MICHAEL TODD
TOM JACOBS
RYAN O’HANLON
MICHAEL FITZGERALD
SETH MASKET
JIM RUSSELL
MARC HERMAN
MATT NOVAK
LISA MARGONELLI
MARIA STRESHINSKY
Most Recent Stories
I Failed a Mensa Test, Twice
American Mensa, an organization that admits people with an IQ in the top two percent of the population, claims nearly 60,000 members, including more than 2,300 in the Greater New York area (and a ... Read More
Underground Demography: Race, Class, and the Subway Systems of Large U.S. Cities
The magic of demographic knowledge is a memorable moment in John Sayles’ 1984 movie Brother From Another Planet. On the A train, a young man shows an elaborate card trick to the title alien, who ... Read More
The Trust Issue: The Problem With Government Isn’t Its Size
On a recent trip to eastern Los Angeles County to visit a friend working in municipal government, I saw, again, evidences of the new normal: darkened cubicles. “How many employees did the city have ... Read More
Brain-Scan Lie Detectors Just Don’t Work
It sounds just like something out of a sci-fi police procedural show—and not necessarily a good one. In a darkened room, a scientist in a white lab coat attaches a web of suction cups, wires, and ... Read More
‘The Internet Made Me Do It’: Stop Blaming Social Media for Our Behavioral Problems
The Internet is destroying our national parks. That’s according to Lorna Lange, the spokeswoman for Joshua Tree National Park in California, anyway. Lange spoke to New York Times reporter ... Read More
For Men, Seeing Red Can Mean Paying More
The color red has a strange power over our unconscious minds. Recent research suggests it can increase one’s attractiveness, compel teachers to grade papers more harshly, and even prompt people to ... Read More
American Decline
In 1993, I sat down in Macky Auditorium for one of the Conference on World Affairs plenary sessions held at the University of Colorado campus. Michael Elliott, the Washington bureau chief for The ... Read More
The Heart of Demographic Doom
These days, a lot of places are dying. Varying degrees of demographic decline plagues the wealthiest countries. Projections for developing nations look dire, too. One of the gloomiest takes I read ... Read More
Putting Your Weird Word Choices on the Map
Over the years I’ve had observer status in a number of brushfire grammar wars, like the pop/coke/soda conflict, the spat over whether they’re highways or freeways, and the skirmish on sneakers ... Read More
As Need for New Flood Maps Rises, Congress and Obama Cut Funding
As the United States grows warmer and extreme weather more common, the federal government's flood insurance maps are becoming increasingly important. The maps, drawn by the Federal Emergency ... Read More
Could Richard Ramirez Have Terrorized a Whole City Today?
News that Richard Ramirez died in prison today at age 53 will provoke reactions in anyone who lived in Los Angeles in the '80s. What sort of reaction will vary. Ramirez, a serial killer the Southern ... Read More
How Lobster Got Fancy
Ordering lobster in a restaurant, serving lobster at a party, indicating that one’s favorite food is lobster is not at all the same thing as doing all of that with, say, turkey, or even something ... Read More
The Magic of Cities
Greater population density drives innovation and productivity. Albeit a theory, urbanists rally around the idea. I'm skeptical of the claim. The conclusion supports the preferred geography, raising a ... Read More
