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Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor in "Disclosure Day" (Niko Tavernise/Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment)

Spielberg's last word for humanity

Spielberg's last word for humanity

Cinema's great optimist returns to sci-fi with a plea for compassion. Will we listen?

Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt (Sophie Giraud/AMC)

The undying thrill of The Vampire Lestat

Melanie McFarland

The undying thrill of The Vampire Lestat

Melanie McFarland

Anne Rice's seductive antihero made vampires the rock stars of the monsterverse

Assorted soups (Ozgur Coskun/Getty Images)

Canned soups, made better

Try these simple tips and transform a cheap pantry staple into something homemade — even, restaurant-quality

Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One, Jan. 11, 2026. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images)

Donald Trump is the real voter fraud

Kirk Swearingen

For Trump and his base, losing can only be the result of a conspiracy — and evidence is beside the point

FEATURED

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at CPAC, Feb. 20, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

GOP has new plan to kill Social Security

Heather Digby Parton

Trump has repeatedly vowed to defend these landmark safety-net programs. It was another lie

Workers set up scaffolding and a tarp to follow the court order to remove Trump's name from the Kennedy Center. Crowds gathered to watch the event late Friday night into Saturday morning. By dawn, the name was gone, but the tarp was still up. (Alex WROBLEWSKI / Getty Images)

Trump's name is off the Kennedy Center

Crews removed the name overnight as onlookers, livestreams document the scene. A tarp and scaffolding still remain

New Yorkers gathered outside the LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, New York City, U.S., on May 7, 2026, to demand a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How “freeze the rent” really works

Even with Mamdani in the mayor's office, tenants aren’t taking a rent freeze for granted

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, speaks via video before the ringing of opening bell at the launch of the company's initial public offering on June 12, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Elon Musk's big payday from SpaceX IPO

Brad Badertscher - The Conversation

Investors who bought the shares are unlikely to see the explosive growth that past IPOs had

Pete Hegseth's Mormon diss explodes a MAGA myth

Hegseth's Mormon diss busts a MAGA myth

Amanda Marcotte

Christian nationalism isn't just immoral — it's incoherent

It's not just hopium: People really are leaving MAGA

People really are leaving MAGA

I was addicted to Trump’s elixir of rage and fear for years. It’s finally losing its power over others

All you need is rice and lentils

All you need is rice and lentils

A recipe for homemade khichuri is guaranteed to become your favorite go-to, budget-friendly weeknight meal

Why MAGA can’t hear the Trump boos

Why MAGA can’t hear the Trump boos

Once you understand the MAGA reaction to the NBA Finals boos, everything else snaps into focus

Iran is “Trump’s Vietnam” — and it’s going to get a lot worse

Why Iran is “Trump’s Vietnam”

Heather Digby Parton

We’ve barely begun to feel the economic effects of Trump’s misbegotten war. This fall could get rough

Even in purple Colorado, Republicans can’t find a normal candidate

Even purple Colorado's GOP has gone nuts

Amanda Marcotte

The lead in the GOP governor’s primary claims he’s an expert at “Cajun Karate” — the other two aren’t much better

NEWS & POLITICS

Secretary of State Marco Rubio before a White House press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House, May 5, 2026. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images/Pool)

It's time to cancel the WH reality show

With Karoline Leavitt on leave, Trump-era briefings have gone from godawful to completely dysfunctional

Alex Clark greets an attendee during a meet and greet session during the Turning Point USA Young Women's Leadership Summit at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center on June 14, 2025 in Grapevine, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

TPUSA's message to girls: hate yourself

Amanda Marcotte

Speakers at the women's leadership summit continued Charlie Kirk's misogynist mission

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino during a meeting with the White House Task Force for the 2026 World Cup. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

Worst World Cup ever? That's a high bar

It's a grotesque festival of consumerism and corruption, with echoes of the 1936 Olympics — and it's here

President Donald Trump attends NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 8, 2026. (SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

Why MAGA can’t hear the Trump boos

Once you understand the MAGA reaction to the NBA Finals boos, everything else snaps into focus

Demonstrators take part in a protest at the Utah State Capitol to oppose the construction of the Stratos data center in Box Elder County on May 23, 2026 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Natalie Behring / Getty Images)

The revolt against AI data centers

The revolt against AI data centers

Energy and water intensive AI projects are draining communities. The revolt is just getting started

House Speaker Mike Johnson with President Donald Trump. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

GOP fraud claims endanger democracy

Heather Digby Parton

Trump told us this was coming 10 years ago: Republicans will only accept election results if they win

