Outside the Beltway

A pandemic and the rise of Zoom meetings unleashed an academic theory into the wild.

A major first step to solving a longstanding global issue.

For now, at least, it can shift millions of its earnings to Luxembourg.

The reaction to the pandemic has long since been about much more than the pandemic.

A credulous report on the tech giant’s altruism.

A really weird proposal to solve a problem that probably doesn’t exist.

Pandemic-induced recession? What pandemic-induced recession?

The quasi-monopoly power of the world’s largest bookstore is problematic. Maybe.

A story that is both unserious and yet emblematic of our age in a serious way.

Amazon is using its dominant position to shut down a right-wing social platform.

Thus far, Disney+ and HBO Max are additive rather than cannibalizing competing services.

The days of one-stop media shopping are long gone.

More packages are being mailed than ever and USPS can’t keep up.

The online behemoth is consolidating its market position during the pandemic.

It’s much easier to fund bad information than good.

Are those who die in our wars more deserving than those who die in our stores?

“Will some people be affected badly? Yes.”

The pandemic is massively more livable given modern technology.

American’s online sales leader is straining under the social distancing regime.

Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos alone have lost $15 billion in net worth since January.

The Butterball Turkey Hotline still thrives even in the era of the Internet.

Nine months after what seemed like the end of his political career, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has mounted a comeback,

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

Bernie Sanders has slipped in the polls but retains his ability to raise money.

This evening ten Democratic candidates for President, including all of the front runners, appear on stage together for the third debate of the 2020 election cycle.

Republican candidates are lining up to take on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even though the odds of a Republican winning in her district are essentially zero.

A new poll finds that a majority of Americans oppose statehood for the District of Columbia.

Anchoring of CBS Evening News is not what it used to be.

Detroit shows how modern technology can lead to a virtual police state.

A new report suggests that the Chinese movie-going market will surpass the American market in 2020.

A new report indicates that Russian social media trolls are involved in spreading anti-vaccination propaganda in the United States and elsewhere.

An author’s greatest nightmare unfolded on live radio.

The city by the Bay is rapidly transforming. Should we lament that?

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has entered the race for the Democratic nomination for President, making him the 23rd candidate in an already crowded field.

Yesterday, Microsoft became the third American company to reach $1 trillion in market value.

Those making under $66,000 aren’t supposed to have to pay. But good luck figuring out how to avoid it.

The Supreme Court is likely to finish striking down restrictions on offensive trademarks.

I was wr-r-r-r-r-ong.

A powerful Congressman successfully pressured a media giant to pull content. We should be worried.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee is running for the Democratic nomination for President on a platform primarily focused on climate change. Whether that helps distinguish him from a growing field of candidates remains to be seen.

There’s only one solution to the D.C. statehood issue. It’s called retrocession.

The 83-year-old is taking time off finishing his LBJ quintilogy to write his memoirs. Is that selfish?

While I’m sympathetic to his plight, he has no case.

Bernie is back and running for President, but he’s likely to face a tougher road this time around.

Thanks mostly to political opposition that misrepresented the nature of the deal it had made, Amazon has abandoned plans to locate parts of its new headquarters in New York City.

Is 50 percent too high a take? Or the best deal in town?

The publisher of the National Enquirer is learning that it may have been a mistake to go to war against Jeff Bezos.

AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV and TimeWarner is forcing price hikes that are driving customers away at a rapid clip.

They’ve gotten better at solving CAPTCHAs than we are.

In both cases, appeals to emotion are not diminished by disregard for accuracy.