According to a 2018 Pew study, nearly two-thirds of people in the U.S. feel stressed by the news. When news anxiety leads to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, our civic engagement and democracy inevitably suffer. Tough topics become less overwhelming when we grant ourselves the time, space, and attention to pursue deeper understanding. We shed light on the backstory, we help you engage more of your brain (our interactive features encourage critical thinking and promote calm understanding) and we make it easy to delve into sources. We use calming, accessible language, we make room for reflection and we deliberately choose tough topics to explore some of the most contentious issues of our time, so we can develop a deeper understanding of the world around us.