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.
‘It’s All Cronyism Going Forward’
A flu researcher the Trump administration elevated to power will now benefit from a massive funding award.
An ‘America First’ Deal With the Houthis
The U.S. has extracted itself from the conflict, not ended it.
Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market
A new sign that AI is competing with college grads
The ‘Significant Risk’ That Republicans Tank the Economy
How the GOP’s indecision in Congress could crash the markets
Breakfast Is Breaking
The classic American version hasn’t changed much in a century. Now it faces an identity crisis.
‘The Worst Internet-Research Ethics Violation I Have Ever Seen’
The most persuasive “people” on a popular subreddit turned out to be a front for a secret AI experiment.
Putin’s Bread and Circus Had Bread
If there’s one cue Trump missed from the Russian dictator, it’s never to mess with economic stability.
Dear James: When My Husband Speaks, My Brain Turns to Mush
Is this a normal marriage thing?
The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books
To read a book in college, it helps to have read a book in high school.
Why Do Collaborators Do It?
In a new novel, Daniel Kehlmann considers why the director G. W. Pabst worked with the Nazis.
What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life?
“Our boyfriends, our significant others, and our husbands are supposed to be No. 1. Our worlds are backward.”
This Conclave Will Be Different
The media have never had so much influence on the men who pick the pope.
The Plight of the Eldest Daughter
Women are expected to be nurturers. Firstborns are expected to be exemplars. Being both is exhausting.
Read The Atlantic’s Interview With Donald Trump
A conversation with the president about executive power, Signalgate, and 24-karat gold
The Collapse of Feminism
Spice Girls slogans and reality-TV aesthetics: A new book traces how feminism morphed into clickable objectification.
How America Got Mean
In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
It’s not just a phase.
How the Best Restaurants Can Make You Feel
Keith McNally’s new memoir is full of revelations, but one stands out: His work is an underrated art form.
Endowments Are Next
Taxing endowments is likely to weaken elite institutions, not fix them. That’s the point.
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