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The political resilience of the Black-owned bookstore When he wasn’t helping some 600 slaves escape through the Underground Railroad, David Ruggles was running a bookstore. In 1828, Ruggles opened a grocery store in New York City and later, as he became involved in the burgeoning abolitionist movement,… By Char Adams Featured A24 and the end of movies simply being movies By Shawn Cooke Uncut Gems, an instant classic that feels like it’s been around for years, is having a bit of a victory lap. This weekend, it’s returning to theaters nationwide with a new hidden camera Q&A featuring the Safdie brothers and Adam Sandler in a… Is it futile to keep marching? By Opheli Garcia Lawler When asked if there will be a Women’s March next year, a member of the official board can’t answer the question. If Donald Trump is elected again, there probably will be. But entertaining the possibility that Trump will get a second term is a bit… 'The Assistant' wields loneliness to devastating effect By Andy Crump Jane arrives at work before the city wakes. She’s a junior secretary for a prestigious New York City film production company, tasked with getting the place up and running before her league of coworkers, and especially her boss, shuffle in to start… I made Amy Klobuchar’s hotdish and it kind of slaps By Hanna Howard As the Iowa caucus nears, 2020's Democratic candidates are doing their last-minute push for supporters along the campaign trail. Thanks to the impeachment trial, though, candidates who are also members of the Senate are stuck in D.C., leaving… Netflix's 'The Circle' isn't dystopian, it's real life By Jake Pitre “Message: #iamtherealdeal.” Mercedeze, a 27-year-old player on Netflix’s reality series The Circle, says this to her television set in the sixth episode. Or rather, she instructs The Circle, a voice-activated social platform that functions as the… Latest News What it's like to take MDMA during therapy By Suzannah Weiss CJ Hardin, a 40-year-old avionics manager and aircraft mechanic in Charleston, SC, developed PTSD after serving in the military. This qualified him to participate in a study several years ago by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic… Bad vibes: The real problem with Goop's breathless praise of 'energy healing' By Elizabeth Brown It’s deeply gratifying to see the all the critical reviews of Gwyneth Paltrow's Netflix miniseries, “The Goop Lab," which boasts the wellness elitism and woo that the brand's become notorious for. The reality show, Paltrow’s most recent expansion of… Inside the budding economy of buying and selling social media shoutouts By Luke Winkie "Check this man out." The Instagram Story is beamed to my phone. Sure enough, there is my handle, "@Luke_Winkie" in red-and-yellow neon, hovering in the feed of a meme page with 62,000 followers. The whole transaction took less than a minute. I sent… The messy artist trope is mostly bullshit By Tracey Anne Duncan I’ve always been a bit embarrassed about my natural tendency towards tidiness, like it somehow disqualifies me from being a “real artist.” Last year, when I was in a creative rut and obsessively sweeping, I asked a sculptor friend if she thought… The latest ruling in Kesha's legal battle puts celebrities on the hook for anything they say, anywhere By Kara Weisenstein The legal battle between Kesha and producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald has dragged on for more than five years. In 2014, the singer alleged that he had “sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused” her. In 2016, she dropped the complaint,… All the ways the world's bees are doomed By AJ Dellinger For decades now, human agricultural methods, including the use of harmful pesticides, have led to a diminishing bumblebee population. As it turns out, that hasn't been the only way that human behavior has done a number on the essential insect. A new… Antarctica was basically the same temperature as L.A. this week By Vanessa Taylor Would you have ever thought there'd be a day where Antartica is warmer than New York City? It's no joke. Yesterday, temperatures in NYC maxed out at a balmy 39 degrees. Meanwhile, Antartica hit 65 degrees, its hottest temperature ever recorded, and… HBO might be dropping $20 million on a 'Friends' special By Opheli Garcia Lawler Despite numbers that indicate that streaming services are continuing to experience a boom in subscriptions, desperation still defines the choices made around programming as newer platforms try to gain their foothold. There could be no clearer… We finally have an Iowa caucus winner — sort of By Vanessa Taylor Tallying the votes of elections is always a bit complicated, but Iowa's presidential caucus has taken things to a whole new level. Despite thousands of Iowans making their choices Monday, the Iowa caucus winner is still unclear due to… Trump is withholding $1 billion in funding for clean energy projects By AJ Dellinger It's no secret that the Trump administration has been doing everything it can to prop up fossil fuel, keeping the dying coal industry alive while playing favorites with natural gas companies. When it comes to renewable energy alternatives, Trump and… The real reason prescription drugs cost so much By Faisal Chaudhry The high price of insulin, which has reached as much as $450 per month, has raised outrage across the country. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has called it a national embarrassment, wondering why U.S. residents should have to drive to Canada to buy… Our best bet for capturing carbon from the atmosphere might lie underwater By Marianne Holmer According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to avoid a climate change catastrophe. Although efforts are already being made to reduce the production of greenhouse gasses, they are by… What it's like to take MDMA during therapy By Suzannah Weiss CJ Hardin, a 40-year-old avionics manager and aircraft mechanic in Charleston, SC, developed PTSD after serving in the military. This qualified him to participate in a study several years ago by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic… It's officially breakup bop season By Opheli Garcia Lawler “Did the heartbreak change me? Maybe / But look at where I ended up,” Dua Lipa croons at the beginning of “Don’t Start Now.” The song is a certified breakup anthem, less about the pain of being dumped and more about the petty bliss of enjoying… The doctor who tried to warn the world about coronavirus has died from the illness By Tebany Yune Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old doctor in Wuhan, China, was one of the first people to warn others about a SARS-like illness, now known as coronavirus, spreading among his patients. He sent a private message to his friends online. Then, his warning was… Celebrities are cashing in on our obsession with candles By Kara Weisenstein Gwyneth Paltrow started the year off on a spicy note by hawking (and selling out of) a candle called “This Smells Like My Vagina” on her “lifestyle brand” Goop’s website. Okay, the candle doesn’t literally smell like the actress’ nether-regions.… Clouds might be messing with our ability to predict how hot the Earth will get By AJ Dellinger Climate modeling is a science, but not an exact one. There are hundreds of tiny details to take into account in order to produce predictions of potential outcomes. These models help us establish goals like those set forth by the Paris Climate… I'm cautiously optimistic about Dua Lipa's transformation into a superstar By Opheli Garcia Lawler Dua Lipa is deep into the promotional circuit for her upcoming album Future Nostalgia. She’s released three singles and has made appearances at awards shows in the United States and Europe. It’s shaping up to be a seminal moment for the 24-year-old… The long road to recovery for Australia’s wildlife By Tebany Yune The PBS ...