Author: Errica Jensen

When the words “payment disbursed” appear on a lawsuit that started fifteen years ago, there’s a certain quiet satisfaction. Millions of Americans who previously stood at an ATM, entered their PIN, and paid a fee they never really questioned began getting their money back on April 6, 2026. The tale of how that happened is more intricate and fascinating than a straightforward legal victory. The settlement in question relates to a class action lawsuit named Mackmin v. Visa Inc. and two of the world’s most powerful financial networks, Visa and Mastercard. A $197.5 million settlement was approved by a federal…

A $135 million fund is currently waiting to be distributed among the approximately 100 million Americans who used an Android phone at some point after November 2017, somewhere in a server farm in Northern California. Earlier this week, the settlement website went live. June 23 is the date of the final approval hearing. You could get up to $100 if you meet the requirements, which are quite low. However, most payments are anticipated to be much smaller due to the large number of eligible individuals. One news site commenter provided a somewhat accurate summary of the likely reality: “I’m looking…

Most people outside of endocrinology circles were unaware of Ozempic, a diabetes medication, until a few years ago. It is currently one of the most talked-about drugs in contemporary medicine; it is praised, contested, feared, and, in certain situations, truly transformative for those who take it. That type of cultural moment often produces a lot of noise rather than much clarity. Here are the actual findings of the research and clinical evidence regarding the effects of Ozempic on the body, starting with the commonplace and progressing toward the unexpected. Ozempic’s active component, semaglutide, is an agonist of the GLP-1 receptor.…

After an eight-night cruise through the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao), the Carnival Horizon was returning to Miami on a Sunday morning in early April 2026 when a familiar incident occurred. The ship’s arrival was delayed past 8:30 a.m. due to a mechanical problem that slowed its speed. The delays were prolonged when it eventually docked due to a power surge at the terminal. For about two hours, passengers waited in the terminal to board the next sailing. To its credit, Carnival offered documentation for airline change fee waivers, opened shipboard Wi-Fi so people could reschedule flights, and sent…

For almost fifty years, the Presidential Records Act has been in effect. Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, Obama, and even Trump’s first term survived it, as the administration admitted in ongoing legal proceedings that the White House was subject to its obligations. On April 7, 2026, the American Historical Association and the watchdog organization American Oversight filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., contesting a Department of Justice memo that ruled the law unconstitutional and informed the president that he was no longer required to abide by it. This marked the end of that streak, or at least the…

When you walk into a Taco Bell or McDonald’s in California today, the ordering process is very different from what it was five years ago. The touchscreens are more responsive, the kiosks are taller, and in certain places an AI voice system can accurately take drive-through orders. This is not a coincidence. And the question of whether California’s $20 minimum wage for fast food workers is responsible for accelerating these changes — or whether the technology was always coming and the law just gave operators a convenient justification — is exactly the kind of question that good labor economics research…

Every spring, Aldi does something that seems almost too predictable to be shocking anymore: it releases a compact, reasonably priced, attractive outdoor product that leaves customers wondering why they ever bothered to spend more money at other stores. The Belavi Solar Decorative Metal Lantern is on sale this week for $7.99 starting on April 8. If last year’s model is any indication, the shelves will be rather empty by the weekend. This time, the lanterns are available in four different styles: black with flowers, black with diamonds, bronze with flower-shaped cutouts, and bronze with diamond cutouts. Pastel spring hues like…

A certain type of American story does not neatly fit into any one narrative; it is neither a cautionary tale nor a hero or villain. One such tale is that of P.G. Sittenfeld. A Marshall Scholar at Oxford, a Princeton graduate, and a member of the Cincinnati City Council for almost ten years, she is widely predicted to become the youngest mayor in the history of the city. Then came an FBI sting operation, a federal indictment, a conviction, incarceration, a presidential pardon, and now a Supreme Court ruling that, six years later, might finally put an end to one…

A two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran was announced early on April 8, 2026, bringing an end to the conflict that had blocked the Strait of Hormuz, caused oil prices to soar, and consumed the Pentagon for weeks. Later that morning, reporters were to be briefed by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. This type of briefing is commonplace in Washington. However, Pete Hegseth’s time as Defense Secretary has been anything but ordinary. Hegseth assumed the position in January 2025 following a partisan Senate confirmation that raised serious doubts about the suitability of…

The biggest property and liability insurer in the US is State Farm. That is a fact of the market, not a contentious assertion. The growing body of legal documentation regarding the company’s handling of claims, pricing of coverage, and communication of policy terms to the millions of people who trusted it with their homes, cars, and, in some cases, their life insurance is becoming more difficult to overlook. The settlements continue to encroach on territory that is unsettlingly familiar. In the latest development, a class action settlement concerning State Farm’s methodology for calculating payouts on totaled vehicles was granted preliminary…