clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
The Highlight

The Highlight

Vox’s home for ambitious stories that explain our world.

Filed under:

Everything old is new again

Filed under:

The billionaire’s guide to self-help

Filed under:

Crypto is the same fraud, different package

Filed under:

From banning hugs to gentle parenting, how are you supposed to raise kids, anyway?

Filed under:

The return of the porn wars

There’s no such thing as a new idea — just ask the Little Mermaid

The 100-year-old mistake that’s reshaping the American West

These 8 species depend on the Colorado River. What happens as it dries up?

The devil lurking in the dust

Are 8 billion people too many — or too few? 

Let’s talk about the biggest cause of the West’s water crisis

You — yes, you — are going to pay for the century-old mistake that’s draining the Colorado River

The worst-case scenario for drought on the Colorado River

Native American histories show rebuilding is possible — and necessary — after catastrophe

Filed under:

How will we feed Earth’s rising population? Ask the Dutch.

The Netherlands’ hyper-efficient food system is both a triumph and a cautionary tale.

Why the news is so negative — and what we can do about it

We need the right kind of climate optimism

Filed under:

Against doomerism

It’s boom times for doom times but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic that the future will be better — if we make it so.

Filed under:

The case for slowing down AI

The doomers are wrong about humanity’s future — and its past

Filed under:

The very cute, totally disturbing tale of the American “it” dog

How the quest to own the nation’s most popular, most Instagram-worthy pup has bred a world of problems.

Progress Report: America’s Schools

Nobody knows what the point of homework is

The racist idea that changed American education

Conservatives’ war on emotions in the classroom

America’s after-school afterthought

The other long Covid: The damage done to a generation of schoolchildren

Why Teslas keep catching on fire

The glories of dining out alone

We pulled pandas back from the brink of extinction. Meanwhile, the rest of nature collapsed.

You may be thinking about animals all wrong (even if you’re an animal lover)

Filed under:

Saving species, and other stories

What’s lost when focusing on the cute and charismatic. Plus: Why Teslas keep catching on fire, the progressive case for more people, and others.

Yes, you can have kids and fight climate change at the same time

New Zealand’s Māori fought for reparations — and won

When humor becomes armor

A joke with a literal cost

Why do people still think women aren’t funny?

Is the right winning the comedy wars?

The very serious science of humor

Toward a unified theory of “millennial cringe”

Filed under:

What’s so funny?

A status symbol, a political battleground, an emotional tool — humor is anything but a joke.

Poor countries are developing a new paradigm of mental health care. America is taking note.

Filed under:

AI experts are increasingly afraid of what they’re creating

How one man quietly stitched the American safety net over four decades

Filed under:

Some brand names have long perpetuated racism. Black Lives Matter is changing that.

The Cleveland Indians are reportedly the latest group preparing to abandon a stereotypical name, following the Washington Redskins and Aunt Jemima this summer.