If you’ve ever waited in a long line to receive a test for the coronavirus, or tried to get one and couldn’t, or waited a week to get the results, you may have wondered why it’s not easier and more convenient. In recent weeks, the Food and Drug Administration began approving over-the-counter COVID-19 tests for Americans to use at home, part of a wave of new options that Read More
Nearly two-thirds of Americans place a good deal of the blame on President Donald Trump for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the country is evenly split over whether he should be removed from office before his term ends on Jan. 20, according to the latest PBS NewsHour-Marist poll. Read More
As 2020 came to a close, we asked artists and authors about the songs that helped them survive a strange and devastating year. We also posed that question to you, and compiled a playlist of 101 songs that you played over and over again this year. Some songs offered an escape. Some infused joy and despair. Read More
Two-thirds of Americans say the federal government has not done enough to ease the economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. Continue Reading Americans Want Read More
The way loneliness skulks in one of Elizabeth Acevedo’s poems probably would have felt familiar even before the pandemic forced us into more isolating situations. Continue Reading Elizabeth Acevedo’s Poetry Extends A Helping Hand In Our Read More
Public health experts and officials don’t agree that giving up control is a foregone conclusion, instead warning that steps can and must be taken now to avoid the unnecessary loss of life. And no credible experts have suggested the pandemic will end the day after voting stops, despite suggestions from Trump, who himself has tested positive for the virus, that the media is Read More
Since 1848, the Associated Press has played a key role in calculating the U.S. presidential election results. This year, it’s had to adjust for some unusual circumstances as it prepares to determine winners in more than 7,000 races for seats in state legislatures, Congress and the White House. Read More
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden made clear Thursday that voters face a stark choice. Continue Reading 5 Takeaways From The Final Debate Between Donald Trump And Joe BidenRead More
A majority of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, men and women from across the country, of all ages and races, are expecting some or many attempts to block people from voting, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll, conducted less than a month before Election Day. In November 2016, 57 percent of registered voters anticipated attempts to thwart voting; that Read More
When Jessika D. Williams takes the stage as Othello, she sometimes doesn’t know if she’s reacting as the character or herself. Williams, 35, has never felt this way in a role. But playing Othello as a Black woman amid nationwide protests against systemic racism, she sees parallels between racism in the play and in real life. Read More
One hundred years ago, both chambers of Congress passed the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed American women the right to vote. The landmark amendment was ratified into the U.S. Constitution the following year, in August of 1920. Continue Read More
Seven months since cases of the coronavirus were first reported, some countries have effectively combatted the virus and brought the spread under control. The United States is not one of them. But experts say it’s not too late. Continue Reading 3 Read More
There are lots of different ways to formulate a vaccine, and all of them are now being considered for coronavirus. Some vaccines use common methods to confer immunity, while others are entirely experimental — they’ve never before been approved for use. Continue Read More
PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist conducted a survey June 22-24 that polled 1,640 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points and 1,515 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. Continue Read More
Nearly half of black Americans have very little or no confidence that police officers in their community treat people with different skin colors the same, according to the latest PBS NewsHour-NPR-Marist poll. But overall, only 18 percent of Americans take that view — an illustration in itself that people of different races are living different realities in the United Read More
Throughout history, people have turned to music during disease outbreaks as a way to seek spiritual guidance, express pain or even educate others about hygiene. The current moment is no exception. Continue Reading 9 Songs That Show How People Of Read More
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down courtrooms around the country, criminal defense attorneys had to quickly figure out how to continue to serve their clients. Over the last two months, a combination of factors have delayed court proceedings, leaving criminal defendants in limbo as they wait for their stalled cases to move forward. Read More
Most Americans think it will take six months or longer for daily life to return to a relative sense of normal, according to a new PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll. And as states begin the process of reopening, a majority of Americans are worried about a second wave of COVID-19 infections, too. Read More
The current estimated unemployment rate far exceeds the 10 percent peak reached in the Great Recession in 2009. It is the most devastating loss of jobs since the Great Depression, when economists estimate the unemployment rate reached 25 percent in 1933. Read More
A former vaccine expert with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) alleges in a whistleblower complaint that he was ousted because his efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic conflicted with those of President Donald Trump and other administration officials. Read More
Trump’s Taxes, Birth Control, ‘Faithless Electors’ Headline Supreme Court’s Historic Phone Arguments
During historic telephonic arguments this week and next, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up major challenges involving access to President Donald Trump’s financial records, birth control health insurance, “faithless electors” in presidential elections and the constitutionality of the federal ban on robocalls, among others. Read More
As scientists rush to find a vaccine that could end the global pandemic, some cities and states in the U.S. are relying on antibody testing to get a better picture of how the virus has spread and how many people it has infected. Read More
The independent book business has been battered in recent decades, as locally owned sellers strained to compete with the online-giant Amazon. But the COVID-19 crisis has forced many to close their doors, depriving both readers and writers the spaces they thrive on. Read More
