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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

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

Bill Pulte was named by President Donald Trump as acting director of national intelligence âÂ and with no expertise or experience (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Trump’s new hire fractures MAGA media

Trump’s new hire fractures MAGA media

Many of the president's stalwart allies won't defend his choice of Bill Pulte as director of national intelligence

Straights (Deagreez/Getty Images)

Will no one think of straight people?!

Heteropessimism is real, but it isn’t the danger The New York Times thinks it is

Kid Rock and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

MAGA fails to conquer arts and music

Amanda Marcotte

Trump’s losses at the Kennedy Center and Freedom 250 follow Turning Point USA’s Super Bowl humiliation

FEATURED

World Cup is Coming signs, warning about crowds and delays in subway station at PATH train Station, Manhattan, New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Image)

World Cup to cause massive transit woes

The FIFA World Cup final highlights severe gaps in New York and New Jersey’s public transit infrastructure

Clark Shotwell and John Travolta in "Propeller One-Way Night Coach" (Apple TV)

John Travolta's spellbinding autofiction

"Propeller One-Way Night Coach" finds the seasoned actor indulging in auteur theory. It's not to be missed

Magic dust (Ashlie Stevens )

The magic dust your kitchen is missing

Ashlie D. Stevens

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

Ken Paxton, the Texas GOP Senate nominee, has a long list of scandals (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)

Texas shows the rot is deeper than Trump

Heather Digby Parton

Ken Paxton and the Trump administration are throwing the kitchen sink against James Talarico

Do Americans really know how much the world hates us?

Do Americans know the world hates us?

The global romance with America turned sour years ago. Now the world's ready for a divorce

Stephen Colbert gets the last laugh on CBS

Colbert gets the last laugh on CBS

CBS filed copyright notices against Colbert's viral "Only in Monroe" comeback. It backfired.

Why MAGA buys Trump's perfect health lie

Why MAGA buys Trump's perfect health lie

Amanda Marcotte

Cultish devotion leads Republicans to see Trump as more god-like than human

How Trump squandered the economic recovery

Trump squandered a recovering economy

Heather Digby Parton

In January 2025, the president was set up for success. Instead, he blew it

Stop throwing out your pickle juice: 7 creative ways to use it up

Stop throwing out your pickle juice

Francesca Giangiulio

From pickle lemonade to that viral dip, what's at the bottom of the jar is often the best part

Bari Weiss brings Trumpism to “60 Minutes”

“60 Minutes” infected by Trumpism

Scott Pelley firing shows Weiss is more interested in loyalty than journalism

NEWS & POLITICS

President Donald Trump meets with his Cabinet at the White House (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Flattery is the job in Trump's Cabinet

Chauncey DeVega

A New York Times review of hours of meetings found officials spend more time fawning than governing

Latinos for Trump campaign sign is photographed on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 at BakerRipley Ripley House in Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Trump is losing Latino vote

Alejandro Serrano - The Texas Tribune

A new Texas poll measure eroding Latino support for the president and the GOP

Abbas Alawieh, cofounder of the uncommitted movement during the DNC in Chicago, Illinois on August 20, 2024. (Photo by Nick Oxford for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

A plan to win back lost Democrat voters

Tatyana Tandanpolie

Uncommitted Movement activist Abbas Alawieh is stepping from behind the scenes to run for state Senate in Michigan

Bari Weiss, head of CBS News, has led an overhaul of the division (Caroline Gutman for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“60 Minutes” infected by Trumpism

Scott Pelley firing shows Weiss is more interested in loyalty than journalism

Speculation continues to rise about the state of Donald Trump's physical and mental health (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)

Why MAGA buys Trump's perfect health lie

Amanda Marcotte

Why MAGA buys Trump's perfect health lie

Amanda Marcotte

Cultish devotion leads Republicans to see Trump as more god-like than human

Attendees pray during Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., May 17, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

Right-wing Christians don't want me here

Mohammad Ali Salih

At the Christian gathering in DC, the message to Muslims like me was clear. From my grave, I'll preach coexistence

Trump doesn't care about gun trafficking

Ken B. Morales, Alec MacGillis - ProPublica

Gains made under Joe Biden's administration have evaporated

Do Americans know the world hates us?

The global romance with America turned sour years ago. Now the world's ready for a divorce

MORE NEWS & POLITICS

Road-tripping with a dog (David Bouchat/Getty Images)

A trip with my dog healed divorce wounds

A trip with my dog healed divorce wounds

Over 4,000 miles, I came to embrace a future I never expected to face alone

The Wu-Tang Clan. ((Photo by Francesco Prandoni/Getty Images))

The Shaolin and Wu-Tang are unstoppable

Melanie McFarland

How the hip-hop collective turned their kung fu obsession into an immortal philosophy

We're trapped in "Backrooms" hell

Kane Parsons' beguiling debut leaps from YouTube to chronicle our inadvertent journey into a beige emotional void

"Hacks" ends on a Seinfeldian high note

Melanie McFarland

In the end, Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels prove that a funnier world is worth fighting for

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - "Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour" - New York (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

Springsteen’s tour is a call to action

The "Land of Hope and Dreams" tour is a rock 'n' roll narrative about collective action in dangerous times

Jake Gyllenhaal (left) and Henry Cavill in "In the Grey." (42West)

Jake Gyllenhaal's masculinity crisis

With "In the Grey," Gyllenhaal performs machismo to the point of parody. What's muscling him out of better roles?

Everlane, a U.S. retailer branded as sustainable, was purchased by the online retailer Shein according to Everlaneâs chief executive Alfred Chang. The company would not say how much it was sold for. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Everlane was never your friend

Sorrow over the clothing company's sale to Shein marks the end of an era that believed commerce could care about us

Actor Greg Evigan playing the saxophone, in a scene from the television show 'Pink Lady', March 1980. (Frank Edwards/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Greg Evigan's Beatles obsession

The “My Two Dads” star reflects on Beatlemania, songwriting and recording at Abbey Road Studios

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

Preparing linguine vongole (GMVozd / Getty Images)

5 budget food hacks, according to Reddit

5 budget food hacks, according to Reddit

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

Stop throwing out your pickle juice

Francesca Giangiulio

From pickle lemonade to that viral dip, what's at the bottom of the jar is often the best part

How broccoli crowns became a luxury buy

The rising costs of cauliflower, broccoli and tomatoes can be explained by a combination of unpalatable factors

Buttery bread pudding with jammy berries

Ashlie D. Stevens

Stale bread has never tasted so good

5 new ways to enjoy cottage cheese

Don't settle for boring cottage cheese. Try these simple recipes

Chocolate cereal pouring into green bowl with spoon on cream background (Juj Winn / Getty Images)

What in the world is Man Cereal?

The high-protein-creatine-no-seed oils-and-no sugar craze has officially tainted the beloved breakfast cereal

Grocery shopping (Oscar Wong / Getty Images)

How a food writer budget grocery shops

Ashlie D. Stevens

From anchor ingredients to discount racks, a food writer shares how she cooks well without overspending

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