Vox: All Posts by Susannah Lockehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2022-01-26T17:34:10-05:00https://www.vox.com/authors/susannah-locke/rss2022-01-26T17:34:10-05:002022-01-26T17:34:10-05:00Stephen Breyer is retiring from the Supreme Court
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<figcaption>Justice Stephen Breyer answering a question during an interview in Washington, DC, in 2012. | Jewel Samad / AFP via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Supreme Court’s oldest member, and one of its three remaining liberals, is reportedly set to retire. </p> <p id="RIaHAF">After nearly 28 years on the Supreme Court, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22262764/stephen-breyer-supreme-court-justice-abortion-biden"><strong>Justice Stephen Breyer will retire</strong></a>, giving President Joe Biden his first opportunity to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22346420/supreme-court-breyer-retires-ketanji-brown-jackson-leondra-kruger-biden-pick"><strong>fill a seat</strong></a> on the nation’s highest court.</p>
<p id="lfZvaR">Breyer was a skilled dealmaker, and his tenure on the Supreme Court represented one of the few remaining bridges to an era when <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/1/26/22899208/american-elections-leaders-depolarize-politics"><strong>meaningful bipartisan consensus</strong></a> was possible and personal relationships could sometimes overcome the drive for partisan advantage.</p>
<p id="2yeJQL">With <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/9/18/20917757/justice-ginsburg-ruth-bader-ginsburg-dies"><strong>Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death</strong></a> in September 2020 — and her replacement with the <a href="https://www.vox.com/21446700/amy-coney-barrett-trump-supreme-court"><strong>conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett</strong></a> — Breyer leaves the Court with a 6-3 conservative<strong> </strong>majority, one that <a href="https://www.vox.com/21497317/originalism-amy-coney-barrett-constitution-supreme-court"><strong>shows far less inclination toward compromise</strong></a> than the Court Breyer served on for most of his time as a justice.</p>
<p id="Orubi9">Democrats control both the White House and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22902860/stephen-breyer-retires-joe-manchin-vote"><strong>a narrow majority in the Senate</strong></a>. This retirement is the party’s first real chance to fill a Supreme Court seat in more than a decade — and its first shot since <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/5/29/18644061/mitch-mcconnell-supreme-court-hearings-2020-merrick-garland"><strong>Senate Republicans blocked</strong></a> President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, from receiving a hearing in 2016.</p>
https://www.vox.com/22903153/stephen-breyer-retirement-supreme-court-biden-nominationIan MillhiserLi ZhouAndrew Prokop2021-04-01T11:38:43-04:002021-04-01T11:38:43-04:00One Year Later
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<figcaption>People light candles at a vigil for those who died in the Covid-19 pandemic, in April 2020, in Queens, New York. | John Nacion/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A collection of stories about the coronavirus pandemic — what we’ve been through and where we go from here.</p> <p id="HmVORX">For many Americans, everything changed last March; that was when a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/3/13/21178414/trump-coronavirus-national-emergency-state-funding">national emergency was declared</a> in response to what we were calling “the novel coronavirus” and when the first <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/18/21262528/coronavirus-us-state-lockdown-stay-at-home-orders-study">stay-at-home orders</a> rolled out. Now it’s March again, a reality that is hard to process for many reasons, not least because <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22150990/2020-time-covid-warp-year-end">time has ceased to make sense</a> during the pandemic. We are also on the precipice of change once again, but the good kind, with the <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22311233/covid-19-vaccine-coronavirus-biden-may-announcement">Covid-19 vaccine</a> expected to be available to all adults in the US by spring’s end.</p>
<p id="huYuQL">This month, Vox has put together a collection of stories meant to help us all understand what we’ve been through this past year and where we go from here. There are stories about loss, but also survival; stories about family, about neighborhoods, about work; stories about birthdays and movies and food delivery. We’ll be publishing new pieces throughout March, all of which you’ll be able to find here.</p>
<p id="HrLAvm"><small><em>Cover Image: People light candles at a vigil for those who died due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in April 2020 in Queens, New York. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)</em></small></p>
https://www.vox.com/22312385/covid-coronavirus-pandemic-one-year-laterVox Staff2020-09-28T03:00:00-04:002020-09-28T03:00:00-04:00Whose vote counts?
