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Another round of snowy, chilly weather is gripping the United States this week, extending the frigid start to the year across much of North America. Yet despite the cold temperatures over the continent, the planet as a whole has set a new temperature record yet again: January 2025 was the hottest January ever measured on […]

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump got himself declared chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after purging the board of everyone appointed by President Joe Biden. In their stead, he appointed his own political allies, donors, and their wives, including second lady Usha Vance and White House chief of staff Susie […]

Donald Trump did not campaign on a promise to end the Pentagon’s celebration of Black History Month. Nor did the Republican air advertisements pledging to remove displays honoring nonwhite and female scientists from the National Science Foundation. And no Trump 2024 bumper sticker featured the tagline: He’ll curb the military’s recruitment of Black engineers! Yet […]

It’s been a busy week for Elon Musk. He says he’s saving taxpayers billions of dollars (though outlays from the Treasury Department are public and make it pretty clear he hasn’t); he bragged that he fed USAID “into the woodchipper,” an aide on his Department of Government Efficiency was revealed to have said this summer […]

You may have noticed egg prices going up, and even eggs being scarce. Bird flu is to blame, but it doesn’t just affect egg prices — and it doesn’t just affect birds. Avian flu is responsible for the deaths of mammals all over the globe. And this January, the US reported a human death from […]

When Mary Fox went to apply for a passport, she brought copies of her birth certificate, certificate of legal name, driver’s license, and a check, because the State Department website said passport fees had to be paid by check or cash. “They took Apple Pay,” Fox, a transgender woman, told Vox. “I was worried about […]

There are three things guaranteed in life: death, taxes, and Selena Gomez pissing off the internet.  The latest instance occurred on Jan. 27, when Gomez posted (and quickly deleted) an Instagram Story of herself crying in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, including increased ICE raids and mass deportations. “I’m so sorry,” said Gomez, […]

The first time I heard about AI agents, I thought they could monitor your computer use, anticipate your needs, and manipulate your behavior accordingly. This wasn’t entirely off base. There is a dystopic future about what AI technology could enable that experts issue regular warnings about. There’s also the present reality of agentic AI, which […]

Editor’s note, February 13: NBC is set to air “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” on Sunday, February 16 at 8 pm. This article about SNL’s 50th season was originally published on October 4, 2024. In April, Kristen Wiig hosted Saturday Night Live, an occasion that, under normal circumstances, would merit some excitement. But anyone familiar with the […]

At this point, there is little doubt that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are engaged in a fundamentally unlawful effort to rewrite the American constitutional order. Their efforts to redirect federal spending are attempts to seize Congress’s power of the purse, a core element of its Article I constitutional power. They have attempted to […]

This story originally appeared in Kids Today, Vox’s newsletter about kids, for everyone. Sign up here for future editions. It’s preschool application season in New York City, where I live. That means parents of toddlers are eagerly and anxiously signing on to a (surprisingly user-friendly) city-run website and ranking their preferred programs, in the hopes that, come […]

We’re less than two months into the second Trump administration, but one thing is clear: President Donald Trump would very much like to be unbound by the Constitution. A whole range of Trump’s early actions, from his attempt to roll back birthright citizenship, to his attempt to freeze a whole range of federal spending, to […]

The Logoff is a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff. Today we’re focusing on the Trump administration’s new Ukraine policy, a shift with major implications for the war and for the world. What’s the latest? Donald Trump […]

The story of how french fries got to be ridiculously expensive starts really small, before making you scratch your head about the way the whole world works.  The short version is that there’s possibly an algorithm-driven conspiracy in which a literal potato cartel has been colluding to raise the price of all of our french […]

Theology isn’t usually part of the job description for America’s vice president, but that’s not stopping JD Vance from giving it a try just a couple of weeks into his new position. In a Fox News segment on immigration, Vance laid out what he called “a very Christian concept”: “You love your family and then […]

You’re in a crowd of tens of thousands of fellow fans. The band starts playing your favorite song. Everyone screams. You will never, ever forget this moment. Seeing a musician you adore live can be a transcendent experience. But getting to that moment has become a nightmare because getting tickets that won’t completely bankrupt you […]

In the initial days of the Trump administration, officials scoured federal websites for any mention of what they deemed “DEI” keywords — terms as generic as “diverse” and “historically” and even “women.” They soon identified reams of some of the country’s most valuable public health data containing some of the targeted words, including language about […]

A Vox reader asks: Why are young men struggling or failing to date/engage in romantic relationships more so than their female peers? In a recent conversation, a new acquaintance of mine recounted an exchange he’d recently overheard. A man turned to his female friend and exclaimed, “I’m not going to go to a bar and […]

Welcome to The Logoff. Today I’m focusing on the Trump administration’s string of court setbacks, which, for now, seem to be slowing down what once looked like a MAGA juggernaut.  What’s the latest? Several court rulings this week have stalled the Trump administration’s efforts to expand the president’s power. Those include: Does this mean all these initiatives […]

As of this writing, there are at least 45 lawsuits pending against President Donald Trump and his subordinates. They range from challenges to Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship for many Americans, to suits intended to keep Trump from illegally cutting off federal spending, to challenges to Trump’s attempt to reduce the size of the […]

Donald Trump announced Monday that the US will impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum. The president has a habit of declaring radical changes to trade policy, only to swiftly walk them back. Last week, Trump postponed his long-promised 25 percent tariffs on all imports from Mexico and Canada, after […]

President Donald Trump is looking to vastly expand immigrant detention in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Trump hopes to eventually detain up to 30,000 immigrants at Guantánamo, which would require a massive investment in infrastructure, given that existing immigrant detention facilities are only designed to hold about 120 people.  The Trump administration has already sent a few […]

While President Donald Trump has caused chaos and confusion in his first few weeks in office, he’s made one thing very clear: His administration will do everything in its power to supercharge oil and gas production. That agenda is unwelcome news for a small lizard in West Texas.  The dunes sagebrush lizard — a tan, […]

For decades, experts have accused American presidents of neglecting the Western Hemisphere in favor of faraway conflicts in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Both Republicans and Democrats have carried out a policy of either “benign” or “malign” neglect, allowing threats to grow and missing valuable opportunities.  No one can accuse the new Trump administration […]