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I asked strangers to let me farm their yards. They said yes
Marisa Mender-Franklin built a flower business after dozens of neighbors offered free yard space through Facebook.
Ohio State wins battle for elite 5-star defensive lineman
The Buckeyes landed an impact commitment on Monday when the five-star DL committed to playing college football in Columbus.
3 Iowa stars among best players in 'EA Sports College Football 27'
Iowa is well represented among the best players in "EA Sports' College Football 27."
All eyes on Tom Kean, Capitol Hill’s most mysterious non-voter
The Republican representative will return today, with assurances that he'll explain his absence. Here's what he missed while he was away
Serbia's Vucic eyes new political chapter as he steps down from presidency
When Aleksandar Vucic announced that he will step down as president of Serbia, cutting short his mandate and likely triggering early elections, few believed that he would disappear from politics.
Comcast Eyes Spinoff of NBCUniversal From Its Core Cable Business
All things being equal, the Comcast-NBCU marriage of the distribution and content assets will have been relatively short-lived.
Growing scientific evidence links e-cigarette chemicals to heart health risks
DALLAS, June 29, 2026 — Is vaping bad for my health? As people who use e-cigarettes and their loved ones pose questions like this, growing scientific evidence shows that the answer is yes. Research studies show that several chemicals found in...
Building Community, Capacity, and Collaboration Through gmhCONNECT | Johns Hopkins Center for Global Mental Health
Doctoral trainee Yesenia Garcia shares her experience at gmhCONNECT, a training and mentoring program for global mental health researchers.
Jose Mourinho eyes Chelsea mainstay as his ‘priority’ signing
Former Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has taken over the reins as Chelsea’s new coach and is already planning the squad and his dynamics for the upcoming season.The revolutionary thinker that he is...
Appalachian State strikes again on trolling Michigan football program
It's the gift that keeps on giving. Appalachian State trolled the Michigan football program once again for the loss in 2007.
Millions take omega-3 fish oil for brain health but a new study found no benefit
Fish oil supplements successfully delivered omega-3s to the brain, but a two-year study found no meaningful benefits for memory, cognition, or Alzheimer’s-related brain changes. The results challenge the idea that fish oil pills can help prevent Alzheimer’s and shift attention toward overall diet and lifestyle instead.
Millions take omega-3 fish oil for brain health but a new study found no benefit
Fish oil supplements successfully delivered omega-3s to the brain, but a two-year study found no meaningful benefits for memory, cognition, or Alzheimer’s-related brain changes. The results challenge the idea that fish oil pills can help prevent Alzheimer’s and shift attention toward overall diet and lifestyle instead.
Rep. Jahana Hayes released from hospital after health scare
Representative Jahana Hayes has been released from the hospital after a health scare last week. In a video posted to Facebook on Sunday, she said she was leaving St. Mary’s Hospital where she was admitted for the last two days. “On Friday, I felt like I was dizzy while shopping, I was out getting phones at the mall and felt…
New Captain Jack Sparrow Entertainment Coming to 2026 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
Halfway to the Holidays is over, which can only mean one thing: Halloween is almost here at Walt Disney World!!! Don't roll your eyes or laugh. This isn't a joke. At least, not a funny
Mary Means Business: Raising Cane's eyes Starkville location
I’m about to act a fool, because it looks like Raising Cane’s is finally on its way to Starkville. The, in my opinion, premier chicken joint is officially
City of Palms new downtown parking program: How local business react to the change
The Fort Myers City Council recently approved a change impacting parking rates at all three of downtown Fort Myers' parking garages. As it stood, visitors would receive one hour of free parking followed by a hourly rate. Now, the change has made it so visitors are entitled to two free hours followed by a hourly rate. Local business owners and managers said it's a good idea giving visitors more time to bask under the royal palms and indulge in some shopping. But one general manager points out a problem that did not start yesterday, but years prior.
Cowboys Weekend Headlines: History's brink, Quinnen, Parker dilemmas
The Cowboys are looking to avoid an inglorious feat in 2026, while there are close eyes on two key components in the fight.
Riding Into 2028: On the Midterms Trail, Andy Beshear Eyes a Bigger Prize
The two-term Democratic governor of deep-red Kentucky, in demand as a surrogate in key 2026 races, talks horses, faith and family politics as he considers a run for the White House.