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<figcaption>Whose vote counts, Explained/Netflix</figcaption>
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<p>Additional resources for Vox’s new <a href="https://bit.ly/30c1DAK">Explained miniseries on Netflix</a>.</p> <p id="MX8toV">America is the world’s oldest democracy, founded on the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript">radical idea</a> that governments “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.” But around 40 percent of American voters today choose not to give that consent. That turnout rate lags behind most other developed democracies. A majority of Americans now say their government <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/09/02/in-views-of-u-s-democracy-widening-partisan-divides-over-freedom-to-peacefully-protest/">needs a fundamental redesign</a>.</p>
<aside id="OtaFpk"><div data-anthem-component="actionbox" data-anthem-component-data='{"title":"<strong>Support our journalism</strong>","description":"The US presidential election is right around the corner. Help everyone understand how the outcome could impact their lives, by making a financial contribution, from as little as $3.","label":"<strong>Contribute</strong>","url":"https://www.vox.com/pages/support-now"}'></div></aside><p id="NzzB22">American democracy is unique in a lot of ways. You won’t find the “right to vote” in our Constitution. And the rules around voting are written by partisan politicians, who sometimes benefit from making voting harder. The US lets unlimited money flood our elections, which are the most expensive in the world. And at different times in recent years, the House, the Senate, and the presidency have been controlled by a party that most people voted against — the result of compromises made almost 250 years ago, before US political parties existed. </p>
<p id="3ZUV16">The Vox/Netflix series <em>Whose Vote Counts</em> looks at what impact all this has on the power of your vote, as well as some of the best ideas out there to make our government represent us better. Votes aren’t created equal in America. But they are, in the words of the late civil rights leader John Lewis, who helped expand the right to vote, “the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to make change in a democratic society.” Make your plan to vote at <a href="http://weall.vote/vox">When We All Vote.</a> </p>
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https://www.vox.com/21410226/vote-voting-explainedVox Staff2020-02-19T09:15:25-05:002020-02-19T09:15:25-05:00We asked 2020 Democratic candidates 6 key questions on climate change
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<img alt="Climate activists at a rally shout into a megaphone and carry signs reading, “The house is on fire,” and, “Science not silence.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/f21fKZKQ3xaFfeumlNesV4rhJ_M=/234x0:3955x2791/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65450917/GettyImages_1130807510.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Katie Falkenberg/LA Times/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Here’s what they said.</p> <p id="97lgcn">All of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates recognize climate change is a <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/07/what-role-will-climate-change-play-in-the-2020-presidential-election/">top priority for voters</a> and have released detailed <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/9/10/20851109/2020-democrats-climate-change-plan-president">plans to confront it</a>. </p>
<p id="0ZH3f8">For the most part, the candidates agree that the US must reach net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century at the latest. But beyond that, it’s been tough to compare where candidates agree and where they stand apart.</p>
<p id="BW5uUk">Activists have said the crisis deserves far more time and attention, but the Democratic National Committee voted down holding an <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/14/18662697/climate-change-2019-democratic-debates">official climate change debate</a> and has barred contenders from participating in third-party debates. The discussion that has taken place during debates was haphazard and, for the most part, shallow.</p>
<p id="hLWPDM">However, the DNC left the door open to “forums” and “town halls.” CNN and MSNBC stepped up and devoted an unprecedented amount of airtime to questioning candidates about climate change. These discussions were <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/9/5/20850009/cnn-climate-town-hall-2020-presidential-democrats-winners-and-losers">useful</a> but the serial interview format meant that candidates couldn’t challenge one another and viewers couldn’t easily compare all the proposals presented. </p>
<p id="1euKf2">But most voters don’t have hours and hours to devote to figuring out what executive orders candidates will sign, how they will hold greenhouse gas emitters accountable, and whether they would abolish the filibuster to accomplish their climate agenda. </p>
<p id="7Vf18f">So we asked every 2020 Democratic presidential campaign to respond to six key questions on climate change. This allows candidates to answer in some depth and our readers to compare their answers directly, an opportunity they may not get at <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/2/7/21120657/democratic-debates-las-vegas-nevada-charleston">the next debate on February 19</a>. </p>
