Vox

President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch is going in a new direction: drone port and sniper platform.

Trump has been pushing to build this 250-foot-tall “triumphal arch” near the National Mall since at least this January. Relative to some of his other projects, however, it’s been slow going, and now he has a new plan.

He announced the updated design in a Sunday morning post, writing, “At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert” the arch into “a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch.”

In reality, we don’t yet know if this version of the arch will happen, or even if the military actually requested it at all.

Read more: www.vox.com/the-logoff-newsletter-trump/503463/tru…<media_url>

📸: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

20 hours ago | [YT] | 569

Vox

We are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic: More than half of Americans say they feel isolated, and we’re getting together less and less. In 2023, only about 4% of adults said they went to a party on a weekend or holiday.

According to Imogen Willetts, a party historian and author of the book Up All Night: A History of Going Out, this moment is an outlier.

“For most of human history, the experiences that we associate with nightlife — drinking, dancing, music, hedonism — those experiences were simply part of religion because religion was so all-encompassing,” she told Vox.

If parties are so ingrained in humankind, then, what are we missing when we don’t get out the door on a Friday night anymore? And what lessons can we learn from the turnups of yore?

Find out: www.vox.com/explain-it-to-me/502777/history-of-par…<media_url>

🎨: A.H. Fish/Condé Nast via Getty Images

1 day ago | [YT] | 1,267

Vox

A decade ago, insulin became the poster child for America’s out-of-control drug prices.

The 2017 death of Alec Smith, who was rationing his insulin before he died, and repeated price hikes for a 100-year-old medication (the patent for which was originally sold for $1 to a university to prevent it from being exploited commercially) sparked widespread outrage that a lifesaving medication could be unaffordable to the people who depend on it to survive.

Today, despite legislation passed to cap the price of insulin at $35 and splashy apologies from drugmakers, millions of people continue to struggle to pay for their insulin.

Find out why: www.vox.com/good-medicine-newsletter/503183/insuli…<media_url>

2 days ago | [YT] | 1,366

Vox

The weather forecast might still be screaming “summer,” but the calendar betrays the truth: The holidays are going to be here before you know it.

What’s usually billed as a jolly time of year can inspire dread — all the planning, all the spending, all the gathering can be exhausting, especially if you have a large family.

Of course you’d like to put that off for as long as possible, right? Surely these conversations can wait until after Halloween.

But waiting too long can actually make the holidays more stressful.

Getting ahead of this coordination can help minimize the stress on everyone in a few months. So even though end-of-year celebrations might be the furthest thing from your mind, the ideal time to start planning them is, we’re sorry to say, right now.

Read more about why early fall is the ideal time to start bugging the family group chat about the holidays: www.vox.com/advice/502674/start-holiday-planning-n…<media_url>

3 days ago | [YT] | 454

Vox

When we think about the stakes in healthcare, we tend to think of them in terms of life and death, being sick or being healthy. The conversation is about your physical well-being and maybe your mental health — and it pretty much stops there.

But your health impacts so much more, especially for women, a new survey from Gallup and Pivotal, a philanthropic group founded by Melinda French Gates, shows.

“Women are often taught to put themselves last and minimize their own needs,” Melinda wrote to Vox in an email. “They don’t always have time to care for themselves because they’re so busy caring for others. And they might not be able to afford childcare or home health support for their aging parents. Our survey showed one in six women delayed healthcare because of their responsibilities caring for their family members. For Black women it’s one in five, and Hispanic women one in four. Too many women are facing an uphill road to even just get to a doctor’s office.”

“It’s possible to make it easier for people to balance healthcare and family responsibilities — but it’s going to take action from many angles. That’s exactly why I invest in both women’s health and in caregiving, and I’d encourage more philanthropists to do the same.”

Read more about why we need to invest more in women’s health — and how to accomplish it — here: www.vox.com/health/503206/womens-health-care-menop…<media_url>

📸: Courtesy of Pivotal Ventures

4 days ago | [YT] | 1,202

Vox

Kamala Harris hasn’t said whether she’ll run for president in 2028 — but Democrats are already trying to shape the field.

Megadonor Reid Hoffman says Harris would face a “very challenging path,” while California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he won’t run if she does. Together, their comments may signal growing pressure on Harris to make an early decision — and a major shift among donors who once supported her.

Harris still has significant support among Black voters and women. But if she enters the race, she could do so without much backing from the Democratic establishment. Could that push her toward a more populist, grassroots campaign — and is that a campaign Kamala Harris wants to run?

Read more and subscribe to Astead Herndon’s The Midterms, Actually newsletter: www.vox.com/politics/503096/midterms-actually-camp…<media_url>

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5 days ago | [YT] | 3,230

Vox

Have you ever looked at your pet and thought: “Am I crazy to love an animal this much? Is this feeling of mutual friendship and understanding actually real?”

Your deep connection to your animal companion might also make you question your relationship to and understanding of other animals. How is it that my beloved has a soul, but a pig or a cow or a bird does not?

To kill one animal but to love another demands significant mental gymnastics. The modernist, mechanistic view of the world where humans are separate and death is the end doesn’t hold true.

“The love that exists between a human and their animal can be a bridge to a redemptive love for all living things; for every animal; for the very fullness of life itself,” writes Casper ter Kuile.

Read more of Casper’s monthly column, Soul Searching: www.vox.com/advice/502764/pet-soul-spiritual-conne…<media_url>

🎨: Lorena Spurio for Vox

6 days ago | [YT] | 703

Vox

The concern around AI — that it will kill all of us — sounds like science fiction. It is the stuff of science fiction. But it’s not a fringe position: Over the weekend, leading AI researchers and executives also warned that AI is developing dangerously fast and called for measures to rein it in.

Now, a wide spectrum of lawmakers, activists, and pundits are also calling for stronger safeguards.

But President Donald Trump is decidedly not on board, and it’s hard to see how any substantive AI regulations could pass without him.

Read more about how AI could actually be slowed down: www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/502790/dari…<media_url>

📸: Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images

1 week ago | [YT] | 971

Vox

Have you ever been out to dinner with friends and realized you’ve been gossiping the entire time?

It may make you feel a little bit weird or even guilty. But gossiping is a part of life, so when does it become mean or unethical?

Guest columnist for Your Mileage May Vary Shayla Love answers this question by turning to Cécile Fabre, a philosopher at the University of Oxford who took up the question of gossip in a 2023 paper. Fabre considers gossip through a framework drawn from Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy, which holds that you must treat others as ends in themselves — rational beings deserving of respect — rather than as means to one’s own ends.

“Fabre acknowledges that gossip can bring people together, as it does for you and your friends, but she also stresses that it has a darker side,” Shayla writes.

Read the full column: www.vox.com/future-perfect/502634/how-to-be-an-eth…<media_url>

🎨: Pete Gamlen for Vox

1 week ago | [YT] | 723

Vox

The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which will be the largest real-life animal crossing in the world, is scheduled to open in December.

It’s a gorgeous, vegetated overpass that will offer safe passage to local mountain lions, coyotes, deer, and black bears across the perilous 10-lane Ventura Freeway in Southern California.

The crossing could help revolutionize how animals bypass America’s most dangerous roads, preventing some of the hundreds of human deaths, hundreds of millions of animal deaths, and billions in damages caused by wildlife collisions each year.

Read more: www.vox.com/future-perfect/502341/wildlife-crossin…<media_url>

📸: Dean Musgrove/Los Angeles Daily News

1 week ago | [YT] | 1,579