Ohio State Buckeyes projected to land elite offensive lineman
Ohio State sits on the cusp of another top-5 recruiting class, and the Buckeyes could be receiving even more good news this weekend. Four-star Jackson (Miss.) offensive lineman Caden Moss is set to commit Friday night, and the Buckeyes are surging late as the favorite to land him. Over the past 24 hours, Rivals national […]
iPhone 18: Everything We Know About Apple's Biggest Updates
Rumors about Apple's next flagship phones point to a new foldable, a variable-aperture camera, improved battery life and, yes, higher prices.
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max May See $200 Price Increase
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be up to $200 more expensive, according to a prediction from analytics firm IDC. IDC expected Apple to raise iPhone 18 prices, but prior to yesterday's Mac and iPad price hike, the prediction was a $100 increase for the 18 Pro and Pro Max, and a $50 increase for the base models. IDC Senior Director of Data & Analytics Nabila Popal says the magnitude of the Mac and iPad price increase points to even higher iPhone 18 prices.
How this A-lister ended up in 'Supergirl'
Yes, that 'Supergirl' cameo is who you think it is. Director Craig Gillespie and star Milly Alcock talk about how it came together.
Evoke Entertainment Signs Tribeca-Honored Filmmaker Elisee Junior St. Preux
EXCLUSIVE: Evoke Entertainment has signed Haitian American filmmaker Elisee Junior St. Preux, whose debut feature The Tropic Sun and His Eyes world premiered in Tribeca’s Viewpoints section and earned...
Walton Arts Center to host blood drive with free entertainment July 1
The Walton Arts Center will host a blood drive in partnership with the American Red Cross from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1. The center will provide live entertainment for blood donors in attendance that day, including performances by cellist Carrington Truehart, and guitarists Ben Harris and William Reyes. SUBSCRIBE: Get our
Can We Engineer Being on the Same Wavelength with Others? Research Offers a Cautious “Yes”
Analysis shows science can help us become synchronized over time—and feel more connected to others in the process
ConcernedApe Explains Why He's Shown So Little Of Haunted Chocolatier: 'I Would Rather Serve A Fully Baked Bread'
Eric Barone posted his first blog update in six months yesterday to reassure fans he's still hard at work.
Commitment season looming as Ohio State staff awaits
The month of June has been a grind for Ohio State’s coaching staff. Position camps, recruiting visits, and still prioritizing their current roster, the Buckeyes have had zero time off… and that will soon change. Ryan Day and company set to be on vacation in the coming days for a well deserved break, that doesn’t […]
How 12 ventures will improve health and food systems in Boston
Yes/Boston has announced its 12-member cohort through the UpLink Innovation Challenge to drive local innovation and transform food and health in Boston.
Yes/Boston Announces Inaugural Cohort of 12 Innovators Advancing Food and Health Solutions
/PRNewswire/ -- Yes/Boston, an initiative intended to accelerate innovation at the intersection of food systems and health, today announced its inaugural...
Another look at carrots and eyesight; how to get more fiber; why mosquitoes bite some people and not others; plus other stories with Vanderbilt Health sources
AARP reporter Stacey Colino interviewed Milam Brantley, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, in 2020 for a story about whether eating carrots can improve vision. Sacramento Bee reporter Samantha Agate has now used Brantley’s comments in an AI-curated story created by content specialists on the same topic that has been picked up by MSN and others. Prevention magazine interviewed Heidi Silver, RD, PhD, Founding Director of the Vanderbilt Diet, Body Composition, and Human Metabolism Core, for a story about the importance of fiber and how people can get more of it in their diet. William Schaffner, MD, Professor of Preventive Medicine, was quoted by several news outlets about public health issues, including: Women’s Health (tick bites and alpha-gal syndrome); The Washington Post (tetanus); and Healthline (why mosquitoes prefer to bite some people and leave others alone). A visit to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt by some Banana Ball baseball players was covered by The Tennessean and WZTV Fox 17 News, and The Tennessean’s story was also picked up by Yahoo! Sports. Clarksville Now published a story written by the Montgomery County Economic Development Team, whointerviewed Bradley Stancombe, MD, professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Neonatology, about the new energy of Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital and how the facility is recruiting physicians. Healio Allergy/Asthma group editorial director Richard Gawel interviewed Mark Rolfsen, MD, Clinical Fellow in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, for a story about his presentation at the American Thoracic Society meeting on metal health outcomes following ICU discharge. Nashville Scene reporter Hannah Herner interviewed James Crowe, MD, Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Antibody Therapeutics, for a story about his efforts to prepare for the next pandemic by isolating antibodies that can neutralize dangerous viruses. Medscape reporter Kathleen Doheny interviewed Neesha Choma, Associate Chief of Staff of Vanderbilt University Hospital, for a story about how hospitals can reduce readmissions.
