Some of the biggest stories on the religious landscape this year saw faith communities reckon with changes in society at large, while both globally and in the United States, some of the most dramatic world events had religion at their center. (O’Donnell, Religion News Service)
Read MoreThe annual roundup of the most popular content of 2023 is a testimony to the global appeal of the short-form video. They come from everywhere — like Sean the Sheepman's sheepherding border collie in Scotland and Kirby Quimado cooking up breadrolls in the Philippines. (Preiss, NPR)
Read MoreWhy have Americans become so mean? I was recently talking with a restaurant owner who said that he has to eject a customer from his restaurant for rude or cruel behavior once a week—something that never used to happen. (Brooks, The Atlantic)
Read MoreThe worldwide growth rate in the past year was just under 1%. At the start of 2024, 4.3 births and two deaths are expected worldwide every second, according to the Census Bureau figures. (AP/NPR)
Read MoreDetroit is on track to record the fewest murders since the 1960s. In Philadelphia, where there were more murders in 2021 than in any year on record, the number of homicides this year has fallen more than 20 percent from last year. And in Los Angeles, the number of shooting victims this year is down more than 200 from two years ago. (Arango & Robertson, The New York Times)
Read MoreSo what can we predict for 2024? AI as far as the…A-eye can see. We won’t even pretend to know all the things generative AI will do to our devices, our jobs, our lives—and our elections. But we promise you won’t be able to escape it. We’ll see other things too: the decline of the dreaded password, a boom in cleaner energy, increasing regulation around kids on social media, and more. (Stern, Nguyen & Mims, The Wall Street Journal)
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