Radio Atlantic
The Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Like the magazine, the show will “road test” the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversations—and sometimes sharp debates—with the most insightful thinkers and writers on topics of the day, Radio Atlantic will complicate overly simplistic views. It will cut through the noise with clarifying, personal narratives. It will, hopefully, help listeners make up their own mind about certain ideas.
The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. Radio Atlantic aims to bring some order to our thinking—and encourage listeners to be purposeful about how they unstick their mind.
The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. Radio Atlantic aims to bring some order to our thinking—and encourage listeners to be purposeful about how they unstick their mind.
Episodes (315)
Welcome to the Vaccine Free-for-All
As Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. works to dismantle the national vaccine infrastructure, states have started going their own way. Governors in California, Washington State,...
A Blueprint for Military Takeovers
President Donald Trump recently deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and has talked about federalizing the Guard in other cities across the country. In this episode of Radio Atlantic we...
Peace in Ukraine Is Not a Real-Estate Deal
There was so much symbolism in President Donald Trump’s two most recent international summits—in Alaska last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and then at the White House this week with...
No Easy Fix | 3. A Golden Opportunity
In July, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for an expansion of involuntary commitment—forcing people into treatment facilities—in response to the homelessness crisis. San...
No Easy Fix | 2. Tolerance
At the onset of the AIDS crisis in the early 1980s, U.S. cities began trying new ways to stop the spread of infection among drug users. Ideas that were first seen as radical, such as needle exchanges,...
No Easy Fix | 1. Vanishing Point
For the past five years, American cities have tried—and often failed—to meaningfully address worsening homelessness and addiction.
In San Francisco, a city that has become emblematic of these...
In San Francisco, a city that has become emblematic of these...
A New Kind of Family Separation
The Trump administration is again going after undocumented minors—but their approach is different than it was during his first presidency.
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Read more from Nick Miroff.
Read Stephanie...
– – –
Read more from Nick Miroff.
Read Stephanie...
Epstein Conspiracy, or Epstein Conspiracy Theory?
Donald Trump and his Department of Justice kicked the conspiracy-theory beehive last week when they rescinded previous promises to make public the government’s secret files on Jeffrey Epstein, the...
Should You Be Having More Babies?
In the United States and many other Western countries, the decision to have children or not is sometimes framed as a political affiliation: You’re either in league with conservative pronatalists, or...
The Patriotic Punk
The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg talks to Ken Casey, frontman for the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys, about the time he called out a fan in the audience who was wearing a MAGA shirt....
Who Could Rule Iran Next?
We talk with the writer Arash Azizi about what kinds of seismic changes could be coming for his home country of Iran, and whether he thinks they could make things better—or much worse.
Read more from...
Read more from...
Change Your Personality
A few years ago, Olga Khazan, author of Me, But Better, set out to change her personality, which even she found unpleasant. After consulting with experts on personality plasticity and then setting a...
The Real Problem With Trump's Parade
In this bonus episode of Radio Atlantic, we talk with staff writer Tom Nichols about how all the pieces fit together: the military parade, the president’s speech at Fort Bragg, and the dispatching of...
Elon and the Genius Trap
Explaining how Musk tanked his reputation has many ways: First, he alienated environmentalists by teaming up with Trump, and then he alienated Trump fans by insulting their hero. Another way is clear...
Mossad’s Former Chief Calls the War in Gaza ‘Useless’
In April, 250 former Israeli intelligence officers signed their names to an open letter of protest asking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to proceed with his plans to escalate the war on Gaza....
Why Pilots Don't Get Therapy
The Atlantic’s Jocelyn Frank reports on the detailed system that may be unintentionally leading pilots to avoid the mental-health care that they need, and increasing risks to passenger safety.
Get...
Get...
What RFK Jr. Doesn’t Understand About Autism
We talk with Eric Garcia, author of We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation and a political reporter at the Independent, about the myths spreading about autism under Health Secretary Robert...
Trump and the Crown Prince
Lavender carpets. Golden swords. Arabian horses. President Trump arrived in the Gulf to a royal welcome. Both sides seem delighted about what they’re getting out of one another. So what are they...
The Art of the Doll
Recently, Donald Trump mused that “maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know?” We talk with a doll manufacturer and a policy analyst about tariffs and Americans’...
Why Is Trump So Into Crypto?
In the past few years, Donald Trump has changed his mind about cryptocurrency. He’s gone from believing it was “based on thin air” to wanting the U.S. to become the “crypto capital of the world.”...
Trump Is Enjoying Himself
Why would President Donald Trump invite The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, whom Trump has attacked as a “total sleazebag,” to meet with him in the Oval Office? We talk with Goldberg...
Elon Musk's Luck Runs Out
For a while, it seemed as if DOGE Elon and Tesla Elon could exist in the same space-time continuum. One of them carried out Donald Trump’s ruthless cost-cutting mission while the other pitched cars...
Sarah McBride Is Used to the Hate
Sarah McBride made models of the White House when she was 6. Her childhood dream, as a Delawarean, was to meet Joe Biden.
Then last November, one of her ambitions came true when was elected to the...
Then last November, one of her ambitions came true when was elected to the...
Tariffs Are Paused. Uncertainty Isn't.
The stock market has been tanking since President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs a week ago. Then Wednesday mid-afternoon—after Trump reversed course on global tariffs—the market experienced...
Why Trump Wants to Control Universities
If the Trump administration’s actions and rhetoric against universities sound vaguely familiar, that may be because they’ve already happened elsewhere. Over the years, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor...
Classified, or Not Classified?
The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, and staff writer Shane Harris published more details from a Signal chat between President Donald Trump’s top advisers that included sensitive details...
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Our Editor Their War Plans
The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, received a connection request on Signal from a “Michael Waltz,” which is the name of President Donald Trump’s national security adviser. Two days...
The Bird-Flu Tipping Point
It’s been five years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. But there may be another potential pandemic on the horizon: bird flu. Against the backdrop of growing anti-vaccination sentiment,...
Water Is Not Political
How has the cease-fire changed water access in Gaza? And what does it mean when the people in charge of keeping the water flowing are displaced? Host Hanna Rosin talks with Claudine Ebeid, The...
The Mind Readers
How far would a parent go to understand their child? How much might a parent believe?
A popular new podcast claims that some nonspeaking kids with autism can read people’s minds. But is it real? Or...
A popular new podcast claims that some nonspeaking kids with autism can read people’s minds. But is it real? Or...
What Does a Robot With a Soul Sound Like?
The sound designer Randy Thom was faced with a challenge: What does a robot sound like? And what if that robot learns to love?
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll...
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll...
The Five Eyes Have Noticed
We talk with staff writer Anne Applebaum about what she calls the “end of the post–World War II order.” We also talk with staff writer Shane Harris, who covers national security, about how...
Americans Are Stuck. Who's to Blame?
Americans used to move all the time to better their lives. Then they stopped. Why?
Read Yoni Appelbaum’s cover story on The Atlantic here.
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you...
Read Yoni Appelbaum’s cover story on The Atlantic here.
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you...
The Strange, Lonely Childhood of Neko Case
In a new memoir, the singer-songwriter Neko Case recounts a childhood of poverty and neglect: a mother who left her and a father who was barely there. But there was also music. And when there was...
Purge Now, Pay Later
Parts of the federal government are being dismantled. But although the decisions from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are unusual—perhaps even unprecedented—are they constitutional? The Atlantic...
The War for Your Attention
Our attention is finite and valuable. And it’s nearing its breaking point. In a new book, MSNBC host Chris Hayes explains how everything—from politics to media to technology—has come to revolve around...
The Chaos of Blanket Pardons
In a matter of hours after being sworn into office, President Donald Trump delivered on a promise in a way that even high-level Republicans didn’t see coming. Trump granted sweeping pardons for more...