CMS projects national health spending grew to $5.7 trillion in 2025
National health spending is projected to have reached $5.7 trillion in 2025, up 7.3% from 2024, according to an analysis by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published yesterday by Health Affairs. It marks the third consecutive year of growth greater than 7%. CMS projects growth to continue in 2026 due to continued demand for high-cost retail prescription drugs, mostly from individuals with Medicare and private insurance.
Trump to meet House speaker in attempt to break legislative gridlock
Trump suddenly scrapped the signing of a pivotal bipartisan housing bill yesterday, demanding the Senate pass his voter ID bill
Davis just perfected NIMBY politics. Why the rest of the region should care
The neighbors surrounding the 1,800-home Village Farms project voted against Measure V in overwhelming numbers, quashing support elsewhere.
World Cup: can big sports events bring us together? Recent history says yes
Although fleeting, sporting events have the enduring power to crumble divisions and highlight the beauty of kinship
This Doctor Can Change the Color of Your Eyes. Should He?
Francis Ferrari, a French ophthalmologist, invented a controversial procedure that can change eye color. People from around the world are willing to take the risk.
Mackenzie eyes UFC dream after Cage Warriors deal
Welsh bantamweight Ieuan Mackenzie is aiming to reach the UFC after signing a five-fight deal with Cage Warriors.
Ohio State star Jeremiah Smith gets first ever notoriety by EA Sports
Ohio State superstar wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has received a first-ever ranking at launch for 'College Football 27' and the folks at EA Sports.
An emboldened hard left eyes Schumer challenge
The Democratic Senate leader is staring down a tectonic shift in his home state.
Mamdani-backed candidates swept on Tuesday. But can they win outside of NYC? His top strategist says yes
All politics is local politics
In today’s edition of The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe: Joe on the results of yesterday’s primaries, the fourth anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned, and more.
From The Sports Desk: Cristiano Ronaldo makes history and joins in World Cup scoring barrage
Ronaldo scored twice yesterday against Uzbekistan, which made him the first player to score in six World Cups, from 2006 through this tournament.
From The Sports Desk: Cristiano Ronaldo makes history and joins in World Cup scoring barrage
Ronaldo scored twice yesterday against Uzbekistan, which made him the first player to ever score in six different World Cups, from 2006 through this current tournament.
Ebola outbreak is still outpacing response, WHO's Tedros says
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is continuing to outpace response efforts, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.
Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 leaks from every angle, and looks pretty familiar [Gallery]
Following a Galaxy Watch 9 leak yesterday, new renders of the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 have hit the web revealing...
Scientists finally explain what your dog's eyes do to your brain - Futura-Sciences
That soft look your dog gives you across the room feels like love, and it turns out that is not just sentimental projection. When you and your dog lock eyes, both of your brains release the same bonding hormone that ties a mother to her newborn. Scientists have measured it,...
Daily Bean: Trades! Trades! Trades! More Rumors, Bruins Draft Board
Where do we begin? The Boston Bruins did not grab any headlines yesterday. They signed P-Bruins goaltender Simon Zajicek to […] The post Daily Bean: Trades! Trades! Trades! More Rumors, Bruins Draft Board appeared first on Boston Hockey Now.
A review argues the family dog may become science’s unlikely ally against autism
This peer-reviewed Perspective synthesizes a decade of research on a surprising candidate for autism science: the laboratory Beagle. Drawing together scattered studies, the review authors argue that dogs carrying engineered changes in the Shank3 gene reproduce core human features of autism spectrum disorder, including social withdrawal, altered sensory responses, and reduced attention to the eyes of a face. The synthesis assembles, for the first time in one place, the parallels between mutant dogs and autistic people, alongside early signals that oxytocin, a psychedelic, and a third compound may soften these traits. The authors frame the dog as a complementary, ethically governed model, not a replacement for existing ones.
