Our politics is catching up to a cultural transformation. At the New York Times, Ross Douthat takes note of one of the signal features of the 2024 election cycle: In 2024, the media future . . . [is] embodied by the sex-and-relationships podcaster and the bro comedians who scored important interviews with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump this month — with the host of “Call Her Daddy,” Alex Cooper, tossing Harris questions about abortion and student loans, while the comics Andrew...

Republicans representing states hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton are grappling with the spread of storm misinformation, much of which has stemmed from prominent figures in their own party — including sitting lawmakers and former President Trump. The false claims have run rampant on social media since the deadly pair of storms made their way through parts of the Southeast — most notably Florida and North Carolina — with Republicans floating inaccurate allegations about the Federal...

When Kamala Harris gave her campaign’s biggest economic speech yet in Pittsburgh last month, she tried to keep everyone in her party happy. She did not succeed. Attempting to strike a balance between progressive and pro-business themes, Harris said she’d hold corporations accountable if they didn’t play by the rules — but opined that “most companies are working hard to do the right thing.” She referenced the activist presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but in calling for “...

Transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports has emerged as a sleeper issue that is poised to attract elusive female suburban voters to former President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates on the ballot. Some see it as an outlier, but the matter is increasingly drawing the attention of voters as more biological males who identify as women join the rosters of female teams and compete — and win — against girls and women at the middle school, high school and collegiate levels...

Mortgage interest rates rose last week for the third straight week, hitting the highest level since August. That caused demand from both current homeowners and potential homebuyers to take a big step back. Total mortgage application volume fell 17% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) increased to...

A Georgia judge halted a rule requiring the mandatory hand-counting of ballots on election night. The rule had been put in place by the Georgia Election Board, which maintains that the process is needed to ensure election integrity. Democrats argued that hand counting would drag out the results and cause uncertainty. On Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that the hand counting requirement was passed too close to Election Day and would create uncertainty and...

Despite concerns over the falling birthrate, especially on the right, the Times Opinion columnist David French recognizes that the push to have more families — and bigger ones — has become problematic. In this audio essay, French explains why he thinks the recent political conversation on the topic reveals “the worst form of natalism.” Below is a lightly edited transcript of the audio piece. To listen to this piece, click the play button below. America Needs More Children. JD Vance’s...

A Georgia judge late on Tuesday blocked a new rule passed that required hand counting of ballots on election night, delivering another blow to GOP election officials in the state—many of whom falsely blame election fraud for Donald Trump’s loss in the state in 2020—just hours after the same judge issued another ruling requiring local officials to certify election results. In his ruling, Georgia Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said the hand count rule was “too much, too...

After Georgia voters began heading to the polls Tuesday for the first day of early voting in the state, a judge enjoined election officials from moving forward with a controversial new rule that would require the hand counting of ballots when polls close on Nov. 5.  Judge Robert McBurney called the rule "too much, too late." The judge expressed concern that the "11th-and-one-half hour implementation of the hand count rule" would lessen public confidence in the election...

The legend of overpopulation was born in the 1960s.  Since then, population alarmists have fantasised that global overpopulation will cause mass migration, overcrowded slums and megacities covering continents, diseases and pollution, chaos […]