Gen Z is reshaping the consumer landscape — and they’re making it clear: values matter.

Caroline Kennedy was born into the most famous family in American politics — but her life would be shaped as much by loss as by legacy.

As millions of Americans anxiously awaited their November SNAP benefits during the 43-day federal shutdown, Pew Research released a comprehensive look at the food assistance program — and the new policies that threaten it. The shutdown added even more chaos: legal confusion and patchwork state-level fixes delayed payments for families already living paycheck to paycheck. While the new funding bill keeps SNAP afloat through late 2026, many of the deeper, damaging changes remain.

On this day in 1945, the Nuremberg Trials began — the first time in history that international courts held leaders accountable for crimes against humanity.

A growing number of U.S. couples are choosing a path that defies traditional expectations: two incomes, no children. Known as “DINKs,” these married couples — with at least one spouse between ages 30 and 49 — now make up 12% of their age group, up from 8% in 2013.

She was just six years old.

On November 14, 1960, Ruby Bridges became the first Black child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in the American South.

Nearly every American now says they come across news that seems inaccurate—and nearly half say they encounter it often. According to new Pew Research, 9 in 10 U.S. adults report seeing news they think is wrong at least occasionally, and 42% say it happens all the time.

On November 6, 2012, Wisconsin voters made history — and progress.

That day, Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay person ever elected to the U.S. Senate.

The Latino population in the U.S. has nearly doubled since 2000—rising from 35.3 million to 68 million in just two decades. Today, one in five Americans is Latino, making this group the second-largest racial or ethnic community in the country. And they’ve fueled more than half of all U.S. population growth since 2000.

October 30, 1735—John Adams was born
He would go on to become a founding father, the nation’s second president, and one of the loudest voices for American independence. A fierce defender of liberty, Adams helped shape a democracy built on bold ideals—but also bound by the limits of his time.

A new Pew Research Center survey shows that 7 in 10 Americans now believe the U.S. higher education system is heading in the wrong direction—up sharply from 56% in 2020.

25,000 women marched up Fifth Avenue in New York City, demanding the right to vote.

“Woke” began as a word of vigilance — and of care.
Rooted in African American Vernacular English, it originally meant being awake to injustice, especially racism and oppression. One of the earliest uses came in 1938, when blues singer Lead Belly warned listeners to “stay woke” to racial danger after singing The Scottsboro Boys.

When most people picture a scientist, they imagine a lab coat — not a farmer, electrician, or paramedic. But a new Pew Research Center survey shows Americans recognize that science lives far beyond the laboratory.

On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony for the 200-meter race at the Mexico City Olympics, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos bowed their heads and raised gloved fists in a silent salute for human rights. The gesture stunned the world.

Most Americans still don’t like what they see in the economy: only 26% call conditions excellent or good, while 74% say they’re fair or poor. That topline hasn’t budged much in three years—but the parties have flipped positions. 44% of Republicans now rate the economy positively (their highest since Trump’s first term), compared with just 10% of Democrats.

On October 8, 1941, Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. was born in Greenville, South Carolina. A close ally of Dr. King, Jackson led Operation Breadbasket to leverage Black consumer power for fair hiring and pay, later founding the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to advance voting rights, economic justice, and human dignity.

“Antifa” is short for “anti-fascist.” Its roots trace back to Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, when militant leftists organized to resist the rise of fascist regimes in Italy and Germany. The name resurfaced in the 1980s with punk and skinhead groups in Germany, who fought neo-Nazi violence in their streets.

Social media gives a voice to the voiceless.
Social media also makes us feel like we’re changing the world… when maybe we aren’t.

TikTok isn’t just for dance challenges anymore — it’s becoming America’s newsroom. A new Pew study finds one in five U.S. adults now regularly get news on TikTok, up from just 3% in 2020. In fact, no other social media platform Pew has studied has experienced faster growth in news consumption during that time. Among adults under 30, that share has soared to 43%. Even a quarter of 30-to-49-year-olds now use TikTok as a news source. More than half of TikTok’s users overall say they consume news there — rivaling Facebook, X, and Truth Social.