Editorial Staff

Sandrine Isambert

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Beekeepers and Scientists Join Forces to Protect the Pollinators

Honeybees, heroes in the national food supply, are under threat from parasites, exhaustion and a mysterious ailment. Here’s how beekeepers and scientists are fighting back to save the hives.

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Political Debates: What the Unforgettable Moments Reveal

High-stakes debates put candidates in the hot seat. But are they helpful to voters?

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Coronavirus Reignites a Fight Over Rights of Detained Migrant Children

Migrant children in federal custody have tested positive for Covid-19, reopening a legal battle over the rights of children in custody.

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From Napster to Netflix: The History and Impact of Streaming Services

After Napster, many consumers got used to entertainment on demand. There was no turning back.

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AIDS: From Ryan White to Today's Silent Epidemic

While H.I.V. rates have fallen in many places, the AIDS crisis remains in some of the U.S.

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Send In the Special Ops Forces

The rise of special operations units today can be traced to two historic military missions: one a legendary success, the other a spectacular failure.

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The Misunderstood McDonald's Hot Coffee Lawsuit

Stella Liebeck was vilified when she was awarded millions after spilling McDonald’s coffee in her lap. Her complaint sounded frivolous. But the facts told another story.

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How Fear of the Measles Vaccine Took Hold

Skepticism and fear surrounding vaccines were fed by a flawed study done in 1998 linking the MMR vaccine to autism. The study was quickly discredited, we’re still dealing with the repercussions.

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The Modern Bystander Effect

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

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Tabletop to Tablet: Using Dungeons & Dragons to Combat Screen Addiction

The role-playing game ​D​ungeons ​&​ ​D​ragons​, once at the center of a moral panic, is now seen as a counterbalance to the problem of screen addiction.

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Abortion Was Illegal. This Secret Group Defied the Law

The Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion. We tell the story of the Jane Collective, which provided thousands of illegal abortions from 1969 to 1973.

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Operation Ceasefire: Inside a Community's Radical Approach to Gang Violence

This is the story of cops, African-American pastors, gang members, and academics coming together to create positive change for Boston, while upending notions of traditional policing in a way that is especially pertinent today.

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A Trusted Pill Turned Deadly. How Tylenol Made a Comeback

How do some companies regain public trust after something goes seriously wrong, while others fail? A look at how Tylenol responded after someone spiked its pills with poison in the 1980s sheds some light.

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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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Conspiracy Theories and Fake News from JFK to Pizzagate

Retro Report explores decades of conspiracy theories – from the John F. Kennedy assassination to Pizzagate – and what they can tell us about how we view the world today.

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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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Suing the President: The Students Who Challenged the Travel Ban

With the release of Donald Trump’s new travel ban, a brief look at a Yale group that fought the original ban.

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Forever Prison

Guantanamo Bay has become a symbol of the war on terror, but its story actually begins a decade before, when it was first used to detain thousands of Haitians outside the reach of U.S. law. This story was created in collaboration with NPR and PBS, FRONTLINE.

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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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Welfare and the Politics of Poverty

Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform was supposed to move needy families off government handouts and onto a path out of poverty. Twenty years later, how has it turned out?

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What Is a Healthy Diet? The Answers Are Unsatisfying

Thirty-five years after the first dietary guidelines, how much do we really know about the science behind a healthy diet?

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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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E. Coli Outbreaks Changed Food Production, But How Safe Are We?

A 1993 E. coli outbreak linked Jack in the Box hamburgers sickened 700 people and acted as a wake up call about the dangers of food-borne illness. Decades later, how far have we really come in terms of food safety?

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How the Shootout at Ruby Ridge Resonates in the Gun Debate Today

When armed suspects stand off against the law today, one event continues to cast a shadow on both sides of the police line: the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge.

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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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The Shame of the Church

Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has been making headlines for years. Some priests have been punished, but what about the bishops who shielded them?

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The Minneapolis Bridge Collapse that Sounded the Alarm on US Infrastructure

At the height of rush hour on August 1, 2007 a bridge carrying eight lanes of I-35W traffic over the Mississippi River suddenly collapsed, sending cars and trucks plunging into the water below.

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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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Hurricane Katrina's Aftermath and Lessons in Dealing with Disaster

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, and Louisiana’s troubled housing recovery has shaped the response to every major disaster since, including Hurricane Sandy.

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