The State of Things

Football has remained one of America’s favorite forms of entertainment for years. Even as its ratings fall, the National Football League is estimated to have made $14 billion in 2017 alone. But science is finally catching up to the sport, and it suggests the big hits that delight fans do not come without a price.

Starting in the 1930s, the Federal Housing Administration practiced a policy called redlining , which permitted banks to deny loans to particular neighborhoods based on their racial or ethnic composition. That practice has been illegal since 1968, but African-Americans and Latinos continue to be denied mortgage loans at rates far higher than their white counterparts, according to new reporting from Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.

Hiking through fields and forests has been life changing for Jennifer Pharr Davis . She is a professional hiker and adventurer. At just 21 years old, she set off on a solo hike across the entire Appalachian Trail, a path that covers 14 states and more than 2,000 miles.

Researchers have long been aware of a link between exposure to violence and obesity in adolescents. Now a new study is untangling some of the reasons that connection exists. The study used smart phones to monitor adolescents in California and North Carolina. It tracked their exposure to violence and subsequent activity levels, fatigue, and consumption of fast food and soda. The study found that at-risk children were more likely to report feeling fatigued and consuming soda on days when they were

The black community owned 0.5 percent of America’s wealth at the end of slavery, and today that number has barely increased. A typical white household is 10 times wealthier than a typical black household, and the racial wealth gap is growing.

Nobody knows exactly how flamenco, a unique type of performance art, got its name. It emerged from Andalucia, Spain but has cultural ties to many ethnic groups including Indian gypsies, Arabs and Sephardic Jews. Although much of flamenco’s history is shrouded in mystery, one thing is certain: there is nothing quite like it.

In the late ‘40s, Billy Graham’s crusades filled tents, and his showmanship quickly evolved into what would become televangelism. Graham earned the title “America’s Pastor,” and his sermons reached countless millions in close to 200 countries.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro is a spiritual scholar who believes the teachings of the perennial wisdom philosophy are the key to encountering the divine in a chaotic and divided society. The philosophy takes wisdom from spiritual leaders across different doctrines and finds the common truths in their message.

With 11 poetry books under his belt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Michael McFee is no stranger to the written word. But there are some concepts too wide to grasp in lines and stanzas.

Evangelist Billy Graham died this morning at his home in Montreat, North Carolina at 99 years old. Graham was known to many as “America’s Pastor,” and it is estimated that his sermons reached more than two billion people.