Gal Beckerman

Gal Beckerman is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author, most recently, of The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas.

Latest

  1. Be Like Sisyphus

    How to embrace hopeful pessimism in a moment of despair

    Photo illustration of storm clouds over a black sky.
    Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Source: Getty
  2. The Bizarre Brain of Werner Herzog

    The Teutonic overthinker’s latest documentary reveals more about his strange mind than the brain writ large.

    A collage showing photograph of Werner Herzog superimposed over a scientific illustration of a human brain.
    Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Sources: Argot Pictures; Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty; ilbusca / Getty.
  3. A Mindset for the Trump Era

    With authoritarianism rising everywhere, don’t forget about what the dissidents have to teach us.

    Many white and opaque silhouettes walking in one direction, one in bright red walking the other way, with a giant shadow of Donald Trump behind them.
    Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty / Alamy.