Featured Commentary

The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied an appeal to hear a case involving a Texas public library banning a collection of books from distribution to the public. According to USA Today, the titles involved controversial topics like slavery and LGBTQ+ issues. It was argued that “if a disappointed patron can’t...

Most Americans would be overjoyed if politicians and political activists would cool their rhetoric. Despite the claims of activists on both the left and right, all policy questions aren’t “life or death,” and those on the “other side” aren’t necessarily ignorant and evil. Although political conflict is inevitable, we each...

Politicians and policy experts like to talk about the “root causes” of crime, homelessness, poverty, rising prices and other problems. If they want to understand the root cause of political polarization, they might want to consider the whole picture and look in the mirror. In a book published 40 years...

In early September, officials in Utah announced a plan to build an encampment just outside Salt Lake City where up to 1,300 people experiencing homelessness would be forced to receive treatment for mental health challenges. Unhoused people who refuse to stay in this state-run facility could instead end up in...

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles says she has a plan for keeping Congress in Republican hands in next year’s midterm elections. In an interview with the online show “The Mom View,” Wiles said she hasn’t informed the president about her plan but said it involves putting him on...

The recent developments at the Westmoreland County Prison granting inmate Kort Noel Eckman limited access to kosher meals and allowing him to wear a yarmulke in court, while a welcome step forward, are but a partial remedy to a deeper, systemic failure. Eckman’s ordeal lays bare a troubling contradiction in...

Barney the purple dinosaur was my first English teacher. Through songs, make-believe and games, I learned how to greet people, ask kids if they wanted to play and talk about the weather, which turned out to be useful for conversation in the United States. I also learned about sharing, respecting...

After cutting interest rates in September and October, the Federal Reserve should pause at its December meeting — the jobs market isn’t in crisis but inflation remains menacingly high. By the summer of 2023, the economy was at full employment but continued to grow robustly. From September 2023 to December...

We are nearing a tipping point with artificial intelligence. Scientists call it the singularity — the moment when machine intelligence surpasses our own. Some experts warn that it could come as soon as next year. AI already writes our code, drives our cars and designs our weapons — yet no...

By his account, Donald Trump has been repeatedly denied the Nobel Peace Prize he was due. Like the 1980s standup comedian Rodney Dangerfield, he complains: “I don’t get no respect.” This time, Trump is determined by hook or crook or shady diplomacy to get a Nobel. He’s proposed a peace...

There’s a reason George W. Bush was the last governor to win the White House: In the 25-plus years since, governors have proven incapable of weathering the intense public scrutiny and navigating the media barrage of gotcha questions that accompany running for president. There are reasons for that. As local...

President Donald Trump is promoting the idea of sending a $2,000 check to most Americans funded by revenues brought by his tariffs on imports. The scheme has received a frosty reception from Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress and economists alike, and they are unlikely to happen. If the White House...

A student I like turns in an essay. (She won me over because she brings “Crime and Punishment” to class, and her last name is Russian, which makes me think of the great-grandparents I never met who left Russia for the reasons many Jews left.) A few sentences into her...

For more than a century, American education has been driven by the same invisible engine: standardization. Rows of desks. National tests. Rankings. From No Child Left Behind to statewide report cards, we have long measured success by what can be quantified, compared and controlled. This model, born in the industrial...

When the College Board canceled SAT testing in 2020, hundreds of colleges adopted test-optional admissions policies for that fall. The Urban Institute reported that the number of four-year colleges and universities going test-optional nearly doubled in one year, from 713 to 1,350. Test-optional admissions had been spreading before the covid...

While only a small number of us live to be 100, everyone’s birthday has a centenary date. For historians who seem mostly to be of the liberal persuasion and obituary writers (ditto) the way the 100th anniversary of a conservative’s birth usually results in one of the following: ignored, diminished...

As Pittsburgh prepares to begin a new chapter under Mayor-elect Corey O’Connor, the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) views this moment as an opportunity to center neighborhood voices and recommit to a development strategy that is responsible, equitable and grounded in community experience. Transitions in leadership can create uncertainty, but...

This week, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the group that advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccines for all Americans, will discuss whether to change its recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine. Their vote could negatively affect the health of children and families...

Rural Appalachian communities in Pennsylvania know the feeling of being promised the world and left with the bill. For generations, coal powered the region’s economy. But when demand collapsed, so did entire towns. More than 33,000 mining jobs have vanished in Appalachia since 2011, leaving behind shuttered plants, hollowed-out tax...

There are two big worries when it comes to the rapid advances in artificial intelligence. The first is that it will lead to robot overlords that will eradicate humanity. The second is that AI will eliminate many jobs. The more likely scenario is that it creates a labor shortage, or...

For Republicans, November was bookended by two ominous developments: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation and the party’s resounding defeats in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races. The Republican candidates in those races — Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey and Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia — tried one strategy for dealing...

Artificial intelligence and data centers are the hottest investment topics at the moment, reminiscent of the Amazon headquarters sweepstakes of the past. This time, increased energy demand, combined with flexibility in location, means that almost any part of the country where the energy supply is abundant is a potential data...

Given the recent sports-betting and gambling scandals, this seems like a relevant question: If we knew the game was fixed, would we still watch? You bet we would. And we would probably still bet on it, too. It’s our nature. It’s entertainment, and we can’t resist. Examples abound, including Hollywood...

Congress ended its impasse to reopen the government, but the Democrats’ reason for the shutdown remains unresolved: the renewal of expiring subsidies for insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Republicans offered an olive branch to end the standoff by proposing to make payments into Americans’ health savings accounts...

Rep. Chris Deluzio, let me start with something simple and sincere: Thank you for your service to this country. Your time in uniform matters, and nobody can take that away from you. Americans respect that — I respect that. But respect for your service does not mean giving you a...