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Vox

@vox.com

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Making sense of it all. Become a member today. 👇 https://voxdotcom.visitlink.me/z3EPda

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Vox @vox.com · 1d

On the latest episode of Vox’s podcast, Unexplainable, host Noam Hassenfeld explores the song “In C” to understand how music gets created out of randomness and chaos.

🎧 Listen to this episode of Unexplainable, wherever you get your podcasts:

Unexplainable podcast

Unexplainable takes listeners right up to the edge of what we know…and then keeps on going. The Unexplainable team — Noam Hassenfeld, Julia Longoria, Byrd Pinkerton, and Meradith Hoddinott — tackles s...

Vox @vox.com · 1d

From The Who to The Velvet Underground to your favorite disco music, one mysterious song ties them all together. The melody and rhythm may seem familiar, yet every time you hear it, something about it changes.

Vox @vox.com · 1d

Earlier this month, comedians, including Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Pete Davidson and Bill Burr, flew to Saudi Arabia to perform at the inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival. The Saudi regime’s human rights record is why other performers have strongly criticized the comedians who attended.

Saudi Arabia’s comedy festival is no laughing matter

Comedians went to Saudi Araba — and faced blowback in America.

Vox @vox.com · 1d

So if those are the risks, then we definitely shouldn’t pursue the creation of mirror life. Right? Well, only if we accept that those are the risks.

This experiment could end all life. Or it won’t. Should we try it?

Our reality could have a mirror image — and it has some serious risks and benefits.

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Vox @vox.com · 1d

The risks of mirror life include:

🧪 The collapse of entire ecosystems
🧪 The inability to develop robust medical countermeasures
🧪 The possibility that mirror bacteria would be completely resistant to predation by other microbes that prey on bacteria and keep their population under control

Vox @vox.com · 2d

Senior correspondent @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social breaks down the Gaza ceasefire deal, what it could mean for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and what comes next.

Will the Gaza ceasefire really stick?

And five other questions about the deal, answered.

Vox @vox.com · 2d

"[President] Trump and [White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Miller, it seems, are trying to target the opposition by flooding the zone with shit. They are going to bring one bogus investigation and prosecution after another." - @awprokop.bsky.social

The insidious legal strategy Trump and Stephen Miller are using against their enemies

They’re bringing weak cases that will likely fail — again, and again, and again.

Reposted by Vox

Eric Levitz @ericlevitz.bsky.social · 2d

Zohran Mamdani phasing out gifted programs for kindergarteners is fine.

But in later grades, progressive opposition to "tracking" is misguided imo. Ability sorting can be beneficial for all students, when done right www.vox.com/politics/464...

Vox @vox.com · 2d

Last week, Zohran Mamdani revealed that, if he wins the mayorship, he will end New York City’s “gifted and talented” program for kindergartners.

This triggered a minor firestorm, but these criticisms are overheated. Here's why:

The real lesson of Zohran Mamdani’s education controversy

The mayoral candidate’s new proposal spotlights a flaw in progressive thought.

Vox @vox.com · 2d

This week, Texas National Guard troops arrived in Chicago.

Dan Petrella of the Chicago Tribune spoke with Today, Explained host Noel King to break down what has happened in the last month in Chicago, and how the intense federal attention has affected the city's residents. 👇

What the National Guard is doing in Chicago

The mood in the city is tense.

Vox @vox.com · 3d

The coming days will tell whether this is just a hostage exchange and prelude to a new phase of the conflict, or a lasting peace.

More from @joshuakeating.bsky.social. 👇

The bleak lesson Israel — and the world — might learn from the peace deal

It’s worth celebrating. But there’s reason to fear what it portends.

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Vox @vox.com · 3d

As recently as the 1950s, Americans were politically calm — so calm that a committee of the American Political Science Association urged the two parties to accentuate their differences, to provide a “true choice.”

Why have we gotten to a place where even open-toed sandals are left-wing?

How everything became left or right “coded”

The answer isn’t just about parties dividing on policies.

