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Frozen chicken and vegetable dumplings (Evgeniia Gordeeva / Getty Images)

Super easy summer corn and dumplings

Ashlie D. Stevens

Super easy summer corn and dumplings

Ashlie D. Stevens

Frozen dumplings, sweet corn, coconut milk and miso turn into the kind of shortcut dinner worth bragging about

John Travolta in "Blow Out" (Filmways Pctures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

"Blow Out" exposes the real American way

"Blow Out" exposes the real American way

The 45th anniversary of Brian De Palma's film meets America's 250th, proving corruption is as American as apple pie

Vice President Kamala Harris celebrates the Fourth of July in 2024 at the White House with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Imagining the 250th in Kamala’s America

A celebration of what could have been if the 2024 election had gone differently

An 1801 illustration of the USS Enterprise capturing Tripolitan Corsair, layered behind ships anchored in the Gulf of Oman on June 21, 2026, as U.S.-Iran tensions eased and the Strait of Hormuz prepared to reopen. (Illustration by Salon / Shady Alassar / Anadolu via Getty Images / National Archives)

The war that defined America

The Barbary War was an early indicator of American imperialism that we're still dealing with today

FEATURED

$A hot, fractured birthday weekend: America at 250$

Happy fractured birthday, America!

America’s 250th unfolds through competing visions of patriotism, extreme heat and weather and large-scale events

A sign outside Madison Square Garden announces the wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Some swifities braved the heat and heavy rain to see their favorite A-listers join the party, while locals experienced the hassle of the public spectacle the private event caused to their neighborhood. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty Images)

Swift-Kelce: A wedding that stopped NYC

Swifties got their desired season finale of Taylor Swift's romance, a private wedding amid a citywide spectacle

Portland downtown waterfront (xiao zhou/Getty Images)

Unaffordable affordable housing

Tony Schick - ProPublica

A $15 billion federal tax credit helps developers build homes that are no cheaper than the market rate

Louis C.K. performs during the 2025 New York Comedy Festival in New York City (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

Louis C.K.'s "redemption" is complete

Melanie McFarland

The supposedly disgraced comic's mainstream return proves that expecting true accountability is the real joke

Texas Republicans may regret mandating Bible in classes

Texas Bible mandate could backfire

Amanda Marcotte

Debating Christianity in class will likely create more non-believers

"Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver checks in to "General Hospital"

John Oliver to visit "General Hospital"

Melanie McFarland

The late-night host and ardent soap opera fan makes his first appearance Thursday on the iconic daytime drama

Impeachment is the only answer to Trump’s behavior

Impeachment is the way to stop Trump

Heather Digby Parton

Democrats should not be timid in holding the president accountable if they take back Congress

How private equity destroyed an American pastime

How private equity destroyed bowling

A class-action suit against Lucky Strike Entertainment is a sad coda to the end of bowling

MAGA is turning SCOTUS loss into the existential crisis it needed

MAGA turns SCOTUS loss into a win

The Court's birthright citizenship ruling is fueling the right-wing media machine ahead of the midterms

Trump didn't learn the biggest lesson from his first term

Trump didn't learn a first-term lesson

Heather Digby Parton

Under pressure and facing historically low approval ratings, the president is behaving as erratically as ever

NEWS & POLITICS

The Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images))

I went to jail to celebrate the Fourth

America's 250th birthday is nothing like its bicentennial

President Donald Trump speaks during the kick-off celebration for the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (emal COUNTESS / AFP via Getty Images)

Blue cities save the 250th from Trump

Amanda Marcotte

Christina Aguilera, Chris Stapleton and Jelly Roll — real stars — headline July Fourth parties in liberal towns

Outgoing Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) continues hospitalization care after last month's cardiac arrest emergency. (WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 4: Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is seen as the Senate votes on amendments to a reconciliation package, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner / Anadolu / Getty Images)

