Breaking the News

1 month ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

A century ago, the Harvard football team was a national powerhouse and even won the Rose Bowl in 1920. As the Trump administration is discovering, this 389-year-old institution can be tougher than it looks. (1907 Edward Penfield illustration, via Getty Images.) This post is about the language of civic struggle in our times. Last week, while outside the country, in Greenland (about which more, later), I came across a rapid-fire, three-part sequence of documents, which together tell a revealing tale.

1 month ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

An obviously-NOT-real generated-AI image to convey the idea of “a slower but safer approach to air travel.”Here are quick answers to questions I keep receiving about air travel. This follows a post last week and then a Substack Live podcast I did with Ryan Lizza on how travelers should think about air safety. To start with the most basic on today’s ten-question list:-If the worry is about safety, No. Anything can happen, but anything can happen each time you get out of bed.

1 month ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

Man vs. airplane, 1959 edition. (Getty images.)This post is a guide to following aviation-mishap news. Some of the events matter much more than others. Reports on every kind of “trouble in the skies” tend to mush together, because of their shared inherent drama. A huge rocket ship blows up; a private plane plows into a neighborhood; a passenger-jet engine catches fire. They all command attention. Some eventually prove to be just bad luck, or fate. One US aircraft carrier, the Harry S.

2 months ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

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2 months ago | fallows.substack.com | James Fallows

Episcopal bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, in red and holding the traditional bishop’s crook, in a procession out of National Cathedral on January 21. When Bishop Budde had entered the Cathedral, Trump had been jovial and engaging toward her. On her way out, after she had addressed him from the pulpit and asked him to “show mercy,” he refused even to make eye contact. She was among the first and bravest to stand up for enduring human values under MAGA rule.