Alex Kapelman

Some argue that it is unfair to criticize the Pope for his response to sexual abuse in the church so far. But David Clohessy, Executive Director of SNAP, believes that Pope Francis ca...

You don't need Time Magazine to tell you that Pope Francis is undoubtedly one of the most influential people of 2013. Count Sister Simone Campbell as one of those fans. She’s the Exec...

It's been a strong year for soccer in America. But is it enough to raise the profile of the game and gain popularity here in the States? Grant Wahl, senior writer for Sports Illustrat...

Have I peaked? It might seem like a depressing question, but Todd May, a professor of philosophy at Clemson University, believes it’s a worthy one. What is there to do when we think w...

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data on median household income levels for every community across America. The Takeaway set out to find ordinary "median earners" from d...

Yesterday, a panel of presidential advisers released its recommendations on the NSA's mass data collection program. The panel urged President Barack Obama to end the government's syst...

There are all too many endangered species in the wild and precious little money devoted to conservation. So if you had to choose, how would you do it? Not surprisingly, it turns out t...

Last night’s Mega Millions lottery prize hit $636 million. Imagine that you won hundreds of millions of dollars. What would you do with that money? One study shows that many people wh...

Over this past year, there were increases in both high-end jobs and low-end service jobs. But the types of jobs that so many Americans rely on—those in the middle market—just aren’t b...

NSA officials are mulling a possible amnesty for leaker Edward Snowden. In exchange for the safe return of the rest of the documents he took from the NSA, Snowden could come back to t...

Though Detroit seems to be in dire straights with its recent bankruptcy filing, there might actually be another piece of America that’s even worse off: Puerto Rico. The U.S. territory...

Researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine recently released a study arguing that memories can be passed on through DNA. It’s the latest piece in a growing body of evidenc...

In 2008, Congress passed the Rail Safety Improvement Act, which mandated that railroad companies install positive train control—a technology that automatically detects excessive speed...

So far, Congress has only passed 52 new laws this year—the fewest in the post-World War II era—and there are only a handful of days left before the close of this historically ineffect...

Subprime auto loans are helping to drive the highest rate of new car sales since 2007. But just like the subprime loans that drove the housing bubble collapse before the recession, th...

President Barack Obama announced yesterday insurance companies can reinstate healthcare plans that were cancelled, or maintain existing plans that would otherwise have been cancelled ...

While it is illegal for employers to reject applicants solely because they may have a criminal record, the practice is widespread. Kai Wright, editor of Colorlines.com, recently wrote...

There are all sorts of humanitarian and relief efforts that happen in hard-hit countries after disasters like Typhoon Haiyan. But not all disasters have equally damaging effects. The ...

In May, Missouri's state legislature passed a bill that would nullify all federal gun laws, which Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed. But on Wednesday, the legislature convenes again—and it looks ...