Two Jewish Writers, a Bottle of Whiskey, and a Post–October 7 Reality
One hundred days after Hamas’s attack, looking back at a candid and intense late-night talk with two prominent authors, Joshua Cohen and Ruby Namdar.
Fox News Isn’t a Kingmaker
If it were, Ron DeSantis would be the Republican front-runner.
Poem for Falling Bodies
A poem for Sunday
Trump on Trial—And on the Trail
Watch the full episode of Washington Week With The Atlantic, January 12, 2024.
What Boredom Actually Means
The virtues and frustrations of being bored
A Surprising Success Story for Humpback Whales
Half a century after nearly being wiped out, the whales are back in an Antarctic bay.
Don’t Fire People for Making Pornography in Their Free Time
The counterintuitive case for ignoring a university chancellor’s X-rated flicks.
Texas Pulls an Ugly Stunt on the Border
National leaders left an immigration-policy vacuum that the Lone Star State is eager to fill.
What Conversations About DEI Are Missing
Plus: Is declining fertility a failure of capitalism?
Biden Had the Power to Strike the Houthis
Every president has wide authority to use military force.
Substack Was a Ticking Time Bomb
The platform seeded its own content-moderation crisis.
ChatGPT’s FarmVille Moment
The immediate future of generative AI looks a bit like Facebook’s past.
The Return of TV’s Most Soulful Show
True Detective: Night Country pays tribute to its origins while charting new territory.
What to Read to Understand Russia
Anastasia Edel, a Russian-born American social historian, recommends books about the country as the war in Ukraine continues.
The Houthis Have Backed Iran Into a Corner
A militia Tehran helped build may be dragging the country to war.
How Octavia Butler Told the Future
We need her conception of “histofuturism” now more than ever.
Is Economic Pessimism the Media’s Fault?
Americans say the economy is worse than it is. According to a new study, so does newspaper coverage.
China Won’t Leave Taiwan’s Election to the Taiwanese
Taiwan is beating back efforts to subvert Saturday’s vote.
A Musical Reboot That Can’t Cross the Generational Gap
The reboot of the classic teen comedy Mean Girls sands off its source material’s edges, to mixed results.
Exile Changes You Forever
Hisham Matar’s new novel looks at the price of being forced out of one’s home and the impossibility of ever really going back again.