<p id="rPfUav">Our questions are informed by two ideas:</p>
<ol>
<li id="sZUldl">
<strong>Candidates for president should be asked what they will do with the powers of the presidency to advance climate policy</strong>. While they may have interesting opinions on a whole range of subjects, presidential powers are circumscribed (despite what Trump seems to think). What ultimately matters is not what they will say or even what they believe but how they will use the limited powers available to them.</li>
<li id="SRpXi7">
<strong>Climate science is peripheral, not central, to climate politics</strong>. Candidates still feel obliged to say they “believe the science” on climate change, rather than simply talking about it the way they talk about other real things, like income inequality or diabetes. The climate discussion has been stuck on science for decades — just where conservatives want it. But it is power, not science, at issue in climate politics. Power, not differing assessments of the IPCC’s work, is what divides climate hawks from their opponents. Questions should focus on how to shift the balance of power.</li>
</ol>
<p id="mdmwft">To this end, here are the questions we put to every candidate:</p>
<ol>
<li id="XSFCLq">A president has only 100 days or so in which to pass a few key priorities. Where <strong>does climate change fall on your list of priorities</strong> when you step into office?</li>
<li id="a9gdzN">If Democrats win a narrow majority in the Senate, will you advocate reforming or scrapping the <strong>filibuster</strong>?</li>
<li id="iOiAIo">If Republicans control one or both houses of Congress and legislation stalls, what <strong>executive actions</strong> are you prepared to take to reduce carbon emissions?</li>
<li id="CbXHii">Some communities are more vulnerable to climate change than others. Some communities depend on fossil fuel industries more than others. What will you do to ensure that <strong>vulnerable communities</strong> are protected during the transition to clean energy?</li>
<li id="moSKL5">There is a nationwide push to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their contributions to climate change and for their campaigns to mislead the public, via lawsuits, shareholder resolutions, and divestment. Do you support these efforts? What do you see as the government’s role in <strong>holding polluters accountable</strong>? </li>
<li id="IpWDW0">The Pentagon has called climate change a “threat multiplier” in international <strong>conflict</strong>. At the same time, climate change stands to have the worst impacts on countries that contributed least to the problem. How should the US brace for global climate chaos? And what will you do to <strong>help other countries</strong> prepare for the impending disruption?</li>
</ol>
<p id="Eufxgs">You can read more about <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/7/3/20678520/democratic-debate-2019-climate-change-dnc-questions">our reasoning behind these specific questions here</a>.</p>
<p id="zotKsY">We received responses from Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Tom Steyer, Amy Klobuchar, and Michael Bloomberg (as well as other candidates who’ve since dropped out). Here are the answers from the remaining candidates.</p>
<p id="RJiRxm"><em>—</em><a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/umair-irfan"><em>Umair Irfan</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/david-roberts"><em>David Roberts</em></a></p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/10/14/20880659/2020-democratic-debates-climate-change-six-questionsVox Staff2019-12-23T16:46:16-05:002019-12-23T16:46:16-05:00Looking back at the tumultuous 2010s
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<img alt="A collage of the White House, a Facebook protest, Amazon boxes, and other images from the 2010s." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LUoDCKrg_MU7yQTDpaP-b4NRzqs=/214x0:2881x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65934014/DecadeProjectLede_v2.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Graphics: Zac Freeland/Vox, Photos: Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>From the memes that broke the internet to the politics that broke us, Vox explains the moments that mattered this decade — on our fragile planet and beyond.</p> <p id="QkxVIO">Was there a decade that moved faster than the 2010s? Was there a period of time that brought so much change, upheaval, heartache, and renewal of the spirit? Was there a decade so exhausting? Here, at the very end of it all, it hardly seems possible.</p>
<p id="mgd1j4">If the 2010s had a common theme, it’s safe to say it was technology, which propelled us forward with occasionally uncomfortable force, giving us the means to share selfies and record police violence, to shout “Me Too” and be duped by disinformation, seemingly all at once.</p>
<p id="uKEHsi">In the midst of all the noise, the moments that we ought to remember become clear: The decade will be defined by the events that fundamentally changed us. What<em> didn’t</em> Amazon and Facebook change — and the way we view capitalism? What did we do with our free time, even, before a cute stray dog became the first Instagram influencer? How did marijuana’s reputation go from criminal to curative to lucrative in the course of just a few years?</p>
