America Is Having a Showboater Moment
The Trump administration talks tough on crime but shrugs off the work of real law enforcement.
Read The Atlantic’s Interview With Donald Trump
A conversation with the president about executive power, Signalgate, and 24-karat gold
And the Oscar Goes to … Something the Voters Didn’t Watch
The Academy has a new rule to address this problem. Good luck with enforcing that.
The Cynical Republican Plan to Cut Medicaid
Work requirements set up a thicket of paperwork that leads eligible Medicaid recipients to lose their insurance. That’s the point.
The Golden Age of the Fried-Chicken Sandwich
The sun is setting on burger dominance.
Maybe Star Wars Is Better Without Lightsabers
The TV series Andor achieved greatness by challenging the franchise’s good-and-evil dichotomy.
The Default-Parent Problem
Why do so many people assume that Mom knows what’s going on with the kids, and that Dad does not?
A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths
If you can recognize their signature move, then forewarned is forearmed.
DOGE Is Bringing Back a Deadly Disease
Cuts to agencies that protect workers’ lungs are going to result in the resurgence of a preventable illness.
A Crisis Is No Time for Amateurs
The unfolding conflict between Pakistan and India needs to be handled with the utmost care and competence.
How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy in 53 Days
He used the constitution to shatter the constitution.
The Most Corrupt Presidency in American History
Anne Applebaum on America’s backsliding democracy
American Panopticon
The Trump administration is pooling data on Americans. Experts fear what comes next.
The Debate That Will Determine How Democrats Govern Next Time
Did the party lose in 2024 despite Joe Biden’s economic approach, or because of it?
An Eerily Familiar 20th-Century Hoax
What happened when a mega-famous evangelist went missing?
How America Got Mean
In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.
Trump’s Legal Strategy Has a Name
And it has been deployed by would-be autocrats around the world.
I Should Have Seen This Coming
When I joined the conservative movement in the 1980s, there were two types of people: those who cared earnestly about ideas, and those who wanted only to shock the left. The reactionary fringe has won.
Who Gets Panzer Tattooed on Their Arm?
The ink that tells the story of Trump’s second term
Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?
An emerging critical consensus argues that we’ve entered a cultural dark age. I’m not so sure.