According to a lengthy press release put out by Kim Davis’ attorney, the Pope squeezed some time into his busy schedule last week for a one-on-one meeting with everyone’s least favorite (and notably non-Catholic!) county clerk, Kim Davis. During which, the Pope reportedly thanked Kim “for her courage” and told her to “stay strong.”
Remember when Ben Carson said, “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that” and some people were like, “Haha, what a dope—hasn’t that guy ever heard of the Constitution, which explicitly states ‘no religious test’ will ever be applied to anyone running for public office in these United States?”
Food energy! Fossil colors! Marine sanctuaries! Tiny snails! Quantum computers! Dead seals! And two black holes, dancing in a sexy way! It’s your Tuesday Science Watch, where we watch science—more or less!
A Missouri investigation that began after a heavily edited, misleading video of a Planned Parenthood director discussing fetal tissue donation surfaced in July has finally reached its conclusion. And the verdict is: No, Planned Parenthood is not, in fact, selling or mishandling aborted fetal body parts in any way.
It’s nice to have a job in an economy where not everyone does, and in a field—journalism—where the economic prospects are uncertain. Many publishers are looking with concern at a world where Facebook and Apple are using their power to steer readers to proprietary platforms, as innovations in ad blocking threaten the whole existing business model, which was already sort of provisional. Then again, Re/Code reported this morning that Axel Springer, the publisher of Bild and Die Welt, is going to buy the website Business Insider in a deal that “values Business Insider at $442 million.”
While Boehner is almost sure to stave off a government shutdown before the September 30 deadline, the looming debt ceiling—which we’re estimated to reach sometime in mid-December—presents a much larger problem. But earlier this morning, Boehner told reporters that he’s not ruling out a vote to raise the country’s borrowing limit. And considering Boehner’s replacement will likely be far more compliant to the party’s whims, this could be the best chance we’ve got.
Yesterday, the MacArthur Foundation released the winners of its “Genius” grants for 2015, and among the chemists (William Dichtel), sociologists (Matthew Desmond) and set designers (Mimi Lien) was one Ta-Nehisi Coates, Atlantic writer and author of several acclaimed works in this year alone. For the first time ever, you’re allowed to call Ta-Nehisi Coates a genius.
The annual ritual of everyone you know sharing a meaningless copyright disclaimer on Facebook has begun again. And, just in case you didn’t get the message the first half-dozen times this has happened, you can’t opt yourself out of Facebook’s terms of service or change what they’re allowed to do with your content by copy-pasting some pseudo-legal boilerplate into your timeline.
Zeek the monkey does not give a fuck. He’ll chew your mail up, sitting right on top of your mailbox.
Tonight was the debut episode of The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, the South African comedian plucked from relative obscurity to replace Jon Stewart. If you liked that Daily Show, this one has some very good news for you: it’s basically the same!
The Simpsons, a show that has been on the air basically since the beginning of time, is nearing the end of its inexorable march toward death.
On his recent visit to Philadelphia, Pope Francis looked his younger self in the eye, remembering the childlike wonder with which he used to see the world before he grew into a man, rose through the ranks of the Church, and came to bear the strictures, hopes, and aspirations of an entire religion on his aging shoulders.
The American intelligentsia is excited about a new book with a shocking and previously unheard thesis: black people do not like crime in their neighborhoods. Does this revolutionary idea change everything we thought we knew?