<p id="GrXK0P">So much happened this decade that it birthed a running joke: A month now feels like a year, or maybe a week — <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katherinemiller/the-2010s-have-broken-our-sense-of-time"><strong>it’s hard to say anymore</strong></a>. In particular, the past three years have, like so many members of the Trump administration, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/tracking-turnover-in-the-trump-administration/"><strong>come and gone</strong></a> at a dizzying pace.</p>
<p id="ug1b3R">But the true milestones of the 2010s have had long arcs: We took our first Uber rides. We shared our first <a href="https://www.racked.com/2014/12/22/7563817/big-butts-free-the-nipple-2014"><strong>belfies</strong></a> on Instagram. We started talking about systemic inequality, and we canceled some objectively terrible men.</p>
<p id="tHzVnX">There were disappointments, too. Thanks to the seemingly narcotic grip of social media, we stood idly by as disinformation ushered in mistrust of democracy and modern medicine. Climate change worsened. Children died — many of them — but we couldn’t get our act together on guns. Our American reckoning with racial injustice stagnated, then seemingly went backward. </p>
<p id="ziirGX">Being on the brink of a new decade provides a certain clarity, even amid so much tectonic change. So join us as we look back: at the consumer brands and Arctic ice we lost, at the TV shows, movies, and memes that defined us, at the politics that broke us. </p>
<p id="Ate9T4">We can’t say the 2020s won’t bring their own tectonic changes. But the 2010s will be hard to beat.</p>
<p id="RtZXu8"></p>
https://www.vox.com/2019/12/23/21028516/2010s-decade-reviewVox Staff2019-12-05T16:09:50-05:002019-12-05T16:09:50-05:00We asked 2020 Democratic candidates 7 key questions on technology
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<img alt="Cutouts of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the east lawn of the Capitol. His shirts all read, “Fix Fakebook.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gEVNaje1oirxcQJYXfVIUAu6xzs=/91x0:4894x3602/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65808977/GettyImages_944366084.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call</figcaption>
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<p>From breaking up Facebook and Google to facial recognition technology in policing, here is how some 2020 Democrats think of the biggest issues in tech.</p> <p id="BUY4pV">Tech has been given surprisingly little airtime during the 2020 Democratic primaries. It has <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/16/20916712/cnn-democratic-presidential-debate-big-tech-silicon-valley-warren-harris">rarely come up on the debate stage</a>. While candidates such as <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/3/8/18256192/elizabeth-warren-medium-google-amazon-facebook">Elizabeth Warren</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/11/18256198/andrew-yang-gang-presidential-policies-universal-basic-income-joe-rogan">Andrew Yang</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/10/18205386/amy-klobuchar-2020-tech-policy-antitrust-minnesota">Amy Klobuchar</a> have made tech-related issues part of their platforms, the matter is often eclipsed by other political hot topics, including health care and taxes.</p>
<p id="GkJeVI">That exclusion, however, belies how important technology — and the conversation around how if at all it should be ruled and regulated — has become for constituents and candidates alike. </p>
<p id="zwVU6o">Consolidation and sprawling growth have seen fewer and fewer tech companies eating up a greater share of total profits, leading to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/technology/antitrust-amazon-apple-facebook-google.html">federal and state investigations</a> of monopoly behavior that potentially leads to less innovation. Tech platforms have become bastions of misinformation, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/6/18067756/midterm-election-russia-hacking-interference-meddling-china-iran">influencing American elections</a> and even, arguably, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/11/5/20947419/internet-freedom-report-2019-social-media-election-interference-surveillance">infringing on our human rights</a>. Meanwhile, technologies such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition are bringing up a whole host of concerns about largely unregulated areas, from how law enforcement should be allowed to employ these technologies to the responsibilities companies bear if this “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/16/fourth-industrial-revolution-explained-davos-2019.html">fourth industrial revolution</a>” results in a widespread elimination of human jobs. </p>
<p id="tMReGb">We put these seven questions to every candidate:</p>
<ol>
<li id="m4SuZG">Should Facebook, Google, Apple, and/or Amazon be <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/3/20965447/tech-2020-candidate-policies-break-up-big-tech"><strong>broken up</strong></a>? Why or why not?</li>
<li id="i4j7mG">How should platforms be held responsible for <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/3/20965459/tech-2020-candidate-policies-section230-facebook-misinformation-hate-speech"><strong>misinformation or hate speech</strong></a> on their sites?</li>
