United States
Medicine’s gilded age
Why doctors in America earn so much
A mismanaged training system has artificially depressed the supply of medics
Crime and governance
Why is America’s capital so violent?
In most big cities violent crime is declining. In Washington the opposite is true
Lexington
Mitt Romney is the fixed point revealing the Republicans’ slide
A new biography shows how far that slide has gone
Oh my gourd
The economics of pumpkin patches
They are pointless, lucrative and generally a force for good
Birds of New York
How to make NYC work better for its winged inhabitants
Some small changes to building design can result in many fewer dead migrating birds
Losing their religion
The Republican Party no longer believes America is the essential nation
How the GOP went from isolationism to internationalism and back again
Speak now
America’s House of Representatives finally has a speaker
What might Mike Johnson make of the worst job in Washington?
Bundle of ploy
The prospects for Joe Biden’s package of aid for allies
Much depends on how Republicans sort out their mess in picking a House speaker
The essential nation
Biden pleads the case for Israel, Ukraine—and American leadership
The president will seek up to $100bn in supplemental funding for national security
From tents to hospitals
American states wrestle with how to treat severe mental illness
California wants to lead the way
Roe, your own way
Anti-abortion campaigners try to break their losing streak
Ohio’s ballot initiative is the latest test for how to talk about abortion without scaring voters
The empire strikes back
Americans are discovering the joy of a true pint of beer
Call it a “stovepipe” or “19.2oz” if you must