This week, as Joe Biden inched closer to jumping into the presidential race, Ben Carson inched closer to forcing us to retire the use of "brain surgeon" as a linguistic stand-in for "brilliant genius," with thunderingly dumb comments about guns, the Umpqua Community College shooting, and...

This week, the nation was once again shocked by the everyday, as a gunman killed nine at a community college in Oregon. It's the uniquely American gun paradox: how something so horrifying can be so routine. As a somber -- bordering on disgusted -- President Obama noted: "we've...

This week, the nation was transfixed by the radical humility of Pope Francis. In the midst of an ugly campaign season already marked by xenophobia, scapegoating, and cruelty, this very different Pope brought a very different message. While addressing a joint session of Congress, and again at the...

تأتي لحظةٌ في الحياة السياسية لكل شخصية بارزة، لكل مرشّح لا يرقى إلى ما يزعمه، يتجاوز فيها حدود الشرعية أو اللاشرعية (يعتمد الأمر على المنظور الشخصي للمرء)، حتى بالنسبة للإعلام المدمن على نسب المشاهدة العالية التي يقدمها هؤلاء المرشحون-المسلّون.

بالنسبة لسارة بالين، كانت تلك اللحظة خلال مقابلةٍ مع كيتي...

Im politischen Leben eines jeden US-Präsidentschaftskandidaten gibt es den Moment, an dem er die Grenzen von Recht oder Unrecht (das hängt ganz von der Perspektive ab) überschreitet. Das passiert auch jenen Kandidaten, die im Fernsehen Millionen Zuschauer anlocken und die das große Publikum brauchen wie die Luft zum Atmen.

Έρχεται μια στιγμή στην πολιτική ζωή κάθε μεγάλης προσωπικότητας - υποψηφίου που τελικά αποδεικνύεται κατώτερος των περιστάσεων, που περνάει τη γραμμή της ορθότητας ή της μη ορθότητας (αναλόγως πως το βλέπει κανείς), ακόμη και για τα κριτήρια των ΜΜΕ που έχουν εθιστεί στα υψηλά νούμερα που αυτοί οι υποψήφιοι/διασκεδαστές τους...

실체보다 포장이 더 요란한 유명인 후보에게는 적절한 선, 혹은 부적절한 선을 넘는 순간이 오기 마련이다. 이런 엔터테이너 같은 후보가 안겨 주는 높은 시청률에 중독된 언론에게도 마찬가지다. 세라 페일린에게 그 순간은 2008년 케이티 쿠릭과 했던 인터뷰였다. 하키 맘(hockey mom 하키를 배우는 자녀를 연습에 데려다 주는 등의 일에 많은 시간을 쓰는 엄마)...

En la vida política de todo candidato famoso y que no es lo que aparenta llega un momento en el que se cruza la línea que lo legitima, o lo deslegitima (depende de la perspectiva), incluso para los medios adictos a los altos índices de audiencia que proporcionan estos candidatos...

Chez les candidats qui jouent sur le bluff, il arrive toujours un moment où ils franchissent la ligne de la légitimité, ou de l'illégitimité (selon votre point de vue), même pour les médias qui ne vivent que pour les bonnes audiences que ces candidats-showmans leur fournissent. Ce moment, pour Sarah...

Chez les candidats qui jouent sur le bluff, il arrive toujours un moment où ils franchissent la ligne de la légitimité, ou de l'illégitimité (selon votre point de vue), même pour les médias qui ne vivent que pour les bonnes audiences que ces candidats-showmans leur fournissent. Ce moment, pour Sarah...

C'è un momento nella vita politica di ogni personalità importante, di ogni candidato "tutto fumo e niente arrosto", un momento in cui si supera la linea della credibilità (o dell'illegittimità, dipende dal punto di vista) perfino agli occhi dei media più affezionati agli alti indici d'ascolto che questi candidati-intrattenitori riescono...

Há um momento na vida política de todo candidato de personalidade exuberante, aquele que mais late do que morde, em que ele vai além do limite da legitimidade, ou da ilegitimidade (dependendo da sua perspectiva). Isso vale até mesmo para a mídia, viciada na audiência gerada por esses candidatos-showmen.

Para...

There comes a moment in the political life of every big-personality, more-sizzle-than-steak candidate when they step across the line of legitimacy, or illegitimacy (depending on your perspective), even for media addicted to the high ratings these candidate-entertainers provide. That moment for Sarah Palin was her Katie Couric interview in 2008...

This week, 23 million of us tuned in to watch a debate among what Mike Huckabee called "The A-Team." He might be right, if the A stands for Alice in Wonderland, since through-the-looking-glass thinking was on full display. After multiple proud recitations of immigrant roots, the discussion moved...

This week, summer vacation ended for millions of Americans, as did the wait for two long-anticipated events. First, in Washington, the Iran nuclear agreement cleared its biggest hurdle, as opponents lost a key procedural vote in the Senate. Maybe former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose strong...

Dr. Michael Breus is a clinical psychologist and both a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He is the author of The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep. In answer to my questions,...

This week the world saw the power of a single image -- that of the lifeless body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying face-down in the sand on a Turkish beach. The boy drowned, along with his brother and mother, trying to reach Europe from Syria. The heartbreaking image...

This week brought powerful reminders of what happens when a government fails its citizens. On Wednesday, as the nation continued to mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's unnecessarily tragic destruction of a uniquely American city, the nation woke to yet another uniquely American tragedy, as two Roanoke-based news staffers...

This week we saw how dissimilar appeals to our better and lesser angels look. For the former, there was Jimmy Carter's grace-filled press conference on Thursday revealing that cancer has spread to his brain. He reflected proudly on the work of his Carter Center, which, among many other...

Petteri Lahtela is the CEO and co-founder of OURA, a wearable device -- in the form of a waterproof ring -- that measures our well-being as we sleep. In answer to my questions, he shared his insights on the restorative power of sleep, the future of sleep technology,...