The holidays have arrived once again. You know, that annual festival of goodwill, compulsory spending and the dawning realization that Santa and Satan are anagrams.

Even in the best of years, Americans stagger through this season feeling financially woozy. This year, however, the picture is bleaker. And a growing number of Americans are feeling...Read more

In the last year or so, health influencers — and a lot of women on social media — have talked up testosterone therapy as a kind of perimenopausal panacea. They promise boundless energy, crisper thinking, better sleep — and, most of all, a roaring libido.

Sounds awfully tempting.

But like a lot of things when it comes to women’s health,...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Nearly one year after the Eaton fire incinerated their block in west Altadena, neighbors gathered again, greeting one another with hugs that spoke to a bond forged by shared loss.

They had agreed to meet with me at the same burned-out lot where we'd gathered in February, and talk again about what they once had, what they lost, ...Read more

At the sixth-ranked American public university, UC San Diego, a quarter of students taking a remedial math course placement exam couldn’t solve for x in this equation: 7 + 2 = x + 6. A third couldn’t subtract 1/3 from 3/4, and fewer than half could round a six-digit number to the nearest hundred, according to the school’s recent viral ...Read more

The history of our cities has been written in water.

In Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus valley, the first urban settlements were built around irrigated farmland. Flooded terrace fields for rice, corn and quinoa accompanied the spread of civilization in East Asia and the Americas. Without water, the megacities that will define the 21st century ...Read more

Much attention has been focused on Donald Trump's use of words — that is, his peculiar style of oratory. But more attention should be paid to another feature of his discourse: his use of numbers.

Trump doesn't use numbers the way most of us do, as "things that can be added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided," as Columbia University ...Read more

As travelers wedge themselves into planes, trains and automobiles for holiday trips, there’s a good chance they’ll be joined by an unwanted passenger: a new flu strain that seems intent on derailing the season.

With flu cases in the U.S. starting to take off, there are still some steps people can take to avoid — or at least lower the risk...Read more

Folks, who was supposed to be watching grandpa last night? Because he got out, got on TV and ... It. Was. Not. Good.

For 18 long minutes Wednesday evening, we were subjected to a rant by President Donald Trump that predictably careened from immigrants (bad) to jobs (good), rarely slowing down for reality. But jumbled between the vitriol and ...Read more

It’s time to ask the question plainly: Has President Donald Trump finally, fully lost it?

The latest indication that Trump is no longer just instinctively belligerent and cruel, but perhaps is experiencing something even more psychologically alarming, came Monday, in the form of (what else?) a social media post.

“Rob Reiner, a tortured and...Read more

There is a Santa Claus. There is light amid the darkness. Vanity Fair's two-part chronicle of interviews with Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump's heretofore tight-lipped and uber-credible White House chief of staff, is a Christmas and Hanukkah gift to the nation in this holiday season.

By her monthly on-the-record observations to author Chris...Read more

Blue state governors have demonstrated a reflexive opposition to President Donald Trump. That’s led to some absurd outcomes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is working to obtain records from every state about those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. SNAP is the renamed food-stamps program. It helps those with ...Read more

To fix what he sees wrong in Europe, President Donald Trump has prescribed the continent’s ancient and most lethal poison — nationalism.

Nationalism is a patriotism, a love of one’s own country, that has curdled into a hatred both of other countries and of minority groups at home. In the 20 th century, nationalism was the driving force ...Read more

My wife and I are once again rewatching “Mad Men,” a show that has, for better or worse, lodged itself deep within my personality. I can’t remember the password to my bank account, or which of my kid’s “Spirit Days” is next Tuesday, but I can endlessly quote “Mad Men.”

We just finished season one, which ends with “The Wheel.�...Read more

For a while last year, scientists offered a glimmer of hope that artificial intelligence would make a positive contribution to democracy. They showed that chatbots could address conspiracy theories racing across social media, challenging misinformation around beliefs in issues such as chemtrails and the flat Earth with a stream of reasonable ...Read more

President Donald Trump traveled to Pennsylvania last week to double down on his economic messages: The affordability concerns of Americans are a Democratic “hoax” and if anyone is unhappy, it's a Blame Biden Economy.

A more fitting description would be the Trump Self-Inflicted Wound Economy.

It's not unusual for presidents starting their ...Read more

Twenty-five years ago this month, the words of one good man uneasily brought us all together.

Al Gore did not have to concede Florida and with it, the 2000 presidential election and America’s future. With just 537 Florida votes separating him and George W. Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered an end to the recount of thousands of Florida ...Read more

Soon, you may no longer be able to afford health care since Republicans have once again blocked efforts to subsidize the Affordable Care Act.

The most recent government shutdown became the longest in history because Democrats insisted on continuing to fund health care while the GOP balked. The Republicans won. America lost.

But don’t despair...Read more

Even for an administration that makes no secret of its antipathy toward immigrants, recent rhetoric from the White House has been alarming and inflammatory — and at odds with reality.

The facts are: Immigrants are more likely to be in the workforce, and start businesses, than native-born Americans. They are less likely to commit crimes. Even ...Read more

Some folks are "Home Alone" lovers, while others are "Die Hard" fans. For me, it wouldn’t be the holiday season without singing along to "The Muppet Christmas Carol."

This year, I found myself thinking about Scrooge’s need to hoard and consume without a flicker of concern for those he hurt. It made me wonder what might happen if the ...Read more

Last week, Australia became the first country in the world to enact a social media ban for kids under 16. As the children of Oz wept and gnashed their teeth (I presume), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged them to "start a new sport, learn a new instrument, or read that book that has been sitting there on your shelf for some time."

The ban is...Read more