Outside the Beltway

A symbolic gesture is now highly impractical, if not harmful.

UPenn law professor Amy Wax as a test case.

Tips for how to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

There’s training on uncomfortable subjects. Oh noes!

A deep dive into why our politics are so broken.

The iconic basketball player, coach, and civil rights leader is gone at 88.

The man most famous for his turn on “Leave it to Beaver” has passed from liver cancer aged 77.

We know a lot less about the motives of spree killers than the public discourse suggests.

The SAT is a poor measure of college aptitude but it’s better than most others.

If this is the best they have, they don’t have a lot

Yet another case where good politics yields bad policy.

There’s something happening here. But what it is ain’t exactly clear.

It turns out “the economy” isn’t just one thing.

A piece in The Atlantic inspires thoughts.

Our brains are wired to seek approval but may not be equipped to handle our modern existence.

A veteran health reporter says the end is near. But there’s a huge caveat.

We tend to focus on the wrong qualities in our early assessments.

The fear of missing out is strong.

The President of the United States is an existential threat to the Republic.

The conversation continues. (Warning: it is over 3000 words).

Things are going to get better. And far worse.

He revolutionized how we think of male homosexuality.

It’s not greedy hoarders after all.

The norms of social discourse are rapidly changing in the #MeToo era.

Republicans have come up with a new target to blame mass shootings on, “violent video games.”

Not a new observation, but one that should not be forgotten.

Thad Cochran, who represented Mississippi in Congress for 45 years, has died at the age of 81.

The esteemed biographer on his process.

Deny them the pleasure of an angry reaction, and they’ll probably leave you alone.

A further attempt at explanation.

The Supreme Court is set to consider whether to take a case involving employment discrimination based on gender identity.

President Trump’s private phone calls are apparently a major source of intelligence for foreign nations.

After roughly a week of staying silent, President Trump decided last night to openly mock Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

We’ll likely never know whether the Supreme Court nominee is a sexual assaulter. But it really doesn’t matter.

I spoke too soon…

The status of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation remains up in the air, as does the question of whether or not Christine Blasey Ford will appear for a hearing on Monday morning.

Donald Trump has been in office just over 600 days, and he’s proven beyond any doubt that he doesn’t care if what he says is the truth or not.

Cracks are beginning to show in the previously united Republican front on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation notwithstanding what appear to be credible allegations of sexual assault.

As Hurricane Florence bears down on the East Coast, most people are listening to orders to evacuate, but some people aren’t.

The frequency and ease with which this President lies is, to say the least, alarming.

There are twice as many suicides as homicides in America.

Will Bunch wildly exaggerates the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Kids are more likely to be killed driving to school than shot while there. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and prevent them.

Donald Trump spent much of the past year touting the rising stock market, now he’s getting a lesson in reality.

Report that President Trump considered withdrawing the Gorsuch nomination are another sign of his unhealthy obsession with pledges of loyalty from people who have no business giving it to him.

On North Korea, there are two options, deterrence and war. And only one of those options makes sense.

When a prominent political scientist committed suicide yesterday, I was deeply struck by how much he was like not only me but most of the people in my professional circle.

The first Jobs Report for the first full month of the Trump Presidency is out, but it’s nothing to write home about.