Latinos and the Right

Democrats may want to dismiss Chris Christie’s success with Latino voters, but if they do, they may just miss out on one of the biggest and most influential voting blocks in 2016. As Latinos have spread across the country, so have Latino conservatives. OZY looks at some the movement’s rising stars, who advocate policies indistinguishable from the mainstream or far right elements of their party: pro-growth business measures, lower taxes, smaller government, curtailed entitlements, pro-life, school choice, anti-Affordable Care Act. The list goes on, begging the question: What’s Latino about them at all?

Condi Rice for Vice President?

The former secretary of state keeps racking up high-profile appointments and remains broadly popular. With a word, she could scramble the route Republicans are charting back the White House in 2016. Not as president, but as vice president. 

While Condoleezza Rice appears to have no plans for the presidential prom, maybe she’ll change her mind if her position on the ticket helps to strengthen it — and save the GOP.

Forget the NSA, Here’s What Insiders Worry About

The NSA surveillance debate has been at center stage for about four months now and shows no sign of abating, with Edward Snowden-derived leaks continuing to appear on at least a weekly basis. But should this really be our main focus? John McLaughlin, former deputy director of the CIA, looks at five other things that should occupy our attention, from cyberattackers and nukes to water shortages, population pressures and al-Qaeda. 

Connecting Poverty and DNA

The poor are more stressed, eat less healthy food and live in more polluted neighborhoods compared with wealthier individuals. Some researchers think that exposure to these and other environmental stressors in childhood, and even in the womb, can leave lifelong molecular markings on our genes that change their activity in ways that contribute to disease.

These markings may even be passed down to future generations. The good news, though, is that we may be able to “delete” them with medical treatment and policies that reduce socioeconomic disparities.