January 6 and the Case for Oblivion
As Donald Trump prepares to take office again, the country is still coming to terms with what happened on January 6, 2021. But perhaps the best way to move forward is to neither forgive nor forget the...
Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Coalition Starts to Fracture
The MAGA alliance that helped elect Donald Trump is starting to show signs of fracturing. It recently came to a head after an important argument broke out over H-1B visas between Silicon Valley and...
Me, My Future, and I
Hanna talks to the creators of an AI project called Future You. She also has a conversation with a future version of herself. But the person she meets is not who she expected.
Share understanding this...
Share understanding this...
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
Why should a teenager bother to read a book, when there are so many other demands on their time? We hear from Atlantic staffers about the books they read in high school that have stuck with them....
The Books We Read in High School (Part 1)
Recently, professors at elite colleges told Atlantic writer Rose Horowitch that their students don’t read whole books anymore. They blamed cell phones, standardized tests, and extracurriculars, and...
“We Live Here Now” and Trump’s Retelling of January 6
As Donald Trump returns to the White House, his desire to recast January 6 as a day of “love and peace,” as he called it during his campaign, seems as strong as ever. Earlier this week, he told the...
How Fragile Is Our Vaccine Infrastructure?
Anti-vaccine sentiment is, more or less, as old as vaccines. When Cotton Mather promoted inoculations against smallpox in the 1720s, someone threw a firebomb through his window with a message...
Why Are You Still Cooking With That?
We warned you last month to “Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula.” In a recent study conducted about consumer products, researchers concluded kitchen utensils had some of the highest levels of flame...
Trump's Vision to Remake the Military
With all the noise around Donald Trump’s nominees, it’s easy to lose sight of his administration’s bigger plan: placing people who are unfailingly loyal to Trump in key positions, so that the real...
Democrats’ Immigration Problem
We hash out the “Democrats are too woke” theory with New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, who tweeted the day after the election: “The far left is a gift to Donald Trump.” Torres, who represents a district...
Are We Living in a Different America?
In the last few months of his campaign, Trump was free and open with his dictatorial impulses, as he talked about punishing “enemies from within.” Now that he’s won, have we crossed the line into a...
Does America Want Chaos?
One thing tomorrow’s election will test is Americans’ appetite for chaos, particularly the kind that Donald Trump has been exhibiting in the last few months of his campaign. After weeks of running a...
Is Journalism Ready for a Second Trump Administration?
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has mused, a few times, about throwing reporters in jail if they refuse to leak their sources and taking away broadcast licenses of networks he’s deemed...
Trump and the January 6 Memory Hole
The way Donald Trump talks about January 6 has evolved over time. Directly after the insurrection, he condemned the rioters, although he added that they were “very special.” For the next few years, he...
Autocracy Is in the Details
Autocrats often dare their followers to believe absurd claims, as a kind of loyalty test, because “humor and fear can be quite close together sometimes,” says Peter Pomerantsev, a Soviet-born British...
It Could All Come Down to North Carolina
North Carolina has voted for a Democratic president only once since the 1970s. But the party’s dream to flip the state never dies—and in fact, could be realized this year. Polls show the presidential...
The Fight to Be the Most “Pro-family”
The American family continuously evolves. People are marrying later, and having fewer children. Gay people get married. People can publicly swear off marriage altogether without being ostracized. But...
The Modern Political Assassin
One prevailing stereotype of a political assassin is someone with strong convictions. Another stereotype conjures up James Bond, a professional with a silencer acting on higher orders.
But Thomas...
But Thomas...
A Campaign-Song Nightmare
Rachel had a hit song. Then it became inextricably linked with a failed presidential campaign.
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to...
Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to...
Trump, Triggered
Kamala Harris expertly manipulated Trump. It won her the debate. Can it win her the White House? Staff writers Elaine Godfrey and Mark Leibovich to explore the potential long term effects of Tuesday's...
The Neck Fans Are Coming
After successive heat waves across the country this summer, people finally found an unexpected source of relief: the neck fan. Consumer-product geniuses made the latest model look like Beats...
Laughing at Trump
Democrats are lately employing a strategy against Donald Trump that he has been using effectively against his opponents for years: mockery. Where did this strategy come from? Will it remain effective?...
Scripts | 3. A Special Drug
The patients had tried everything. Except ketamine.
This is the third and final part of Scripts, a new three-part miniseries from Radio Atlantic about the pills we take for our brains and the...
This is the third and final part of Scripts, a new three-part miniseries from Radio Atlantic about the pills we take for our brains and the...
Scripts | 2. The Mandala Effect
Cooper thought he understood how his psych meds were affecting him. There was a lot he didn’t know.
This is part two of a new three-part miniseries from Radio Atlantic—Scripts—about the pills we...
This is part two of a new three-part miniseries from Radio Atlantic—Scripts—about the pills we...
Scripts | 1. A Hard Pill to Swallow
One medication could help end the opioid crisis. Why are so few people taking it?
This episode is the first in a new three-part miniseries from Radio Atlantic—Scripts—about the pills we take for...
This episode is the first in a new three-part miniseries from Radio Atlantic—Scripts—about the pills we take for...
One Israeli Hostage’s Unusual Experience in Gaza
Liat Beinin Atzili was kidnapped on October 7 and spent more than 50 days in a Gazan home, We spoke with her in Washington, where she traveled to talk with President Joe Biden, about grief and about...
The Devil’s Bargain of Sports Betting
After a 2018 Supreme Court decision kicked off a wave of legalization across America, sports gambling has become an integral part of how fans consume sports and how leagues make money. But with...
Biden Steps Aside. How Might Harris Step Up?
Joe Biden has announced he’ll no longer seek reelection. With a little over 100 days left until the vote, he’s endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.
Staff writer Franklin Foer...
Staff writer Franklin Foer...
Trump’s Wholesale Renovation of the Republican Party
The Republican Party is gathered in Wisconsin to renominate Donald Trump for president. The convention follows a near-miss assassination attempt on Trump and the announcement of Ohio Senator J.D....
The Long Simmer of Political Violence in America
America is not new to political violence, but the near-assassination of Donald Trump is an attack without comparison in 21st-century politics. How do process it? What happens next? And how true are...
A Crisis for Democrats
After his disastrous debate performance in June, President Biden faced calls from Democratic lawmakers and power brokers to step aside. But with the president firmly committed to staying in, what...
Who Really Benefits From Remote Work?
The prevailing narrative of remote work has often been boiled down to: Workers love it, and bosses hate it. But according to Natalia Emanuel, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,...
Britain’s Conservatives Are About to Lose Big
Parliamentary elections on July 4th look bleak for Britain’s ruling Conservative Party. The Tories will almost certainly lose power for the first time in 14 years. And lose big. Polls show they could...
The Airport Lounge Arms Race
For years now, the fanciest places in air travel keep getting fancier. Airport lounges have become bigger, nicer, and far more ubiquitous than only a few years ago. They’ve gone from a nice place to...
What Cities Can Teach Us About Life Online
Humanity’s transition to life online is disorienting, but perhaps not without comparison. According to the researcher danah boyd, people faced similar challenges in the transition to city life,...
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Homelessness?
Later this summer, the Supreme Court will rule on City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, one of the most important cases on homelessness to come up in a long time. The court will rule on whether someone can...
Is Sasha Velour in Danger?
Sasha Velour won RuPaul's Drag Race with her spectacular rose-petal lip sync. She wrote and illustrated The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag, drew a New Yorker cover, and sells out almost...
Russia’s Psychological Warfare Against Ukraine
After months of struggle with little movement, the war in Ukraine may be nearing a crucial point. With American aid stalled for months, the fight has not been going well for Ukraine. Weapons and...
