The U.S. Government UFO Cover-Up Is Real—But It’s Not What You Think
Decades of declassified memos, internal reports, and study projects create the sense that the government doesn’t have satisfying answers for the most perplexing sightings.
What the Hunger Games Movies Always Understood
The series succeeded not because it had a clear political philosophy, but because it understood the power of entertainment above all.
The Director Tackling the Dark Side of Millennial Desire
With Promising Young Woman and now Saltburn, Emerald Fennell is turning recent history into gleaming poisoned fantasies.
A Must-See Comedy About Miserable People Looking for Love
Fallen Leaves, which follows two people trying to survive the modern world, is one of the year’s best films.
Not a World War But a World at War
The past two years have seen the most conflicts of any time since the end of the Second World War.
What the Gig Economy Does to a Human
In an age of precarious labor, not every life amounts to a satisfying story.
Photos of the Week: Snowy Dunes, Northern Lights, Plato’s Cave
A pogo-stick-record attempt in Pennsylvania, airport-fauna management in Brazil, lenticular clouds above Corsica, holiday light shows in England, continued Israeli air strikes in Gaza, and much more
Trump Crosses a Crucial Line
But Americans can still choose a better path.
Don’t Be Fooled by the AI Apocalypse
A guide to understanding which fears are real and which aren’t
A Redacted Past Slowly Emerges
This year’s winner of the National Book Award for Fiction, Justin Torres’s Blackouts is a complex story about recovering the history of erased and ignored gay lives.
The Non-end of George Santos
An investigation into the New York congressman is a spicy read, but he still refuses to take responsibility.
Don’t Expect U.S.-China Relations to Get Better
The summit showed that Beijing still needs Washington. That’s a problem Xi Jinping is trying to solve.
The Poststrike Future of Hollywood
How our streaming lives are about to change
Welcome to Time-Travel Thursdays
A newsletter from The Atlantic about the history of ideas
Why the Most Hated Man in Israel Might Stay in Power
Benjamin Netanyahu has a path to political survival.
The Unexpected Power of Second-Chance Romance
Pop culture of late, such as The Golden Bachelor, has been curious—and insightful—about love after 50 in a way that feels new and honest.
The Nameless Children of Gaza
Nursing my Palestinian American baby in New York, I can’t stop thinking about all of the suffering thousands of miles away.
Why You Maybe Shouldn’t Write a Memoir
Talking about ourselves too much hurts our happiness—and can signal deeper problems.
Elon Musk’s Disturbing ‘Truth’
The billionaire affirmed the deadliest anti-Semitic conspiracy theory in recent American history.
Public Schools Were Not Inevitable
Adam Harris on what American education owes to 19th-century abolitionists and reformers