselves and have left others with too little or with nothing at all.We know Americans feel this way because we asked them. Over the past two years, as part of a project with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, we and a team of people conducted over 30 small-group conversations with Americans from almost every corner of the country. While national indicators may suggest that the economy is…
One of the lesser-known problems facing many low-wage workers in America is unpredictable and scarce work hours — something the writer Adelle Waldman knows firsthand. She worked at a big-box store for six months to research her latest novel, about a group of employees plotting to overthrow their bad boss. In this audio essay, Waldman explains how her experience exposed her to the way inflexible hours can wreak havoc in people’s lives, from lack of health insurance to the inability to pick up a second job.(A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication…
Over the weekend Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio went to the Munich Security Conference to play an unpopular part — a spokesman, at a gathering of the Western foreign policy establishment, for the populist critique of American support for Ukraine’s war effort.If you were to pluck a key phrase from his comments, it would be “world of scarcity,” which Vance used five times to describe the American strategic situation: stretched by our global commitments, unable to support Ukraine while simultaneously maintaining our position in the Middle East and preparing for a war in East Asia, and therefore forced to husband…
But they dispute the argument made by “many analysts” that “the Democratic Party has managed this sea change by shifting from economic to cultural and identity appeals.”Instead, Hacker and his collaborators write,Even as Democrats have increasingly relied on affluent, educated voters, the party has embraced a more ambitious economic agenda. The national party has bridged the Blue Divide not by forswearing redistribution or foregrounding cultural liberalism, but by formulating an increasingly bold economic program — albeit one that elides important inequalities within its metro-based multiracial coalition.Instead of downplaying or abandoning the party’s commitment to liberal economic policies, Hacker and his…
The shelter comes after it all. After the pawnship and plasma donation. After the diagnosis, the divorce, the eviction, the relapse. After the final family member says no. Emergency shelters provide a place to sleep — even if only a mat on a floor — and meals. At some, you can get clean socks, a haircut, a tooth pulled, even therapy. The shelter represents the last stop from the bottom, a bulwark from the street, but it can also represent a chance: to leave your abuser, to earn your G.E.D., to make a new start.Homelessness is highest in cities with…
Curious about leptin? Here are the facts behind some frequently asked questions.Leptin is a hormone. Those are chemical messengers that help different body parts work together. Leptin sends a signal to your brain that helps you feel full and less interested in food. You may hear it called a satiety hormone. (Satiety means hunger feels satisfied). It also plays a role in how your body turns fat into energy.You’ve always got leptin in your body. It’s mostly made by your fat cells. But your stomach releases some when you eat. It circulates in your bloodstream and travels to your brain.And…
President Biden said last week that he was “looking at a whole number of options” to make good on his 2021 warning to Vladimir Putin that Russia would face “devastating” consequences if Aleksei Navalny were to die in prison. Now that Putin has treated that warning with his customary contempt, Biden needs to act as a matter of moral clarity and personal credibility, and for the strategic imperative of demonstrating to a dictator that American threats aren’t hollow.But how? Some analysts suggest that the administration, which on Tuesday vowed to impose tougher sanctions, will struggle to find ways to make…
Whether you notice them or not, your body makes lots of noises. The pop and creak of your joints, or the sound it makes when you pass gas, may not alarm you. But it may feel odd to hear your stomach growl or gurgle.“We get asked this a lot,” says Ben Levy MD, a gastroenterologist at The University of Chicago Medicine. “Patients sometimes feel uncomfortable if they can hear their stomach sounds.”What’s going on in there? A symphony of normal digestion and hunger.When you hear noises in your stomach after you’ve eaten, it’s the sound of peristalsis, or smooth muscles…
When people say someone had “a good death,” they usually mean that someone was comfortable and not in pain. But what if you could help their final days include the things they treasure — like their favorite song playing, who is at their bedside, even the scent of a candle in the room — so they feel at peace.That’s why some people turn to end-of-life doulas. They are among the professionals who can help someone prepare for their death and reflect on their life: their greatest joys and regrets, any fears or worries on their mind, and how they want…