The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University triggered a months-long doxing campaign that turned friends, co-workers, and neighbors against one another, and the divide it opened shows no sign of closing. Kirk, the co-founder and leader of Turning Point USA and arguably the most influential conservative youth movement leader in a generation, was […] The post One year after Charlie Kirk's killing, doxing wave and neighbor-on-neighbor harassment leave lasting scars appeared first on American Almanac .
The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University triggered a months-long doxing campaign that turned friends, co-workers, and neighbors against one another, and the divide it opened shows no sign of closing. Kirk, the co-founder and leader of Turning Point USA and arguably the most influential conservative youth movement leader in a generation, was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025, while debating a student with progressive political views in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 people. National Review reported Kirk was struck in the neck by a long-range shooter wearing dark clothing, potentially firing from a rooftop. Two suspects were taken into custody and released…Open
The 83rd Venice Film Festival closes Saturday with its top prize still undecided, and a Gaza documentary's record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation has made "NAZA" the film to beat in a competition stacked with Hollywood heavyweights and international auteurs. A jury led by actress and filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal will hand out the Golden Lion for best […] The post Venice Film Festival wraps with Golden Lion race shaped by Gaza documentary's record ovation appeared first on American Almanac .
The 83rd Venice Film Festival closes Saturday with its top prize still undecided, and a Gaza documentary's record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation has made "NAZA" the film to beat in a competition stacked with Hollywood heavyweights and international auteurs. A jury led by actress and filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal will hand out the Golden Lion for best film and prizes for direction and acting after sifting through 21 titles that screened over the past eleven days in Venice, Italy. The competition featured big-budget studio entries, veteran directors returning after long absences, and a pair of documentaries centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that drew the festival's most intense audience reactions two years running. "NAZA,"…Open
Chimpanzees nursing wounds, ants performing amputations on nestmates, a growing body of research into animal self-medication suggests the natural world has been practicing medicine far longer than we have, and researchers believe it could reshape how humans discover new treatments. NPR's Short Wave podcast devoted a recent episode to the phenomenon, bringing on freelance science […] The post Animals have been treating their own injuries for decades — and scientists say humans should pay attention appeared first on American Almanac .
Chimpanzees nursing wounds, ants performing amputations on nestmates, a growing body of research into animal self-medication suggests the natural world has been practicing medicine far longer than we have, and researchers believe it could reshape how humans discover new treatments. NPR's Short Wave podcast devoted a recent episode to the phenomenon, bringing on freelance science journalist Mandy Nguyen to walk through what scientists have learned since Western researchers first started documenting the behavior in the late 1980s. The episode, published September 11, traces a line from early observations of chimpanzees at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to more recent discoveries, including ants that appear to amputate the injured…Open
Actress Gillian Anderson sat down with NPR's Rachel Martin to discuss her pivot from playing cool, cerebral women on screen to publishing books that ask real women to bare their deepest desires, a shift she says one particular role made unavoidable. The episode of Wild Card with Rachel Martin, released September 10, runs just over […] The post Gillian Anderson's books on women's desire land her a seat on NPR's 'Wild Card' appeared first on American Almanac .
Actress Gillian Anderson sat down with NPR's Rachel Martin to discuss her pivot from playing cool, cerebral women on screen to publishing books that ask real women to bare their deepest desires, a shift she says one particular role made unavoidable. The episode of Wild Card with Rachel Martin, released September 10 , runs just over 45 minutes and centers on Anderson's acting career and her two books exploring female sexual fantasy. The first, Want, collected anonymous letters from women about their desires and was described by NPR as a bestseller, though no specific list or sales figures were cited. The follow-up, More: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous, continued the project. Martin framed the interview around a contradiction in Anderson's…Open
The franchise that once defined American science fiction just hit its 60th anniversary, and for the first time in nearly a decade, no new Star Trek television series or film appears to be in active production. Both Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy, the last two live-action Star Trek series on Paramount+, are wrapping up […] The post Star Trek turns 60 with no new series on the horizon — and its own creators say the franchise may have lost its audience appeared first on American Almanac .
The franchise that once defined American science fiction just hit its 60th anniversary, and for the first time in nearly a decade, no new Star Trek television series or film appears to be in active production. Both Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy, the last two live-action Star Trek series on Paramount+, are wrapping up their runs. Anson Mount, who plays Captain Christopher Pike on Strange New Worlds, has already finished filming his final episodes and is back home in Nashville. A Paramount+ executive told Deadline the company wants to find a new iteration of Star Trek, and a writing team is reportedly working on a script for a new theatrical film. But nothing has been formally announced. If no new projects materialize soon, 2027…Open
House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to work with President Trump on the proposed $5,000 "Trump dividend" payments to American adults, but stopped well short of guaranteeing the money will ever reach voters' pockets, even as the price tag could top $1.3 trillion. Johnson appeared on NBC News' "Meet the Press" days after Trump rolled out […] The post Johnson says Congress will 'work through' Trump's $5,000 dividend but won't promise it happens appeared first on American Almanac .
