In TIME’s recent cover story “How Wall Street Won,” Rana Foroohar gave an excellent appraisal of the last five years since Lehman collapsed. While her analysis hit at five of the major shortfalls in our “reformed” financial sector, there was even more she could have pointed to: Five years after the crisis, why have we not even begun …
The History of #—and 6 Other Symbols that Rule Twitter (and the Web)
Punctuation, as we recognize it, has been around for more than two thousand years. For most of this time the symbols that separate and clarify our letters were hazy in form and meaning, and evolved slowly; when information …
Grand Theft Auto Is Today’s Great Expectations
If there were any lingering questions as to whether video games are the defining popular art form of the 21st century, this week’s release of Grand Theft Auto V should put them all to rest. The massive sales, growing popularity …
Father James Martin on the Pope’s Interview: ‘We Knew We Had Spiritual Dynamite’
The story behind — and the real message of — the Pope’s first official interview
Broken Adoptions: When Parents “Re-Home” Adopted Children
Parents who give up their adopted children have been making the news with increasing frequency of late. There’s Torry Ann Hansen, the now-infamous Tennessee nurse who sent her 7-year-old adopted son back to his native Russia on a plane, alone. Then there’s Joyce Maynard, the writer who made headlines last year when she admitted to …
Breaking Bad Normalizes Meth, Argues Prosecutor
I work as a felony prosecutor in a town where methamphetamine is our biggest narcotics problem. I’m also a big fan of Breaking Bad, but whenever I ask colleagues (particularly law-enforcement officers) whether they’ve been …
Was Sex With Children Ever O.K.?
“Things were different then” is no excuse for inappropriate sexual contact, no matter how permissive the era
The Outdoors Doesn’t Kill People
A lack of preparation kills people. But you wouldn’t know that from the headlines
Alcoholics Need More Options than AA
It’s no surprise that faith-based programs are particularly ill-suited to atheists and agnostics
We Might Not Want Our Life Extended
What’s the point of living longer if we don’t live better?
Dilbert’s Scott Adams: Choose Your Immortality
Someday you’ll be a robot with a locket holding your last human cells
Will You Still Love Me When I’m 164?
Google’s plan to extend our life span will change love, work, and just about every aspect of society
Google’s Calico: the War on Aging Has Truly Begun
Google’s Calico project means that hearts and minds have been convinced that we can defeat aging