Maryland Primary Politics
After months of campaign rallies, ads, mailers, endorsements, debates, and yes, some political mudslinging; maryland voters are getting the final say on this primary Tuesday. Polls will be closing soon and we could be just hours away from getting a clear picture of who won, lost, and what it all means for the future of […]
Christian Gonzalez Could Force Patriots Into Awkward Training Camp Standoff
There are no official deadlines in late June or early July in the National Football League. In New England, though, all eyes remain on the Christian Gonzalez contract situation and whether or not he becomes the next young, budding defensive superstar to be rewarded with a mega-deal. Gonzalez, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, has one Pro Bowl and one monster playoff run that has people talking about him like he's an elite corner.
From The Sports Desk: Messi nets two goals, giving him World Cup scoring record. For now.
France’s Kylian Mbappé also scored two goals yesterday and is only two behind Messi now for the all-time World Cup scoring record, with a lot of tournament left to play.
Google’s online dominance Is showing signs of cracking in AI era
While Google remains in a position of strength in the eyes of Wall Street, the AI era is complicating the company's story.
Yes, Dusty May to the NBA should be added to the pile of college sports red flags
May is more than a great coach now. He’s a symptom, and only the willfully ignorant would try to claim there’s no illness to treat.
AI models that can take down governments and business months away, rare Five Eyes statement warns
Signal agencies in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada sound alarm after Trump blocks foreign nationals from Anthropic’s Fable AI model
Monday’s Everton News: Moyes’ doubts, Bowen rumours, Delap pricetag set
Recapping all the Everton news from the weekend
Ham: Kings Likely to Retain Achiuwa Next Season
After a career-best season on a minimum deal, the versatile forward eyes a lucrative return to Sacramento following high praise from coaches and a dominant late-season scoring surge.
Iran's challenges at World Cup swirl outside draw with Belgium
Iran took another step toward advancing in the World Cup on Sunday, but once again the off-the-field play dominated the conversation. In a statement, the soccer federation vociferously pushed back. “The claim that an official representative of the Iranian Football Federation attempted to board a flight to enter the United States yesterday and was prevented from doing so is an outright and undeniable lie,” the statement said.
Eastern Conference Contender Showing Interest in Kings G LaVine
Detroit eyes Zach LaVine’s scoring punch as Sacramento weighs offloading his massive $49 million contract. The Pistons could leverage young assets to bolster Cade Cunningham’s perimeter support.
NBA trade rumors: Bucks have 'unrealistic' asking price for Giannis Antetokounmpo; Isaiah Stewart on the move?
As we inch closer to the NBA Draft, all eyes are on the Bucks and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler discusses LJ Smith, summer progress
Ohio State basketball head coach Jake Diebler met with reporters after an open practice this week to update the offseason.
Exclusive | Charles Schwab Breaks into the Prediction Market Business
The brokerage is working with Cboe to offer yes-or-no contracts tied to the performance of the S&P 500 index.
Take-Two's ex-AI boss says the generative AI hype is "poisoning the well" and could ward off all use of traditional AI in the future
According to the former head of AI at Take-Two, the hype around generative AI is not healthy, but he doesn't want you to write off AI entirely.
Microsoft confirms Recycle Bin glitch affecting all supported Windows versions — yes, even the trash needs debugging
Recycle Bin bug makes deleting files a bit confusing.
Trump’s new acting intel chief Bill Pulte arrives early, eyes firing hundreds
President Donald Trump’s pick for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, showed up at his new job a day early on Thursday after asking for a list of every employee in the office so he could assess whether to fire them, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
At CMS, Oz Eyes Faster Tech Approvals and a 'Power to Convene'
Top Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials said Thursday they plan to increase patients’ access to new technology, including AI, but that they’re still exploring how best to regulate it and ensure patient safety. Addressing the U.S. News Healthcare of Tomorrow conference in Washington,
Clarinda Business Park Earns Iowa Certified Site Designation
The Hugh and Maxine Loudon Business Park in Clarinda has earned an Iowa Certified Site designation through IEDA's Certified Sites program.
From The Sports Desk: Harry Kane scores two goals, spurs England’s strong World Cup start
England beat Croatia 4-2 yesterday, in what might be considered the game of the tournament so far. Tonight, co-hosts Mexico and Canada are both in action.
ReelShort CEO Joey Jia Eyes Broader Entertainment Ecosystem at APOS
ReelShort CEO Joey Jia says vertical storytelling will be the most important channel for future IP as the platform expands across Southeast Asia.
