With this week’s retirement of Roger Federer coming hard on the heels of last week’s news that Serena Williams had played her final match, encomia have rung out from every corner lamenting the loss of the two greatest tennis players in history. But were they? In every sport, we constantly hear…

So now we know: Pandemic-related restrictions were devastating to the project of educating our kids. The Education Department dropped the news last week that America’s experiment with remote learning has reduced young children’s standardized test scores to levels not seen in two decades. Although…

How many patents on a single drug is too many? Scholars, activists, and politicians have debated the question for decades. This week, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit gave a firm answer. As long as the owner doesn’t use what’s known as the patent estate in a way that violates…

The globe is getting warmer, and extreme heat kills thousands of people — perhaps tens of thousands — every year. Climate activists are pressuring officials to start naming heat waves, the way we do hurricanes, and several cities around the world are considering adopting the practice. If heat waves…

Russia insists that it’s going to bring the US astronaut home. The rest is just warmongering rumor. Mark Vande Hei, who’s about to break the American record for longest time in orbit, will depart the International Space Station as scheduled on aboard a Soyuz spacecraft on March 30 and land in…

The horrific carnage in Ukraine has led to cries across the world for Vladimir Putin to be charged with war crimes. I share the outrage, and would like to see the Russian president punished. But the threat of a future war crimes trial isn’t likely to prove much of a deterrent. Let’s start at the…

Russia’s war for Ukraine’s territory is being waged with tanks and artillery, but the battle for the world’s hearts and minds is being fought largely on social media — and there, at least, Vladimir Putin is losing. Cell phone videos of desperate Ukrainians huddled in subways have a power…

In the wake of Justice Stephen Breyer’s rumored retirement, an odd controversy has swirled around President Joe Biden’s campaign pledge to appoint a Black woman to the first vacancy. Critics have compared the promise to college admission quotas; supporters have pointed out that President Ronald…

December’s end is when we reflect on what we hope to improve in the year to come … and also the time for my annual predictions of news headlines for the next 12 months. Usually I begin by evaluating last year’s predictions, but this year only one bears mention: For the second time in the past…

For the past several years I have been putting together a list of that year’s best nonfiction, with special attention to books that taught me things I didn’t know. This has been an exceptional year for serious books; perhaps being locked down is good for creativity. Never have I had such trouble…