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Great Depression
Forget football. The National Dog Show is Thanksgiving's best entertainment.
Vox - Tanya Pai
Thanksgiving is all about traditions: the all-day food preparation. The arguments over which side dish reigns supreme. The 6,000-calorie food coma. And for many American families, a viewing of a football
Science
Most people are bad at arguing. These 2 techniques will make you better.
Vox - Brian Resnick
Argue better — with science. Anyone who has argued with an opinionated relative or friend about immigration or gun control knows it is often impossible to sway someone with strong views. That’s in part
World News
18 things about ISIS you need to know - Vox
Vox
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the militant group more frequently known as ISIS, took the world by surprise when it swept through northern Iraq in June 2014. ISIS then attempted to set up a kind
Oil
The conflict was a boon to Iraq’s Kurds — at first
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
Kurds, who live in both Syria and Iraq, are mostly Sunnis and control a swath of northeast Iraq. Kurds, who live in both Syria and Iraq, are mostly Sunnis, but they’re ethnically distinct from Arabs. control
Al-Qaeda
ISIS used to be al-Qaeda in Iraq
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
US troops and allied Sunni militias defeated al-Qaeda in Iraq during the 2007 “surge” — but didn’t destroy it. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, better known as ISIS, has claimed responsibility for
Sunni Islam
Iraq’s former prime minister made the ISIS problem worse
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
Maliki, a Shia Muslim who was prime minister from 2006 to 2014, built a Shia-dominated sectarian state and refused to help Sunnis. ISIS would be able to recruit Sunni fighters by exploiting the Sunni-Shia
Oil
The global oil market was spooked by ISIS’s initial advance, but now the effect is minimal
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
Iraq is home to the fifth largest oil deposits in the world. Iraq is home to the fifth largest oil deposits in the world and currently produces about 4 percent of global oil supply. So far, the ISIS conflict
Selling
ISIS funds itself through oil and an extortion racket
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
ISIS would probably have a harder time exporting Iraqi oil than the Syrian oil it’s currently selling. ISIS, unlike many other jihadist groups, doesn’t depend on foreign funders to survive. In Syria, built
Oil
ISIS wants to establish a caliphate
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
Since pledging allegiance to Al-Qaeda in 2004, ISIS has wanted to found a hard-line Sunni Islamic state in their Syrian and Iraqi holdings. Since pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2004, the group’s goal
University of Maryland
Dangerous Shia militias are playing a huge role in the conflict
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
Aside from the Kurds, the Iraqi government has major assistance from Iran and Shia militias. This conflict often gets portrayed as a fight between the Iraqi government and ISIS. That’s overly simplistic
Shia Islam
The conflict between Iraqi Sunnis and Shias sustains ISIS
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
The Sunni-Shia split in Islam, and how it relates to ISIS. One of the single most important factors in ISIS’s resurgence is the conflict between Iraq’s largest two Arab religious groups: Shias and Sunnis.
Bashar al-Assad
ISIS holds a huge amount of territory in Syria
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
The war between Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s government and the different rebel groups long allowed ISIS to operate with relative impunity. The crisis in Syria has been one of the most important reasons
U.S. Politics
Israel-Palestine: Everything you need to know - Vox
Vox
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s longest-running and most controversial conflicts. At its heart, it is a conflict between two self-determination movements — the Jewish Zionist project
5 countries besides America where people celebrate Thanksgiving
Vox - Zack Beauchamp
Canada celebrates Thanksgiving, sure — but so does Grenada and one town in the Netherlands. Americans typically of Thanksgiving as a quintessentially American holiday. And it is! But the United States
Science
More pregnant women are using marijuana. We don’t know if that’s safe.
Vox - Julia Belluz
And cannabis dispensaries are marketing their products to pregnant women for morning sickness. Soon after Amy Smith* started thinking about having a baby a few years ago, she wondered what she’d do about
U.S. Politics
A letter to historians of the future — the 2016 election really was dominated by a controversy over emails
Vox - Matthew Yglesias
December 25, 2016 To Whom It May Concern: Sitting at my desk in the winter of 2016-’17, I have no way of knowing what the future holds for the United States under the administration of Donald Trump. I
U.S. Politics
The Beto O’Rourke 2020 buzz, explained
Vox - Matthew Yglesias
Hey, losing a high-profile Senate race was good enough for Abraham Lincoln. Beto O’Rourke for president? Had he pulled off a stunning upset and unseated Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) earlier this month the speculation
U.S. Politics
House Democrats don’t need a leader, they need someone to represent them on TV
Vox - Matthew Yglesias
Nancy Pelosi is going to be speaker, but she should deputize someone else to go on TV and talk about Trump. The debate over current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s future in House leadership has turned
U.S. Politics
Judge stops Trump from enforcing asylum ban
Vox - Dara Lind
A late Monday ruling requires the administration to allow people to seek asylum even if they enter the US between official crossings — something it hasn’t done since a presidential order was signed November
U.S. Politics
Mercy Hospital shooting in Chicago: what we know
Vox - German Lopez
Multiple people, including a police officer, were killed. Four people, including the gunman, were killed in a shooting at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center on Chicago’s South Side on Monday, according
U.S. Politics
After Florida’s election chaos, the Broward County election supervisor has resigned
Vox - Jane Coaston
Brenda Snipes announced she was stepping down after 15 years on the job. Brenda Snipes — the Broward County, Florida, elections supervisor who oversaw the recent recounts — resigned from her position Monday,
Bill de Blasio
Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio are getting defensive about their Amazon deal
Vox - Gaby Del Valle
Plenty of people are unhappy about Amazon’s forthcoming Long Island City campus — but the officials behind the deal don’t seem to care. It’s been less than a week since Amazon announced its decision to
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The case against Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion gift to Johns Hopkins
Vox - Dylan Matthews
For the love of God, if you have $1.8 billion to donate, don’t give it to your alma mater. Former New York mayor (and potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate) Michael Bloomberg has given $1.8
Health Care
vox-mark
Vox - Dylan Scott
Amid the worst drug overdose crisis in US history, a life-saving drug’s price keeps going higher. Something is wrong: In the midst of the worst drug overdose crisis in US history, the price for a life-saving
U.S. Politics
2018’s record-setting voter turnout, in one chart
Vox - Emily Stewart
It’s at the highest level in a century. Voter turnout in 2018 appears to have reached the highest level of any midterm election in a century. According to the United States Elections Project, a sort of
U.S. Politics
A letter from 16 House Democrats opposing Nancy Pelosi is out, but she still has no challenger
Vox - Ella Nilsen
Marcia Fudge, the Ohio Congress member considering challenging Pelosi, did not sign the letter. Sixteen House Democrats have signed their names to a letter released Monday opposing House Minority Leader
Gift Guides
Vox 2018 holiday gift guide: the best gifts for travelers, culture junkies, kids, and more - Vox
Vox - Vox Staff
There’s no better recommendation for a gift than an item that someone loves to give — or receive — themselves. With that in mind, we asked the writers, editors, and designers at Vox to share some of their
U.S. Politics
Senate Democrats are suing to try to stop Matthew Whitaker from serving as acting attorney general
Vox - Ella Nilsen
Read the new lawsuit filed by three senators to try to block Whitaker from serving. A group of Senate Democrats are suing to try to strike down President Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting
Montreal Protocol
How technological progress is making it likelier than ever that humans will destroy ourselves
Vox - Kelsey Piper
The “vulnerable world hypothesis,” explained. Technological progress has eradicated diseases, helpeddouble life expectancy, reduced starvation and extreme poverty, enabled flight and global communications,
The Journal of Controversial Ideas is already, well, controversial. Here’s a founder’s defense.
Vox - Dylan Matthews
Francesca Minerva explains how death threats for an article about abortion led to the journal’s creation. News broke last week that philosophers Jeff McMahan, Peter Singer, and Francesca Minerva are planning

