Salon.com - News, Politics, Culture, Science & Food

Summer sale: Save 58%

Singer Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs attend Game Three between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals on May 23, 2026. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Taylor, Travis and the cone of silence

Taylor, Travis and the cone of silence

Fans and haters alike are flummoxed by the pop star’s insistence on post-nuptial privacy

Graham Platner ( Laura Brett/Getty Images)

The working-class Dems beyond Platner

Jason Kyle Howard

The working-class Dems beyond Platner

Jason Kyle Howard

Working-class candidates like Minnesota's Kaela Berg and Montana's Sam Forstag are focusing on blue-collar issues

Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in "Heated Rivalry" (Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max)

Why the Emmys snubbed your favorite show

Melanie McFarland

Major industry award pageants rarely take our feelings into account, but Emmy voters are predictable in some ways

Donald Trump Jr. serves a spokesman and marketing consultant for the mail-order company GrabaGun (Romain Maurice/Getty Images)

Trump family grift now extends to guns

Heather Digby Parton

As the administration rolls back gun safety measures, Donald Trump Jr. is a beneficiary

FEATURED

Joe Mitchell, second from right, during Turning Point USAâs annual AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 21, 2025. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)

Anti-lobbyist Republican used lobbyists

Joe Mitchell, an Iowa Republican, campaigns against lobbyists, only after his trade org spent $75,000 on them

Donald Trump | The Supreme Court of the United States building (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

SCOTUS helps Trump turn losses into wins

Chauncey DeVega

Birthright citizenship survived this round. But Trump's latest successes show that the fight is far from over

A data center on July 24, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio spans 256,000 square feet with 50 MW of power across three data halls. (Photo by Eli Hiller/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The fight to take down data centers

Tatyana Tandanpolie

Rural Ohioans are trying to put the future of hyper-scale data centers on the ballot, and they’re gaining momentum

Taylor Swift amongst some of her large purchases (Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Gareth Cattermole / Sara Konradi for The Washington Post / Erica Denhoff / Icon Sportswire / Joan Valls)

Taylor Swift shows: no good billionaires

Amanda Marcotte

The pop star built an empire on relatability until she became part of the ultra-rich

Taylor Swift's wedding proves AOC right: There are no good billionaires

Taylor Swift shows: no good billionaires

Amanda Marcotte

The pop star built an empire on relatability until she became part of the ultra-rich

A Fourth of July in Kamala Harris’ USA

Imagining the 250th in Kamala’s America

A celebration of what could have been if the 2024 election had gone differently

How private equity destroyed an American pastime

How private equity destroyed bowling

A class-action suit against Lucky Strike Entertainment is a sad coda to the end of bowling

Trump wrecked America's 250th in DC, but other blue cities will save it

Blue cities save the 250th from Trump

Amanda Marcotte

Christina Aguilera, Chris Stapleton and Jelly Roll — real stars — headline July Fourth parties in liberal towns

It looks like the “redemption” of Louis C.K. is complete

Louis C.K.'s "redemption" is complete

Melanie McFarland

The supposedly disgraced comic's mainstream return proves that expecting true accountability is the real joke

John Oliver's killer "General Hospital" turn did not disappoint

John Oliver kills on "General Hospital"

Melanie McFarland

Move over, 007. The daytime drama transformed the "Last Week Tonight" host into a new international man of mystery

NEWS & POLITICS

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

MAGA media fuels McConnell conspiracies

After mocking Joe Biden’s health for years, the GOP has no answer for the Kentucky senator’s mysterious absence

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026 in Portland, Maine. Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee and will face incumbent Sen. Collins (R-ME) for Maine's U.S. Senate seat in the general election. (Photo by Laura Brett/Getty Images)

Platner drops out of Maine Senate race

The candidate suspended his campaign while maintaining assault allegations against him were "not real"

eople march to honor Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 08, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Houston wants justice over ICE shooting

Ayden Runnels, Stephen Simpson - The Texas Tribune

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s family raised doubts about ICE’s description of events

Apple pies sit on a table before a news conference with Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., on Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus' removal from the "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act" of a provision that would require the disclosure of hidden 401(k) fees. Miller was sending the apple pies to the Senate panel's members, each one missing a piece to symbolize "Wall Street's cut." (Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)

Wall Street wants to change 401(k) rules

Paul Kiel - ProPublica

It could put your retirement at risk.

