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This is not news: America does pretty badly when it goes up against other countries academically.

This is true even if we take it one state at a time—no single state, no matter how wealthy or small, matches the top scoring countries. And yet, the U.S. spends more per student than many other countries in the world.

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In the image at the top, each state is mapped to a country that had similar scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, an international test of mathematical reasoning given to 15-year-olds. The top 15 countries are in purple. No, there isn’t any purple on this map.

Reporter Amanda Ripley wanted to figure out why U.S. education outcomes are so mediocre.

She started asking random people what they thought and she followed up on their ideas. The same theories came up over and over: People blamed poverty and diversity for the difference between U.S. students and students everywhere else. But when Ripley dug into the numbers, she discovered that, while those are factors, they don’t fully explain the difference.

No adult could give her a satisfactory answer, so she went to the experts: kids.

Kids spend more time in school than anyone. They’ve got strong opinions about school. They have opinions on what is working.

She talked to the only students who could have firsthand knowledge of the differences between schools in top-performing countries and those in the U.S.: American kids who were exchange students in those countries.

She surveyed hundreds of exchange students and found three major points that they all agreed on.

The students all said that in their host countries:

1. School is harder. There’s less homework but the material is more rigorous. People take education more seriously, from selecting the content to selecting the teachers.
2. Sports are just a hobby. In the U.S., sports are a huge distraction from the business of school, but that’s not the case in other countries.
3. Kids believe there’s something in it for them. The students in other countries deeply believe that what they are doing in school affects how interesting their lives were going to be. Even if they don’t like a class, they see their education as a stepping stone to their future.

To hear more from these amazing kids (and a great story about how an education reporter managed to take an international standardized test), check out the video from PopTech below:

This article originally appeared on 05.22.15

“It was all his idea.”

An offhand suggestion from her boyfriend of two years coupled with her own lifelong love of comic strips like “Calvin and Hobbes” and “Get Fuzzy” gave 22-year-old Catana Chetwynd the push she needed to start drawing an illustrated series about long-term relationships.

Specifically, her own relationship.

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The drawings are refreshingly touching, honest, and instantly recognizable to anyone who’s ever had to learn to live with, for, and around a long-term partner.

Chetwynd says her goal is to explore the peculiar aspects of relationships at different stages, using her own as the master template.

The series combines humor and playful drawings with spot-on depictions of the intense familiarity that long-standing coupledom often brings.

The comics are almost too real — and really, really funny.

If the following comics capture your relationship to a T, you’re most definitely not alone.

(All images by Catana Chetwynd.)

“When I started doing the comic, we hadn’t lived together or anything yet, and now we’ve done the whole thing of moving in together and meeting the parents and everything,” Chetwynd says.

The evolution of their relationship provides the creative fuel for the comic strip. Thankfully, her boyfriend John Freed is fully on board with being depicted in (digital) ink — despite having to occasionally awkwardly explain things that appear in the strip to their family and friends.

The connection she has built with Freed, Chetwynd says she wouldn’t trade for anything — especially now that it inspires her art.

“The end goal for me was always to have somebody that I could be comfortable with in this way, and I think I got that.”

You can follow Catana Comics on Facebook and Twitter, and can view the whole series on Chetwynd’s website.

This article originally appeared on 05.12.17.

Matty Healy, who? Taylor Swift might have found herself a new boo just in time for cuffing season. The singer’s schedule has been filled to the brim with The Eras Tour dates, but somehow she still manages to make time for the events that matter to her. One of those special occasions was her friend and longtime producer Jack Antonoff’s wedding ceremony held last month in New Jersey. The other is Sunday’s Kansas City Chief home game against the Chicago Bears.

What led to Swift’s surprise appearance at Arrowhead Stadium? The answer is, supposedly, her rumored new boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Old clips and social media posts of the team’s tight end gushing about his crush on Swift has people online excited about the potential new romance.

ESPN’s Senior NFL Insider reporter Adam Schefter took to his official X (formerly Twitter) page to confirm that Swift was, in fact, in attendance at the game.

Schefter also shared a picture of Swift inside Kelce’s personal VIP box, showing Swif cheering alongside the footballer’s mother. Earlier in the week, Kelce revealed that he had extended an invitation for Swift to see him play. But about whether the pair are indeed a couple, he and his brother Jason have remained tight-lipped.