House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to work with President Trump on the proposed $5,000 "Trump dividend" payments to American adults, but stopped well short of guaranteeing the money will ever reach voters' pockets, even as the price tag could top $1.3 trillion. Johnson appeared on NBC News' "Meet the Press" days after Trump rolled out the proposal at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, where the president told supporters they would each receive $5,000 if the party holds the House and Senate in November. When pressed by moderator Kristen Welker on whether he would commit to delivering the payments, Johnson declined to make a firm promise, telling NBC News he never goes "out and give big commitments on the front end because I've…Open
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman's long-awaited sequel opened with an estimated $30 million domestically, ending "Spider-Man: Brand New Day"'s six-week reign atop the charts. Warner Bros. rolled the dice on nostalgia, and the bet paid off, at least for opening weekend. "Practical Magic 2" debuted at No. 1 across 4,146 North American theaters, pulling in […] The post 'Practical Magic 2' takes No. 1 at the box office 28 years after the original appeared first on American Almanac .
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman's long-awaited sequel opened with an estimated $30 million domestically, ending "Spider-Man: Brand New Day"'s six-week reign atop the charts. Warner Bros. rolled the dice on nostalgia, and the bet paid off, at least for opening weekend. "Practical Magic 2" debuted at No. 1 across 4,146 North American theaters, pulling in $30 million Friday through Sunday and another $16 million from 77 international markets for a $46 million worldwide launch. The original 1998 film earned just $46 million during its entire domestic theatrical run before finding a devoted audience through home video and streaming. The sequel, directed by Susanne Bier and produced on a reported $75 million budget, reunites Bullock and…Open
Actress Tatyana Ali, best known as Ashley Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is using her own harrowing 2016 delivery-room experience to press for better maternity outcomes for Black and Indigenous mothers, a cause backed by sobering federal data on maternal deaths and vanishing hospital wards. Ali, now 47, told NPR that the birth […] The post Tatyana Ali channels traumatic birth into push for Black and Indigenous maternal care appeared first on American Almanac .
Actress Tatyana Ali, best known as Ashley Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is using her own harrowing 2016 delivery-room experience to press for better maternity outcomes for Black and Indigenous mothers, a cause backed by sobering federal data on maternal deaths and vanishing hospital wards. Ali, now 47, told NPR that the birth of her first son, Aszi, in 2016 turned from joyful anticipation into what she calls "obstetric violence." Doctors performed the Zavanelli maneuver, a rare, last-resort procedure in which the baby is pushed back into the birth canal, before rushing her into an emergency cesarean section. Ali says she was physically restrained by about four people, convulsed on the delivery table, and watched the room fill…Open
A teenage cancer survivor in remission lost her Medicaid disability coverage after Montana officials reclassified her eligibility without consulting her treating physicians, exposing the bureaucratic chaos states face as federal work requirements roll out nationwide. Taya Hailstone was ten years old when doctors diagnosed her with Hodgkin lymphoma. During treatment, her intestines tore and had […] The post Montana stripped a 19-year-old cancer survivor's Medicaid coverage — without calling her doctors appeared first on American Almanac .
A teenage cancer survivor in remission lost her Medicaid disability coverage after Montana officials reclassified her eligibility without consulting her treating physicians, exposing the bureaucratic chaos states face as federal work requirements roll out nationwide. Taya Hailstone was ten years old when doctors diagnosed her with Hodgkin lymphoma. During treatment, her intestines tore and had to be partially removed. She has been in remission for five years. She still sees doctors roughly three times a week, driving nearly two hours round-trip from Roundup, a central Montana town of about 2,000 people, to specialists in Billings. The federal government classified her as disabled as recently as 2024. Then Montana's Department of Public…Open
A software flaw in Georgia's statewide voting equipment, first exposed in 2022, can allow voters to be matched to their ballots, and state officials have refused to apply the manufacturer's recommended fix before this fall's elections. Security researchers at the University of Michigan and Princeton University are raising fresh alarms about the vulnerability in Georgia's […] The post Georgia's known voting software flaw still unfixed ahead of November midterms appeared first on American Almanac .
A software flaw in Georgia's statewide voting equipment, first exposed in 2022, can allow voters to be matched to their ballots, and state officials have refused to apply the manufacturer's recommended fix before this fall's elections. Security researchers at the University of Michigan and Princeton University are raising fresh alarms about the vulnerability in Georgia's Dominion Voting Systems equipment, now sold under the name Liberty Vote. The flaw allows electronic ballot records that are supposed to be randomized to be restored to their original casting order. Combined with publicly available data, early voting lists, scanner audit logs, and precinct check-in records obtainable through open records requests, that sequence can be used…Open