Vox

As competing narratives and interpretations of viral videos muddy the investigations of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis last week, there’s at least one thing that can’t be denied: The Department of Homeland Security’s operations in American cities are a sharp departure from how its agencies operated anytime before the second Trump administration.

ICE, specifically, is operating in a completely different way to how it has historically worked — with big shows of force in neighborhoods, seemingly indiscriminate arrests of immigrants (and citizens), and its careless treatment of bystanders and protesters.

But how did this shift develop? And what specifically changed in the way ICE operates domestically?

18 hours ago | [YT] | 2,052

Vox

As part of the new federal dietary guidelines released this week, the Trump administration eliminated the previous specific recommended limits on alcohol consumption — two drinks or less per day for men and one drink for women.

Now, the new guidelines say “consume less alcohol for better health. (It maintained the prior guidance discouraging a few certain groups — pregnant people and people who have a history of alcohol abuse — from drinking at all.) It’s a major change that defies a growing public health consensus that people should drink as little alcohol as possible, because no amount of drinking is actually safe.

To justify the change, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs, argued that there was no scientific evidence to justify specific limits on drinking alcohol. But that’s not true. There is such data — evidence commissioned by the federal government that the Trump administration itself tried to bury ahead of the dietary guidelines’ release. But instead, Oz and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have handed the alcohol industry a long-sought win in its battle against public health critics.

📸: Alex Wong/Getty Images

www.vox.com/health/474724/alcohol-consumption-2025…<media_url>

1 day ago | [YT] | 2,600

Vox

Struggling to figure out which friends you want to spend most of your attention on? Make a list of your “strawberry people” — aka those who lift you up and meet your friendship goals.

Once you determine who those people are in your life, add an emoji (strawberry or otherwise) next to their contact as a reminder to be available and cultivate that friendship.

“I think of it like tending a garden,” said Sam Dylan Finch, creator of the “strawberry people” method.

Read more: www.vox.com/life/473859/closer-friendships-strawbe…<media_url>

2 days ago | [YT] | 476

Vox

At the core of the new federal dietary guidelines is a paradox. In many ways, they are not a radical departure from past guidance, yet they reveal the blunders of trying to turn vibes and folk wisdom into a public health agenda.

The new guidelines are littered with confusingly contradictory advice — limit saturated fat, but red meat and full-fat dairy are fine, and also consider cooking with butter and beef tallow! Focus on whole grains, but according to the guidelines’ website, preferred grains include “true sourdough.” There are also what appear to be outright errors: Olive oil is mentioned as a meaningful source of essential fatty acids, but it’s actually very low in them (though it’s still really healthy!).

This is evidence of an administration that seems to see nutrition guidance as a culture-war emblem rather than a careful public health policy instrument.

3 days ago | [YT] | 2,285

Vox

Is inflammation really the root of all of our health problems? What's the difference between "good" inflammation and "bad inflammation"?

Join Vox health reporter Dylan Scott on Reddit right now as he answers all of your questions about inflammation 👇🤖

www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1q8d8pu/im_a_health…

3 days ago | [YT] | 249

Vox

What happens when you merge the world’s most toxic social media cesspool with the world’s most unhinged, uninhibited, and intentionally “spicy” AI chatbot?

It looks a lot like what we’re seeing play out on X right now. Users have been feeding images into xAI’s Grok chatbot, which boasts a powerful and largely uncensored image and video generator, to create explicit content, including of ordinary people. The proliferation of deepfake porn on the platform has gotten so extreme that today, xAI’s Grok chatbot spits out an estimated one nonconsensual sexual image every single minute. Over the past several weeks, thousands of users have hopped on the grotesque trend of using Grok to undress mostly women and children — yes, children — without their consent through a workaround.

You might be wondering: How is any of this legal? To be clear, it’s not. But advocates and legal experts say that current laws still fall far short of the protections that victims need, and the sheer volume of deepfakes being created on platforms like X make the protections that do exist very difficult to enforce.

3 days ago | [YT] | 1,406

Vox

The events that led to a federal officer in Minneapolis killing Renee Nicole Good have not been universally interpreted. On a visit to Texas on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism.” She said Good was attacking ICE officers and that she “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called that “bullshit” and “garbage.” He demanded that ICE “get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”

So how did all of this get started? And how is it all going now? Today, Explained co-host Noel King wanted an on-the-ground perspective, and Max Nesterak, a reporter and editor for Minnesota Reformer, told her that Minnesotans are tired and full of pain.

📸: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

4 days ago | [YT] | 3,207

Vox

A woman was fatally shot by federal officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday, just days after the Trump administration deployed thousands of new immigration agents to the city.

The DHS presence in Minneapolis, which administration officials have described as the “largest immigration operation ever,” comes after weeks of Republican outrage focused on Minnesota and Minneapolis immigrant communities.

📸: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

5 days ago | [YT] | 2,548

Vox

Could a $9 toll change notorious traffic? New York became the first American city to find out.

A year ago, it began charging drivers for entering Manhattan’s busiest central neighborhoods during peak hours. Critics called it a cash grab, and President Donald Trump even vowed to kill it.

But a year in, congestion pricing has largely proved to be a success, according to new data released by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the agency that runs New York’s massive network of subways, buses, and commuter rails.

Since tolling began, 21 million fewer vehicles have entered the toll zone, an 11 percent drop from what was projected without it. And average vehicle speeds improved by 23 percent. That’s the difference between a one-hour crawl and a 45-minute commute.

5 days ago | [YT] | 1,447

Vox

Over the weekend, the United States invaded Venezuela, captured its leader, and then declared itself to be in charge of South America’s fifth-largest country.

And no one — not even the US government — seems entirely sure why.

Many people’s first thoughts were that the US was launching a “war for oil,” but even that’s a complicated explanation.

1 week ago | [YT] | 1,468