<li id="QKghNv">In the event of a crime, should the government be able to access Americans’ <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/3/20965460/tech-2020-candidate-policies-data-encryption-police-search-government-fourth-amendment"><strong>encrypted conversations</strong></a>?</li>
<li id="YYarhN">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/3/20965463/tech-2020-candidate-policies-online-data-equifax"><strong>Who should control Americans’ online data</strong></a>, and how should tech companies be punished when they fail to properly protect and steward this data?</li>
<li id="nRpDW3">How, if at all, should tech companies be held responsible for the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/3/20965464/2020-presidential-candidates-jobs-automation-ai"><strong>jobs they eliminate</strong></a> with their innovations?</li>
<li id="A6zKfH">Facial recognition is largely unregulated in the US. How, if at all, would you regulate <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/3/20965470/2020-presidential-candidates-facial-recognition"><strong>facial recognition technology for surveillance and policing</strong></a>? </li>
<li id="WCgAQl">What’s the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/3/20965471/2020-democrats-weigh-in-on-the-biggest-issue-in-tech"><strong>most important tech-related issue</strong></a> that Americans are facing in the next four years?</li>
</ol>
<p id="cEE2xC">We reached out to all of the 2020 Democratic primary candidates and received responses from (in order of early December polling averages) Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, billionaire Tom Steyer, and Sen. Michael Bennet. Here are their answers.</p>
<p id="IQ9NjJ"><em>—Emily Stewart and Rani Molla</em></p>
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/3/20963601/tech-2020-democratic-presidential-candidates-facebook-google-technologyVox Staff2019-08-22T12:29:52-04:002019-08-22T12:29:52-04:00The best movies out this weekend
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<figcaption>An audience in New York City in 1940. | Gene Lester/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="Oyfqvk">Headed to the movie theater this weekend? Here are the 13 best comedies, dramas, and documentaries playing in the US right now — some of which may also be streaming on services like Netflix and Hulu. </p>
<p id="TiYw31">This list is curated by <a href="http://www.vox.com/authors/alissa-wilkinson">Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson</a>. A movie is eligible for inclusion if it is in wide release (meaning it’s playing in theaters nationwide), or in limited release in a major market (typically New York and Los Angeles). In a limited number of cases, an eligible movie may also be available on streaming. </p>
<aside id="5b9LcY"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Rotten Tomatoes, explained","url":"https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/31/16107948/rotten-tomatoes-score-get-their-ratings-top-critics-certified-fresh-aggregate-mean"}]}'></div></aside><p id="5YjLP3">Films that have screened at festivals are not eligible until they are released in theaters. Not all films are showing in all cities, so check IMDB for your local listings.</p>
<p id="HncdGT">We’ve also included each movie’s trailer and Metacritic score, which measures the opinions of the top English-language critics on a scale of 100, to help you decide what to go see.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/9/28/17906462/best-movies-in-theaters-streamingVox Staff2019-07-10T17:36:41-04:002019-07-10T17:36:41-04:00Marijuana legalization, explained
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<figcaption>Seth McConnell/The Denver Post via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>More states and countries are legalizing marijuana. Here’s what you need to know.</p> <p id="fim2e2">Marijuana legalization is having a moment.</p>
<p id="EPCvqQ">In the US, Colorado and Washington state in 2012 became the first two states to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. Several states, from Alaska to California to Maine, have since followed.</p>
<p id="jF00kR">Globally, more countries are considering legalization. Uruguay became the first country to legalize pot in 2013. Canada became the first wealthy nation to do so in 2018.</p>
<p id="kb41BK">The shift poses an enormous challenge to the regime that has dictated drug policy around the globe for decades. For much of recent history, the approach to marijuana was to ban it. Now, states and countries are trying to find a better way to deal with the drug — allowing it for medical use in some cases, decriminalizing it in others, or outright legalizing it.</p>
<p id="wG0Raj">So what do the changes mean for America and the world? What do they say about the war on drugs and drug policy more broadly? </p>
<p id="UHmkW3">Here’s what you need to know.</p>
<p id="fQyuE2"><em>— </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/german-lopez"><em>German Lopez</em></a></p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/20/17938332/marijuana-legalization-cannabis-weed-potVox Staff2019-04-29T11:14:11-04:002019-04-29T11:14:11-04:00Hospitals kept ER fees secret. We uncovered them.
