Progressive News Feeds

July was the hottest month on record in the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency tasked with taking the nation’s temperature. How do you calculate an average temperature for an entire country over the course of a month?

Tags: #sports, article-toolbar, climate-change, facebook, paranoid, progressive news, really-harping, science, statue-depicts, taxes, war

The United States’ 2-1 gold-medal-winning victory over Japan on Thursday was another thrilling demonstration of the allure of women’s soccer, at least in the finals of its biggest events. More than 80,000 people attended the match in an iconic stadium in a country that fancies itself the founder and guardian of the game—one that barred women from playing it for 50 years (“the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged,” the Football Association declared in 1921 ) and was painfully slow to develop a national program after the first Women’s World Cup in 1991.

Tags: chunky-buttons, circus, cnn, harry reid, politics, progressive news, really-harping, slate, stefan-fatsis, taxes, war

Become   a fan of DoubleX on Facebook . Leave us love letters and see what other listeners are saying about the Gabfest.

Tags: application, author, chunky-buttons, doublex-gabfest, paranoid, podcasts, really-harping, science, slate-group, taxes

Before we know it, the Olympic frenzy will come to an end. The final medals will be handed out, the tourists and the press will head back home, and James Bond will escort the Queen back to Buckingham Palace . Two weeks after that, the London Paralympics will start—two weeks too late

Tags: application, chunky-buttons, circus, daphnee-denis, harry reid, media, really-harping, rough-the-sport, taxes

In The Campaign , which opens tomorrow , Will Ferrell is Cam Brady, an ambitious, skirt-chasing politician with a $900 haircut and a remarkable amount of self-admiration. So you could be forgiven for thinking that the setting of the movie, North Carolina, was chosen to highlight a passing resemblance to a certain former Senator and vice presidential candidate . Ferrell’s co-star, Zach Galifianakis, is a native of Wilkesboro, N.C., and his uncle, Nick Galifianakis, represented the state in the U.S.

Tags: article-toolbar, articles, media, north-carolina, paranoid, really-harping, slate, taxes

While I was in Portland, Ore., last week to give a few talks on economic policy, at least four different people told me the same joke about the local economy.

Tags: articles, business, economic policy, economy, handball-team, media, paranoid, progressive news, really-harping, rough-the-sport, slate, slate-group

Get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week; click here to sign up. Please send your questions for publication to prudence@slate.com .

Tags: application, article, author, chunky-buttons, emily-yoffe, media, politics, progressive news, really-harping