The US is now approaching three million COVID-19 cases, and hospitals in many states are reporting unprecedented levels of hospitalizations.

After weeks of controlling coronavirus outbreaks, California is becoming a new hot spot, with cases up 90% over the past two weeks.

An honest attempt to answer Cornyn's (likely) bad-faith question about anomalous death and case counts in Dallas and Houston.

ICE says international students at universities that move entirely to online coursework will be required to leave the US.

How the production of American diet staples—in this case, a July 4th meal—can expose thousands of US workers to the coronavirus. (See more stories like this in our Editors’ Longreads Picks.)

Blacks and Latinos in the US have been three times as likely as whites to get infected with COVID-19—and twice as likely to die.

See also: "If you just set up the testing sites in wealthy communities, you cannot rein this in."

New flood-risk maps could hurt minority neighborhoods by reducing property values as well as access to recovery funds.

Breonna Taylor's lawyers say the raid that led to her murder was part of a police operation to empty a block for gentrification.

Up to 26 million people participated in recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations—making it the largest movement in US history.

"It’s just so random." Historians react to Trump's choices for statues at his planned National Garden of American Heroes.

See also: How to topple a statue using science.

Three years after it became operational, the Dakota Access Pipeline has been shut down by a federal judge's ruling that the Trump Administration broke the law by not performing a full environmental study.

Over the holiday weekend, multiple US cities experienced a rash of gun homicides, including shooting deaths of children.

The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously against "faithless electors," deciding the 538 people who cast Electoral College votes must act as their states require.

In a new report, the UN predicts an increase in diseases passing from animals to people due to human encroachment on wildlife habitats.

Why we shouldn't shame beachgoers: It's a low-risk pandemic activity, and keeps people happy and occupied when they need it most.

"I must admit, it’s an epic shot." Travels to the most Instagrammed outdoor locations.

Scientists find evidence of the oldest ochre mine in the Americas, used 12,000 years ago in the Yucatan, and now deep underwater.

"If we want to experience concerts again, we need to support the artists we love until the pandemic passes."

An excellent list of must-hear soundtracks by legendary composer Ennio Morricone, who has died at 91.

Aerial footage of neighborhood fireworks in Los Angeles on July 4th resembles the opening scene in Blade Runner.

"The best records for self-dramatizing anything well beyond anything approaching reasonable." A collection of personal soundtracks.

Students have built Agosto Ramelli's 16th-century design for a bookwheel, which enables its user to read multiple books at once.

Watch: New in Kirby Ferguson's Everything Is a Remix series: Yes, even reality is a remix.