We all enjoy a good argument. From exchanges across party lines at the top levels of politics worldwide to discourse on social media, everybody seems to agree on one thing, our ability to disagree.

Szuplat is the author of Say It Well: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience. He was one of President Barack Obama's longest-serving White House speechwriters and is an adjunct ...

Jessica Robles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

I’ve heard of three Thanksgiving plans that got canceled because of disagreements over the Israel-Gaza war. In one case, over the past few weeks, a guy watched as his brother’s wife posted pictures of ...

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.

To see how much Ed Miliband is enjoying his second life in politics, watch him at the dispatch box. Every few weeks MPs get a chance to prod the energy secretary; they receive sharp jabs in return.

The history of online discourse is essentially the history of linguistic compression. I’m a member of possibly the last generation of Chinese fluent in the language of forums and blogs. After the ...

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. is a reporter who writes about tech, money, and human behavior. She joined The Verge in 2014 as science editor.