Walk on Air Against Your Better Judgment
What Seamus Heaney gave me
January 2025
In This Issue
Seamus Heaney, the Boley Rodeo, a business-school scandal, and the Hawaiians who want their nation back. Plus new fiction, DIY backyard pizza, the gender war, a Bob Dylan biopic, rethinking old age, democratic delusions, and more.
Cover Story
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Can the Rodeo Save a Historic Black Town?
One woman’s quest to rescue Boley, Oklahoma
The Business-School Scandal That Just Keeps Getting Bigger
The rot runs deeper than almost anyone has guessed.
The Hawaiians Who Want Their Nation Back
In 1893, a U.S.-backed coup overthrew the Islands’ sovereign government. What does America owe Hawai‘i now?
Fiction
Illustration by Katherine Lam Zamboni
A short story
Dispatches
Illustration by Ben Hickey The End of Democratic Delusions
The Trump Reaction and what comes next
Illustration by Ben Hickey Misogyny Comes Roaring Back
Donald Trump will return to Washington flanked by an entourage intent on imposing its archaic vision of gender politics on the nation.
Illustration by Ben Hickey America’s Lonely Future
What happens when the nation takes a zero-sum approach to the world?
Illustration by Ben Hickey The ‘Mainstream Media’ Has Already Lost
The newspapers and networks of the 20th century are ceding ground. And the people taking their place aren’t playing by the same rules.
Culture & Critics
Illustration by Allie Sullberg No One Has to Settle for Bad Pizza Anymore
With a bit of practice, you can make restaurant-quality pies in your own yard. And you should.
Illustration by Liz Hart. Source: Getty. Bob Dylan’s Carnival Act
His identity was a performance. His writing was sleight of hand. He bamboozled his own audience.
Illustration by Bénédicte Muller America Needs to Radically Rethink What It Means to Be Old
As 100-year lifespans become more common, the time has come for a new approach to school, work, and retirement.
Departments
The Atlantic The Commons: America Needs a Leader, Not a Salesman
Readers respond to our November 2024 cover story and more.
The Atlantic Caleb's Inferno: January 2025
A devilish crossword puzzle
Poetry
Illustration by Elizabeth Hart
