The Brookings Institution

09/02/2026

The way Americans raise children is changing. From smartphones and social media to shifts in family life, schools, neighborhoods, and fertility, many of the institutions that once supported childrearing are evolving rapidly.

In Brookings' new podcast, No More Sidewalks: Parenting Today, Abby McCloskey explores these changes and the policy ideas that could help families navigate them. Listen to the trailer and subscribe for upcoming episodes: https://brook.gs/4h91pkD

09/01/2026

Intellectual humility—the ability to admit the limits of what we know, staying open to being wrong, and taking seriously the possibility that someone else has a better answer—is a virtue that requires cultivation, and adolescence is an opportune time to cultivate it. A new report explores the opportunities and challenges in fostering intellectual humility in young people and how schools can play a central role.

Why intellectual humility is important to cultivate in adolescence and how schools can help students engage constructively in society and democracy.

09/01/2026

"Surveillance is not the same as safety, and a school where every student feels watched is not necessarily a school where every student feels safe," write Rashawn Ray and Rebekah Boitey.

Rashawn Ray and Rebekah Boitey explore how AI surveillance in schools shapes safety, trust, and racial equity.

08/26/2026

Rural health outcomes are shaped by much more than access to health care. Housing, transportation, economic opportunity, social isolation, and local institutions all influence long-term well-being.

Anthony P**a, Brent Orrell, Adam Aley, and Madeline Tong examine how declining health outcomes can affect workforce participation, community stability, and economic growth, and identify priorities for strengthening rural prosperity.

This America's Rural Future symposium explores the interconnections between health outcomes and economic development in rural areas.

08/24/2026

What do the 2026 primaries reveal about the Democratic Party's coalition and electoral strategy?

Elaine Kamarck, Riana Mahtani, and Gabriel Kraemer examine the performance of candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). While progressive candidates have secured several high-profile primary victories, their strongest results remain concentrated in heavily Democratic areas, leaving open questions about how these candidates will perform in competitive general election races.

Read more: https://brook.gs/4wHLZcN

08/13/2026

Screens and AI-enabled toys are reaching children earlier than ever—including toddlers and babies. On the latest TechTank podcast episode, Nicol Turner Lee talks with Sweta Shah and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek about what parents, policymakers, and industry need to consider as the technology spreads.

On this episode of TechTank, Sweta Shah and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek to discuss their research on how AI is reaching toddlers.

08/10/2026

New changes to student loan repayment plans have the potential to address some serious problems with the prior system, but the transition won't be easy. Sarah Reber and Sarah Turner explain the complex system of income-driven repayment plans in the U.S. and the questions around implementation and cost.

Sarah Reber and Sarah Turner trace the evolution of income-driven repayment plans for federal student loans, from its origins as a single plan to today's array of options--and the recent legislation seeking to expand and limit them.

08/05/2026

When a crisis disrupts the global supply of goods like oil, gas, or fertilizer, governments often respond by restricting exports to protect their own citizens. According to new research from Kari Heerman and David Wessel, export restrictions don't eliminate scarcity; they shift it elsewhere, usually onto countries that can least afford higher prices. Their analysis looks at what happened after the Strait of Hormuz closed this year, and what policymakers can do differently.

The immediate consequence of imposing export restrictions is greater scarcity, which is especially impactful for import-dependent countries.

07/30/2026

After Morocco's historic run to the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals, questions about the long-term payoff of sports investment are gaining new relevance. In the latest episode of Foresight Africa, Landry Signé speaks with H.E. Youssef Amrani, Morocco's ambassador to the U.S., about the strategy behind that success and what comes next as Morocco co-hosts the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal.

Their conversation covers youth-focused academies, infrastructure tied to major tournaments, and how sports diplomacy intersects with broader U.S.-Morocco economic and trade ties.

Host Landry Signé meets with H.E. Youssef Amrani, the Kingdom of Morocco's ambassador to the U.S., on the heels of the men's 2026 World Cup to discuss his country's investment in sports for development. Their conversation highlights how sports and cultu...

07/29/2026

There's long been disagreement over how much immigrants use public benefits like SNAP, Medicaid, and housing assistance—and a lot of that disagreement comes down to how researchers measure "use."

New estimates from Sasha Snyder and Tara Watson take a close look at the data and find that non-citizens actually use public benefits at lower rates than U.S. citizens, even though non-citizens are more likely to have lower incomes: https://brook.gs/4bdocJU