How John F. Kennedy Fell for the Lost Cause
And the grandmother who wouldn’t let him get away with it
The Men Who Started the War
John Brown and the Secret Six—the abolitionists who funded the raid on Harpers Ferry—confronted a question as old as America: When is violence justified?
How the Negro Spiritual Changed American Popular Music—And America Itself
In 1871, the Fisk University singers embarked on a tour that introduced white Americans to a Black sound that would reshape the nation.
Freedmen’s Town
How one photographer documented the disappearing landscape of Houston’s Fourth Ward
What The Atlantic Got Wrong About Reconstruction
In 1901, a series of articles took a dim view of the era, and of the idea that all Americans ought to participate in the democratic process.
How Black Americans Kept Reconstruction Alive
The federal government abandoned Reconstruction in 1877, but Black people didn’t give up on the moment’s promise.
The Annotated Frederick Douglass
In 1866, the famous abolitionist laid out his vision for radically reshaping America in the pages of The Atlantic.
What Is Saturday Night Live Without the Shameless Self-Promotion?
Timothée Chalamet’s post-strike hosting gig was a celebration that doubled as a return to business as usual for the show.
A Cathartic Watch
Entertainment musts from Elizabeth Bruenig
Earthen Rivers Are Flowing Through the West’s Scorched Forests
After wildfires come devastating landslides.
Safe Room
The False Binary in Higher Ed
Liberal education and career training aren’t mutually exclusive.
London’s Day of Creeping Extremism
On a day dedicated to peace, the British capital is consumed by competing symbols.
A Paradoxical Week for Democrats
Watch the full episode of Washington Week With The Atlantic, November 10, 2023
What on Earth Is Nathan Fielder Up to Now?
The comedian's newest show, The Curse, is weird and off-putting, yet intensely compelling.
What We Do With Our Faces
Why do Americans smile so much?
Albert Brooks Everlasting
A conversation with the legendary comedian and filmmaker about what annoys him, how you know when something is funny, and his theory about John Lennon
The Show That Transforms Our Understanding of History
Season by season, For All Mankind has become less a tale of an alternate future than a meditation on historical memory.
Finally, a Coral Success Story
Scientists have spent years cryopreserving coral in the hopes of restoring reefs. For the first time, some unfrozen specimens have reached adulthood.
The Timeshare Comes for Us All
I was a patsy, a sucker, a fool.