Finally, Male Contraceptives
Researchers have been hard at work on a number of male contraceptives that could hit the market in the next couple of decades. Options include a hormone-free birth control pill, an injection that...
The Chaos of AI Voice Cloning
What happens when voices can be copied so well they can fool friends, family… and voters?
Staff writer Charlie Warzel has followed the explosion of AI technology with a mix of fascination and fear....
Staff writer Charlie Warzel has followed the explosion of AI technology with a mix of fascination and fear....
If Plants Could Talk
Staff writer Zoë Schlanger is the proud owner of a petunia that glows in the dark. But she doesn’t just appreciate the novelty houseplant as work of science. Zoë sees its glow as a way to help us...
In Search of America on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever
Writer Gary Shteyngart set sail on the inaugural voyage of the biggest cruise ship ever built—the Icon of the Seas—in search of the "real" America. (And maybe to throw a great suite party along the...
Trump’s Courtroom Campaign
The Stormy Daniels case may have a less serious fact pattern. But it might turn out to be the one chance to hold Donald Trump accountable for election interference. Atlantic staff writer David Graham...
Money Can Buy You Everything, Except Maybe a Birkin Bag
Is having a Birkin bag ... a right? Earlier this year, two California residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the French luxury design company Hermès. Their grievance was that although they...
During the Eclipse, Don't Just Look Up
Where were you for the 2017 total eclipse? Where will you be this year? And where will you be for the next one in 2045? Hanna talks to Atlantic staff writer Marina Koren about the eclipse as a...
Do Trump Supporters Mind When He Mocks Biden’s Stutter?
Atlantic political reporter John Hendrickson has had a stutter since he was a kid. Recently he heard Donald Trump make fun of Joe Biden’s stutter, and he noticed that the audience...
The Smartphone Kids Are Not All Right
Hanna talks to her child Jacob about the thing they've argued the most about: being on their phone.
Then, Hanna sits down with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. In his new book, The Anxious...
Then, Hanna sits down with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. In his new book, The Anxious...
Inside a Hospital’s Abortion Committee
Sarah Osmundson knows how to talk about abortion. She’s learned over the course of her career as a maternal-fetal medicine doctor that some patients are comfortable with the option, and others would...
The Sound of Cruelty
We talk to Oscar-nominated sound designer Johnnie Burn about how he created the soundscape of horrors for The Zone of Interest. Burn explains how he collected real sounds from the streets of Europe...
The Lost Boys of Big Tech
The original “Burn Book” from Mean Girls was used to spread rumors and gossip about other girls (and some boys) at North Shore High School. Kara Swisher’s new memoir, Burn Book, tells true stories...
Maybe You Should Quit Therapy
Dr. Richard Friedman has been teaching and seeing patients for more than 35 years. Recently, he wrote about the idea that, if therapy has become less of a targeted intervention and more of a weekly...
What If Your Best Friend Is Your Soulmate?
How would life be different if we centered it on our friends? In her new book, The Other Significant Others, Rhaina Cohen visits the extremes of friendship, where pairs describe each other as...
The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism
In this week’s episode of Radio Atlantic, Adrienne LaFrance, the executive editor of The Atlantic, names and explains the political ideology of the unelected leaders of Silicon Valley. They are...
The ‘Coward of Broward’ Re-Examined
After the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, in 2018, a video circulated showing the school resource officer taking cover behind the wall. He became known as the “Coward of Broward,” and...
Fatigue Can Wreck You (Redux)
This episode originally aired August 2023.
Many people, especially those dealing with long COVID, suffer from fatigue. But not common, everyday tiredness—it’s more like a total body crash that can be...
Many people, especially those dealing with long COVID, suffer from fatigue. But not common, everyday tiredness—it’s more like a total body crash that can be...
The Last Days of the Barcode
Editor Saahil Desai walks us through the surprising history of the barcode, from its origins in the grocery business to its role in remaking our consumer habits and appetites. The bar code allowed...
Nikki Haley Could Surprise Us
Donald Trump has an “overwhelming lead” in the Iowa caucus but he is not the sure winner. There is still a narrow window to change the course of the election, although that window is only open for...
Why a Good Economy Feels Like a Bad One
The illusion persists, despite all evidence. Americans are pessimistic about the economic future. They feel worse off than their parent’s generation. Poll after poll shows that at best, only twenty...
How to Waste Time
For the holiday, Radio Atlantic is sharing the first episode of the Atlantic podcast How to Keep Time. Co-hosts Becca Rashid and the Atlantic contributing writer Ian Bogost examine our relationship...
Don’t Buy That Sweater
We’re in the coldest season. We’re in the shopping season. We’re in the season of hygge. All the cues point to buying yourself a new cozy sweater. Don’t do it, until you hear what Atlantic staff...
A Military Loyal to Trump
How easily could a reelected President Trump bend the military to his will? We talk to Tom Nichols, a staff writer at The Atlantic who taught military officers for 25 years, about this dangerous step...
How Trump Has Transformed Evangelicals
How did evangelical Christians shift from being reluctant supporters of Trump to among his most passionate defenders? How did some evangelicals, historically suspicious of politicians, develop a...
The Cockroach Cure
The story of a real-life miracle.
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How to Have a Healthy Argument
Thanksgiving is often a time of disagreements big and small. In this episode we talk to Amanda Ripley (author of High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out) and Utah Governor Spencer Cox....
The Post-Strike Future of Hollywood
Hollywood is getting back on its feet now that the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes are over. But they've revealed that, once again, Hollywood is going through an identity...
Peter Thiel Is Taking a Break From Democracy
Tech evangelist. Libertarian dreamer. Republican megadonor. Peter Thiel is many things. As Atlantic staff writer Barton Gellman puts it in his new profile of Thiel, he is “the purest distillation of...
The Man Working to Keep the Water On in Gaza
Marwan Bardawil’s job is to provide water in Gaza. This is difficult in normal times, nearly impossible now, and yet critical. Without enough clean water, people get dehydrated, hygiene deteriorates,...
What Scares Jordan Peele?
After Jordan Peele directed the movie Get Out in 2017, he unlocked the genre of Black horror, which mixed classic horror with the modern Black experience. In a conversation with Peele and best selling...
What’s Next in Gaza
Nearly two weeks after the Hamas attack on Israel, Atlantic staff writer Graeme Wood is on the ground in Jerusalem. We talk to Graeme about what he’s hearing from people— namely a combination of...
“We’re Going to Die Here”
Israeli journalist Amir Tibon and his family live along the Israel-Gaza border. He told Radio Atlantic the dramatic story of how his family hid out from Hamas terrorists. And how they were...
Why Don’t Biden’s Political Wins Register With Voters?
The Biden administration has had some monumental successes: a complicated vaccine rollout, a significant infrastructure investment, and the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. But polls show that...
After Ozempic
Ozempic and other drugs like it are being heralded as game changers for weight loss. Radio Atlantic host Hanna Rosin talks to Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan about what it means that this medical...
Jenisha from Kentucky
When Jenisha Watts, a senior editor at The Atlantic, went home to Kentucky to interview her family, she was “looking to get rid of the shame.” She had a son now, and she wanted to be able to tell him...
Radio Atlantic Presents: How to Talk to People
Making small talk can be hard—especially when you’re not sure whether you’re doing it well. But conversations are a central part of relationship-building. Radio Atlantic is pleased to share this...
How Bad Could BA.2.86 Get?
All of a sudden it seems like everyone knows someone who has tested positive for COVID. Are we back in a wave? How bad could it get? How effective will the new vaccine be? What do we actually know...
Trans in Texas
This week Texas will join the 20 or so other states that have passed laws restricting access to medical therapies and procedures for transgender children. But there are thousands of young people in...
