This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. Every coherent society has a social ideal—an image of what the superior person looks like. In America, from ...

In late-20th-century music, the elusiveness of the American Dream is a recurring theme. From Stevie Wonder’s ode to a boy “born in hard time Mississippi” in 1973 to Bruce Springsteen’s anthems to the ...

The retreat of DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – from large parts of corporate America and the federal government may or may not sustain. It may not sustain especially if Democratic-ruled states ...

A sprawling look at the class system in the United States ranging from WASP elegance to trailerpark desperation with lots of other stuff in between ...

The top 10% of wealthy Americans now control 60% of the nation’s wealth, while the poorer half of the country holds only 6%, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. The new report, ...

We adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Some or all links contained within this article are paid links. The lines that divide Americans by ...