November 19, 2014
- Bill to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline fails one vote short of Senate passage.
- Senate fails to pass NSA restrictions—some felt reining in the program would undermine the case for eliminating it.
- Counting members of Congress among its fans, Uber might be beyond the rules for good.
- How Obama's immigration bill trolls the GOP.
- Cashier, salesperson, and cook are most common minimum-wage jobs.
- Falling fertility and longer lives mean the world's age pyramid will slowly become a column.
- The Philae lander detected organic molecules in Comet 67P's atmosphere—though what kind of molecules is still unknown.
- Also transmitted from Comet 67P: the sound of the comet, and it sounds like Predator.
- Roxane Gay on Bill Cosby.
- Survey finds 70% of shoppers buy organic, but only 20% know what that means.
- "You should never wash it" and other myths about the cast iron pan that should be forgotten.
- Texas Board of Education to decide whether to allow history and social studies textbooks that incorporate biblical figures.
- By analyzing download data, music labels can pinpoint the next big thing—which equals more hits and fewer Nirvanas.
- Steve Albini on the state of the 2014 music industry.
- Sleep disorders may contribute to 60% of firefighter deaths, including heart attacks and traffic accidents.
- "Vape" beats out "slacktivism" and "bae" to become Oxford Dictionaries word of the year.
- When schools fail to live up to their legal responsibilities to survivors, students pay. Literally.
- Michelle Dean on writers' self-doubt.