The Endless Cycle of Social Media
A conversation with Charlie Warzel about the rise of Meta's Threads—and what it could take for the platform to succeed
The Lonely Narrator’s Journey
Osamu Dazai’s 75-year-old novel of alienation
The Sin the House Freedom Caucus Couldn’t Forgive
Marjorie Taylor Greene is no longer radical enough for the GOP’s radical fringe.
What Did People Do Before Smartphones?
No one can remember.
The Most Baffling Argument a Supreme Court Justice Has Ever Made
An opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas exposed the limits of originalism.
Americans Don’t Really Like to Chew
For texturally exciting gummies—powder bursts! ultra-chewy!—you have to look outside the United States.
Step Aside, Joe Biden
The president has no business running for office at age 80.
The Harvard Expert on Dishonesty Who Is Accused of Lying
Francesca Gino stands accused of cheating in her studies of why people cheat. Was she searching for a theory of herself?
The Greatest Museum You’ve Never Heard Of
Home to many art treasures, Milan’s Biblioteca Ambrosiana has preserved an extraordinary collection of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings—now showcased in an American exhibition.
Photos of the Week: Royal Busts, Flying Scotsman, Loo Garden
A tightrope walker above Barcelona, anti-drone-gun practice in Ukraine, a giant illuminated sphere in Las Vegas, a fire-breathing dragon-horse puppet in China, and much more
Biden’s Plan B for Student Debt
Since the Supreme Court struck down his forgiveness plan, the president has been moving fast, but little about this process will be quick.
Zombie Twitter Has Arrived
Instagram’s Threads proves that social media is fated to repeat a cycle of life and death.
Dystopian Fiction Becomes Reality in France
More protests are degenerating into riots, and participants are crossing previously unthinkable lines.
Biden’s ‘Big Build’
The president’s investment agenda is already generating a huge economic impact. Will political benefits follow?
A Radical Idea for Fixing Polarization
Can proportional representation save American democracy?
Compostable Plastic Is Garbage
Sure, these products could be better than regular old plastic. Right now, they’re not.
Google Isn’t Grad School
Having so much information at our fingertips is useful but seductive, easily fooling us into thinking we know more than we do.
We’re in a Golden Age of Illegal Sports Streams
But why should anyone have to break the law to watch the Mets?
The Cult Classic That Captures the Stress of Social Alienation
The Japanese novelist Osamu Dazai wrote, better than almost anyone, about the thin line between isolation and belonging.
Sorry, Honey, It’s Too Hot for Camp
Summer is getting too hot and dangerous, killing the childhood of our imaginations.