The SNL Sketch That Captured Millennial Anxiety
The guest host Quinta Brunson was the perfect fit to introduce “Forever 31.”
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 Very Common, Very Harmful Thing Well-Meaning Parents Do
Surveilling your kids will only backfire.
Why Are Young People Everywhere So Unhappy?
Here’s the answer to that—and what we can do about it.
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.
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.
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.
History Will Judge the Complicit
Why have Republican leaders abandoned their principles in support of an immoral and dangerous president?
Donald Trump’s Cruel and Unusual Innovations
Deporting illegal immigrants is lawful. Imprisoning them in El Salvador makes a mockery of the Eighth Amendment.
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
It’s not just a phase.
‘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.
A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths
If you can recognize their signature move, then forewarned is forearmed.
The Oligarchs Who Came to Regret Supporting Hitler
They helped him in pursuit of profit. Many ended up in concentration camps.
Hitler’s Terrible Tariffs
By seeking to “liberate” Germans from a globalized world order, the Nazi government sent the national economy careening backwards.
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.
The Great Cousin Decline
Families are shrinking. But the weirdest family role is a vital one.
Who Gets Panzer Tattooed on Their Arm?
The ink that tells the story of Trump’s second term
The End of the ‘Generic’ Grocery-Store Brand
They’re no longer terrible—in fact, they’re often the draw.
The ‘Profound’ Experience of Seeing a New Color
The ecstasy of “olo”
The Warehouse Worker Who Became a Philosopher
Eleven years ago, the podcast host Stephen West was stocking groceries.