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The U.S. Threat Looming Over Canada

The consequences if Trump followed through on his belligerent rhetoric about a “51st state” would be catastrophic.

The Plight of the Eldest Daughter

Women are expected to be nurturers. Firstborns are expected to be exemplars. Being both is exhausting.

Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market

A new sign that AI is competing with college grads

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.

How to Define Old Age

Why would the World Health Organization want to call “old age” a disease?

Why Are Young People Everywhere So Unhappy?

Here’s the answer to that—and what we can do about it.

The Most Infamous Narcissist in Literary History Gets a Smartphone

A new stage production of The Picture of Dorian Gray conveys the cost of posturing online.

A Trip Into Alaska’s Copper River Valley in 1902

At the end of the 19th century, an estimated 100,000 people joined the Klondike Gold Rush, seeking their fortunes in the interior of Alaska and Canada’s Yukon territory. Many gold seekers who chose the arduous path inland from Alaska’s port of Valdez also discovered rich copper deposits along the way. The U.S. Army soon started work on the Valdez Trail, which would become the main route between the mining fields and Valdez. Several competing businesses rushed to build a railroad along the route. In 1902, one of those groups sent a team of photographers, the Miles Brothers, to document the town, the growing trail, the landscape, its newly arrived residents, and Alaska Natives. Prints of these photographs were collected into an album I was able to digitize recently at the U.S. National Archives, giving us a remarkable glimpse into daily life along a rough trail into the Alaskan interior, nearly 125 years ago.

The Very Common, Very Harmful Thing Well-Meaning Parents Do

Surveilling your kids will only backfire.

‘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.

Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid

It’s not just a phase.

A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths

If you can recognize their signature move, then forewarned is forearmed.

The Writer Who Understood Aloneness

Mavis Gallant’s short stories are about people, especially women, who prefer to live on the social margins. I cherish one of them most of all.

Donald Trump’s Cruel and Unusual Innovations

Deporting illegal immigrants is lawful. Imprisoning them in El Salvador makes a mockery of the Eighth Amendment.

Is Anthony Weiner Ready to Go Another Round?

The ex-congressman whose name became a punch line is running for New York’s city council. In some ways, he hasn’t changed a bit.

How to Stay in Touch With Your Friends

The Atlantic’s writers and editors share what they do when life gets in the way.

What Parents of Boys Should Know

Daughters tend to receive higher levels of affection and patience at home than sons. But the sons might need it more.

History Will Judge the Complicit

Why have Republican leaders abandoned their principles in support of an immoral and dangerous president?

What the Press Got Wrong About Hitler

Journalists accurately reported that the führer was a “Little Man” whom the whole world was laughing at. It didn’t matter.

How Scientists Can Be Good Citizens

We have a responsibility to ensure that our discoveries are used in the public interest. That isn’t always easy.