Trump’s Real Secretary of State
How the president’s friend and golfing partner Steve Witkoff got one of the hardest jobs on the planet
The Question the Trump Administration Couldn’t Answer About Birthright Citizenship
The government doesn’t seem to know how it will implement this massive change in policy.
The Wrong Way to Motivate Your Kid
When children fall short, many parents’ instinct is to take away something they love. That’s the wrong impulse.
24 Books to Get Lost in This Summer
The Atlantic’s writers and editors have chosen fiction and nonfiction to match all sorts of moods.
The End of Rule of Law in America
The 47th president seems to wish he were king—and he is willing to destroy what is precious about this country to get what he wants.
The Visionary of Trump 2.0
Russell Vought is advancing a radical ideological project decades in the making.
The Birthright-Citizenship Case Isn’t Really About Birthright Citizenship
And there’s good reason for that.
The Secret Cruelty of T. S. Eliot
Before she died, Emily Hale donated love letters she had received from the author while his wife was ill. Now public, the writings reveal his quiet duplicity.
Trump’s Tactical Burger Unit Is Beyond Parody
Happy Meal Team Six
The Most Corrupt Presidency in American History
Anne Applebaum on America’s backsliding democracy
A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths
If you can recognize their signature move, then forewarned is forearmed.
An Old-School Pitching Coach Says I Told You So
Leo Mazzone was right about the undue focus on pitch velocity.
The Anti-Social Century
Americans are now spending more time alone than ever. It’s changing our personalities, our politics, and even our relationship to reality.
The New MAGA World Order
This week’s Gulf tour revealed that Trump’s transactional foreign policy doesn’t lack values. It just has really bad ones.
Return of the Shaman
How visionary healers became a fixture of contemporary American culture and politics
What We Inherit From Our Parents
We’re not doomed to repeat their mistakes, or destined to mimic their best behavior.
Dear James: I Hate My Post-college Life
I’m utterly lost.
Weight-Loss Drugs Aren’t Really About Weight
To figure out who will benefit most, doctors should consider a particularly toxic kind of fat.
A Different Way to Think About Medicine’s Most Stubborn Enigma
A new book shows that dementia isn’t just a loss, and memory is much more than recollection.
Maybe Star Wars Is Better Without Lightsabers
The TV series Andor achieved greatness by challenging the franchise’s good-and-evil dichotomy.