The GOP Debate: Trumpiness Without Trump
The front-runner for the Republican nomination did not show up at the debate, but in the sharp exchanges between the leftovers, a lot was revealed about the future of the party.
Atlantic staff writers...
Atlantic staff writers...
Megan Rapinoe Answers the Critics
Megan Rapinoe speaks with Atlantic staff writer Frank Foer. The retiring soccer star discusses her detractors, the U.S. team’s role in the global game, and taking penalty kicks.
Also: If you have any...
Also: If you have any...
Fatigue Can Wreck You
Many people, especially those dealing with long COVID, suffer from fatigue. But not common, everyday tiredness—it’s more like a total body crash that can be triggered by the smallest exertion,...
Lobotomy Day
Michael spent years fighting isolation, depression, and despair. Then he met Sam.
If you’re having thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or the...
If you’re having thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or the...
Why a U.S. Women’s Team Loss Could Actually Be A Good Thing
The U.S. women’s team has been the dominant force in soccer for a decade, although you wouldn't necessarily know it from their performance in the Women’s World Cup so far. As fans, we want them to...
‘Everyone Used to be Nicer,’ And Other Persistent Myths
A lot of people are plagued by the feeling that society used to be better, that neighbors were more helpful, that strangers once talked to you. Some people channel that belief into political action,...
Why Can’t We Quit Weddings?
Marriages today are much more flexible than they used to be. Women’s roles have changed. Gay marriage is legal. More and more people aren’t choosing marriage at all. And yet the American wedding has...
AI Won’t Really Kill Us All, Will It?
For months, more than a thousand researchers and technology experts involved in creating artificial intelligence have been warning us that they’ve created something that may be dangerous. Something...
Sorry, Honey, It’s Too Hot for Camp
A heat dome in Texas. Wildfire smoke polluting the air in the East and Midwest. The signs are everywhere that our children’s summers will look nothing like our own. In this episode we talk to the...
The Power of a Failed Revolt
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who leads a private army called the Wagner Group, attempted what many have called a coup against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Technically, it failed. But the fact that he...
Can Baseball Keep Up With Us?
Are we just too impatient for America’s famously leisurely national pastime? Hanna Rosin asks staff writer Mark Leibovich whether the changes MLB is making to baseball this summer could help him, and...
The End of Affirmative Action. For Real This Time.
The Supreme Court is about to issue a set of rulings on affirmative action in higher education. If it goes as expected, universities will no longer be allowed to consider race in admissions. In this...
The Rise and Fall of Chris Licht and CNN
The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta spent long stretches of the past year talking to CNN’s then-CEO Chris Licht about his grand experiment to reset the cable giant as a venue more welcoming to Republicans. In...
The Problem With Comparing Social Media to Big Tobacco
Politicians, pundits, and even the surgeon general have been highlighting the risks that social media poses to young people’s mental health. The problem is real—but is it as serious as those caused by...
The War Is Not Here to Entertain You
Host Hanna Rosin talks to Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and staff writer Anne Applebaum about their trip to Ukraine, their interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, why...
(Re)introducing Radio Atlantic
The Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now, we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Today we’re introducing Radio Atlantic, The Atlantic’s flagship podcast, with a new host:...
How Germany Remembers the Holocaust
What can memorials to tragedy in one country tell Americans about how to remember the legacy of slavery in the U.S.?
Staff writer Clint Smith traveled to Germany to understand how Germany memorializes...
Staff writer Clint Smith traveled to Germany to understand how Germany memorializes...
Holy Week — Part 1: Rupture
The first episode of a new podcast from The Atlantic about a revolution undone.
Subscribe to Holy Week: theatlantic.com/holyweek
Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify
The story of Dr....
Subscribe to Holy Week: theatlantic.com/holyweek
Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify
The story of Dr....
Introducing Holy Week
Holy Week: The story of a revolution undone.
The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how...
The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how...
What AI Means for Search
With Google and Microsoft releasing new AI tools, it feels like the future is now with artificial intelligence. But how transformative are products like ChatGPT? Should we be worried about their...
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg interviews Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of our live conversation series, The Big Story. A year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they...
This Is Not Your Parents' Cold War
It’s been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the war continues. Staff writer Tom Nichols, an expert on nuclear weapons and the Cold War, counsels Americans how to think about what comes...
Our Strange New Era of Space Travel
Humans last set foot on the Moon 50 years ago. Now we’re going back, but the way we explore space—and our relationship to it—has gone through some big changes.
“Space is a vacation now… a status...
“Space is a vacation now… a status...
The Republican Party Is in a Strange Place
The GOP is in a strange place. After falling short of expectations in the midterms, some Republicans blame Donald Trump, and some want to anoint a challenger for 2024. But with Trump already announced...
This COVID Winter Will Be Different
December is here and with it comes the third winter of the pandemic. With the holiday travel and indoor family gatherings, the season has brought tragic spikes in COVID cases the last two years. Are...
For Love of the Game
Part of the appeal of the World Cup is watching a country’s finest soccer players represent their nations. For many fans, though, it doesn’t have to just be root-root-root for the home team. Atlantic...
A Short History of Brazilian Soccer
The Atlantic staff writers Franklin Foer and Clint Smith talk about who they're rooting for and why in World Cup 2022. And Franklin Foer takes us on a journey through the history the beautiful and...
What’s at Stake for Election Workers
Mark Leibovich talks with Tim Alberta about the often-overlooked group of people crucial to American voting. With election denialism plaguing the process, poll workers have faced threats and...
Who Leaves, Who Stays
When Taliban forces seized control of Kabul last year, many Afghans faced life-changing choices. One family's decision led to a harrowing journey for a young woman and her sister.
Related...
Related...
What Puerto Rico Needs Most
Can an island that keeps getting pummeled by hurricanes ever be free?
Executive Producer Claudine Ebeid speaks with Atlantic contributors Jaquira Díaz and Robinson Meyer about what the island's status...
Executive Producer Claudine Ebeid speaks with Atlantic contributors Jaquira Díaz and Robinson Meyer about what the island's status...
The New Kabul
Atlantic fellow Bushra Seddique tells the story of the moment everything changed for her in Kabul, and The Atlantic's Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg talks to retired General David Petraeus about the...
Zelensky is Everywhere
The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and staff writer Anne Applebaum traveled to Kyiv in April to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Their wide-ranging conversation with Zelensky...
Caitlin Dickerson on family separation
The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg talks with staff writer Caitlin Dickerson about her recent piece, "An American Catastrophe," a comprehensive investigation of the Trump administration’s...
Laws and Rights After Roe
The Atlantic's Executive Editor Adrienne LaFrance discusses a post-Roe America with two contributing writers. Legal historian Mary Ziegler and constitutional law scholar David French answer questions...
The Future of Roe
This week, Politico published a leaked draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Claudine Ebeid, Executive Producer of podcasts at...
Barack Obama on Disinformation and The Future of Democracy
Disinformation is the story of our age. We see it used as a tactic of war and to further embolden autocrats.. The very tools that once helped pro-democracy movements are now being used to disseminate...
Russia's War
After years of threats, Russian forces invaded Ukraine—culminating in the largest attack against one European state by another since the Second World War. Global leaders, including U.S. President Joe...
Presenting: The Review, a new podcast from The Atlantic
On The Review, The Atlantic's writers and guests discuss how we entertain ourselves and how that shapes the way we understand the world. Subscribe and enjoy!
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How To Build A Happy Life: A new podcast from The Atlantic
Hello Ticket listeners. We'd like to introduce you to a new show, How to Build a Happy Life.
In this series, host Arthur Brooks digs into research and offers tools to help you live more joyfully. Join...
In this series, host Arthur Brooks digs into research and offers tools to help you live more joyfully. Join...