We live in a golden age of outside-the-box dating shows. Love is Blind. FBoy Island. Dated & Related. But did you know about Naked Attraction? It’s the U.K.’s most notorious dating show and you can probably guess its hook from the title: It’s got full frontal nudity. It’s been airing on Channel 4 since 2016, and now, finally, it’s been quietly added to the streamer once known as HBO Max.

The Hollywood Reporter picked up on the Max addition, describing the premise thusly:

The streamer has imported six seasons of Naked Attraction, a game show that promises to “start where a good date often ends — naked.” In each episode, a single “chooser” critiques and eliminates six potential dates standing on a stage by scrutinizing their fully nude bodies, which are gradually revealed one part at a time (faces are revealed last). When only two potential dates remain, the chooser strips out of their own clothes too, giving the remaining two contestants the opportunity to critique them. The final couple then go out on a date, with their clothes on.

The cliché has it that the British are prudish, unlike loosey goosey Americans, but maybe it’s the other way around. The show goes full-on with the full frontal (and backal), and the naughty bits have not been censored for Yanks. Nor do contestants hold back. There’s a ton of body judging, with contestants making comments such as “I don’t like her feet” and “His member is too small.”

All six seasons/series of Naked Attraction that have aired thus far are now available to American Max subscribers, so go at it, if you dare. You can watch a censored version of the trailer in the video below.

(Via THR)

As expected, the 2023 NFL season has not gotten off to a strong start for the Houston Texans. With a new head coach in DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud under center, there’s hopeful optimism that things will turn around longterm, but this season was never supposed to see an incredible turnaround.

After a rough home loss to the Colts last week, the Texans bounced back impressively on the road in Jacksonville on Sunday, taking a 24-10 lead in the late third quarter thanks in large part to some incredible special teams play. In the first half, they got a touchdown drive set up by a blocked field goal as star rookie defensive end Will Anderson burst through the line to get two hands on the ball and return it into Jaguars territory.

In the second half, it was the unlikeliest of special teams heroes, as fullback Andrew Beck received a short kickoff as the upback, muffed it, picked it up, and returned it 85 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown.

It’s an incredible return from a guy whose job is usually blocking on kick returns, not running the ball back. Beck showed some speed and, most impressively, balance on the sideline as he high stepped out of a couple diving tackle attempts to take it to the house.

Houston still has work to do on offense, which is expected with a rookie QB, but Ryans has them playing much more competently on defense — they had a pair of turnovers forced in the first three quarters — and special teams to start his tenure and that should excite fans in Houston.

The New Orleans Saints have gotten off to a good start to the season with a 2-0 record thanks in large part to them having one of the (if not the) best defenses in the NFL.

On the other side of the ball they’re led by Derek Carr, who may not be among the NFL’s elite at quarterback, but certainly gives the Saints a competent and quality veteran starter to manage the offense and play complementary ball alongside their defense. On Sunday, the Saints put forth their best half of football thus far, taking a 17-0 lead on the road in Green Bay at the break. The defense contributed one of the touchdowns with Carr providing the other, and it looked in the mid-third as though the Saints would be cruising to a win and the good vibes of a 3-0 start.

However, on a third down dropback, Carr got slung to the ground by Packers defensive lineman Rashan Gary, slamming onto his throwing shoulder, where he would stay down on the ground and receive attention from the training staff.

Carr would eventually walk off the field and to the locker room for X-rays on that shoulder, with the Saints officially ruling him as questionable with a shoulder injury.

That meant Jameis Winston was inserted under center for the next drive, with the Saints at least having the luxury of having one of the best backups in the league still on their roster. However, the Saints organization and fans will be waiting nervously for an update on Carr’s health, as he took a nasty hit on that shoulder when he was thrown violently to the ground, and losing him for an extended period would be highly unfortunate.

UPDATE: Carr was ruled out with a shoulder injury later in the second half.

Usher’s Vegas residency may be coming to an end, but Sin City hasn’t seen the last of him. In February 2024, the musician will take the stage as the featured headliner during the Super Bowl LVIII Halftime show. Although fans are looking forward to him playing the hits, Usher wants to give the world a taste of something new.

Following the news of his upcoming performance, Usher’s official Apple Music page revealed the release of his next album, called Coming Home. The site reveals its cover, expected release date, and the number of songs set to appear. So far, the only named track is his single, “Good Good,” which features Summer Walker and 21 Savage.

