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Like many of you, I sat glued to all forms of media yesterday. I found that I couldn’t get away—even when I’d try to wander off and do something else online, the underlying anxiety created by the once-in-a-lifetime storming of the U.S. Capitol kept bringing me back to the news. I spent more time on Twitter in one…Read more...

We really didn’t need the reminder, but yesterday provided it for us all the same: Bad news can erupt swiftly and—thanks to the notifications on our many electronic devices—we will learn about it almost instantaneously. That’s fine for us grown-ups who want to stay informed about the latest political or…Read more...

Most of the time, we can prepare for the “big talks” with our kids. We can research and plan how to talk to them about everything from sex to porn, from LGBTQ issues to racism. But then, out of nowhere, something unexpected—and deeply upsetting—happens in the news. A devastating hurricane. A mass shooting. A mob…Read more...

I don’t know about you, but it’s been a challenge for me to keep my emotions in check about this upcoming election—even around my child, who is apt to pick up on any strong sentiment I may have and share it with friends, neighbors, and classmates. Our kids might very well be looking around at us right now, thinking,…Read more...

If you’re someone who reaches for your phone as soon as you wake up (other than to turn off the alarm), you may find yourself scrolling through your newsfeed or social media channels out of habit. It can start out innocently enough: quizzes to find out which Golden Girl you are, pictures of your friends’ kids drawing…Read more...

When it comes to getting the news, everyone has their preferred sources and outlets. Some people want news that reflects their own political viewpoints, while others are more concerned with the accuracy of the reporting. But how do you know which outlets have the best reporting if the articles exploring the subject…Read more...

How often do you check the news? Once when you wake up, probably—and once again before you start working, and one more time when you need a break from work, and another quick glance at lunch, and ... well, you get the idea.Read more...

When it comes to coronavirus news, there’s no shortage of misinformation and bad actors. If you want to learn from trusted sources, you might be worried that you’ll soon run out of your free articles for the month and then be stuck trusting a bunch of tweets. Read more...

Until just now, the World Health Organization did not want to call COVID-19 a pandemic. Today they decided to start using that word. Read more...

If you want to describe how an infectious disease spreads, one handy number is what epidemiologists call R0 (“R naught”), the disease’s basic reproductive number. Right now, scientists are trying to figure out the R0 for the new coronavirus from Wuhan, China. So far, it seems to be a little bit higher than for the…Read more...

Coronavirus may make for grabby headlines, but so far it’s just not that big a risk to most of us. There are only a handful of cases worldwide, and if you haven’t been to Wuhan, China, your cough is probably just a garden variety cold. Still, if you’re worried, do this with your nervous energy: get your damn flu shot.Read more...

2020 is off to an incredibly shitty start—what with the destructive bushfires in Australia, ramped-up tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and ongoing earthquakes in Puerto Rico. If you’re someone who enjoys staying on top of world events, keeping up with the news has likely become a full-time job. Read more...

Helping kids develop their news literacy skills has become more important than ever—and teaching kids only to identify fake news isn’t enough. To develop true news literacy, kids have to learn deeper strategies than simple fact-checking; they also have to consider how the news is gathered and presented.Read more...

If you combine FOMO with aphasia, you get the feeling of going on Twitter or Reddit or Facebook, seeing everyone clearly talking about something, but not knowing what that thing is. You check the trending topics, but they’re just full of posts saying “Why is #EatMyBlempglorf trending!?” Here’s how to figure out what…Read more...

When I was a tween, I got most of my current events knowledge from snippets of adult conversations I overheard plus a few minutes of Channel One News (RIP), which played on the TV in my homeroom every morning. Read more...

How do you find and read your news? It seems like most people rely on their Facebook or Twitter feeds for the latest headlines, but I’m skeptical of this method. Not only do you have to contend with fake news and shady ads pretending to be headlines, but there’s also a glut of research telling us spending too much…Read more...