Vampire Survivors studio Poncle is "reviewing" its Fortnite collaboration after the State of Unreal show and Epic's focus on generative AI
Poncle is seemingly reconsidering its Vampire Survivors Fortnite collaboration after seeing how Epic is using generative AI to help design assets.
Mayo Clinic Q&A: Block some time out for health screenings
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Since I turned 40, my clinic has been sending me a slew of reminders about men's health screenings. Are they really necessary? ANSWER: Yes! Blocking out some time for these important health screenings is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Historically, men have been hesitant to seek […]
Evonik to Cut 3,200 Jobs, Discontinue Polyester Unit as Part of Restructuring Plan
The specialty-chemicals company said the job cuts would be phased in from 2027 through the end of 2029, and would include 2,150 positions in Germany.
Highlights from Sophie Cunningham's USA Network WNBA contributor debut
Sophie Cunningham made her USA Network WNBA contributor debut on Wednesday night. Here's some of the highlights and reaction to her appearance.
SMALL TOWN POLITICS: Quitman city leaders vote ‘Yes’ to major public spending
Tuesday, June 16, Quitman city commissioners voted to approved the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
Ole Miss’ 2026 baseball season reminded me of everything still right with college sports
I’m admittedly not one who does his best work when dwelling on instances of yesteryear. But every once in a while, even a sportswriter needs a reminder of what makes this whole thing worthwhile.
NC Senate eyes involuntary commitment bill targeting mental health, crime
A Senate committee is expected to review a House-approved proposal to shift some mental evaluations out of emergency departments and expand the number of people who can conduct them.
Sensing opportunity, Newsom touts investigation he says is Trump's doing
As he eyes a run for president in 2028, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California is taking advantage of a federal investigation into him and his wife to boost his national profile.
Analyst says Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s Next 100 Days will be about “the job she was Actually Hired to do,” with Mass Layoffs Looming
Xbox chief executive officer Asha Sharma went from being the new face of Team Green, leading the platform into a new era, to being no different from the last in the eyes of players in the blink of an eye. After making Game Pass cheaper, re-centering console hardware and bringing exclusives back, Xbox fans praised her quick action and transparency. Now, however, with multiple studios reportedly being closed and more mass layoffs looming, she and her regime are no different from Spencer's. Industry veteran and analyst Joost van Dreunen calls it "the job she was actually hired to do." Van […]
Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Orion,’ Starring Andrew McCarthy, Debby Ryan and Drew Van Acker, Set for Theatrical Release via Blue Harbor Entertainment (EXCLUSIVE)
A festival favorite film is now headed to theaters. “Orion,” a sci-fi thriller starring Andrew McCarthy (“Pretty in Pink,” “St. Elmo’s Fire”), Drew Van Acker (“Pretty Little Liars,” “Titans”) and Debb...
Opinion | Graham Platner, Jon Ossoff and the New Rules of Political Attention
Chris Hayes and Ezra Klein discuss how the Democrats are winning the battle for attention, and whether that can translate into winning elections.
Video: Opinion | Graham Platner, Jon Ossoff and the New Rules of Political Attention
Chris Hayes and Ezra Klein discuss how the Democrats are winning the battle for attention, and whether that can translate into winning elections.
Jaguars’ Foyesade Oluokun Adding New Dimension to Game
With Devin Lloyd gone, Jacksonville’s elite tackler embraces a massive leadership role while sharpening his pass coverage and blitzing skills to anchor a transforming Jaguars defense.
When should parents stop tracking their kids' location?
Some parents may be crossing a line with tracking their young adult kids’ locations, according to a new national poll.
PAVS eyes $15–20M cash deal for women's activewear brand Jabanero
Non-binding LOI would see Paranovus pay $15–20M in cash for 100% of Jabanero, a women's activewear brand, as it expands into proprietary brands.
Science 4 Everyone: How to spot the different stages of the spotted lanternfly
Yes, that black and white insect you saw outside could be a spotted lanternfly. Storm Team4 meteorologist and science teacher Ryan Miller explains what the spotted lanternfly’s nymph stage looks like.
How blue whales became Earth’s largest creature—ever
Yes, even bigger than the dinosaurs.
