Races in New Jersey and Virginia are testing the power of the moderate lane.

False humor is simply a technique to neutralize the unpalatable.

The political scientist Suzanne Mettler examines the roots of America’s urban-rural divide and how Democrats can win back rural voters.

A Honduran teenager and his family live in America’s new immigration landscape.

Tariffs don’t seem to be working as planned.

The United States isn’t exceptional because of our common culture; it’s exceptional because Americans have been able to cohere despite cultures that set us apart.

A perverse delight in degradation has always coursed through MAGA circles.

More than any other presidential actions, clemencies tell us who presidents are.

Participants reflect on the “No Kings” demonstrations across the country.

While what is happening to us is as serious as a guillotine, we must harness our best humorous selves in order to keep it from falling.

Telling stories is how we make sense of life and what it means to be human.

Spanish has become a sanctioned indicator of potential criminality in the United States of America.

Senator Ruben Gallego says Democrats must strategize more shrewdly. President Trump’s base has “already set up the field to fight in,” he says. “They have all the information and we’re just playing catch-up.”

“The troquita — the truck — it’s symbolic,” Senator Ruben Gallego tells David Leonhardt on “The Opinions.” “It really is a status symbol that you have succeeded in this country.”

Lessons from a Democrat who won in a Republican state.

Lessons from a Democrat who won in a Republican state.

Smartphones are becoming casinos. Trump, whose son is invested in the industry, is only goosing the business.

The antidote to our polarized politics is a creative, re-energized political center.

The administration’s plan would defund the very intervention that has ended homelessness for people across the country.

Language policing. Cancel culture. Victimhood contests and cultural grievances. Despite attacking the left for partaking in such practices, there’s an emerging set of individuals on the right who have became exactly what they’ve criticized. Meet the woke right.

Trying to find purpose in an endless scroll of A.I.-generated videos.

Readers discuss the political battle over health care in America.

The Young Republicans’ Telegram chat was revealing in so many ways.

Since the first election of President Trump, Hollywood has fretted about portraying rural and red state Americans. Some new TV series show how to get it right.

Shutting out China’s best minds will only push them into a homegrown Chinese research ecosystem that is eclipsing American universities.

Democrats’ vision for the country won’t matter unless they can get people to pay attention to it.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre spent so much of her life telling the story of her abuse.

What explains the Republican Party’s posture toward these protests?

A lot happened this week. The Opinion editor of The New York Times, Kathleen Kingsbury, highlights one thing you shouldn’t miss: OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, announced that the company’s new version of ChatGPT will have a more “humanlike” personality — and even offer erotica for verified adults. Watch Kingsbury explain why more regulation of A.I. chatbots is needed.