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Vox @vox.com · 3d

In an era when partisan division is so febrile that acceptance of political violence has grown and violent political attacks are on the rise — the Charlie Kirk assassination being the latest of great note — it is hard to remember that it wasn’t always so.

Vox @vox.com · 3d

Days after deploying National Guard troops to Chicago against the wishes of local leaders, President Donald Trump is calling for the city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to be jailed.

A Trump social media post you should actually pay attention to

Trump threatens to jail a governor.

Vox @vox.com · 3d

Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the two counts of lying to Congress being brought against him by the Trump administration.

It’s a case that appears both flimsy and nonetheless loaded with meaning for the future of American justice.

The Comey prosecution is revealing Trump’s weakness

Is the Comey case getting tossed?

Vox @vox.com · 3d

“Locking in” has become its own aesthetic. Videos under the #thegreatlockin and #lockingin feature Zoomers in sterile apartments wearing neutral workout clothes. They’re usually fixing healthy meals, walking on treadmills, and making lists in journals, complete with timestamps for each activity.

In times of uncertainty, Gen Z is “locked in”

The self-help mantra that’s helping young people navigate their economic anxiety.

Reposted by Vox

Constance Grady @constancegrady.bsky.social · 4d

It is Jane Austen Appreciation Year always in my heart, but especially this year, when she turns a sunny 250 years old. To celebrate, I went digging through Mansfield Park to learn about what we know about what Austen thought of slavery. www.vox.com/culture/4639...

The weirdly modern Jane Austen debate we still haven’t figured out

Reckoning with Jane Austen and empire on her 250th anniversary.

Vox @vox.com · 4d

According to a new, exclusive analysis by the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), over the last five years, the USDA has increasingly issued warnings over actual enforcement actions, like fines, for those allegedly violating the Animal Welfare Act.

Read more: voxdotcom.visitlink.me/ZJiSMW

Vox @vox.com · 4d

There has been some slippage in support among Trump’s 2024 voting coalition, but it’s not the GOP doomsday scenario some headlines have tended to make it out to be (for example, saying that the coalition has “fallen apart”).

Vox's @christianpaz.bsky.social explains. 👇

Are Trump’s voters turning against him?

Many of his newest supporters are having doubts.

Vox @vox.com · 4d

SCOTUS broke from its increasingly common practice of deciding important cases without holding an oral argument or explaining the reasoning of its decision, to hear a case about whether states may ban “conversion therapy” — sessions which seek to change one's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Supreme Court fights over whether medical expertise actually exists

The Supreme Court seems eager to kill state bans on anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy.

Vox @vox.com · 5d

President Trump is determined to make good on his promise to bring American drug prices in line with Europe and Canada through a policy called “most favored nation” status.

So, why do Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anyone else in the world?

Why are US medicines so darn expensive?

And can Trump actually do something about it?

Reposted by Vox

Joshua Keating @joshuakeating.bsky.social · 5d

Netanyahu prolonged the war to save himself. It may have worked.
Latest for @vox.com
www.vox.com/politics/463...

Trump’s deal could be a win for Netanyahu, whether or not it succeeds.

Will Israel’s prime minister take the win?

Vox @vox.com · 5d

The Trump administration is pushing harder to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago despite the protests of state and local leaders.

Trump’s war on cities, briefly explained

Trump is attempting to deploy the National Guard in Portland and Chicago.

Vox @vox.com · 5d

Earlier this week Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — a public-private partnership that does more than any other organization to get vaccines to people in poor countries — reported that its vaccines saved a record-breaking 1.7 million people in 2024. That’s 400,000 more lives saved than in 2023.

2024 was a record-setting year for lifesaving vaccines

Vaccines delivered by Gavi saved the lives of 1.7 million people in poor countries

Vox @vox.com · 6d

Israel and Hamas will begin indirect talks in Egypt on Monday after Hamas said it would accept parts of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, including releasing all remaining Israeli hostages.

@joshuakeating.bsky.social explains what we know about the deal and its chances of succeeding.

Is Israel’s war in Gaza actually about to end?

5 questions about Trump’s Gaza plan.