A protester holds a placard with the US President, Donald Trump on it with the symbols of the Soviet Union a sickle and a hammer during the 'Hands Off!' demonstration. Hundreds of demonstrators, including a large number of Americans and Canadians living in London, gathered on the Trafalgar Square to protest against President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Trump: I'd be the communist GOAT

Trump: I'd be the communist GOAT

The president thinks he could create one, big, beautiful classless society

In this handout photo provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the New York City Fugitive Operations Team conducted targeted enforcement operations resulting in the arrest of a Dominican national on January 28, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Getty Images)

Errors in White House tracker: report

Tatyana Tandanpolie

The Ohio Immigrant Alliance found that data on the White House's "Aliens" site is "inaccurate and unreliable."

Gov. Beshear asks "Where's Mitch?"

Rumors have swirled as the senior Republican senator remains hospitalized

The “Squad” is about to get a lot bigger

With recent primary victories, progressives will wield unprecedented power in Congress

MORE NEWS & POLITICS

Madonna (XNY/Star Max/GC Images/Getty Images)

Madonna's irresistible contradictions

Madonna's irresistible contradictions

With "Confessions II," Madonna reworks her scrapped biopic into an autobiographical album worthy of the big screen

(A still from âSpirited Away.â Â© 2001 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli)

How “Spirited Away” inspired "Avatar"

Melanie McFarland

Nickelodeon's beloved cartoon saga is one of many modern fantasies inspired by Hayao Miyazaki

The golden ambition of "Legally Blonde"

Melanie McFarland

Regardless of what “Elle” is doing, the 2001 movie still proves a woman’s limitless potential

John Oliver kills on "General Hospital"

Melanie McFarland

Move over, 007. The daytime drama transformed the "Last Week Tonight" host into a new international man of mystery

Lorne Michaels (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Lorne Michaels' genius is judgment

Susan Morrison's biography offers the fullest portrait yet of the elusive creator of "Saturday Night Live"

Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, PenÃ©lope Cruz and Edward Norton in "The Invite" (A24)

"The Invite" debunks heteronormativity

Olivia Wilde's third film is her best yet, a mature comedy that asserts no one is exempt from romantic hang-ups.

John Travolta in "Blow Out" (Filmways Pctures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

"Blow Out" exposes the real American way

The 45th anniversary of Brian De Palma's film meets America's 250th, proving corruption is as American as apple pie

A sign outside Madison Square Garden announces the wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Some swifities braved the heat and heavy rain to see their favorite A-listers join the party, while locals experienced the hassle of the public spectacle the private event caused to their neighborhood. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty Images)

Swift-Kelce: A wedding that stopped NYC

Swifties got their desired season finale of Taylor Swift's romance, a private wedding amid a citywide spectacle

New Yorkers gathered outside the LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, New York City, U.S., on May 7, 2026, to demand a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How “freeze the rent” really works

Even with Mamdani in the mayor's office, tenants aren’t taking a rent freeze for granted

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, speaks via video before the ringing of opening bell at the launch of the company's initial public offering on June 12, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Elon Musk's big payday from SpaceX IPO

Brad Badertscher - The Conversation

Investors who bought the shares are unlikely to see the explosive growth that past IPOs had

Gas prices are just one of the rising travel costs for summer vacationers, despite a lower-than-average hurricane prediction. Americans are still planning their summer holidays. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Summer's mixed forecasts, rising costs

Memorial Day travel demand remains strong as NOAA predicts below-normal hurricane season and rising vacation costs

The conflict in the Middle East has hit the global fuel and fertilizer markets that, in turn, have increased farmers' costs right as planting season begins. (Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public via Getty Images)

Farm aid can't outrun Trump's war

With rising costs of fuel and fertilizer, and tariffs still in place, the outlook for 2026 is bleak

Pistachios (Getty Images/Laura Rosina)

The pistachio trend has some history

The pistachio trend has some history

Benefiting off viral trends, like Dubai chocolate, has been actually decades in the making

