The End of Democratic Delusions
The Trump Reaction and what comes next
George Packer
George Packer is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of 10 books, including The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (a winner of the 2013 National Book Award); Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (the winner of the 2019 Hitchens Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Prize); and, most recently, Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal. Before joining The Atlantic in 2018, he was a staff writer at The New Yorker for 15 years. He writes about American politics and culture and U.S. foreign policy.
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Illustration by Ben Hickey The Magic Mountain Saved My Life
When I was young and adrift, Thomas Mann’s novel gave me a sense of purpose. Today, its vision is startlingly relevant.
Illustration by Anthony Gerace. Sources: Hulton Archive; Joe Vella / Alamy. Under the Spell of the Crowd
An afternoon outside the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden
Leonardo Munoz / AFP / Getty The Three Factors That Will Decide the Election
The convergence of three powerful forces will shape next month’s election in places like Charleroi and throughout the Rust Belt.
Michael Swensen / The New York Times / Redux A Question That Demands an Answer
The plight of Yaroslav Bazylevych poses a challenge to the West.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: AP. What Democrats Can Learn From the Trauma of 1968
They need to overcome the alienation of the radicals and the clannishness of the elites.
Illustration by Jason Lee What Will Become of American Civilization?
Conspiracism and hyper-partisanship in the nation’s fastest-growing city
Ashley Gilbertson for The Atlantic When Writers Silence Writers
PEN America and the authoritarian spirit
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. The Campus-Left Occupation That Broke Higher Education
Elite colleges are now reaping the consequences of promoting a pedagogy that trashed the postwar ideal of the liberal university.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Fred W. McDarrah / Getty; Yuki Iwamura / Getty. Salman Rushdie Strikes Back
In a new memoir, the author reckons with the attack that nearly took his life.
Clement Pascal / The New York Times / Redux