In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
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On Tuesday the Social Security Trustees released their latest report on the system’s finances. The numbers didn’t change much: Unless something is done, the Old Age Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, Social Security’s official name, will be unable to pay full benefits starting in either 2032 or 2034, depending on some technical issues. That’s not far away: If the Trustees are right, the prospect of a Social Security crisis will loom over the next presidential administration. It’s important to understand, however, the nature of the looming crisis. It won’t be an economic crisis. It won’t even be a serious fiscal crisis. Whatever you may have heard, Social Security isn’t in danger of going bankrupt. What we’re facing, instead, is potential political crisis. Congress and the White House could easily take action to sustain America’s retirement system. But given the current state of our politics, there’s no guarantee that they will. There is a widespread misunderstanding of how Social Security works. While Social Security was designed to look like a pension fund, it isn’t. A pension fund pays benefits out of a stock of assets it has accumulated over time. In contrast, Social Security operates as a government transfer program, like food stamps or Medicaid. Now, unlike food stamps — but like the highway trust fund — Social Security is on paper supported by a dedicated tax, the payroll tax, that is assigned to that program. But I say “on paper” because from an economic point of view assigning the payroll tax to Social Security is just an accounting convention. What matters for the U.S. economy is the overall balance between government spending and government revenue, not the difference between one type of spending and one source of revenue. So there’s no inherent economic significance to the fact that by 2034 payroll tax receipts will be insufficient to cover promised benefits. There is, however, a legislative issue. As long as the Social Security Administration can pay benefits out of payroll taxes and its cash reserve, there’s no need for Congress to vote each year to authorize benefits — they just keep going out until further notice. However, once those resources become insufficient, benefits will fall —by 17 percent according to the Trustees — unless Congress passes new legislation that “tops up” Social Security’s finances. Yet the current administration and Republican party are such extremists that there is a real risk that Social Security will be held hostage on behalf of their goals. If this should come to pass, the hostage-takers will claim that shoring up Social Security is unaffordable. Right on cue, Mike Johnson, the Trump-sycophant Speaker of the House, declared on Monday that “entitlement programs” like Social Security “have to be adjusted and fixed,” and that Republicans will introduce a plan to that effect next year. But this is a ploy, because while the cost of maintaining Social Security benefits at their promised level isn’t trivial, it is in fact affordable. According to the Trustees’ report, the actuarial balance of OASDI up through 2050 — the amount of additional funds it would need to keep paying full benefits for the next 25 years — is 1.06 percent of GDP. To put that number in perspective, the Trump administration proposes increasing military spending next year by $420 billion, equivalent to about 1.4 percent of GDP – without any discussion of whether that’s affordable Yet how did we get to the point where Social Security will need to be topped up? The main answer is that we have an aging population, with a growing ratio of retirees collecting benefits to workers paying into the system: Trump’s anti-immigration policies are making this problem worse. According to the Trustees’ report, lower immigration will deepen Social Security’s financial hole because many immigrants are working-age adults who will pay into the system for decades before they collect benefits. In fact, this problem may be much bigger than the report acknowledges: The report’s baseline assumption is that we’ll have net immigration of almost 1.2 million people a year, and even the pessimistic case assumes 750,000 a year. Meanwhile actual net immigration has already been cut far below that — and may now be negative. Moreover, Social Security is being financially damaged by growing income inequality in America. Payroll taxes are levied only on wages up to $184,500, and they don’t touch capital income. With the distribution of income increasingly shifting from labor to capital, as well as becoming more unequal among wage-earners, revenue from the Social Security payroll tax has been falling as a share of national income. From 1990 to 2024, it fell from 5.02 percent of gross domestic income to 4.46 percent. Which brings me to the question that, these days, we ask about everything: How might Social Security be affected by the advent of AI? A short answer: If, as many of us fear, AI accelerates rising income inequality, it will further reduce the payroll tax receipts that currently pay for Social Security and further endanger its finances. On the other hand, if AI, as its advocates promise, leads to faster economic growth, it will increase the potential tax base that could and should be used to support Social Security and other social insurance programs. But to take advantage of that larger base, we’ll have to get serious about taxing wealth and capital income. Is Social Security in trouble? Yes, but only because of the way its financing is currently structured — a structure that no longer works well because our society and economy have become so unequal. Moreover, Trump’s immigration policies are further endangering its already deteriorating financial condition. So don’t believe Republicans’ gaslighting that it will be necessary to cut Social Security benefits. All that is necessary to preserve Social Security is political will to raise taxes on the wealthy and a sensible immigration policy. MUSICAL CODA Actually 67 under current law.