Around 84,000 people in at least 56 countries have now been infected with the coronavirus, and about 2,900 have died, suggesting a global pandemic is inevitable.

Whether or not the global economy tips into a recession depends on the coronavirus’s spread, and how governments manage the outbreak.

Related: A chart that helps explain how infectious the new virus is compared to some other diseases.

From 2016, a list of themes that recur across most outbreaks of disease.

When it comes to quarantines there isn’t much data to show that they’re a good idea.

An eye test chart designed around 1907 to be a complete vision testing solution for speakers of different languages.

Scotland passes a bill in an effort to become the world's first country to provide free menstrual products to anyone who needs them.

Voters go to the polls in South Carolina, a springboard for next week’s Super Tuesday.

Advertising spending in the 2020 presidential race just passed the $1 billion mark. Bloomberg accounts for more than half.

“Like Elizabeth Warren, I Had My Own Sexist Run-In with Chris Matthews.”

Nearly 70 countries will have elections in 2020; we're likely to hear about only one. A new site tracks non-US elections.

Voters who live within one mile of a Shake Shack love Democrats. Not so for voters living one mile from a Tractor Supply.

Media reports continue to make Trump's press events seem semi-coherent. Transcripts show his ad-libs are actually nearly nonsense.

An essay pointing out how pointless “late capitalism” essays can be… finds itself pretty pointless too.

See also: A nice audio essay about the wonders of call centers.

An online game lets you attempt to spend Bill Gates's fortune on books, Big Macs, and Super Bowl ads. 

Your weekly white paper: The number of consumers age 60 and older with student loan debt has quadrupled over the last decade.

At Madison Square Garden, 18,000 students got to watch the Broadway hit To Kill a Mockingbird for free.

TikTok fame is an increasingly attainable goal for teens and young adults—but the other side of “TikTok famous” is “TikTok has-been.”

"Because people have a need to glue things to other things." Advice on how to attach most anything to most anything.

The treasures of wild Florida may soon disappear to development, or simply be "confined to tiny habitats, surrounded by trash."

A series of photographs about the silence of dogs in cars.