Trump investigates 2020 with eye on 2026

Dion Nissenbaum, Votebeat - Votebeat

The president is laying the groundwork to question the next GOP loss

Hegseth's Mormon diss busts a MAGA myth

Amanda Marcotte

Christian nationalism isn't just immoral — it's incoherent

MORE NEWS & POLITICS

Olivia Rodrigo (Xavi Torrent/Getty Images for Spotify)

In defense of the babydoll dress

In defense of the babydoll dress

Olivia Rodrigo's headline-grabbing looks are the latest chapter in a longer story of autonomy and liberation

Anthony Head and Nigel Havers in 'Manchild' (Stuart Atkins/Getty Images)

Anthony Head was never unwatchable

Melanie McFarland

From "Buffy" to "Ted Lasso," his roles made us see that no man is beyond redemption

The cinema spoof will never die

"Scary Movie" and "Stop! That! Train!" revamp a bygone subgenre for a generation in need of high-concept stupidity

The best films of the year (so far)

Outside of "good" or "bad," 2026's finest films have enough risk-taking creativity to restore your faith in movies

AI lending its hand to personal matters (SvetaZi/Getty Images)

Don’t write love letters with AI

Why do GenAI boosters want you to outsource your brain?

Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and singer Chris Cornell (Paul Rovere/Getty Images)

The Soundgarden memoir that fans needed

Rich with perspective, the band's lead guitarist revisits Seattle's music scene and the loss of Chris Cornell

"Backrooms" (A24/Asterios Moutsokapas)

Backrooms: A stealth Silicon Valley tale

Keith A. Spencer

Maybe this liminal space horror is telling a story about what happens when we get sucked into our screens

Ryan O'Connell (Ryan McGinley)

Ryan O’Connell is inspiration porn

The queer, disabled writer talks family shame, TV fame and what the internet has done for – and to – vulnerability

Gas prices are just one of the rising travel costs for summer vacationers, despite a lower-than-average hurricane prediction. Americans are still planning their summer holidays. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Summer's mixed forecasts, rising costs

Memorial Day travel demand remains strong as NOAA predicts below-normal hurricane season and rising vacation costs

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

Minnesota takes on Polymarket, Kalshi

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing multiple states for trying to rein in Polymarket and Kalshi

In June 2025, Trump Mobile began pre-orders for their new "patriotic" gold phone. Almost a year later, customers are still waiting for their orders. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

The Trump phone is here. It's junk

The Trump phone is here. It's junk

Tech experts and reviewers say the long-delayed $500 phone has high costs, middling specs and murky origins

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

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

Your rewards card may be spying on you

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

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

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Trump: Cognitive tests prove he's smart

Doctors say MoCA is screening tool for cognitive impairment, not intelligence test, despite Trump’s intellect claim

Trump cuts to global health hit home

Politicized public health agencies also make it harder to hold officials accountable

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

Ebola outbreak is a US failure

America didn't cause these diseases. But Trump’s cuts to public health have put the world at risk

A woman walks by campaign signs at an early voting site at the West Oaks Branch Library in Ocoee, Florida, United States on October 27, 2024. (Paul Hennesy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The toll of Florida's abortion ban

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

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

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

MORE SCIENCE & HEALTH

Brine, brine, brine (Ashlie Stevens )

Summer has another flavor

Ashlie D. Stevens

Summer has another flavor

Ashlie D. Stevens

Read this before you pour it down the drain

All you need is rice and lentils

A recipe for homemade khichuri is guaranteed to become your favorite go-to, budget-friendly weeknight meal

Frozen pizza, made better

Transform a simple slab of store-bought pizza into a restaurant-worthy meal with these tips

Fishwife's anchovies need a summer break

It's not goodbye forever. It's just goodbye for now, the tinned fish brand assures its longtime fans

The magic dust your kitchen is missing

Ashlie D. Stevens

The case for ranch packets, gravy mixes and other underestimated flavor builders

5 budget food hacks, according to Reddit

Groceries don't have to be a major financial burden, thanks to these tried-and-trusted tips

Stanley Tucci, host of National Geographic's "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy" (left); an Olive Garden restaurant exterior (right). (Illustration by Salon / Courtesy National Geographic / Matt Holyoak / Darden Concepts, Inc)

What Tucci gets wrong about Olive Garden

I would trade my Michelin restaurant experience in Italy any day for a trip to Olive Garden with family

Sun-dried red tomato with garlic, rosemary, olive oil and spices in a glass jars on a wooden table. (intek1 / Getty Images)

7 smart ways to use sun-dried tomato oil

Francesca Giangiulio

Don't waste the best part of the jar

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

MORE LIFE STORIES