In her sweeping follow-up to "Pachinko," author Min Jin Lee zooms in on learning centers, or hagwons, in the South Korean diaspora. "American Hagwon" examines whether education can really deliver a perfect life.
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From running tabletop exercises, to citing Civil War-era laws protecting voters, state election officials are on guard against threats; and not just from abroad. What state officials are doing to protect the midterms from federal government interference.
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Inequality, inflation, gas prices are all on the rise. Economist Isabella Weber argues the way to solve America's affordability crisis is to change how we think about economics.
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Congress passed the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia Act with a bipartisan vote. This month, President Trump waived those sanctions. Why many legislators, policymakers and military strategists are saying the president betrayed U.S. interests.
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Israel goes to the polls in a razor-close election. What the results will mean for the trajectory of the war with Iran, ongoing conflict in Gaza and the West Bank and the future of U.S.-Israel relations.
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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on why Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal for Medicare for All warrants more scrutiny than it's getting in progressive political circles.
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AI company Anthropic says you can no longer be "abusive or cruel" to its model, Claude. And Claude itself will decide what counts. Many in the AI world say that's a dangerous mistake.
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North Carolina voters will help decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Join Meghna Chakrabarti for a special -- and spicy -- conversation live from Greensboro, N.C.
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Cornell University is at the center of a rape allegation that has raised difficult questions about how we talk about consent, sexuality and justice. Do we have the right language to have these discussions?
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A number of Senate races are too close to call -- defying expectations and upsetting established political affinities within certain states. What does this say about the midterms and the direction of American politics?
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The Pentagon is rethinking America's nuclear weapons strategy – including lowering the barrier for their use in the battlefield. Why national security analyst Joe Cirincione says this could spark a new nuclear arms race.
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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty looks into the impact that AI is having on the job market for Gen Z graduates and the difference that choice of college major can make.
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President Trump's war on Canada is intensifying -- from high tariffs and import bans to public personal attacks. How Canadians view Trump's trade war -- and the future of U.S.-Canada relations.
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The South is the fastest-growing region in the U.S., with states like Georgia and Texas seeing a surge of younger and more diverse people. Experts say that could mean generational political shifts in the Sun Belt.
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More than 20% of all farmland in Iowa is owned by someone, or some company, out of state. That's pushing land prices up, and it's becoming a major issue in the governor's race.
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AI is solving some of the toughest math problems in the world, including ones that have stumped mathematicians for decades. What it means for human ingenuity when there are no more hard problems left to solve.
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Marine archaeologist Sean Kingsley has explored more than 350 shipwrecks -- from pirate ships in the Bahamas to British India Steam Navigation ships off the coast of Ireland. We ask him what discoveries he’s made so far and what else he hopes to find.
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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on why Democrats need to embrace the "sticky symbolism" of billionaire private jets.
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A more diverse distribution of money and power could potentially benefit people of all ages. But to get there, what steps can we take toward intergenerational justice?
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Since 2017, the number of CEOs in their late 60s has doubled for Fortune 500 companies. What happens when our country’s most powerful business leaders don’t retire?
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The Baby Boomer generation holds most of the country’s wealth. The top 10% of Boomers have some $55 trillion in assets. What effect does that lopsided wealth have on our economy and society?
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Old voters dominate the ballot box in local, primary, and at times, national elections. They ensure issues like Social Security and Medicare drive the national conversation. How strong is this group's sway on electoral politics in the U.S.?
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Older Americans control more political power and wealth than ever before. It's the topic of a special series from On Point all this week -- starting with America's aging politicians.
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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty brings historical context to analysis that President Trump’s war with Iran has no realistic off-ramp.
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Historian Beverly Gage hit the road to learn about our country's history. She visited more than 300 historic sites -- from museums and battlefields to roadside attractions. What she learned about how America honors its history.
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After spending 8 years running focus groups with voters, the former Republican operative and Never-Trumper says she knows not only how voters think but why they vote the way they do.
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More than half of men under 50 in the U.S. have an open online sports book. Public health experts warn it's easier than ever to get addicted to gambling. Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins spent a year exploring the world of sports betting, and why the pastime is particularly bad for young men.
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El Niño has become an annual global climate phenomenon. But this year, scientists are warning of a record-setting 'super' El Niño. What that could mean for the weather everywhere on planet earth.
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The UK abolished the slave trade more than 200 years ago. But the wealth it created still shapes the country today. A new database reveals the businesses, families and monarchs enriched by slavery. And it’s forcing a reckoning in the UK that's long overdue.
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On Point news analyst Jack Beatty on why the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set its Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, its highest estimate of the likelihood of global catastrophe.
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The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." NSF is vital because we support basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future. This type of support:
With an annual budget of $8.5 billion (FY 2021), we are the funding source for approximately 27 percent of the total federal budget for basic research conducted at U.S. colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.
We fulfill our mission chiefly by issuing limited-term grants -- currently about 12,000 new awards per year, with an average duration of three years -- to fund specific research proposals that have been judged the most promising by a rigorous and objective merit-review system. Most of these awards go to individuals or small groups of investigators. Others provide funding for research centers, instruments and facilities that allow scientists, engineers and students to work at the outermost frontiers of knowledge.
NSF's goals -- discovery, learning, research infrastructure and stewardship -- provide an integrated strategy to advance the frontiers of knowledge, cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce and expand the scientific literacy of all citizens, build the nation's research capability through investments in advanced instrumentation and facilities, and support excellence in science and engineering research and education through a capable and responsive organization. We like to say that NSF is "where discoveries begin."
Many of the discoveries and technological advances have been truly revolutionary. In the past few decades, NSF-funded researchers have won some 236 Nobel Prizes as well as other honors too numerous to list. These pioneers have included the scientists or teams that discovered many of the fundamental particles of matter, analyzed the cosmic microwaves left over from the earliest epoch of the universe, developed carbon-14 dating of ancient artifacts, decoded the genetics of viruses, and created an entirely new state of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate.
NSF also funds equipment that is needed by scientists and engineers but is often too expensive for any one group or researcher to afford. Examples of such major research equipment include giant optical and radio telescopes, Antarctic research sites, high-end computer facilities and ultra-high-speed connections, ships for ocean research, sensitive detectors of very subtle physical phenomena and gravitational wave observatories.
Another essential element in NSF's mission is support for science and engineering education, from pre-K through graduate school and beyond. The research we fund is thoroughly integrated with education to help ensure that there will always be plenty of skilled people available to work in new and emerging scientific, engineering and technological fields, and plenty of capable teachers to educate the next generation.
No single factor is more important to the intellectual and economic progress of society, and to the enhanced well-being of its citizens, than the continuous acquisition of new knowledge. NSF is proud to be a major part of that process
Officially coming into existence on July 1, 1870, the Department of Justice was empowered to handle all criminal prosecutions and civil suits in which the United States had an interest. To assist the Attorney General, the 1870 Act also created the Office of the Solicitor General, who represents the interests of the United States before the U.S. Supreme Court.
On a single night in 2020, roughly 580,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. Homeless Assistance:
If you are at risk of being homeless or in need of transitional housing, HUD partners may be able to work with you on a long-term plan and connect you with resources for success. Search for a Continuum of Care resource provider to get started.
Other Assistance:
Paying my rent (rental assistance) —
Applying for a Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) —
Talking to a housing counselor —
Reporting housing discrimination —
Finding Coronavirus resources
U.S. President Joe Biden's official portrait, 2021
Joe Biden at age 10 (1953)
Joe Biden at the White House in 1987
Joe Biden and Barack Obama, July 2012