Editor’s note: This article is part of our collaboration with Point Taken, a new program from WGBH that will next air on Tuesday, June 21 on PBS and online at pbs.org. The show features fact-based debate on major issues of the day, without the shouting.

The...

“We are just waiting,” says Lisa, a 19-year-old college student, the anxiety palpable in her voice. Lisa is a U.S. citizen, born and raised in South Texas. Her parents and older brother, however, are undocumented.

The entire family’s lives may be turned upside down in just a few days.

This month, the Supreme Court will issue a...

In a major overhaul of U.S. regulation of toxic chemicals, Congress last week passed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the largest piece of environmental legislation passed in the United States since 1990. President Obama is expected to sign it into law...

Americans have been riveted by the 2016 presidential primaries and the media spectacle that has surrounded the Donald Trump campaign.

This excitement has not carried through to the down-ballot races. In fact, it has been a quiet primary season for candidates running for things other than president.

So far, 2016 has featured little national...

A recent international study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found no positive evidence of impact of educational technology on student performance.

It did not find any significant improvement in reading, math or science in...

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid narcotic about 100 times as potent as morphine, continues to be in the news, as deaths from fentanyl overdose continue to rise and even more potent nonpharmaceutical forms become available on the street. It was the drug in Prince’s body...

On June 13, when a judge in Oregon allowed a person to legally choose neither sex and be classified as “nonbinary,” transgender activists rejoiced. It’s thought to be the first ruling of its kind in a country that, until now, has required that people mark “male” or “female” on official identity documents.

Th...

Supporters of the Islamic State, or ISIS, around the world gather online, becoming members of virtual communities in much the same way any of us might join online groups focused on some common...

If you like binge-watching Netflix, streaming audio or online gaming, then you should be celebrating this week. And if your business depends on reaching a wide audience online, you should join in. A federal appeals court decision this week means...

Orlando has long been characterized as a place of transients, a perpetual churn of people moving in and out. Orlando is a stop, a stepping stone, not a destination. The city once even referred to its homeless as “transients” – as if they were something temporary, rather than permanent.

I certainly felt temporary when I took my...