You Don’t Know America

A remarkable document in human history, without precedent or rival, the Declaration outlines not what the United States should be, but what it should not be, defining America in opposition to Britain.

It's actually not half bad! Well, except for the guns.

A brief history of the vilification of the pit bull.

Why the promise of direct sales, whether it's knives, Tupperware, or skin care products, still appeals to so many.

Nearly two million American children attend charter schools. Who are they, and who's teaching them?

Why David Hasselhoff and Baywatch hit it big in Germany, Mister Donut took off in Japan, and the ritual of Slurpee-filling is so different in Taiwan than in your local 7-Eleven.

While the two branches of music might appear to have nothing in common, they rose to pop-culture establishment in very similar ways. Today, they share the same songs and the same stage.

Half of America’s teachers have taken a non-traditional path to the classroom. And as our schools continue to grow, the race is on to find people who might be able to lead them.

Despite our reputation as a science-minded superpower, America has always had a predilection for the unseen.

Is a hooded clitoris to blame for many women’s failure to reach orgasm with their sexual partners? Whether it is or not, the procedure is becoming more popular among both women and physicians.

While the rest of the world is catching up, the United States is still the leader in quality science research—thanks to people from other countries.

For some, the opposite of what it meant 50 years ago.

A wealthy state keeps its beautiful, hard-working, and historic cash cow in chains.

It all goes back to the Cold War.

With her popular syndicated television show—now in its 19th year—Judith Sheindlin protects the reasonable American’s notion of accountability and justice, reassuring us that offenders will be punished and victims compensated.

While the roads might not take up too much space, in the land of the two-lane highway, they're a second home.

We’re driven by the idea that at any time, in any context, it is always possible to start a new life and create an intentional society ruled by the beliefs of its participants. And why shouldn’t we be?

For every Michael Jordan, there's at least one Keon Clark. Or an Allen Iverson. Or a Junior Seau. The machinery of professional sports churns through its athletes and spits them out on the other side.

There's one way to enter the child-welfare system and make it out in one piece: luck.

Chinese investors are buying up much of the bankrupt city's real estate. What might this mean for the future of the country Detroit is often used to symbolize?

There are a lot of problems with our two-party system, and fixing them would require nothing less than a fundamental shift in the way politics work in this country. But there are better ways.

America is a place where the majority of athletic competitions go unseen, and the majority of athletes uncelebrated. What does it say about us that we continue to compete anyway?

The Great Depression turned the regular, ol’ PB&J into a staple of childhood, and the sandwich stuck. Today, there’s little else that so easily transcends both regional and socioeconomic divides. What’s more American than that?

Political stereotypes can be traced through America's television-viewing habits.