Was war ever more "civilized"?

Can war be “civilized”? Is one era of mass organized armed conflict more “civilized” than the other? We asked experts to attempt to put this question into a historical perspective.
Meet the Vasectomists

The organizers of World Vasectomy Day want to educate the world about the values of voluntary male sterilization, one incision at a time.

Multiracial in America: Who gets to be "white"?
Jeremy Gordon on growing up multiracial, assimilation and "whiteness" in post-Obama America.
That inevitable Donald Trump-to-Adolf Hitler converting plug-in is here

“This project is childish and dumb," but desperate times call for desperate measures. Introducing the "Hitler has a toupee" Chrome plug-in. It works better than it should.

The lingering effects of NYC's racist city planning
While changing hearts and minds is essential for the end of racism, the infrastructure of cities will also have to be altered in order to have meaningful progress.

Meet the activist leading the lonely 'smokers' rights' movement
Audrey Silk, the founder of CLASH, is fighting for her right to smoke... anywhere she wants.
From Baghdad to Paris: David Shields on the problem with New York Times’ war photography

With his new book War Is Beautiful, David Shields wants people to confront the influence the New York Times has over media and the power its images have over us.
Why isn't the KKK designated as a terrorist organization?

Anonymous dropped the names of over 1000 alleged members of the KKK today, we asked experts to explain the various reasons why the Ku Klux Klan isn't designated as a terrorist organization.

A visual history of abortion and birth control
Photographer Laia Abril pictures centuries of gadgets meant to delay or terminate pregnancy, from lemon rinds to knitting needles to enema syringes, first published by Hopes&Fears.

What will happen to China's undocumented "ghost children" after the one-child policy ends?
China has ended its “one child” policy. How will this affect the "ghost children" who for years have lived sans identification or access to public services as their families could not afford the fine?
This is the niche, dirty drug that landed a Saudi prince
in lock-up

A Saudi prince was allegedly busted with two metric tons of Captagon, or likely, its counterfeit brew of amphetamines popular on the Syrian battlefield. We talked to the DEA about its origins.

The private sale of guns online is virtually lawless
Picking up a gun at Walmart with your milk and eggs isn't the easiest way to get a gun. There's also the internet and its network of loosely regulated private gun sellers.
Holocaust expert:
Ben Carson's gun statements have "no relationship with fact"

We talked to Michael Berenbaum about why politicians exploit the Holocaust as a "negative absolute in society," and why Ben Carson's gun comments are "ridiculous."
We talked to sex worker advocates about the potential impact of the NYPD's Rentboy.com raid

This morning, the NYPD arrested Jeffrey Hurant, the CEO of male escort advertising site Rentboy.com, along with six employees.
Ken Burns speaks on the centrality of slavery in the American Civil War

"When Thomas Jefferson says all men are created equal, he owns a couple hundred human beings and he doesn’t see the contradiction or the hypocrisy..."
22 veterans commit suicide in the US every day

A new bill passed by the US senate aims to reduce this epidemic.
After 95 years of women's suffrage, these people still can't vote in the United States

Women gained their hard-won right to vote in the US 95 years ago today, but many other groups are still waiting.
Who was Khaled al-Asaad and why should we remember him?

Khaled al-Asaad worked for 50 years as the head of antiquities in the Syrian city Palmyra, where he was killed.