By The Editorial Board Joyce Arthur was born in rural Ghana, the eldest daughter in a family of five children. Her family slept in a single room, and their daily income, earned by catching and selling fish, wasn’t enough for everyone to eat three meals a day. Like many girls in her community, she knew that she would probably be married off early or get pregnant as a teenager or both. Education would not be an option. Arthur knew she wanted more from her life. “I saw a future

Adel Adeeb Sukkar’s grocery store feeds 500 families daily in Gaza City, May 21, 2025. The starvation of Gaza can be measured in the jutting ribs of a six-year-old girl, the twig-like thinness of her arms, and the five vegetables — two tomatoes, two green chili peppers and one cucumber — a child can buy to feed his family that day. (Saher Alghorra/The New York Times) By NICHOLAS KRISTOF This is the season when I customarily argue that the year just ending has been the best in

Exhausted and covered in dust, a truck full of Sudanese refugees arrive on the outskirts of Oure Cassoni refugee camp in eastern Chad, Nov. 30, 2025. (Ivor Prickett/The New York Times) By NICHOLAS KRISTOF This is the time of year when many of us hail “peace on earth” and earnestly repeat lines about “goodwill to all.” So maybe it’s also a moment to hold ourselves accountable for our collective failures — and, even more important, to try to do better. It’s not just that ill wi

By EZRA KLEIN In January, I made a prediction: “I suspect we are at or near the peak of Trump vibes.” Now, as this long year grinds to its end, I think it can be said more declaratively: The Trump vibe shift is dead. And there are already glimmers of what will follow it. The Trump vibe shift was American culture and institutions moving toward President Donald Trump and Trumpism with a force unexplained by his narrow electoral victory. It was Mark Zuckerberg donning a chain an

“Christ Crowned with Thorns” by Matthias Stom (c. 1633-1639) shows Jesus in his Passion as the “Lord of Patience” with the crown of thorns and sceptre reed, being mocked by Roman soldiers. (Wikipedia) By DAVID FRENCH Religion is one of the most dangerous forces on Earth. If you’ve ever encountered true fundamentalists, you know why. When you combine eternal stakes with absolute certainty, it produces the kind of people who are happy to be cruel in the name of God. In fact, th

A mine for heavy rare earth metals outside of Longnan in south-central China’s Jiangxi province, April 11, 2025. (Keith Bradsher/The New YorkTimes) By THE EDITORIAL BOARD President Donald Trump started the year with his typical bravado as he engaged in a trade war with China. He is ending the year having largely backed down. One reason? China has powerful leverage over the United States through rare earths. The country has built an effective monopoly over these metallic eleme

The Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Dallas, on June 10, 2025. An increasingly loud contingent supports the Trump administration’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants. (Desiree Ríos/The New York Times) By NICHOLAS KRISTOF This is the latest in my occasional series of conversations about Christianity. Previously, I spoke with the Rev. Timothy Keller, President Jimmy Carter, evangelical writer Beth Moore, professor Elaine Pagels and others. Here I speak with Bar

Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives for President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill, in Washington, March 4, 2025. How we got to this Marco Rubio moment. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times) By ROSS DOUTHAT You are watching the 2016 Republican primary campaign, trying to figure out if Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio can stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination. A man from the future steps out of a shimmering portal and informs you t