Legal documents are notoriously difficult to understand, even for lawyers. This raises the question: Why are these documents written in a style that makes them so impenetrable? MIT cognitive scientists believe they have uncovered the answer to that question. Just as “magic spells” use special rhymes and archaic terms to signal their power, the convoluted...
Vance offers little experience and few connections to support Trump in a second term, but it doesn’t seem like Trump wants a vice president anyway. Editor’s Note: The role of the vice president varies by administration, but certain characteristics make them more influential. The University of Maryland’s Aaron Mannes details these characteristics and argues that, should...
Allies and adversaries will take note if U.S. foreign policy swings wildly from one administration to the next. A version of this piece originally appeared in the Substack “Blue Blaze.” The United States remains a superpower—indeed, the superpower. As such, its policies and preferences will shape every region of the world in the coming years and decades. The post-World...
-(1).jpg?sfvrsn=cd4b276e_5 "Throwing the Book at Foreign Influence: the Menendez Verdict and Going Beyond FARA")
Effectively countering foreign malign influence requires leveraging the full weight of the very institutions such efforts seek to undermine. July 16 was a busy day for the Southern District of New York. Around 12:30 p.m. ET, a New York jury informed the court that it had reached a verdict in the criminal prosecution of New Jersey’s senior...
Assassinations of presidents and attempts to assassinate presidents and those campaigning for the office have been a feature of American history since 1776. Assassinations of presidents and attempts to assassinate presidents and those campaigning for the office, have been a feature of American history. Here is a list of some of the assassinations and attempted assassinations...
The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States would have been wrong and dangerous at any time. It’s uncommonly so with Trump poised to retake power. The United States has gone for two-and-a-half centuries without a constitutional rule concerning presidential immunity, and it has been able to do so for a very simple reason:...
Psilocybin mushrooms are the psychedelic substance most often used in the United States, with its popularity outpacing other psychedelic drugs such as MDMA (known as ecstasy), according to a new RAND report. Based on a new national survey, researchers found that about 12 percent of respondents reported using psilocybin at some point over their lives and...
Election integrity is back in the news as Canadian political party leaders react to an explosive report released by a top-secret parliamentary committee. Concerns about China interfering in Canadian elections emerged in February 2023. As a result, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue was tasked in September to lead a public inquiry on electoral integrity and foreign interference...
.jpg?sfvrsn=fb7f24e6_5 "The Responsibility and Power of Platforms to Tackle Inauthentic Content")
Lawmakers have yet to pursue an effective way to diminish the creation and spread of inauthentic content—mandating that platforms use prosocial interventions. For a brief moment, Taylor Swift captured the attention of hundreds of lawmakers, when a Telegram group formed for the purpose of sharing “abusive images of women,” broadly disseminated fake, sexualized images of Swift online. The rapid...
Courts have repeatedly struck down states’ child safety bills. Looking to past cases gives lawmakers a better playbook for future legislation. The most active issue in technology policy in the United States is child safety. In 2023, states passed 23 laws governing kids’ experiences online, and many more legislatures are debating the issue this year. In Congress,...
