The Republicans Threatening to Shut Down the Government
Watch the full episode of Washington Week With The Atlantic, September 15, 2023
How Siblings Shape Who We Are
For many of us, these relationships are the longest of our life.
Scientists Have Spent 40 Years Trying to Understand Salt
How our tongues distinguish well-seasoned from oversalted is surprisingly complicated.
The Biden Impeachment Is Benghazi All Over Again
Both inquiries are based far more on vibes and political machinations than they are on hard evidence.
Nobody Should Care About a Woman’s ‘Body Count’
Popular internet personalities are peddling repressive, misogynistic ideas to their young male fans.
Ukraine Isn’t the Reason the U.S. Is Unprepared for War
A lack of defense production has created an alarming gap between America’s strategy and its capabilities.
The Mysterious Return of a Soviet Statue in Russia
A monument to Feliks Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Bolsheviks’ feared secret police, has been quietly rehabilitated. Why?
The Undoing of a Great American Band
Sly and the Family Stone suggested new possibilities in music and life—until it all fell apart.
Every App Wants to Be a Shopping App
TikTok is the latest social-media platform to break into commerce—even though users aren’t exactly clamoring for it.
What Writers Gain From Mentorship
A conversation with Vauhini Vara about mentoring writers of color and expanding access to literary spaces
Libya’s Unnatural Disaster
What a deluged town reveals about a broken country
You’ve Never Seen a Star Like This
A new image from the Webb telescope shows an infant star not as a diamond hanging in the sky, but as a velvety, dark orb surrounded by jets of radiant dust.
The Brain of a Man Who Is Always Thinking About Ancient Rome
Cullen Murphy wrote a book on the Roman empire—and sees parallels everywhere.
This Week in Books: Should We Still Read Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
A conversation with Clint Smith on the moral complexity in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous book
The Young Conservatives Trying to Make Eugenics Respectable Again
The pseudoscience of race provides both a justification of hierarchies and an enemy to rail against.
The Very Common, Very Harmful Thing Well-Meaning Parents Do
Surveilling your kids will only backfire.
The Real Issue in the UAW Strike
Unions fear that the auto industry is using the transition toward EVs to advance a second shift away from well-paying jobs.
Political Art Isn’t Always Better Art
The cultural critic dream hampton on the false divide between “conscious” and mainstream rap
Don’t Let Love Take Over Your Life
The case for love-life balance
The Morning Show Has a Star Problem
The series should capture the wild ambition and tense charms of the TV business. Its leads don’t telegraph any of that.