Introducing: The Experiment
A new podcast from The Atlantic and WNYC Studios, The Experiment, tells stories from our unfinished country. On the first episode, host Julia Longoria tells the story of the “zone of death,” where a...
Biden: The Candidate for the Trump Moment
Isaac Dovere reflects on the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the path through an election year like no other, and what the momentous changes of 2020 mean for our politics.
You’ll also notice a...
You’ll also notice a...
John Bresnahan Helps Us Understand What The Hell Just Happened
John Bresnahan has covered Congress for decades, recently as Politico’s Capitol Hill bureau chief and now as co-founder of Punchbowl News. He describes what he saw from inside the building as a...
Jim Clyburn
The House majority whip from South Carolina gave Joe Biden the key endorsement of his candidacy. What does the civil rights veteran want to see from his party — and the President-elect — in 2021? How...
Gabe Sterling
As conspiracy theories about the Georgia vote count have escalated into threats, a state election official rebuked President Trump and blamed him for the environment voting administrators now...
Ed Yong
A quarter-million Americans have now died of COVID-19. The spread of the virus is as bad as it’s ever been. And it’s almost certainly going to get much worse. But with the president abdicating...
Abigail Spanberger
The Virginia Congresswoman shares her concerns over President Trump’s post-election actions and what she considers the lessons of 2020 for her fellow Democrats.
Before coming to Congress as part of...
Before coming to Congress as part of...
Brian Stelter
Between the pandemic and President Trump, election night this year will be unlike any other. As usual, television news networks are the narrators of our democracy, but what will they do if the...
Tony Schwartz
The man who wrote The Art of the Deal reflects on Donald Trump, his presidency, and what the coming weeks could bring.
Schwartz says Trump’s “primary motivation is dominance” and “there is nothing...
Schwartz says Trump’s “primary motivation is dominance” and “there is nothing...
Hillary Clinton
The former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee discusses President Trump, the pandemic, and election disinformation.
Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a...
Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a...
Barton Gellman
With the election only weeks away, President Trump is down in the polls, sowing doubt about the integrity of the vote, and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. When he accepted his...
Howie Hawkins
In 2016, the Green Party won more votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin than Donald Trump’s margins for victory. As a result, many Democrats blamed the progressive party for Clinton’s...
Mandela Barnes
Elected at 31, Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor is a young Black progressive and the face of a new Democratic party in the Midwest. With the nation’s attention on the shooting of Jacob Blake in...
Chad Mayes
Only a few years ago, Chad Mayes was the Republican leader in the California Assembly. Now, he’s out of the party. Ahead of next week’s Republican convention, he joins Isaac Dovere to discuss the...
Susan Rice
Susan Rice, the former U.N. Ambassador and National Security Advisor for the Obama administration, is considered a leading candidate to become Joe Biden's running mate. She joins to discuss statehood...
Donna Shalala
Florida congresswoman Donna Shalala was one of many first-time candidates in 2018. But unlike other freshman Democrats that flipped a district, she’d already had a decades-long career in public life....
Doug Jones
The Alabama senator discusses the coronavirus outbreak in the South, new efforts to grapple with its Confederate legacy, and his hopes that this time of crisis leads to systemic change.
Support this...
Support this...
Carly Fiorina
The 2016 Republican presidential candidate announces her intention to vote for Joe Biden, and the concerns about the country that led to her decision.
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Jumaane Williams
The second-highest elected official in New York City is a progressive activist who’s worked to change policing for years. He thinks this moment could be different, if Americans are willing to have an...
Nan Whaley
The mayor of Dayton, Ohio, on how badly America's cities need a bailout—and how painful the impact could be if they don't get one.
Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing...
Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing...
Bill Cassidy
Senator (and doctor) Bill Cassidy discusses the coronavirus response, vaccines, and how states like his own Louisiana hope to reopen.
Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by...
Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by...
Phil Murphy
The governor of one of the hardest-hit states discusses the coronavirus response, how he thinks about reopening New Jersey, and his conversations with President Trump. (In fact, the president called...
Andrew Yang
The former presidential candidate discusses universal basic income, coronavirus-linked bigotry against Asian Americans, and how the pandemic has accelerated the automation trends he's long worried...
Stacey Abrams
Georgia politician and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams discusses elections in a pandemic, vice presidential aspirations, and Star Trek.
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Voter Suppression By Pandemic
Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund discusses Wisconsin’s election debacle and how the coronavirus has become a new tool of voter suppression. Ifill says Wisconsin legislators “created a...
‘The Woman From Michigan’
Governor Gretchen Whitmer joins to discuss Michigan’s coronavirus response and her relationship with President Trump. Elected in the state’s 2018 wave election, the popular young governor is...
Risking Exposure in Congress
Grace Meng represents New York in Congress. Her Queens district is at the center of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, where its hospitals face an ‘apocalyptic’ situation. She spent the day flying to and...
Arnold Schwarzenegger on the Pandemic Response
Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked everyone to stay home. He's issued PSA videos, with his mini donkey and mini horse, and from his jacuzzi, urging people to socially distance.
Besides his celebrity, he...
Besides his celebrity, he...
The Coronavirus Response, with Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Sherrod Brown discusses the Trump administration's response to the pandemic and what he thinks Congress needs to do now. The progressive Ohio senator believes that, as Americans rely on...
This Isn’t Trump’s Katrina (Except When It Is)
Vann Newkirk joins Isaac Dovere to discuss Floodlines—the new Atlantic podcast about Hurricane Katrina—and what lessons the disaster response in 2005 has for the coronavirus crisis in 2020.
(After...
(After...
Beating Donald Trump, with David Plouffe
The campaign manager behind Obama’s 2008 election breaks down the state of the Democratic party. What do Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden each need to do to win the nomination? And for an election Plouffe...
South Carolina, with Jennifer Palmieri
Former Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri discusses the South Carolina primary, how 2020 is different than 2016, and how sexism still shapes American politics.
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The Unlearned Lessons of 2016, with Katy Tur
As Democrats slugged it out in Nevada this week, the president undermined the Justice Department in Washington. News anchor Katy Tur—and everyone else covering politics—has had to constantly switch...
A Historic Vote on Equal Rights, and Hopes for Gun Control
On Thursday, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton presided over debate on a bill to advance the Equal Rights Amendment. After the bill passed, she sat down in her office with Isaac Dovere to discuss the...
The New Hampshire Primary, with Chris Pappas
After the chaos of Iowa, New Hampshire is set to deliver the first clear results of the 2020 presidential race. And on the show to preview the first primary vote is New Hampshire Congressman Chris...
The Iowa Caucuses, with J.D. Scholten
Isaac Dovere previews the Iowa caucuses with congressional candidate J.D. Scholten. A former baseball player running to represent the state’s most rural district, Scholten offers an on-the-ground view...
The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic
On Thursday, Radio Atlantic is becoming The Ticket: Politics from The Atlantic.
As the 2020 voting begins, this show will relaunch with a new name and new look — but you’ll still get the same...
As the 2020 voting begins, this show will relaunch with a new name and new look — but you’ll still get the same...
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
The new mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, won all fifty of Chicago’s wards in a landslide last year. A lawyer with experience in government oversight, Lightfoot ran on an anti-corruption and police...
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Show-Business Politics
The governator discusses the Republican party, his commitment to the environment, and the Democratic candidates (his review: "such bad actors").
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"He Doesn't Understand War"
Ruben Gallego says President Trump doesn’t understand war, but the situation with Iran could soon escalate to one. Gallego is a progressive congressman from Arizona and a combat veteran who served in...
Will the Trump Presidential Library Have an Impeachment Section?
On the day President Trump is impeached, Isaac Dovere visits the Nixon Library with Tom Steyer. The billionaire presidential candidate has spent two years (and millions of dollars) to keep impeachment...
