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It’s not just a crush. It’s limerence

It’s not just a crush. It’s limerence

The clinical term for an addiction to longing is going viral — and, in the process, losing its meaning

Reality television star Spencer Pratt is rising in the Los Angeles mayoral election polls âÂ and is reportedly filming a reality series around his campaign (Etienne Laurent / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

MAGA's return to reality TV is bad sign

MAGA's return to reality TV is bad sign

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt are chasing cameras to bypass scrutiny

The U.S. Capitol Building, June 21, 2025. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

We can still restore democracy — maybe

Joe Biden tried to "turn the page" on Trumpism, and it failed. We need deep structural change

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The real reason RFK Jr. hates SSRIs

Amanda Marcotte

The HHS Secretary's attacks on psychiatric medication follow a pattern of putting politics over public health

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WASHINGTON,DC-JAN6: Supporters of President Trump storm the United States Capitol building. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Getty Images)

Dems condemn Trump's IRS "slush fund"

Democrats claim the DOJ has created a scheme to pay out Jan. 6 rioters and Trump allies in IRS lawsuit settlement

(iStock / Getty Images)

Your rewards card may be spying on you

A surveillance pricing ban in Maryland leaves out loyalty programs — costing customers more than they save

Photo credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios Â© 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved. (Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios Â© 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

An urgent message in sheep's clothing

Melanie McFarland

Underneath its feel-good fleece, this film sounds quiet alarms about forgetting painful history

Dried fruit and nuts (Westend61 / Getty Images )

A big problem with those tiny snack tins

Mindful snacking doesn’t — and shouldn’t — focus on portion control and so-called aesthetics

TPUSA's "Make Heaven Crowded" revival tour is a disaster

TPUSA's revival tour is a disaster

Amanda Marcotte

Charlie Kirk’s death did not inspire the national spiritual awakening that was promised

Green energy will have the last laugh — because of Trump

Donald Trump: Green energy's savior?

The president has unintentionally set off an international scramble for renewable energy due to his war in Iran

The real reason RFK Jr. is coming for your antidepressants

The real reason RFK Jr. hates SSRIs

Amanda Marcotte

The HHS Secretary's attacks on psychiatric medication follow a pattern of putting politics over public health

Bob Dylan’s baffling social media experiment

Dylan’s baffling social media experiment

Dylan's cryptic content has turned his Instagram and Patreon into a captivating puzzle, fueling endless speculation

The Christian right hijacks America's 250th

Christian right hijacks America's 250th

Amanda Marcotte

Trump's Rededicate 250 event erases the U.S.'s secular history

"Michael," Harry Potter and the death of the problematic fave

Pop culture's guilt trip is over

Melanie McFarland

"Michael" and the Potterverse are booming. Apparently, we're done feeling bad about what that means

NEWS & POLITICS

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping tour Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, May 15, 2026. (Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)

Donald Trump: Making China great again

Technically, the US is still the dominant global superpower. After last week, it sure doesn't feel that way

TPUSA Faith's Make Heaven Crowded tour masks a right-wing political agenda

TPUSA's revival tour is a disaster

Amanda Marcotte

Charlie Kirk’s death did not inspire the national spiritual awakening that was promised

ICE agents. (Photo by Bryan Cox/Getty Images)

Immigration politics fading in Texas

Alejandro Serrano - The Texas Tribune

Polls show immigration and border security are less of a priority than at any point in recent history

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche attends a news conference on November 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))

AG: Did "right people" vote in 2020?

