As the industrial revolution took hold, it was becoming apparent to many that the pollution emitted by industry could be damaging not only to human health, but to the built environment as well. Before…
During the widespread COVID lockdowns of 2020, scores of Americans decided to learn something new in their idle time, taking up sourdough baking, woodworking, or bird watching. Many also turned to documentaries to stimulate…
Spanning all cinematic eras, the HBO Max film library strives for quality and quantity in equal measure. Unlike a number of its peers, the streaming platform seems as dedicated to preserving movie history as…
Ah, those summer movies of our youth… The Marvel machine! Pixar animations! And all those film franchises you’ve followed. Go ahead: Try to list all the “Fast & Furious” movies ranked from worst to…
With the development of a PVC-based material better known as vinyl came the long-playing record, or LP for short. Issued in both 10-inch and 12-inch formats, to be played at a speed of 33…
Amnesty International counted 579 executions in 18 countries in 2021. Although executions rose 20% from the 483 recorded in 2020, the most recent number represents the second lowest figure since 2010. To determine the…
There are currently 100 million forcibly displaced people in the world, according to the United Nations. Causes for displacement include war, political violence, persecution, natural disasters, famine, and other crises. Some of these people…
Nowadays, it seems as if nearly every new movie is either a sequel or a remake. And while we have no issue with this per se – some of those new Marvel movies are…
An estimated 2.1 million people work for the U.S. federal government. About a third of them are involved in the daily administrative grind of running the world’s largest economy in the third-most populous country.…
The United States is large enough that even what defines wealth varies greatly from place to place. (How wealthy was the 1% each year since 1976.) For example, it takes a median annual household…
Even before hundreds of thousands of students deferred college as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, enrollment in higher education in the U.S. had declined 11%, from 20.5 million in 2011 to 18.2 million…
The war in Ukraine, inflation, the volatile stock market, and other new troubles have been front and center in people’s minds, but although the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a back seat, it is still…
Hollywood often stands accused of eschewing original ideas in favor of established intellectual property and the worst movie remakes don’t do the town any favors. While predominant among horror films, the trend ultimately leaves…
Despite the stock market doldrums since the beginning of the year, the pandemic has been generally good to investors. The S&P 500 finished 2020 up over 16% and 2021 with a near 27% return.…
Aged black eggs and sea-going worms – these and other delicacies from around the world may seem like they’re only fit for the most fearless gourmands. And some exotic fruits look so strange, you…
The U.S. poverty rate stood at 11.4% in 2020, up 1.0 percentage points from 2019, according to Census Bureau estimates. This marked the first increase after five consecutive yearly declines. According to the most…
If big city life is not for you, you’re not alone. Eight out of the 10 largest U.S. cities lost population during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, as families moved to the…
Since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, the quality of the air we breathe has improved dramatically, and cleaner air has meant better health for most Americans. The Clean Air Act…
Just a few decades ago, sushi was considered incredibly exotic, and most Americans would probably have quailed at the idea of eating raw fish. Well, times have obviously changed, and nowadays sushi has become…
When it comes to privately-owned land, most people would consider farms and ranches as large. But some ranches are far larger than others. Some people may have heard of the King Ranch in Texas,…