Why Impeachment Is Different This Time Around
Steve Chabot, a House Republican who helped lead his party's impeachment fight against Bill Clinton, explains why he’s unconvinced by the Democrats’ case against Trump.
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Britain Votes (Again)
Donald Trump wasn’t the only election surprise of 2016. Three months before he won the presidency, the United Kingdom also shocked observers by voting to leave the European Union. Ever since, Brexit...
Is Russia Winning the Impeachment Hearings?
During an impeachment hearing this week, President Trump's former top Russia adviser accused Republicans of peddling Russian propaganda.
Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and...
Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and...
How to Stop A Civil War
The special December issue of The Atlantic focuses on a single theme: “How to Stop a Civil War.” Two contributors to the issue, Harvard professor Danielle Allen and staff writer Adam Serwer, join...
Virginia Hates Tyrants
Senator Tim Kaine discusses Democrats' historic win in Virginia and what it means for 2020.
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President Pete?
Mayor Pete Buttigieg discusses his unlikely presidential run.
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Reporting in ‘Forgotten America’
James Fallows spent decades covering national politics for The Atlantic. For the last four years though, he’s traveled the parts of America typically left out of the national conversation. And he...
Sanders vs. Warren?
The fourth Democratic debate this week highlighted Elizabeth Warren’s new front-runner status. It also marked the return to public events for Bernie Sanders, who showcased his energy following a heart...
How ISIS Returns
Staff writer Mike Giglio has been reporting on ISIS since before Americans knew what to call it. He documents his five years in the region for a new book, Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the...
Understanding the Whistle-Blower
As a CIA officer detailed to the White House, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is one of the few people to have done the same work as the whistle-blower.
She joins Isaac Dovere to discuss that experience,...
She joins Isaac Dovere to discuss that experience,...
Amy Klobuchar, Live at The Atlantic Festival
As impeachment news comes in by the minute, The Atlantic hosts its annual festival in our nation’s capital. Minnesota senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar joins Isaac Dovere on stage for a...
Steve Bullock's Longshot Case
The Montana governor talks about his presidential campaign, his personal connection to the gun control debate, and why running his home state has uniquely prepared him to run a divided country.
Learn...
Learn...
The Heir
Begun with a gold-rush brothel in the Yukon, the Trump empire has long been passed down through generations. Donald Trump inherited a business from his father, who inherited it from his father.
Now...
Now...
On the Road with Beto
This week, Beto O'Rourke took a bus out of New York. Not a campaign bus, just a regular old bus. Isaac Dovere joined for the trip and they talked about how the presidential candidate has been changed...
The Man Who Couldn't Take It Anymore
In December, Defense Secretary James Mattis resigned in protest after President Trump announced plans to withdraw troops from Syria. As the last "adult in the room" at the White House, critics worried...
Recession Politics
This week showed increasing signs that a recession could be on the horizon. Manufacturing is shrinking. Job growth is slowing. The markets are spooked — and now so is the president. But what exactly...
Andrew Yang's Campaign Against the Coming Dystopia
Andrew Yang joins Isaac Dovere on the trail in Iowa. Yang’s campaign started as a long-shot from a first-time politician, but he’s found a following. His message about the bleak future technology’s...
Cory Booker on White Supremacist Violence
On Wednesday, Senator Cory Booker gave a speech on gun violence and white nationalism at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the same church that lost nine of its members to a white...
Rebuilding the Blue Wall
While in Detroit covering the Democratic debates, Isaac Dovere sits down with Dana Nessel, Michigan’s new Democratic attorney general and the state’s first openly gay statewide officeholder.
Last...
Last...
The Veteran Candidate
Seth Moulton, the Massachusetts congressman and presidential candidate, joins Isaac Dovere this week. Moulton shares his thoughts on Nancy Pelosi, ‘the squad,’ and the direction of the Democratic...
How to Cover Racist Tweets
On Sunday, President Trump told four members of Congress to “go back” to the countries “from which they came.”
Journalists have spent the week working through how to discuss what is a textbook racist...
Journalists have spent the week working through how to discuss what is a textbook racist...
Trump Diplomacy
This week, the British ambassador to the United States resigned after private cables leaked with his frank assessment of the White House and its occupant. Sir Kim Darroch described the administration...
The Other Republican
Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld has experience taking down a Republican president. He began his career in politics as one of the first lawyers hired to investigate Watergate for the...
The Fight for Reparations
On Wednesday—for the first time in a decade—Congress held a hearing on reparations for slavery. It was a crystallizing moment for an issue that has gained prominence since Ta-Nehisi Coates’s 2014...
The Reelection Battle Begins
The 2020 race is on. Staff writer Edward-Isaac Dovere, who covers Democratic politics, was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the unofficial kick-off of the fight to replace Donald Trump. Elaina Plott, who...
Partisanship at the Supreme Court
In the coming days, the Supreme Court will announce its decisions on two cases that ask the same basic question: how far should partisan politics go?
One will determine whether a citizenship question...
One will determine whether a citizenship question...
The Abortion Debate’s New Urgency
Recent weeks have seen unprecedented anti-abortion bills pass in states across the country. In Alabama, abortion is now banned under state law, without any exceptions for rape or incest. Georgia,...
Introducing Crazy/Genius Season 3
Privacy is now the most important idea on the internet—so what exactly is it? And if we care about our privacy, why aren’t we willing to pay to keep it?
This week’s Radio Atlantic is a preview of the...
This week’s Radio Atlantic is a preview of the...
Trump’s Trade War
Trump isn’t like most Republican presidents, but his views on trade have been an unusually firm departure from his party. Despite long championing free trade, the GOP is now led by a man who seems...
Liberalism’s Last Stand
Franklin Foer joins Isaac Dovere to discuss his story in the June issue of The Atlantic about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán described his vision of Hungary as an "alternative to...
Is Politics Funny Anymore?
Last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was the first one in years without a comedian. In the Trump era, comedians have struggled to adjust — are things too serious? Too biased? Too absurd?...
To Impeach Or Not To Impeach?
Atlantic Ideas Editor Yoni Appelbaum and Vox editor-at-large Ezra Klein have both deeply researched the question of impeachment — and each came to a different conclusion.
Appelbaum argued in The...
Appelbaum argued in The...
The Trauma at the Border
On Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr ordered immigration judges to stop releasing asylum seekers on bail. The move signals an even fiercer immigration policy that could include the return of...
Can A Long-Shot Candidate Beat Donald Trump?
The crowded race for the Democratic nomination includes both frontrunners and long-shots, but how do we know which is which? Some big names have trailed in fundraising and polls. And some written off...
Sex, Gender, and the Democratic Party
In recent days, three women have accused former Vice President Joe Biden of inappropriate contact. On Wednesday, Biden announced in a video that he is going to be “mindful” about personal space going...
Politics After Mueller
Last week, the special counsel submitted his report to Attorney General Bill Barr. And this week, Barr shared his brief summary of the big conclusions: there was no collusion between Russia and the...
President Trump’s Post-Mueller Corruption Problem
When elected, most presidents either sell their assets or put them in a blind trust. Isolating a president’s financial interests from their time in office has been a norm for decades: from Jimmy...
Paul Manafort and the Problem of White-Collar Crime
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort will spend around seven years in federal prison — far less than the nineteen to twenty-four years recommended by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The...
The Future of the Democratic Party
The Democratic party is in a battle with itself. After devastating losses in 2016, the party was resurgent in 2018, but the lessons from both elections remain unclear: should the Democratic party be...
President Trump's New Legal Nightmare
On Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee, Michael Cohen called the president a racist, a conman, and a cheat. He also brought documents.
Trump’s onetime confidant testified for seven hours....
Trump’s onetime confidant testified for seven hours....
State of Emergency
Last week, President Trump declared a national emergency to get funding for the wall. The move gave him elevated power to move money around, but it was immediately met with lawsuits from 16 states....