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PeukWySPV-HQf1JL1sOePapD9Bk=/856x24:1984x870/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58466447/erfees_cover_alt.1516986733.jpg" />
<figcaption>Amanda Northrop</figcaption>
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<p>Reporter Sarah Kliff collected emergency room bills as part of a year-long project focused on American health care prices.</p> <p id="6QplR6"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/sarahkliff">Reporter Sarah Kliff’</a>s year-long investigation into emergency room billing practices ended in May 2019. Vox collected bills from 2,100 patients and published more than a dozen stories that led to changes in hospital billing practices and the cancellation of more than $100,000 in patient medical debt, and inspired state and national legislative proposals.</p>
<p id="T2vHPp">The patient database is now being analyzed by academic researchers who want to better understand how emergency room billing works, and how those practices affect patients. We hope to share the results of their analysis with you soon.</p>
<p id="c4YEKt">Americans make 141 million trips to the emergency room each year. Patients only learn how much their care costs after they leave and receive a bill — which can often be surprisingly high. </p>
<p id="oPVws4">Kliff wanted to bring more transparency to these common but little-understood emergency room practices, which is why she launched this project. Vox collected more than 2,100 patient bills from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, bringing light to an opaque system. </p>
<p id="DstQJv">Kliff discovered that <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/7/18137967/er-bills-zuckerberg-san-francisco-general-hospital">the largest public hospital in San Francisco was out of network with all private health insurance </a>— a fact that had been secret until our reporting. She looked at what it means for patients when health <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/29/16906558/anthem-emergency-room-coverage-denials-inappropriate">insurers won’t cover emergency room bills </a>that they deem “non-urgent” — and why the lifesaving rabies vaccine <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/7/16851134/rabies-treament-expensive-emergency-room">can cost thousands of dollars</a> when delivered in an ER setting.</p>
<p id="tUjD2D">If you’re dealing with a high emergency room bill, you may want to read <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/22/18261698/how-to-fight-expensive-medical-bill">our story </a>on how other patients have negotiated down their charges. If you’re trying to reach Sarah, you can email her here.</p>
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<p id="5jfHN3">. </p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/2/27/16936638/er-bills-emergency-room-hospital-fees-health-care-costsVox Staff2019-03-27T09:00:00-04:002019-03-27T09:00:00-04:00Hindsight 2070: We asked 15 experts, “What do we do now that will be considered unthinkable in 50 years?” Here’s what they told us.
