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.
A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths
If you can recognize their signature move, then forewarned is forearmed.
Who Gets Panzer Tattooed on Their Arm?
The ink that tells the story of Trump’s second term
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.
How the U.S. Lost the Canadian Election
Trump’s threats to annex Canada reversed its political trend—but they should not reverse its commitment to free trade.
Marvel Doesn’t Have to Try So Hard
The new film Thunderbolts* understands that bigger does not mean better.
Russia Is in Demographic Free Fall. Putin Isn’t Helping.
The Russian president is enacting one of the world’s most extreme natalism programs—and one of the weirdest.
The Sociopaths Among Us—And How to Avoid Them
You’re bound to come across the “Dark Triad” type of malignant narcissists in life—and they can be superficially appealing. Better to look for their exact opposite.
Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market
A new sign that AI is competing with college grads
Six Books You’ll Want to Read Outdoors
Reading has been unfairly maligned as an indoor activity for far too long.
DNA Tests Are Uncovering the True Prevalence of Incest
People are discovering the truth about their biological parents with DNA—and learning that incest is far more common than many think.
Everything Is the ‘Twitter Files’ Now
The State Department is using Elon Musk’s playbook.
Universities Deserve Special Standing
A good life and a good society require an ongoing search for understanding and knowledge.
Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber
A series of purposely brutalizing psychological experiments may have confirmed Theodore Kaczynski’s still-forming belief in the evil of science while he was in college.
The Key to Critical Self-Awareness
The ancient-Greek commandment Know thyself turns out to be a great modern way to become happier, more empathetic, and more successful.
Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?
More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.
The Texas County Where ‘Everybody Has Somebody in Their Family’ With Dementia
And many people with the condition are cared for at home.
Photos of the Week: May Day, Fire Festival, Finger Wrestling
A sandstorm in northeastern Syria, the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, members of ZZ Top in Australia, and much more
Trump’s Hollow Defense of Tariffs
His usual marketing savvy is nowhere to be seen.