During an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Usher shared the title’s meaning and talked about the album’s creative vision. “[This album] is a love letter to the legacy of my career. I’ve been coming home in a lot of different ways,” he said. “The choice of music. Reconnection to some of the people that I’ve worked with from my past and people who I’ve always wanted to work with… In a sense, I’m coming home because I am in that comfortable space.”

Coming Home is out 2/11/2024 via Mega/Gamma. Find more information here.

It has not been a good start to the season for Deshaun Watson, as the Cleveland Browns starter has regressed tremendously from his All-Pro days in Houston. Watson was largely the reason the team lost on Monday night a week ago to Pittsburgh, as turnovers and two personal foul penalties on Watson helped the Steelers win a game in which their offense was dreadful as well.

This week, the Browns faced off with yet another inept offense, as they dueled with Ryan Tannehill and the Titans in Cleveland, and it was yet another disasterclass from both offenses. Tannehill and the Titans couldn’t do anything in the first half against Myles Garrett and the Browns defense, only mustering their 3 points on a field goal set up by a Cleveland turnover. The Browns fared a bit better, but Watson continued to make some of the worst decisions you will ever see from a quarterback (particularly one who was once among the league’s best).

The funniest example of Watson’s baffling decision-making came in the second quarter when he got wrapped up for a near sack and then chose to chuck the ball backwards towards Elijah Moore, which meant the bouncing ball was a live fumble which led to a big loss of yardage for Cleveland as Moore scooped it up and quickly got brought down well behind the line of scrimmage.

The announcers reacting to Watson just hucking the ball backwards is hysterical, and you could hear the Browns crowd groan in anguish as the ball bounced around on the turf. The good news for Cleveland is, the Titans are quite bad and so this drive still somehow ended up being a touchdown for the Browns despite the best efforts of Watson on this play.

Is there anything the Swifties can’t do? Taylor Swift’s beloved superfans’ disdain for Ticketmaster might have been the push behind a new tax law. After the ticketing platform flubbed Swift’s The Eras Tour pre-sale, the singer’s supporters deemed the company public enemy number one. Second on their list are resellers looking to cash in on the public’s love for Swift.

According to the Wall Street Journal, President Joe Biden, the United States Senate, and Congress have taken aim at Ticketmaster, siccing the on resellers with a new tax law. According to the Wall Street Journal, the agency has unveiled a new law set to go into effect for the 2022 tax year, in which e-distributors, such as Ticketmaster and StubHub, will be required to provide the agency with information on people who sold more than $600 worth of tickets. The sellers will be held responsible for the taxes of that transaction. This law applies to the ticket’s sale price, not the seller’s profit.

In the past, the threshold was more than $20,000 in revenue and over 200 transactions. WSJ revealed that IRS commissioner Danny Werfel said they have not announced any future plans to give an additional reprieve. The 1099-K form for the 2023 tax year will be available soon.

Cassidy Hutchinson is back. The former Donald Trump aide became a household name last summer during her bombshell testimony for the House’s Jan. 6 committee. Turns out she had even more stories to tell. Her new book, Enough, in which she reveals things like the shallow reason why her old boss wouldn’t wear a mask at the height of the pandemic. She also accused Rudy Giuliani of groping her with “frozen fingers.” Hutchinson has so much dirt that she saved some for her press tour.

In a new interview with The New York Times (in a bit teased out by The Daily Beast), Hutchinson describes the last days of the Trump administration as being “awash in paranoia.” Things sound like they got very Watergate-era Nixon:

It was, by her telling, an administration awash in paranoia, with Mr. Meadows and others refusing to dispose of daily litter in “burn bags” for fear that someone from the “deep state” might intercept the contents. Instead, she writes, Mr. Meadows burned so many documents in his fireplace in the final days of the Trump presidency that his wife complained to Ms. Hutchinson about how expensive it had become to dry-clean the “bonfire” aroma from his suits.

Granted, Nixon staffers used to shred, not burn, documents, which at least doesn’t leave a foul odor.

Hutchinson also claimed that Meadows once asked her if she would “take a bullet” for the guy who doesn’t even risk breaking a fingernail. She nervously joked that maybe she’d take one in the thigh.

In the meantime, the guy at the center of all this nonsense is back on top with GOP polling, meaning he’ll either wind up back in the presidency or, thanks to the 91 criminal charges against him, in jail. Or both!

(Via NYT and The Daily Beast)