In popular imagination, the Black Death is the most devastating pandemic to have ever hit Europe. A new study of 1,634 samples of fossil pollen from 261 lakes and wetlands in 19 European countries suggests the pandemic’s toll was not as universal as currently claimed, nor was it always catastrophic.
Commentary
Patriotism, Dissent, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and the NFL
Playing the national anthem at every game became a flashpoint in the 1960s. Today, the NFL’s promise to play the anthem at every game cuts both ways. For Super Bowl LVI, three songs performed by four Black American female vocalists will offer a musical suite of unity in the face of division.
What I learned From Watching More than 500 Jan. 6 Videos
The Jan. 6 insurrection was brutal, and no amount of spin and obfuscation will alter that truth. Hundreds of videos prove that violence did not just occur sporadically as an extreme expression of the crowd’s displeasure but rather dominated the mob’s collective energy. The full weight of the crime that occurred on Jan. 6 is hard for Americans to measure because it is hard to imagine it could have occurred in America.
Life After the Covid Pandemic
There will not be a single moment when social life suddenly goes back to normal. Instead, gradually, over time, most people will view Covid-19 as a background risk and abandon the trappings of pandemic caution. There are major caveats to when the pandemic will wane, and trust in public health agencies has declined significantly.
Trump and the Vaporization of Presidential Records
Boxes of documents and other items that should have been handed over to the National Archives were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. Among the records reportedly incomplete or missing from Trump’s tenure in the White House are phone logs from Jan. 6, 2021.
How Joe Rogan Became Podcasting’s Goliath
Joe Rogan is not just a purveyor of right-wing ideologies. He is also someone who has built an empire by introducing these ideas – and a wide range of others – to listeners from across the political spectrum. His truly unique skill is drawing in from that spectrum a massive, young, largely male audience that advertisers highly covet.
The Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol Was Not ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’
When Trump urged the Ellipse crowd to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell,” his words transformed an occasion of legitimate political discourse into an anti-democratic violent insurrection. The result was real physical violence.” Several people died and many were injured.
Whoopi Goldberg’s Holocaust Muddle
Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of ABC’s “The View,” set off a firestorm when she insisted on Jan. 31, 2022 that the Holocaust was “not about race.” Hands outstretched, she went on to describe the genocide as a conflict between “two white groups of people.” Her apology tour raised more questions about her views on race, antisemitism and the Holocaust.
How Republicans Take Biden Relief Bill Money and Run, After Unanimously Opposing It
The Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan package was opposed by every Republican in Congress and criticized by Republican governors, most of whom are now grabbing the money.
How Truckers’ ‘Freedom Convoy’ Was Overtaken by Radical Fringe in Canada
The protest of commercial truckers swarming Canada’s capital in Ottawa shows how an issue can quickly be hijacked by extremist groups spouting themes of racism, hatred and violence.