McConnell's current ongoing health scare

New statements affirm senator's ongoing health issues and hospitalization after emergency cardiac arrest in June

Protestors hold up signs with faces of the Prairieland defendants outside of the Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)

Prairieland brings war on terror home

Protesters at ICE's Prairieland facility recieved far harsher sentences than anyone from Jan. 6's violent mob

The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Mehmet Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The secretive Supreme Court

Ken B. Morales - ProPublica

The secretive Supreme Court

Ken B. Morales - ProPublica

The Supreme Court is deciding more consequential rulings than ever before in secret

Kentucky GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Media has a medical blind spot with GOP

The lengthy absences of Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Tom Kean Jr. raise a congressional double standard

Trump didn't learn a first-term lesson

Heather Digby Parton

Under pressure and facing historically low approval ratings, the president is behaving as erratically as ever

MAGA turns SCOTUS loss into a win

The Court's birthright citizenship ruling is fueling the right-wing media machine ahead of the midterms

MORE NEWS & POLITICS

Bowlers compete in the 122nd USBC Open Championships in Reno (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

How private equity destroyed bowling

How private equity destroyed bowling

A class-action suit against Lucky Strike Entertainment is a sad coda to the end of bowling

Kylie Jenner (Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

Kylie Jenner can't redeem AI glasses

Meta recruited a celebrity to make smart glasses feel safe for women. They aren't

The Swift wedding stakeout

Forklifts, food deliveries and covered crates have become must-see celebrity news.

A people's view of America as seen on TV

Melanie McFarland

From "Atlanta" to "This Fool," these 13 comedies highlight the real America in all its glory

Armie Hammer in "Citizen Vigilante" (Courtesy of Axel Stock)

Of course, Elon Musk adores Armie Hammer

Hammer's comeback film, "Citizen Vigilante," is a bigoted pile of garbage, perfect for a hungry fly like Musk

Summerween (AntonioSolano/Getty Images)

Is Summerween really a thing?

How a one-off gag from a cult-favorite Disney cartoon became a case study of year-round holiday consumerism

Angelina Jolie as Maxine Walker in "Couture" (Vertical Entertainment )

Angelina Jolie rethinks aging onscreen

Alice Winocour's film finds Jolie in peak form, wrestling with the tough decisions the actress knows all too well

John Oliver on "General Hospital" ( Disney/Christine Bartolucci )

John Oliver to visit "General Hospital"

Melanie McFarland

The late-night host and ardent soap opera fan makes his first appearance Thursday on the iconic daytime drama

New Yorkers gathered outside the LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, New York City, U.S., on May 7, 2026, to demand a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

How “freeze the rent” really works

Even with Mamdani in the mayor's office, tenants aren’t taking a rent freeze for granted

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, speaks via video before the ringing of opening bell at the launch of the company's initial public offering on June 12, 2026 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Elon Musk's big payday from SpaceX IPO

Brad Badertscher - The Conversation

Investors who bought the shares are unlikely to see the explosive growth that past IPOs had

Gas prices are just one of the rising travel costs for summer vacationers, despite a lower-than-average hurricane prediction. Americans are still planning their summer holidays. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Summer's mixed forecasts, rising costs

Memorial Day travel demand remains strong as NOAA predicts below-normal hurricane season and rising vacation costs

The conflict in the Middle East has hit the global fuel and fertilizer markets that, in turn, have increased farmers' costs right as planting season begins. (Mark Mirko/Connecticut Public via Getty Images)

Farm aid can't outrun Trump's war

With rising costs of fuel and fertilizer, and tariffs still in place, the outlook for 2026 is bleak

Pistachios (Getty Images/Laura Rosina)

The pistachio trend has some history

The pistachio trend has some history

Benefiting off viral trends, like Dubai chocolate, has been actually decades in the making

Minnesota takes on Polymarket, Kalshi

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing multiple states for trying to rein in Polymarket and Kalshi

