Is watching a video of a famous cat better than owning a real pet?

A Twitter conversation with data columnist Paul Ford

A new film shows the ravages of bureaucracy in the world's newest country

Coddled students aren’t the cause of a mental health crisis on campus, they’re just pawns in the culture wars.

A searing look at life on the street

If the Industrial Revolution didn’t kill it, how could Tinder?

Are you in it?

Exploring the Social Security administration’s list of America’s dead

Lucia Berlin defies our expectations for “grim” working-class fiction

Why do doctors and patients insist on using electronic fetal monitoring?

Society depends on the enforcement of debt. Without it, there’s chaos.

Celebrating 100 years of “Prufrock”

For black women, stereotypes associated with Afros can’t be shed, but their appeal is a nod to history and tradition

Why we're all eating high-energy foods made for soldiers

A new movie and album show why he might be the greatest hip-hop star ever

One year after Michael Brown's death, both liberals and conservatives are still getting it wrong

The Fantastic Four was created by quarreling duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Was it an artistic success, or just a commercial one?