Do you like to listen to music when you work?

Pose this question at a party, and you’ll probably get some polarizing responses. Some will say they love it, claiming that it improves their performance; others will say they find it distracting and cannot work...

The coronavirus is on everyone’s minds. As an epidemiologist, I find it interesting to hear people using technical terms – like quarantine or super spreader or reproductive number – that my colleagues and I use in our work every day.

But I’m also...

In late February, Joe Biden got emotional about the deaths of family members, in a strikingly moving conversation with Rev. Anthony Thompson, whose wife Myra was killed by a white supremacist.

Three days later, Biden delivered a...

The Harvard historian Jill Lepore recounted recently in The New Yorker magazine that when democracies sink into...

More than 4 million Americans may not be represented in the upcoming 2020 census.

This is a problem, as the once-every-10-year census affects everything from federal funding to political representation to research projects that rely on accurate census data, like the...

Infectious disease outbreaks have killed more people than hurricanes, wildfires or earthquakes. The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in...

Investors, policymakers, businesses and the general public are increasingly concerned the coronavirus’ rapid spread will lead to a recession. While this outcome is hard for economists like me to predict, we do know one thing: The U.S. is not prepared to fight a deep recession.

Policymakers...

The app failure that led to a chaotic 2020 Iowa caucus was a reminder of how vulnerable the democratic process is to technological problems – even without any malicious outside intervention. Far more...

In many industries, such as construction, transportation, warehousing and health care, the workplace is dangerous. In 2018 alone, 5,250 workers died on the job.

In an effort to protect workers from death or injury, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health...

At one time or another, just about every parent uses food to reward their kids for good behavior and achievements – or to console them when they’re sad or disappointed.

When children make honor roll, win a big game or persevere through a struggle, a parent...