President Barack Obama spared almost no one in his last performance at this year’s White House correspondents' dinner. He laughed along with the crowd as he skewered a host of celebrities and politicians.

But long after that lighthearted evening is forgotten, I believe the president and other progressives will continue to share bemused...

Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, is about to go on trial. She is temporarily suspended from office while Brazilian politicians debate whether she broke the country’s laws.

Her crime is she allegedly borrowed about US$11 billion from Brazil’s state banks – about one percent of GDP – to fund long-running...

For close to a century, the dominant method of conserving wildlife in the United States has been to protect and manage the areas where animals live. Millions of acres of public and private land across the United States are managed at...

Depending where you live, maybe you follow your local transportation department on Twitter for construction updates. Or maybe you watch Periscope videos of city council sessions, or read live blogs of public school board meetings.

Around the world, governments and citizens are engaging on social media. For instance, the town government in Jun,...

Editor’s note: This article is part of our collaboration with Point Taken, a new program from WGBH that will next air on Tuesday, May 17 on PBS and online at pbs.org. The show features fact-based debate on major issues of the day, without the shouting.

With fresh reports that the Islamic State (IS) group has bombed Baghdad to produce the...

Growing up in China, I started playing piano when I was nine years old and learning English when I was 12. Later, when I was a college student, it struck me how similar language and music are to each other.

Language and music both require rhythm; otherwise they don’t make any sense....

Last year the Institute of Museum and Library Services offered a catchy statistic: the United States has more museums than all the Starbucks and McDonald’s combined.

It’s easy to understand why cities will leap at the opportunity to invest in...

A recent New York Times article highlighted the growing integration of technologies and textiles, displaying a photograph of a delicate golden nest of optical fiber. The article reported that this new “functional fabric” has...

Most Americans believe in the exceptionalism of our nation. However, when it comes to electing a female president, the U.S. is not exceptional. Rather it is an exception to the rule.

The U.S. ranks 97th in global ranking of women in government. Women hold only 19 percent of elected government offices here.

While many countries, including Germany,...

Hello, my name is Michael, and I’m a Ring Addict.

No, not the one ring from “Lord of the Rings”; not the cheap costume jewelry you get at the local...