Editorial Staff

Olivia Katrandjian

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Born by Surrogate: New Paths to Parenthood

Parenthood through surrogacy has become accepted in the United States, but it’s relatively unregulated compared with other countries – something that can be traced back to case of Baby M.

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She Rocked the Pentagon

After a sexual assault scandal at the Tailhook convention rocked the Navy in 1991, one female officer, Paula Coughlin, launched a campaign to change military culture.

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The Modern Bystander Effect

Why don’t people intervene when they encounter violence streaming live online?

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Life After Columbine

Sean Graves was told he would never walk again after being shot during the attack at Columbine High School. This is the story of what happened next.

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Columbine at 20: Media Attention and Copycat Killers

Twenty years after Columbine, we examine the impact the attack has had on today’s youths – and how the media has more recently shifted its coverage of school shootings.

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Blazes That Damaged Yellowstone Changed Wildfire Strategy

A rapidly growing California wildfire is threatening a grove of giant Sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park, some nearly 3,000 years old. For context, we examine the 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park that ignited a debate over firefighting tactics and sustainable forestry.

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Where the Debate Over "Designer Babies" Began

Genetic technology is advancing, and critics are warning of a slippery slope. We speak with the scientists working at the forefront of the research, families who have benefited and the first-ever “test-tube” baby to understand the debate.

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Selling the Code: Can Genetic Testing Services Really Predict Your Future?

Today, companies market genetic tests for everything from cancer to diet and exercise. But how much can tests like 23andme really predict?

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Fixing the Code: Genetically Engineering Your DNA to Cure Disease

For the past 20 years, scientists have been trying to cure disease by altering DNA. We examine how with CRISPR Cas-9 gene editing and the revival of gene therapy, they’re closer than ever.

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Finding the Code: The Race to Sequence the Human Genome and What It Means

One of biology’s most spectacular achievements – the race to sequence the human genome – was billed as a way to end disease. Here’s where it led.

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Lobotomy: A Dangerous Fad's Lingering Effect on Mental Illness Treatment

From the 1930s to the 1950s a radical surgery – the Lobotomy – would forever change our understanding and treatment of the mentally ill.

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Princess Diana Brought Attention to Land Mines, but Their Danger Lingers

In the late 1990s, Princess Diana brought public attention to land mine victims. But, more than two decades after her death, how much progress has been made in the worldwide fight against leftover munitions?

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The Mommy Wars

The Mommy Wars were billed as the nastiest fight in American parenting, and actually fueled by a decades-old blunder. This story was produced in collaboration with Quartz.

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Remembering Kitty

More than 50 years after Kitty Genovese’s murder became a symbol of urban apathy, her partner, Mary Ann Zielonko remembers Kitty’s life and impact.

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Lessons from Columbine About School Shootings and Media Misinformation

The killing of twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School in 1999 continues to shape how we view and understand school shootings today.

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The Nanny Murder Case: Shaken Baby Syndrome on Trial

In 1997, a young British nanny charged with murder brought shaken baby syndrome into the national spotlight, and raised a scientific debate that continues to shape child abuse cases today.

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How a Standoff with the Black Panthers Fueled the Rise of SWAT

S.W.A.T. teams, specially trained police teams, have been used increasingly in routine matters like serving drug warrants, sometimes with disastrous results.

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Why Waco is Still a Battleground in the 2nd Amendment Debate

In 1993, federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and generated a legacy that continues to shape antigovernment groups today.

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Fire Safety and Chemicals in Our Clothing

There are over 80,000 chemicals in use today. The story of Tris, a fire retardant that was once used to treat children’s pajamas, but was banned as a carcinogen in the 1970s, illustrates the challenge of regulating chemicals.

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A Right to Die?

Should doctors be allowed to help suffering patients die? In 1990, with his homemade suicide machine, Dr. Jack Kevorkian raised that question. It’s an issue Americans still struggle with today.

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How Geography Drove MLK's Fight for a Ferry in Alabama

Weeks before Selma’s Bloody Sunday in 1965, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged residents of Gee’s Bend, Ala., to vote, and fed a continuing fight over a small ferry that would last for decades.

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Agent Orange: Last Chapter of the Vietnam War

The use of the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War continues to cast a dark shadow over both American veterans and Vietnamese citizens.

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Her Vegetative State Caused Congress, President Bush and Even the Pope to Weigh In

The controversy over Terri Schiavo’s case elevated a family matter into a political battle that continues to frame end-of-life issues today.

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Stealing J. Edgar Hoover's Secrets

Long before Edward Snowden leaked highly classified government secrets, there was the greatest heist you’ve never heard of. On March 8, 1971, a group of eight Vietnam War protesters broke into an F.B.I. field office in Media, Pa., and stole hundreds of government documents containing information that shocked the nation.

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Wrongly Accused of Terrorism: The Sleeper Cell That Wasn't

Six days after 9/11, the FBI’s raid on a sleeper cell signaled America’s resolve to fight terrorism. But, despite a celebrated conviction, there was one problem–they were wrong.

For teachers: This video is part of a collection of resources including four short films, each accompanied by a lesson plan and student activity.

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The Long War on Cancer

When President Richard Nixon vowed to make curing cancer a national crusade, many anticipated quick results. But decades later, what have we really accomplished?

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Freeing Willy

In the wake of the 1993 hit movie Free Willy, activists and fans campaigned to release the movie’s star – a captive killer whale named Keiko – and launched a story Hollywood couldn’t invent.

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