Novels centering on love and sex are among the best-selling books year after year. More and more are challenging the conventions of romance as a genre — and bringing us well beyond fairy tale endings.

Two novels out this summer are pushing some of the boundaries of romance writing and love stories as we know them.

Haili Blassingame’s “They All Fall in Love at the End” follows a young Black writer in D.C. as she explores non-monogamy while her city (and the whole world) deals with the fallout of the 2024 election.

And in Tia Williams’ “The Missed Connection,” a casting agent tries to find the handsome stranger who sat next to her on a flight while navigating past trauma and a shaky work-life balance.

We ask these new authors about writing complex love stories.

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When a couple struggles to conceive, the assumption is often that there is something wrong with the woman. Women are evaluated for infertility far more often than men. 

But male factor infertility accounts for about half of all infertility cases. And when that’s the case, men are less likely to talk about it, seek support, or even get tested in the first place.  

In this installment of our “In Good Health” series, we talk about male infertility — what causes it, what can be done about it, and what it’s like to go through it.

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This week, on the southern shores of Lake Geneva, leaders of the Group of Seven countries gathered for their annual summit.

There are several pressing issues that require attention including the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, the resulting economic crisis, the state of the Persian Gulf, and long term questions about the future of relations with Iran.

The G7 meeting also notably brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy face-to-face with President Donald Trump. Trump told reporters that the war Ukraine was not a priority for the United States, saying that his country had “nothing to do” with a war that was “thousands of miles away.”

We discuss what this 2026 G7 meeting reveals about the state of the U.S. relationship with its most important allies, especially after months of a war of choice with Iran.

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It’s a busy time for the Supreme Court – with 20 cases left and only weeks left in its term. The Court has a stacked docket of high-profile cases that could have seismic effects for years to come.

Decisions are expected soon on immigration and Birthright Citizenship, a nearly 160-year legal precedent that says those born in the US are citizens. Plus decisions on mail in ballots, transgender athletes and the president’s ability to fire the heads of independent agencies.

We’ll get into all of it and what these decisions could mean for you.

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President Trump is working fast to remake the nation’s capital in his image.

His major construction projects include demolishing the East Wing of the White House for his proposed ballroom and a planned 250-foot arch that would dwarf the Lincoln Memorial.

As part of the mission to renovate D.C., the White House has bypassed many of the checks put in place for any president seeking major transformations in the city — like firing all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts and installing deputies who align with his policies.

But as the president moves to transform D.C., what does the lack of oversight say about how transparent the administration is being with its plans? And where is the money from these projects coming from?

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The latest inflation number are out, and prices are rising fast. Last month, prices soared at the fastest rates seen in three years.

A new $70 billion immigration enforcement bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday. The package funds ICE and Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s second term in office.

And the World Cup began on Thursday, with Mexico taking on South Africa in a replay of the opening match of the 2010 tournament.

And, in global news, early in the week President Donald Trump told reporters the U.S. would hit Iran hard after Iranian forces attacked a helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz this week. He also threatened to “assume total control” of Iran’s oil and gas industries. On Thursday, he canceled plans for those attacks.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are going through a rough patch. When the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, they appeared to be shoulder to shoulder. But over the past 100 days, things have changed. Reports of expletive filled calls and defiance on the part of each leader continue to grow.

And on Tuesday, anti-immigrant riots broke out in Belfast after a Sudanese asylum seeker was charged with attempted murder in a stabbing attack that left a man with serious face and neck wounds.

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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In 1966, the United States declared victory over a destructive flesh-eating parasite that devastated livestock. The New World Screwworm is a fly whose larvae burrow into the living flesh of mammals. It was eradicated after a long campaign that involved releasing millions of sterile flies over infested areas.

Last week, that fly came back.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed five cases of larvae contamination in Texas and New Mexico – the first detections in decades. Federal officials say the food supply is safe, but the cattle industry is on high alert. The American cattle supply is already at a 75-year low. Beef prices are high. And a screwworm outbreak could make it worse.

Outside farms and ranches, the tick population is growing and spreading in new parts of the country. Emergency room visits for tick bites hit a 10-year seasonal high in April. And a growing number of Americans are discovering they’ve developed an allergy to red meat triggered by tick bites.

We sit down with a panel of experts to talk about it.

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104 games. 48 teams. Three host nations. One dream.

The men’s World Cup returns to North America for the first time in 32 years. And fans from all over the world are descending on cities like Dallas, Toronto, and Monterrey, hoping to watch their nations find glory.

But it’s not all grass and glamour. The run-up to this tournament has been plagued by issues around ticket pricing, transportation costs, threats of immigration enforcement, and the consequences of geopolitical conflict.

What does it all mean for the action on the field?

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Across the U.S., cities and communities are celebrating Pride during the month of June.

At the same time, a new poll from Gallup suggests attitudes around LGBTQ issues are shifting. After two decades, support for the community has now dropped. The swing is being largely driven by republicans. Just four years ago, polling data suggested a majority of Republicans supported same sex marriage at 55 percent. That number is now at 37 percent.

Trans issues, specifically, is another story. Only 5 percent of Republicans say changing one’s gender is morally acceptable. That number was at 22 percent five years ago.

Trans rights in the U.S. are a hot button issue among conservative politicians and voters. President Donald Trump campaigned on it, spending millions of dollars on anti-trans ads. Since then, the administration has rolled back protections for and access to gender-affirming care.

What is the state of LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S. today? And what does this reported dip in acceptance mean for the community?

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Last week marked the anniversary of Congress passing the 19th Amendment.

In 1919, that Constitutional amendment gave women the right to vote — although it only applied in practice to white women for decades. Poll taxes, literacy tests, and Jim Crow-era state laws prevented Black women from voting.

Fast forward 107 years, and a growing conservative movement now wants to repeal the 19th Amendment and the other hard-won rights of women and people of color. It’s called “masculinism,” and its goal is to combat what its believers see as a “feminized” U.S. society.

In this edition of “If You Can Keep It,” we explore how a fringe movement on the right is gaining momentum thanks to its connections to the Trump administration. What do followers of this movement want? And what does it mean for our democracy if a growing movement in conservative politics wants to re-institute patriarchy?

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted this week to end the war in Iran. While not yet passed into law, it demonstrates a break between the Trump administration and the GOP-majority legislative body.

In light of its recent ruling concerning the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court once again cleared the way for Alabama to use its new Congressional map. This comes despite a three-judge panel has blocking the map in late May.

A convicted Jan. 6 rioter was hired at the Pentagon this week. Elias Irizarry will now work in one of the agency’s offices that handles highly-classified military information.

And, in global news, talks between Washington and Tehran are hanging by a thread. Now, Iranian officials say they have yet to deploy the full power of their military and they are prepared for any scenario, even a direct confrontation.

Ukrainian missiles hit the Russian city of St. Petersburg this week as Vladimir Putin’s premiere economic forum begins.

And during testimony on Capitol Hill, Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Greenland remains a part of Denmark “for now.”

We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.

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