The Trump phone is here. It's junk

Tech experts and reviewers say the long-delayed $500 phone has high costs, middling specs and murky origins

The American workforce is a matriarchy

As moms are driving the growth in America's labor market, it's time for major investments in early childcare

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Half of Americans in extreme heat zone

Dangerous heat dome disrupts American celebrations in Midwest and East Coast with travel delays and health problems

The price of Trump's anti-science agenda

From measles to screwworm, Americans keep paying the cost of the admin's war on science

Trump: Cognitive tests prove he's smart

Doctors say MoCA is screening tool for cognitive impairment, not intelligence test, despite Trump’s intellect claim

How to pop the AI bubble

Cory Doctorow argues AI dominance is not inevitable. How we fight back matters

Trump cuts to global health hit home

Politicized public health agencies also make it harder to hold officials accountable

In light of many female reproductive health restrictions, there is good news for the 15% of women diagnosed with PCOS (now PMOS). The name change will help with this often underdiagnosed health issue and hopefully lead to better and earlier treatment. (Mohamad Faizal Bin Ramli / Getty Images)

PCOS becomes PMOS

PCOS becomes PMOS

This change to this common reproductive health issue could lead to better and earlier treatment for 15% of women.

(Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images)

Can we ever get rid of nuclear weapons?

Editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists says the doomsday threat is real — but human goodness will win out

Insurers frequently deny or delay cancer care to patients, including breakthrough immunotherapies like Keytruda (Shivansh Gupta/PA Images via Getty Images)

Lower drug prices won't fix cancer care

Kenneth E. Thorpe

As breakthrough drugs offer critical hope to patients, lawmakers should focus on shoring up the social safety net

MORE SCIENCE & HEALTH

Chef Frankie Celenza is host of the âStruggle Mealsâ cooking show. (Courtesy of Tastemade)

"Struggle Meals" grows up

Francesca Giangiulio

"Struggle Meals" grows up

Francesca Giangiulio

Frankie Celenza returns with a season about wasting less, improvising more and redefining what it means to struggle

The beauty of TV's saddest picnic

Ashlie D. Stevens

How a blue tarp, a hoagie and a clown became one of television's most profound meals

Don't waste your rotisserie chicken

Here are a few ways to turn a hot bag of poultry into creative, satisfying weeknight meals

Dino nuggets, made better

Because we all should be feeding our inner child — even into adulthood

Hemingway's Madrid, one bite at a time

Howie Southworth

The city's literary quarter still serves up churros, sherry and oxtail — and just enough ghosts for lunch

Say goodbye to two iconic M&M's colors

Feeling sad about the candy-coated chocolate's pared-down palette? Blame MAHA

Time for a bread party (Ashlie Stevens )

An unnecessary amount of bread

Ashlie D. Stevens

Or: How to make a budget meal feel abundant

Dinner party (Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images)

How to throw a dinner party on a budget

Eating out is expensive, but hosting your friends doesn't have to be

An illustration of a solo traveler in front of a cruise ship with images of older passengers (Photo illustration by Salon / Getty Images / Lisa-Blue / Horsche / SOPA Images / RgStudio)

My awkward adventure on a seniors cruise

On my solo research trip I ended up isolated, injured and curious about the men paid to charm older women at sea

Woman holding a bisexual pride flag (Getty Images/Wirestock)

What I wish I'd known about bisexuality

I'm not straight, but I appear that way to the world. Visibility and belonging can be a struggle

The Wizard of Oz | Tornado (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images/Silver Screen Collection)

My lifelong fascination with tornadoes

Gabriella Ferrigine

Am I a bad person for being so enamored with these destructive windstorms? It's complicated

Author hiking the Camino de Santiago (Photo provided by Ginny Bartolone)

My (unexpectedly) feminist pilgrimage

Ginny Bartolone

I hadn't planned on walking 500 miles in Spain just to escape sexist assumptions, but it turned out to be a bonus

MORE LIFE STORIES