Vox

Magazines

Brett Kavanaugh is Trump’s newest Supreme Court nominee

Trump White House firings, resignations, and ousters

Travel ban: Supreme Court upholds Trump’s immigration executive order

Immigration and border agents are separating families at the US-Mexico border

Flips

Forget football. The National Dog Show is Thanksgiving's best entertainment.

Most people are bad at arguing. These 2 techniques will make you better.

18 things about ISIS you need to know - Vox

The conflict was a boon to Iraq’s Kurds — at first

ISIS used to be al-Qaeda in Iraq

Iraq’s former prime minister made the ISIS problem worse

The global oil market was spooked by ISIS’s initial advance, but now the effect is minimal

ISIS funds itself through oil and an extortion racket

ISIS wants to establish a caliphate

Dangerous Shia militias are playing a huge role in the conflict

The conflict between Iraqi Sunnis and Shias sustains ISIS

ISIS holds a huge amount of territory in Syria

Israel-Palestine: Everything you need to know - Vox

5 countries besides America where people celebrate Thanksgiving

More pregnant women are using marijuana. We don’t know if that’s safe.

A letter to historians of the future — the 2016 election really was dominated by a controversy over emails

The Beto O’Rourke 2020 buzz, explained

House Democrats don’t need a leader, they need someone to represent them on TV

Judge stops Trump from enforcing asylum ban

Mercy Hospital shooting in Chicago: what we know

After Florida’s election chaos, the Broward County election supervisor has resigned

Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio are getting defensive about their Amazon deal

The case against Michael Bloomberg’s $1.8 billion gift to Johns Hopkins

vox-mark

2018’s record-setting voter turnout, in one chart

A letter from 16 House Democrats opposing Nancy Pelosi is out, but she still has no challenger

Vox 2018 holiday gift guide: the best gifts for travelers, culture junkies, kids, and more - Vox

Senate Democrats are suing to try to stop Matthew Whitaker from serving as acting attorney general

How technological progress is making it likelier than ever that humans will destroy ourselves

The Journal of Controversial Ideas is already, well, controversial. Here’s a founder’s defense.