Why enslaved people plotted escapes during the holidays

How should we look to history to make sense of Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?

Richard White, Stanford University

Comparisons between our current era and the societal rot of the Gilded Age abound. But it might be more useful to explore how Americans escaped the crises of the late-19th century.

A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics

Arash Javanbakht, Wayne State University

Political polarization and people not being exposed to other perspectives online are two major factors that contribute to Americans feeling exhausted with politics.

Colorado now has one of the nation’s most liberal abortion access laws, but ballot measures to restrict abortion have a long history in the state

Anne Whitesell, Miami University

Colorado voters have been asked 10 times since 1970 to vote on abortion ballot measures.

The Wanamaker organ has been part of a treasured holiday tradition in Philly for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future

Whitney Martinko, Villanova University

With Macy’s stores across the country shuttering, some Philadelphians are concerned about the fate of the 120-year-old instrument once touted as ‘the greatest organ in the world.’

How a small Brazilian town became an unlikely battleground over Confederate memory

Jordan Brasher, Macalester College

‘Ours is the only city in Brazil where the Confederate flag flies,’ said a city council member in Santa Bárbara d’Oeste. A new law there bans ‘symbols that promote racist and segregationist ideas.’

What are pharmacy benefit managers? A health economist explains how lack of competition drives up drug prices for everyone

James B. Rebitzer, Boston University

As the middlemen between drug companies and insurers, PBMs are shoo-ins as the villains behind high drug prices. But they do play a useful role in the health marketplace.

Parents and caregivers: How to stop feeling like a Grinch and be more present with your kids this holiday season

Julia Felton, Michigan State University; Crystal Cederna, Michigan State University

Future-oriented thinking, rather than careening from moment to moment, can help parents have more meaningful moments with their children.

The Moon might be older than scientists previously thought − a new study shines light on its history

Francis Nimmo, University of California, Santa Cruz

An extreme heating event may have interfered with scientists’ attempts to figure out the Moon’s age by dating lunar rock samples.

How to avoid the latest generation of scams this holiday season

Shaila Rana, Purdue University; Nelly Mulleneaux, Purdue University

Today’s scams aren’t like yesteryear’s.

The moral dimension to America’s flawed health care system

Nicole Hassoun, Binghamton University, State University of New York

At a moment of soul-searching about health care in the US, an expert on global health puts the American system in perspective.

More than 60 years later, Langston Hughes’ ‘Black Nativity’ is still a pillar of African American theater

Dominic Taylor, University of California, Los Angeles

‘Black Nativity’ may be different each time you see it − and that’s exactly what the playwright had in mind.

Federal protection for monarch butterflies could help or harm this iconic species, depending on how it’s carried out

William E. Snyder, University of Georgia; Michael Crossley, University of Delaware

Will protecting monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act improve their chance of surviving? Not necessarily, 2 entomologists caution.

At 88, Pope Francis dances the tango with the global Catholic Church amid its culture wars

Why does red wine cause headaches? Our research points to a compound found in the grapes’ skin

Trump’s 2017 tax cuts expire soon − study shows they made income inequality worse and especially hurt Black Americans