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June 30, 2026
 

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Justin Fox
New Americans stand for the national anthem at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony at the New York Public Library in Manhattan in July 2018. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2026
The U.S. ‘assimilate or go home’ crowd could use a history lesson
Recent immigrants also match or outperform earlier generations in noneconomic integration metrics.
Remote work has settled into a post-pandemic norm, with many people continuing to work from home and reshaping the economic geography of cities and suburbs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2026
The great shift to remote work has entered a new normal
The share of U.S. workers doing their jobs primarily at home was 2.3 times higher in 2024 than in 2019.
Social science research replicates successfully only about half the time, suggesting that while the field is imperfect and individual studies should be treated cautiously, low replication rates do not necessarily invalidate the discipline as a whole.
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2026
Social science’s low replication rate is not a crisis
Successful replication of findings doesn’t necessarily mean those findings are right and failure to replicate doesn’t necessarily mean they’re wrong.
U.S. prison populations have dropped sharply since 2008, but gaps in mental health care mean many vulnerable individuals continue to cycle through the criminal justice system instead of receiving treatment.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2026
U.S. prisons are emptier. Will psychiatric hospitals fill up?
More recent statistics on psychiatric beds in hospitals and resident patients in state psychiatric hospitals show a mostly flat trajectory through 2023.
U.S. crime plunged in 2025 to near historic lows, with declines driven by post-pandemic normalization, possible effects of deportation policy and reduced social activity by restless youths as more time is spent on phones and video games.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2026
Are video games and phones helping to reduce crime?
“More kids seem to be spending more time at home in their basements scrolling on their phones rather than out carousing with friends,” an expert said.
Demonstrators attend the "We Are All D.C." march in Washington on Sept. 6 to protest U.S. President Trump’s order to send National Guard units to assist in crime prevention.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2025
How accurate are U.S. crime statistics?
All the numbers point to a sharp downturn in Washington and other big cities. After that it becomes a little tricky.
A crime scene technician prepares to document evidence at the site of a shooting in West Baltimore in May 2015. U.S. cities are seeing murder rates fall sharply from post-2020 highs thanks to local violence-reduction efforts and pandemic-era investments.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2025
What’s behind the great American murder decline?
Homicides are plummeting in many places. The explanation may be the sheer volume of different efforts to reduce violence.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, promises a rent freeze that’s easy to deliver but it remains to be seen if it will solve the city’s deeper housing problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025
Freezing rent is easy. Making NYC housing affordable isn’t.
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge would be simple to put into effect but wouldn’t do much to solve the underlying problem.
A 2010 study found that U.S. adults averaged 5,117 steps daily and that this was lower than the averages found in similar studies in Switzerland, western Australia and Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2024
America wasn’t made for walking, and it’s killing them
A 2010 study found that U.S. adults averaged 5,117 steps daily and that this was lower than the averages found in similar studies in Switzerland, western Australia and Japan.
Recent research suggests that within developed countries, the old positive relationship between status and fertility is re-emerging.
COMMENTARY
Apr 3, 2024
The wealthy are starting to have more babies than the poor again
After a century during which higher income and status meant fewer children, the current trend is potentially a momentous change.
California’s share of U.S. wine production, around 90% in the 1990s and 2000s, dropped below 80% for the first time on record in 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2024
Who will save the U.S. wine industry? Not California boomers.
California’s share of U.S. wine production, around 90% in the 1990s and 2000s, dropped below 80% for the first time on record in 2022.
A new report by the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility estimates that it could take up to 320 years for Black Americans to catch up to their white counterparts in quality of life.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2024
Black Americans gain no ground on income and wealth
One study estimates that it could take up to 320 years for Black Americans to catch up to their white counterparts’ in quality of life.
A health care worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a child in Rio de Janeiro in January 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2023
How we got COVID’s risk right but the response wrong
It was not the initial consensus on the fatality rate that drove the response but rather the way the risks of COVID-19 were balanced with the costs.
The Black unemployment rate fell to 5% in March, the lowest level ever recorded in the monthly data, but then rose to 6% in June, showing how erratic it can be.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2023
The mysterious fall and rise of Black unemployment
After a roller-coaster move this spring, it’s now essentially back to where it was in February. How much is statistical noise?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2023
New York’s subways have less crime but more violence
New York City subway pickpocketing is down. Senseless assaults are up. That’s not a great trade.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2023
Flight of affluent taxpayers catches up with New York
The latest personal income tax data from New York shows the state bringing in less revenue than it did before the pandemic, which could hamper its ability to pay its bills.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2023
China may not need Western technology very much longer
The latest ranking of global spending on research and development has U.S. tech companies on top and Chinese rivals on the rise.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2023
Pandemic murder wave has crested. Here’s the postmortem.
Homicides were down in the U.S. in 2022 and continue to fall in the biggest cities. The cause of the spike during COVID-19 is still being determined.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2023
Big Tech binged on workers during COVID-19 — now, comes the purge
The spate of Big Tech layoffs is a reaction to a hiring wave during the pandemic that got out of hand. But will it be an overreaction?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2022
China’s economic engine is about to start shrinking
The nation’s working-age population could decline by two-thirds or more by the end of the century, according to new U.N. projections.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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