Minnesota takes on Polymarket, Kalshi

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing multiple states for trying to rein in Polymarket and Kalshi

The Trump phone is here. It's junk

Tech experts and reviewers say the long-delayed $500 phone has high costs, middling specs and murky origins

The American workforce is a matriarchy

As moms are driving the growth in America's labor market, it's time for major investments in early childcare

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Half of Americans in extreme heat zone

Dangerous heat dome disrupts American celebrations in Midwest and East Coast with travel delays and health problems

The price of Trump's anti-science agenda

From measles to screwworm, Americans keep paying the cost of the admin's war on science

Trump: Cognitive tests prove he's smart

Doctors say MoCA is screening tool for cognitive impairment, not intelligence test, despite Trump’s intellect claim

How to pop the AI bubble

Cory Doctorow argues AI dominance is not inevitable. How we fight back matters

Trump cuts to global health hit home

Politicized public health agencies also make it harder to hold officials accountable

In light of many female reproductive health restrictions, there is good news for the 15% of women diagnosed with PCOS (now PMOS). The name change will help with this often underdiagnosed health issue and hopefully lead to better and earlier treatment. (Mohamad Faizal Bin Ramli / Getty Images)

PCOS becomes PMOS

PCOS becomes PMOS

This change to this common reproductive health issue could lead to better and earlier treatment for 15% of women.

(Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Can we ever get rid of nuclear weapons?

Editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists says the doomsday threat is real — but human goodness will win out

Insurers frequently deny or delay cancer care to patients, including breakthrough immunotherapies like Keytruda (Shivansh Gupta/PA Images via Getty Images)

Lower drug prices won't fix cancer care

Kenneth E. Thorpe

As breakthrough drugs offer critical hope to patients, lawmakers should focus on shoring up the social safety net

MORE SCIENCE & HEALTH

Lemons (Ashlie Stevens )

The creamiest lemon pasta salad

Ashlie D. Stevens

The creamiest lemon pasta salad

Ashlie D. Stevens

Whipped cottage cheese gives this sunny summer salad protein paired with plenty of fresh citrus

Olive brine deserves better

Francesca Giangiulio

From pasta to focaccia, here are 7 dishes that benefit from the dirty martini treatment

Dino nuggets, made better

Because we all should be feeding our inner child — even into adulthood

Green Goddess gets pickled

Ashlie D. Stevens

A splash of dill pickle brine wakes up the herbs in this creamy, crunchy macaroni salad

"Struggle Meals" grows up

Francesca Giangiulio

Frankie Celenza returns with a season about wasting less, improvising more and redefining what it means to struggle

The beauty of TV's saddest picnic

Ashlie D. Stevens

How a blue tarp, a hoagie and a clown became one of television's most profound meals

Don't waste your rotisserie chicken (Alexander Spatari/ Getty Images)

Don't waste your rotisserie chicken

Here are a few ways to turn a hot bag of poultry into creative, satisfying weeknight meals

Ingredients for BLT-inspired Chilled Noodles (Illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Cappi Thompson / Etienne voss / Allen Chen / amakara / Savany )

Chilled noodles, BLT-style

Ashlie D. Stevens

Tomato, soy, bacon and crisp greens turn rice noodles into a cool, savory summer lunch

An illustration of a solo traveler in front of a cruise ship with images of older passengers (Photo illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Lisa-Blue / Horsche / SOPA Images / RgStudio)

My awkward adventure on a seniors cruise

On my solo research trip I ended up isolated, injured and curious about the men paid to charm older women at sea

Woman holding a bisexual pride flag (Getty Images/Wirestock)

What I wish I'd known about bisexuality

I'm not straight, but I appear that way to the world. Visibility and belonging can be a struggle

The Wizard of Oz | Tornado (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Silver Screen Collection)

My lifelong fascination with tornadoes

Gabriella Ferrigine

Am I a bad person for being so enamored with these destructive windstorms? It's complicated

Author hiking the Camino de Santiago (Photo provided by Ginny Bartolone)

My (unexpectedly) feminist pilgrimage

Ginny Bartolone

I hadn't planned on walking 500 miles in Spain just to escape sexist assumptions, but it turned out to be a bonus

MORE LIFE STORIES