Acting AG Todd Blanche believes there's "a ton of evidence" that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump

Long-time civil rights icon and fighter Annie Pearl Avery visited protesters after the march across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, in May 2026. She crossed the bridge with MLK, John Lewis and many others in the historic march on "Bloody Sunday" 61 years ago. (Jason Davis / Getty Images)

People are marching in Selma in 2026

People are marching in Selma in 2026

Invoking the legacy of 1965 Selma marches, protesters march for voting access and representation in 2026

President Donald Trump calls on a reporter to ask a question during an event on maternal healthcare in the Oval Office of the White House on May 11, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration recently launched Moms.gov, a website to help provide resources to expecting women and their families. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Moms.gov is not what moms really need

The Trump admin says moms.gov is a critical resource. Advocates say it's ideology over substance — and even harmful

"One nation under God": Rededicate 250

Christian Nationalists gather to pray for a return to America's "Christian roots" to kick off the 250th celebration

Patel’s FBI has a troubling pattern

The FBI has investigated multiple women journalists who reported on the bureau's director

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Colin Jost and Michael Che. (Photo via NBC)

Jost, Che swap offensive jokes on "SNL"

Jost, Che swap offensive jokes on "SNL"

The "Weekend Update" tradition forces the writers to read jokes sight unseen

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway attend "The Devil Wears Prada 2" premiere in South Korea (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Christian imagery and Devils Wears Prada

Lynn S. Neal - The Conversation

Christian imagery has come to shape the industry in profound ways

Epstein's ghost visits Trump on "SNL"

Will Ferrell took on the role of the late sex trafficker for the "Saturday Night Live" season finale

Why every great artist needs a nemesis

Melanie McFarland

Out of all the legendary musical beefs, the fable rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri is our greatest hit

Teddy Thompson's "Never Be the Same" is easily one of the year's best albums (Photos by Ethan Covey/Royal Potato Family)

Teddy Thompson, music's best-kept secret

Jason Kyle Howard

A longtime critical darling, the singer-songwriter’s latest album “Never Be the Same” deserves to be widely heard

It's graduation season. Students across the country (like these students at USC) celebrate their achievements and listen to words of inspiration by noteworthy speakers. Sometimes, the speakers aren't exactly "inspirational." (Jason Armond / Getty Images)

2026 graduates push back on controversy

Graduation season 2026 shows how universities struggle to maintain consensus over what is wisdom and inspiration

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in "Michael" (Glen Wilson/Lionsgate)

Pop culture's guilt trip is over

Melanie McFarland

"Michael" and the Potterverse are booming. Apparently, we're done feeling bad about what that means

Joy Jar (anamariategzes/Getty Images)

Stop trying to make joy jars a thing

The container of affirmations — or is it a glass of grievances? — sums up the emptiness of algorithm-driven content

The conflict in the Middle East has hit the global fuel and fertilizer markets that, in turn, have increased farmers' costs right as planting season begins. (Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public via Getty Images)

Farm aid can't outrun Trump's war

With rising costs of fuel and fertilizer, and tariffs still in place, the outlook for 2026 is bleak

Pistachios (Getty Images/Laura Rosina)

The pistachio trend has some history

Benefiting off viral trends, like Dubai chocolate, has been actually decades in the making

The bag drop and customer service counters at the departures terminal for Spirit airlines sit empty as operations ceased for the company at Logan Airport in Boston. Low-cost US carrier Spirit Airlines said on Saturday that all of its flights have been cancelled as it started an "orderly wind-down of operations," citing spiking fuel prices in recent weeks as a key factor. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / Getty Images)

Spirit collapses after failed bailout

The shutdown of Spirit marks end of a major low-cost carrier and raises questions about budget air travel in future

(Photo illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Patrick T. Fallon / Samuel Corum / Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Private prisons cash in on ICE crackdown

Over 90 percent of detained immigrants languish in prisons that aren't actually run by the government

Data suggests that women are charging ahead in part thanks to childcare support that became more readily available during the Covid-19 pandemic â that has now expired (Getty Images)

The American workforce is a matriarchy

The American workforce is a matriarchy

As moms are driving the growth in America's labor market, it's time for major investments in early childcare

President Donald Trump takes the stage during a rally with U.S. Army troops on June 10, 2025 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump wants $1.5 trillion for military

Massive cuts to domestic programs, with higher state taxes, would bolster the spending increase

A no-spend week, starting in the kitchen

Ashlie D. Stevens

How planning meals, stretching ingredients and baking something sweet can make a no-spend week feel generous

Colleges had no backup for cyber attack

The nationwide cybersecurity incident exposed how fragile our increasingly digital campuses are during finals week

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Donald Trump: Green energy's savior?