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<img alt="A robot, football player, globe, brain, and other objects in a collage." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/riBoNqYKRum1OYZfwkCEiDiri5Q=/516x0:2649x1600/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63667416/WSH_LEAD.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Javier Zarracina/Vox</figcaption>
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<p>Predicting society’s moral evolution on eating meat, kids playing football, 401(k)s, and more.</p> <p id="MH8zdu">Some 50 years ago, in 1964, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3894634/"><strong>42 percent of Americans</strong></a> smoked cigarettes. Smoking in bars and offices was normal and cigarettes were given to soldiers as part of military rations. Half of American physicians smoked. Ads for cigarettes bombarded the American public. That year, the surgeon general released a report outlining the health risks of smoking. Two years later, only 40 percent of Americans said that they believed smoking was a major cause of cancer.</p>
<p id="JiSXLs">Today, we know that smoking is bad for our health. We’ve banned smoking in most indoor public spaces. We stopped allowing tobacco companies to advertise and forced them to put warning labels on cigarette boxes. By 2001, 71 percent of the country said they recognized smoking was a major cause of cancer, and by 2017, the rate of smokers dropped to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm"><strong>14 percent</strong></a>. The habit is now looked at as a relic of the past, something we’ve come to accept as unquestionably harmful.</p>
<p id="ReQOjR">When we think about what common habits, social norms, or laws that are widely considered unthinkable in today’s world, a variety of past atrocities come to mind. We could point to bloodletting, Jim Crow-era segregation, and drinking and driving as being on the “wrong side” of history.</p>
<p id="Kc2PQw">But what modern practices will we one day think of as barbaric? It’s a framework invoked frequently in political or scientific beliefs: Actor Harrison Ford recently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/feb/12/harrison-ford-world-government-summit-climate-change-trump"><strong>said leaders</strong></a> who deny climate change are on the “wrong side of history.” President Barack Obama said <a href="https://nypost.com/2014/03/03/obama-says-russia-is-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-in-ukraine/"><strong>Russia’s military intervention</strong></a> in Ukraine was on the “wrong side of history.” Filmmaker Spike Lee <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/399893-spike-lee-trump-is-on-the-wrong-side-of-history"><strong>said that President Donald Trump</strong></a> himself is on the “wrong side of history.”</p>
<p id="1fGteZ">So what, by 2070 — some 50 years in the future — will join this group? We asked 15 thinkers, writers, and advocates to take their best guess.</p>
<p id="HwaIOH">Bioethicist <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18188801/conspicuous-consumption-luxury-items"><strong>Peter Singer</strong></a> says people will stop the habit of conspicuous consumption. “The ostentatious display of wealth, in a world that still has many people in need, is not in good taste. Within 50 years, we’ll wonder how people did not see that,” he writes.</p>
<p id="31Mgg1">Historian <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18185871/military-draft-conscription"><strong>Jennifer Mittelstadt</strong></a> predicts that our volunteer army will be widely considered a mistake: “Fifty years from now Americans will observe with shock the damage to both foreign policy and domestic institutions wrought by our acceptance of an increasingly privatized, socially isolated, and politically powerful US military.”</p>
<p id="181fO2">For philosopher <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18225578/progress-morality-conservatism-wrong-side-of-history"><strong>Jacob T. Levy</strong></a>, the very idea of there being a “wrong side of history” is wrong itself.</p>
<p id="EzD8XI">Other answers range from <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18174368/football-concussion-brain-injury-cte-youth-football"><strong>kids playing tackle football</strong></a> to expecting workers to invest in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/27/18174385/retirement-savings-401-k"><strong>401(k)s</strong></a>.</p>
<p id="PZK4Ux">Editorial director: Karen Turner</p>
<p id="sInnHa">Illustrator: Javier Zarracina</p>
<p id="OVAOWE">Project manager: Susannah Locke</p>
<p id="Hg8sgt">Editors: Karen Turner, Eleanor Barkhorn</p>
<p id="3WEfTo">Visuals editor: Kainaz Amaria</p>
<p id="wvkS9U">Copy editors: Tanya Pai, Tim Williams</p>
<p id="g8ZmGb">Special thanks to Chris Shea and Ezra Klein</p>
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/3/27/18514886/50-years-wrong-side-of-history-future-prediction-hindsightChris NowinskiBhaskar SunkaraDr. Melanie JoyPeter SingerKathleen FrydlHaider WarraichLux AlptraumJacob S. HackerJennifer MittelstadtRoger McNameeKaren Swallow PriorMeredith BroussardKrista TippettJacob T. LevyAdia Harvey Wingfield