Pecker Pics and Tabloid Tricks
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently accused the National Enquirer of “extortion and blackmail” over private photos of him obtained by the tabloid. In a Medium post, Bezos shared emails from the...
Something Rotten in the State of Virginia
Recently, news broke that Virginia’s Democratic governor and attorney general both wore blackface in the 1980s. The controversy now enveloping the state has seemed all too familiar, as blackface...
Kamala Harris, Progressive Prosecutor?
Senator Kamala Harris has drawn criticism for beginning her 2020 campaign by pitching herself as a ‘progressive prosecutor’ despite a more mixed record.
Alex Wagner sits down with two people who have...
Alex Wagner sits down with two people who have...
The Art of the Shutdown Deal
The government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history, but President Trump seems no closer to a deal to resolve it. Why does the “master dealmaker” -- as he sold himself on the campaign trail --...
Is the President a Russian Asset?
On Friday, the New York Times published a startling story: In 2017, days after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, the bureau opened an inquiry into whether the president was secretly working on...
How to Fix Social Media
Social media platforms once promised to connect the world. Today’s digital communities, though, often feel like forces for disunity. Anger and discord in 2018 seemed only amplified by the social media...
What Happened to the GOP?
Observing antidemocratic ‘power grabs’ by state Republicans, Atlantic staff writer George Packer writes that “the corruption of the Republican Party in the Trump era seemed to set in with breathtaking...
Does the NRA Connect Trump to Russia?
On Thursday, Maria Butina became the first Russian national convicted of seeking to influence the 2016 election. As part of Russia’s years-long effort to cozy up to the American right, Butina gained...
The First Gene-Edited Babies
A Chinese researcher recently touched off a global controversy when he announced the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies. The claims remain unverified, but the news shocked and...
What’s Happening With Mueller and Manafort?
Paul Manafort’s cooperation with the Mueller probe has collapsed. In a Monday filing, the special counsel’s office said he repeatedly lied to federal investigators, nullifying the plea agreement and...
Florida Flashbacks
The midterms were over a week ago, but a number of races have yet to be called. In Florida, the senate and governor elections have both come down to a recount, and accusations of vote-tampering are...
What Did We Learn From the Midterms?
Executive Editor Matt Thompson interviews Atlantic reporters on what lessons they drew from the midterm elections, speaking in turn with: Vann Newkirk, Emma Green, Ron Brownstein, Adam Harris, and...
Midterms in the Wake of Political Violence
The upcoming midterms mark the first nationwide referendum on the Trump presidency and the GOP-led Congress. Coming amid a shocking spree of political violence and an ugly showdown over voting rights,...
The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi
On October 2nd, Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, never to be seen again. Details of the journalist’s brutal killing and dismemberment...
The Politics of Ancestry
Senator Elizabeth Warren recently shared results of a genetic analysis to back up her family’s story of Cherokee ancestry, hoping to blunt a favorite Republican attack line. The move backfired. A DNA...
America's Higher Education Crisis
A college education has become a key asset towards success in the American economy, but for many Americans, access to higher education—especially at a prestigious university—feels increasingly out of...
Remembering Ferguson with DeRay Mckesson
Four years ago, after a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, protestors took to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. Among them was a school administrator, always clad in a trademark blue vest....
Is the Public Square Gone?
After a news week that’s felt more like a news month, Matt Thompson sits down with two experienced editors to ask how people manage to make and consume news in today’s environment. Adrienne LaFrance...
The Reputations and Reckonings of #MeToo
As Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces assault allegations, the #MeToo movement reaches its first anniversary. Beyond a potential hearing reminiscent of the Anita Hill testimony 27 years ago,...
Is Democracy Dying?
With authoritarianism and populism on the rise around the world, The Atlantic examines the fate of democracy in its October issue. Anne Applebaum writes that Poland shows how quickly things can fall...
How Much Longer Can Football Last?
Mark Leibovich has a day job covering the reality show of politics as the New York Times Magazine’s Chief National Correspondent, but he’s spent the spent the last few years reporting a book on...
The Endless Devastation of Hurricane Season
This week, the most rigorous estimate yet of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria was published, marking a grim milestone: the hurricane season of 2017 was one of the deadliest in North America in a...
Trump’s Worst Day
Matt and Gillian discuss Paul Manafort’s guilty verdict and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea with Franklin Foer and David A. Graham. Was Tuesday a turning point for the Trump administration?
Links
- “The...
Links
- “The...
When Does Hollywood’s Diversity Become Real Representation?
With movies like Crazy Rich Asians, BlacKkKlansman, and Sorry To Bother You out in theaters, Hollywood is trying to mute the complaint that it lacks racial and ethnic diversity, to avoid another...
Charlottesville: One Year Later
It’s been a year since the violence of the “Unite the Right” rally and the political turmoil of its aftermath. How did Charlottesville change the country? Has the alt-right withered under the new...
Keepers of the Year 2018
The first anniversary of Radio Atlantic this week coincides with one of the newsiest weeks of 2018. So we’ve decided to take the opportunity to lift our sights above the fog of news for a few minutes,...
The Future of Europe
As President Trump meets with other western leaders in Europe, the spirit of democratic cooperation we’re used to in NATO summits is gone. But it’s not just Trump. Populist movements around Europe are...
Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic?
“Humanity is now in the midst of its fastest-ever period of change,” writes Ed Yong in the July/August issue of The Atlantic. Urbanization and globalization mean pathogens can spread and become...
The View from the Border
Outrage over families separated at the border has reached a fever pitch. Social media is awash with images of undocumented migrants held in cages, sounds of children crying for their parents, and...
Being Black in America Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
Nationwide, black Americans live three years less than white Americans. In places with a history of segregation, that life-expectancy gap can be as much as twenty years. Staff writer Olga Khazan joins...
The North Korea Summit
Two of the world’s most volatile heads of state—Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump—have moved in the span of a year from trading insults to trading fawning letters. Now, they're days away from the first...
A White House Troll ‘Owning the Libs’
A new generation of political activists have grown up more interested in provoking outrage from their fellow citizens than in winning them over. Among the most influential exemplars of the genre is...
Is the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Past Solving?
The decades-old dispute between Israelis and Palestinians seems to be at a new low these days. Two American-born writers – an Israeli author and a Muslim journalist – join editor-in-chief Jeffrey...
Happy Mueller-versary
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has been the focus of headlines and cable news for a full year now. Despite his seemingly leak-proof team, speculation and anxiety swirl around the...
Introducing Crazy/Genius: Why Can't Facebook Tell the Truth?
This week's Radio Atlantic brings you the first episode of our new show Crazy/Genius, hosted by Atlantic staff writer (and past Radio Atlantic guest) Derek Thompson. In this episode, two guests debate...
Is Politics Ruining Pop Culture?
Some Americans who grew up identifying with Roseanne have found themselves alienated by Roseanne Barr’s outspoken devotion to President Trump. Many of Kanye West’s fans revolted after he tweeted out...
Is the Presidency Broken?
“We are a president-obsessed nation, so much so that we undermine the very idea of our constitutional democracy,” writes John Dickerson in his May cover story in The Atlantic. “No one man—or woman—can...
The Syria Disaster, Seven Years In
Long the crossroads of civilizations, Syria has now spent seven years as the proxy warzone of great powers. With over half a million dead and millions more displaced, the conflict is now “arguably...
Becoming White in America
In her new book Futureface, Alex Wagner writes that “immigration raises into relief some of our most basic existential questions: Who am I? Where do I belong? And in that way, it’s inextricably tied...
News Update: Who Could Tame Facebook?
As Atlantic staff writer Robinson Meyer recently wrote, Facebook “is currently embroiled in the worst crisis of trust in its 14-year history.” This week, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified...
