Fresh off reporting on groundbreaking psychological research showing that hidden biases can affect our political views (gee, thanks), the multi-talented Shankar Vedantam — a published fiction writer and prize-winning playwright, as well as a journalist — brings us news of a promising possible treatment for compulsive gambling. MORE »

Yes, yes, yes: The Bill Bennett thing. We’ve refrained from commenting on his assertions that “you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down” largely because, well, in a very literal sense he’s not wrong. Aborting every white baby would also reduce crime, as well as free up space in Ivy League colleges and country and western bars. Aborting every baby of any color would virtually eliminate crime, and we have no idea why someone hasn’t run on that platform before. Bennett himself hedges that “these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.” Perhaps he’d like to bet on it? MORE »