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Gerald Herbert/ AP The Codes We Live By
Don’t snub building codes. These jargony construction standards shape the man-made world around us.
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Damian Dovarganes/ AP Where Should Students Learn How to Think?
In school or outside of school? The Masthead debates the best setting for students to learn critical thinking.
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Thibault Camus/ AP Why 2020 Is the Most Consequential Election Ever
The upcoming presidential election will be the fork in the road for some of America’s biggest decisions.
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Ted S. Warren/ AP Can A State Unban Affirmative Action?
Washington State decided to let colleges use race in admissions decisions. But the public might change its mind.
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Tim Ireland / AP The Battle for Britain’s EU Seats
The upcoming European elections will be a key indicator of how the British people feel about Brexit.
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Martin Meissner/ AP Won’t You Give Big Brother Your Consent?
Companies want to collect your data in public spaces. Saying no is getting harder.
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Amy Harris / AP Kanye West in the Church of Celebrity
To understand the spectacle of the artist’s “Sunday service” at Coachella, look to Walter Benjamin’s 1935 essay on the religious origin of idols.
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Ng Han Guan / AP What Scares China’s Leaders?
Activists can succeed in China, as long as they follow the ever-changing rules for dissent.
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Ahn Young-joon/AP Hollywood’s Endgame
Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of a new moviemaking concept disrupting cinema.
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Jim Pickerell / AP From Trash Talk to Trash Action
Cities are experimenting with nudging their citizens into environmental action.
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Christine Nesbitt/ AP Why the World Didn’t Fall Apart
Robert D. Kaplan’s “The Coming Anarchy” was a pessimistic masterpiece. But its bleak predictions didn’t all pan out.
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Hans Pennink/ AP New York Democrats Are Falling Short on Goals
The state’s stumbles show that even a 2020 win might not be enough for Democrats to make the policy changes they want.
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Stringer/ Reuters The Impossibility of the Chinese First Lady
Peng Liyuan is influential because of, not despite, the Chinese government’s misogyny.
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Sara Moulton / AP An Immovable Feast
Turns out, many people eat the same thing for lunch every day with pride.
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Peter Komka / AP Faith in a Universe That Doesn’t Care About You
Frank O’Hara’s poem “Ave Maria” exhorts belief in the unforeseen and uncontrollable.
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters How the Financial Crisis Still Drives American Politics
The economic historian Adam Tooze sees the consequences of 2008 everywhere.
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Maxim Shemetov / Reuters Who Is Influencing America This Time?
Conor Friedersdorf asks about the foreign actors targeting America’s public discourse.
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Katie Martin / The Atlantic The Art of Getting Your Attention
A still-life photographer discusses her craft.
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Alexander Zemlianichenko/ AP Hard Truths About Afghanistan, Courtesy of Moscow
A historical briefing on the legacy of the Soviet withdrawal
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Hadi Mizban / AP What Is ISIS Without Land?
The terror group’s about to lose its “state.” That doesn’t mean it’s defeated.
