October 2026
Armed poll watchers: New Jersey’s 1981 racist voter intimidation campaign is a cautionary tale ahead of 2026 midterms
An armed voter suppression campaign in New Jersey in 1981 finds echoes today in the Trump administration’s persistent efforts to suppress the vote and undermine trust in elections nationwide.
These state supreme court races could decide abortion access and trans rights
Ohio, North Carolina and Michigan have open seats on their state supreme court, and these hotly contested races will influence how those courts rule in several high-stakes cases.
‘There’s only so far I can take them’ – why teachers give up on struggling students who don’t do their homework
Not all students have access to the same level of parental help at home. So why are they judged as if they do? Two scholars probe how educators view students who fail to complete their homework.
2026 midterms could be the end of Pennsylvania’s split legislature, with effects on affordability, election reform, marijuana and more
Pennsylvania has a split legislature, and both chambers are up for grabs in the 2026 midterms.
We’ve tracked $80M of spending on almost 170 AI‑generated political ads this year – it’s weird
Almost 170 ads and $80 million in spending and only 31% with a disclaimer: Here’s what researchers found when they tracked AI in this year’s campaign ads.
Can development happen without displacement? Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood is a test case
A decade of research on Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood finds that major riverfront investment did not push out longtime residents.
Christa Pike survived a lethal injection attempt – the latest person to endure a failed execution
The constitutional prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment has shaped legal discourse around failed executions, but courts have not stopped states from attempting to execute the same person again.
How Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is helping kids start reading when they’re very young
This free program mails an age-appropriate book monthly to each enrolled child from birth to age 5.
Cornell 7 case puts a spotlight on fraternity misconduct – and the limits of universities’ power to stop it
While universities can suspend and expel students for committing sexual violence and other kinds of illegal misconduct, they face logistical and financial limits to preventing such behavior.
White nationalism’s appeal runs deeper than partisan politics
Nearly 1 in 7 white men under 30 in the US support white nationalism, and partisanship alone doesn’t explain who’s drawn to it.