How the Ivy League Broke America
The meritocracy isn’t working. We need something new.
The Business-School Scandal That Just Keeps Getting Bigger
The rot runs deeper than almost anyone has guessed.
What the Broligarchs Want from Trump
Tremendous power is flowing to tech and finance magnates.
Three Ways to Become a Deeper Thinker
You don’t have to become a Buddhist monk to realize the value of contemplating hard questions without clear answers.
The Right Has a Bluesky Problem
The X exodus is weakening a way for conservatives to speak to the masses.
A Good Country’s Bad Choice
And what I got wrong about the 2024 election
The Trump-Trumpist Divide
The incoming president wants to do things his voters have not embraced.
What to Read If You’re Angry About the Election
These seven books aren’t a cure for rage and despair. Think of them instead as a prescription.
What Pete Hegseth’s Nomination Is Really About
Revenge on the military is just the start of it.
Climate Diplomacy’s $300 Billion Failure
Climate negotiations at COP29 ended in a deal that mostly showed how far the world is from facing climate change’s real dangers.
Donald Trump’s Most Dangerous Cabinet Pick
Pete Hegseth considers himself to be at war with basically everybody to Trump’s left, and it is by no means clear that he means war metaphorically.
The Atlantic Gift Guide
The Atlantic has chosen 65 gifts for bringing more merriment, adventure, and wonder to the ones you love.
The Long-Held Habits You Might Need to Reconsider
One of the most humbling parts of being alive is realizing you’ve been doing a simple thing wrong.
What Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Get About Women in Combat
Trump’s allies treat every change in social norms as a DEI project gone wrong.
The Sense That Most Defines a Culture
Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue shows how colonization shapes a country’s culinary landscape.
Democracy Is Not Over
Americans who care about democracy have every right to feel appalled and frightened. But then they have work to do.
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
It’s not just a phase.
He Was the World’s Longest-Held Death-Row Inmate. He Was Also Innocent.
Each day for 50 years, the Japanese boxer Iwao Hakamada woke up unsure whether it would be his last.
Photos of the Week: Bomb Cyclone, Rainbow Hills, Park Hawk
Christmas decorations in England, a virtual taekwondo championship in Singapore, a mummified saber-toothed tiger cub in Russia, a new volcanic eruption in Iceland, and much more
The Cancer Gene More Men Should Test For
BRCA mutations are inextricably linked with breasts, but they can also lead to cancer in the pancreas, the prostate, and maybe more parts of the body.