The president has unintentionally set off an international scramble for renewable energy due to his war in Iran

PCOS becomes PMOS

This change to this common reproductive health issue could lead to better and earlier treatment for 15% of women.

Lower drug prices won't fix cancer care

Kenneth E. Thorpe

As breakthrough drugs offer critical hope to patients, lawmakers should focus on shoring up the social safety net

SCOTUS overrides abortion pill mail ban

The ruling came after weeks of uncertainty over mail order mifepristone's legal status

The toll of Florida's abortion ban

The number of Florida residents who traveled out of state nearly tripled between 2023 and 2024

The first passengers from the MV Hondius depart for Tenerife Airport aboard a Spanish Military Emergency Unit bus, escorted by a member of SpainÃ¢s External Health Service, after disembarking at Granadilla Port in Tenerife, Canary Islands, on May 10, 2026. (Photo by Andres Gutierrez/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Hantavirus is a warning. We must listen

Hantavirus is a warning. We must listen

The Dutch cruise ship incident probably isn’t the next pandemic. That doesn’t mean we’re risk-free from outbreaks

Experts have warned for years against excessive tanning from tanning beds, even helping legislation restrict minors from using them. Now, HHS is dropping the restriction to allow teens to tan again. (Peter Dazeley / Getty Images)

RFK Jr. supports tanning beds for minors

Public health officials warn the decision fits a growing pattern of deregulation across youth health policy

Jim OâNeill & U.S. National Science Foundation building (Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Alex Wong / Department of Health and Human Services)

Trump's Silicon Valley bet on science

Jim O'Neill, a longevity enthusiast and vaccine skeptic, is Trump's pick to head the National Science Foundation

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Refrigerator (Ashlie Stevens )

Five meals, one fridge clean-out

Ashlie D. Stevens

Five meals, one fridge clean-out

Ashlie D. Stevens

A no-spend week of pastina, shakshuka and pantry alchemy

The resilience of uchche, bitter melon

Madhushree Ghosh

A bitter melon vine in San Diego becomes a lifeline to family, memory and the complicated meaning of home

Enough with the “-maxxing”

The Gen Z-coined suffix has infiltrated lifestyle and dietary spaces, encouraging us to obsess over what we eat

For Delta flyers, snack time is over

Will I get a free Biscoff? How about some pretzels? Not on Delta's short-haul flights, says the airline

A gentle 15-minute kitchen reset

Ashlie D. Stevens

Not a deep clean. Not a weekend project. Just a reset that helps you start again

The cult of New England Chinese food

A fiercely loyal regional cuisine — sweet, saucy, nostalgic — shaped by immigrants and beloved beyond New England

Oven-baked black bean tacos (Cavan Images / Dorene Hookey / Getty Images)

7 ways to use up that can of black beans

Francesca Giangiulio

From salads to brownies, smart, low-effort ways to turn pantry black beans into meals, snacks and sweets

Spaghetti with sweet green peas (SMarina / Getty Images)

This is the ultimate spring pasta

Lemon juice and freshly grated Parmesan cheese help elevate a simple dish into a seasonal classic

The author and his daughter (Photo courtesy of author)

Fatherhood, fear and our family gifts

"You turned out fine, right?" my mother said when I wanted to confront my own father. But had I?

Lozano Car Wash (Photo courtesy of Natalie Jabbar)

Magic half-hours at Lozano Car Wash

Under the distinctive green arches of this Bay Area landmark, before he left us, my father once doted on me

Desk with a medical stethoscope, a book and a cup of coffee (iStock/Getty Images)

My father, the disapproving doctor

My father said my confessional writing humiliated him. We got along best when I had an ailment he could fix

Dear Father... (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

"Dear Father" letters and DNA tests

Brittany Penner

Fathers have always been prickly territory for me, a Métis child of the Sixties Scoop adopted by Mennonites

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