We’ve Lost the Plot
Our constant need for entertainment has blurred the line between fiction and reality—on television, in American politics, and in our everyday lives.
Megan Garber
Megan Garber is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She is the recipient of a Mirror Award for her writing about the media, and she previously worked as a reporter for the Nieman Journalism Lab and as a critic for the Columbia Journalism Review. At The Atlantic, she writes about the intersection of politics and culture (which often, but not always, means that she writes about reality TV). She is the author of On Misdirection: Magic, Mayhem, American Politics.
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Trump may lash out at the network. But the two will always make up.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP / Getty; Al Drago / Bloomberg / Getty. The Short-Circuiting of the American Mind
A century-old book foresaw Trump’s most basic strategy.
Photo-illustration by Alma Haser. Source: Bloomberg / Getty. What Silicon Valley Knew About Tech-Bro Paternalism
The show anticipated what can happen when masculine entitlement and artificial intelligence meet.
Ali Paige Goldstein / Everett Collection SNL Has Entered the Chat
In last night’s cold open, the show brought a new twist to an old satirical tradition.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Will Heath / NBC; ExpressIPhoto / Getty. Reality TV Just Leveled Up
The Traitors is part satire, part camp, and pure genius.
Illustration by Allison Zaucha / The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; Euan Cherry / Peacock. Trump Is Breaking the Fourth Wall
Reality television helped propel Donald Trump to the White House. Now its conventions are helping him expand its powers.
Illustration by Jonelle Afurong / The Atlantic. Sources: Bloomberg / Getty ; Andrew Harnik / Staff / Getty; Tasos Katopodis / Stringer / Getty; Joe Raedle / Staff / Getty. Control. Alt. Delete.
Government via keyword is not “efficiency.” It is an abuse of power.
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Source: Getty. You Are Cordially Invited to an Event That Could Ruin Your Life
How could any woman resist Senator Lindsey Graham’s generous summons to speak publicly about her claim of sexual assault?
Illustration by Allison Zaucha / The Atlantic. Source: Peter Dazeley / Getty. The Onion’s Most Trenchant Headline
The satirical site’s announcement that it is acquiring Alex Jones’s Infowars created confusion—and perfectly captured the media world we’re living in.
Illustration by The Atlantic The 21st Century’s Greatest, Ghastliest Showman
Donald Trump has made himself a spectacle—and inescapable.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty.
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