While there is anecdotal evidence hydroxychloroquine has helped manage some patients’ symptoms, there is no data that proves it is effective in treating or preventing COVID-19. But absent that kind of data, there has been confusion around how exactly to use the drug to treat patients sick with the virus — and whether it is effective. Read More
Will the current lull in activity make a difference in the air we breathe or the future of climate change? Continue Reading As Many People Stay Home, Will The Environment Improve — At Least Temporarily?Read More
Americans across the political spectrum have been forced to rethink the government’s role in protecting workers and supervising the economy, as more people confront a public health crisis that has exposed major gaps in the social safety net. Read More
New York joins over a dozen states that have delayed some elections. A smaller group including Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, Indiana and Kentucky have also postponed their presidential primaries. Read More
Yo-Yo Ma has brought joy to listeners for decades with his virtuosic musicianship. Now, he is using his music to offer some comfort to a global audience in the midst of a pandemic that has sparked widespread anxiety and pain. Read More
COVID-19 is stretching health care resources in many different ways, but there’s a key piece of equipment getting a lot of attention: ventilators. So, what is a ventilator, and why does it matter? Continue Reading U.S. Needs Read More
Public health professionals are urging “social distancing” – basically, staying away from crowds and other peoples’ personal space – to curb the spread of the virus. Though the disease seems to hit the elderly and immunocompromised the hardest, even young and healthy people are strongly encouraged to practice social distancing. Why? Read More
Joe Biden widened his delegate lead over Bernie Sanders, who now trails by several hundred delegates and is facing mounting pressure to exit the race. Continue Reading 4 Takeaways From Joe Biden’s Wins In Read More
As the number of cases in the U.S. continues to rise, so too do questions about how the virus spreads and how the average person can protect themselves. Health officials are simultaneously trying to understand the virus while improving they way they identify cases and contain those that are known — and encouraging people to just practice good hygiene (and to be cautious, Read More
There is no modern precedent, nor any clear point of comparison for the current, crowded state of the Democratic presidential race. More candidates are staying in the race longer than at any time in recent history. Continue Reading Why So Read More
The inflatable replica that rests on the lake’s solid surface isn’t a political statement, nor a throwback to the ending of 1969’s “Planet of the Apes,” but a decades-long tradition founded on a good laugh. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has staged the display at different times for more than four decades, starting in 1979 as a campaign stunt. Read More
The U.S. declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency Friday, banning non-U.S. citizens who traveled to China from entering the country and imposing new screenings and quarantine on U.S. citizens flying back from China. Continue Reading Read More
The late NewsHour co-anchor Gwen Ifill is being commemorated by the U.S. Postal Service with a Forever stamp this year. Continue Reading Gwen Ifill Honored in Forever Stamp Dedication CeremonyRead More
The recently signed Phase 1 U.S.-China deal promises some relief. Details remain unclear, but the United States government’s interpretation of this deal is that China will purchase $40 billion of agricultural goods in 2020. Some analysts have questioned how realistic those estimates are, given that the highest level of farm products the United States has ever exported to Read More
PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer, a giant in journalism known for his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news, died peacefully in his sleep at home on Thursday, at the age of 85. Continue Reading Jim Lehrer Read More
President Donald Trump’s legal team rejected the House of Representatives’ impeachment charges as “flimsy” and called on senators to “swiftly reject” them in the trial set to begin Tuesday. Continue Reading READ: White House’s Arguments Read More
Tuesday’s Democratic primary debate was the final official debate before the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3. But despite the added time pressure, the six candidates on stage largely avoided attacking one another, so there was no clear winner with less than three weeks left before voting begins. Read More
Booker’s decision leaves 12 Democratic candidates and two non-white candidates in what was once the party’s most diverse primary field. Continue Reading New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker Drops 2020 Presidential Bid As Field Read More
From smartphones to LBGTQ rights, here are some of the most memorable ways in which the world has changed over the past 10 years. Continue Reading From Tech To Society, How We’ve Changed In A DecadeRead More
The event will be broadcast on PBS, livestreamed on PBS NewsHour’s website and simulcast on CNN at 8 p.m. ET. It can also be viewed live in the PBS mobile app, and on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire stick apps. Continue Read More
Carbon capture technology is slowly being integrated into energy and industrial facilities across the globe. Typically set up to collect carbon from an exhaust stream, this technology sops up greenhouse gases before they spread into Earth’s airways. Read More
Free-burning fire is the proximate provocation for the havoc, since its ember storms are engulfing landscapes. But in the hands of humans, combustion is also the deeper cause. Continue Reading Analysis: Big Fall Wildfires Signal Arrival Of A Read More
Ahead of the PBS NewsHour/POLITICO debate, the Democratic National Committee said Democratic candidates must “demonstrate broad-based support by meeting both a grassroots fundraising requirement and one of two polling requirements.” Read More
The U.S. Postal Service is honoring the late PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill with a commemorative Forever stamp. Ifill died in 2016 at age 61 from complications of cancer. Continue Reading PBS NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill Honored With USPS Forever Read More
In an interview with PBS NewsHour’s anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff, Sanders criticized the current U.S. health care system as “dysfunctional” and said his plan would be less expensive than “if we do nothing.” Continue Reading Bernie Read More
While suicide was the 10th most common cause of death among Americans of all ages in 2017, it was the second leading cause of death among young Americans age 15 to 24, according to new data released Thursday from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read More
In a complex world surrounded by seemingly endless risks, why should one, like vaping e-cigarettes, become a problem that attracts so much national attention from health officials, politicians and the press? Continue Reading Is A Read More