Trumpocracy
“Trump gambled that Americans resent each other’s differences more than they cherish their shared democracy. So far that gamble has paid off,” writes David Frum in his new book Trumpocracy.
Along...
Along...
King Remembered
In his last speech, known to history as “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Martin Luther King Jr. began by remarking on the introduction he’d been given by his friend, Ralph Abernathy. “As I listened to...
The Family Unit in a Divided Era
The family is where the forces that are driving Americans farther apart—political polarization, generational divides, class stratification, Facebook fights—literally hit home. Economic, ideological,...
Does America Have a Monopoly Problem?
“Politicians from both parties publicly worship the solemn dignity of entrepreneurship and small businesses. But by the numbers, America has become the land of the big and the home of the...
If We Could Learn From History
Discarding the limits on a leader's time in office is a classic autocrat's move. So when Xi Jinping began to clear a path for an indefinite term as China's president, he dimmed many once-bright hopes...
Goodbye Black History Month, Hello Black Future
Moviegoers across America are filling theaters to see, as The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer describes it, “a high-tech utopia that is a fictive manifestation of African potential unfettered by slavery and...
How Innocence Becomes Irrelevant (No Way Out, Part III)
After Rick Magnis, a Texas judge, reviewed the evidence in Benjamine Spencer’s case, he recommended a new trial for Spencer “on the grounds of actual innocence.” But Texas’s highest criminal court...
Who Killed Jeffrey Young? (No Way Out, Part II)
In part one of our three-part series "No Way Out," Barbara Bradley Hagerty told the story of how Benjamine Spencer was convicted for the murder of Jeffrey Young, and how much of the evidence that led...
No Way Out, Part I
In 1987, Jeffrey Young was robbed and killed, and his body was left on a street in the poor neighborhood of West Dallas. Benjamine Spencer was tried and convicted for the attack.
Spencer was black, 22...
Spencer was black, 22...
From 'I, Tonya' to 'Cat Person,' Is 'Based On a True Story' Better?
Conor Friedersdorf recently argued in The Atlantic that in this moment, when the truth is bitterly contested, fiction presents us an opportunity. It allows us to step into another person’s perspective...
Paul Manafort and How the Swamp Was Made
“Conventional wisdom suggests that the temptations of Washington, D.C., corrupt all the idealists, naïfs, and ingenues who settle there," Franklin Foer writes in his cover story for the March issue of...
Who Gets to be American?
Once again, immigration is at the top of America's legislative agenda, as it has been, seemingly every generation, for much of the nation's history. But while many recent discussions of immigration...
Bricks, Clicks, and the Future of Shopping
The 'retail apocalypse' is upon us, they say. In the United States, 2017 saw emptied malls, shuttered department stores, and once-iconic brands falling into bankruptcy. Yet retail spending continues...
The Presidential Fitness Challenge
As the anniversary of his inauguration nears, a new book filled with salacious claims about the Trump administration has become a bestseller. Faced with renewed questions about his mental and...
How Has America Changed Since 1968?
As 2018 begins, tensions and tumult in America are high. But before the end of 1968, Conor Friedersdorf reminded us in The Atlantic, "Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy would be...
Ideas of the Year, 2017 Edition
Every year is impossible to synthesize. Yet 2017 was not just another year. To help us wrangle the chaotic, extraordinary events of the last 12 months into some sort of shape, we posed a question to...
Putin, Russia, and the End of History
Vladimir Putin just announced, to the surprise of no one, that he will run for reelection as President of Russia. In her January/February 2018 Atlantic cover story, Julia Ioffe writes that Americans...
The Manifest Destiny of Mike Pence
That Pence is the vice president of the United States is "a loaves-and-fishes miracle," writes McKay Coppins in the latest issue of The Atlantic. It's remarkable enough that "an embattled small-state...
The Great Recession, One Decade Later
In December 2007, the U.S. marked the beginning of its longest recession since World War II. Now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency born in the ashes of the nation's economic...
John Wayne, Donald Trump, and the American Man
For generations, Hollywood has defined what masculinity means in the U.S., with iconic screen figures such as John Wayne. But Wayne's stoic, taciturn image was the product of a complicated...
How an American Neo-Nazi Was Made
Andrew Anglin spent his formative years flirting with hippie progressivism, then tried his hand at becoming a tribal hunter-gatherer. But he only achieved notoriety after he founded the Daily Stormer,...
The Press and the Election of 2016: One Year Later
It’s a year after Donald Trump's upset election victory. Before and after the 2016 election, President Trump referred to journalists as enemies to himself and to the American people. But his victory...
Khizr Khan on What Patriotism Requires
Since the 2016 election heightened America's deep political divides, the mantle of patriotism has become fodder for a bitter tug-of-war. Is it patriotic to leak a presidential secret? To voice dissent...
Reporting on Open Secrets, with Jodi Kantor and Katie Benner
Allegations of sexual harassment (and more) by powerful men in numerous industries have been leading news reports across America. On-the-record accounts of disturbing behavior are proliferating....
Why Do Happy People Cheat?
"Infidelity," Esther Perel writes in the October issue of The Atlantic, "happens in bad marriages and in good marriages. It happens even in open relationships where extramarital sex is carefully...
Derek Thompson and the Moonshot Factory
Few journalists have gotten a peek inside X, the secretive lab run by Google's parent company Alphabet. Its scientists are researching cold fusion, hover boards, and stratosphere-surfing balloons....
The Miseducation of Ta-Nehisi Coates
In his new book, We Were Eight Years in Power, The Atlantic's national correspondent Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about the past eight years of his career—his pursuit of an understanding of America, and...
Russia! Live with Julia Ioffe and Eliot A. Cohen
According to the U.S. intelligence community, this much is settled fact: Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. But beyond that basic consensus, much remains...
What Are Public Schools For?
The idea that public schools are failing is one of the most commonly heard complaints in American society. But what are they failing to do? Surveys of American parents—and the history of the nation's...
Will America's Institutions Survive President Trump?
Eight months into the Trump administration, we're taking stock: What is shaping up to be President Trump's effect on America’s institutions? Will subsequent presidents preserve or disregard the norms...
A Memo to the Huddled Masses
Immigrants flock to the U.S. in pursuit of the American Dream. But does the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program mean a wake-up call for millions of undocumented Americans? In...
News Update: The Questions After Harvey
If history is any guide, the biggest problems for residents of the Houston area will come into focus only after the nation's attention has already turned elsewhere. In this Radio Atlantic extra, Matt...
What Game of Thrones Has Taught Us About Politics
"Winter is coming," they warned us, and the seventh season of Game of Thrones might have proved them right. But no one mentioned that winter in Westeros would coincide with so many troubling events in...
Are Smartphones Harming Our Kids?
It's been ten years since the iPhone came out, and now the first generation to grow up with smartphones is coming of age. Jean Twenge, a psychologist who has studied generational behaviors, has found...
Ta-Nehisi Coates and Yoni Appelbaum on Charlottesville's Aftermath
After white supremacists and neo-Nazis rallied in Virginia, resulting in the deaths of three Americans, President Trump's equivocating responses shocked Republicans and Democrats alike. Did this...
Kurt Andersen on How America Lost Its Mind
When did the reality-based community start losing to reality show celebrity? Why are "alternative facts" and fake news suddenly ubiquitous features of the landscape? The spread of American magical...
News Update: Mark Bowden on North Korea
Given new revelations about North Korea's nuclear capabilities—and newly harsh rhetoric from President Trump—Jeffrey Goldberg and Matt Thompson talk with Mark Bowden, author of The Atlantic's...
Ask Not What Your Robots Can Do For You
Our increasingly smart machines aren’t just changing the workforce, they’re changing us. Already, algorithms are directing human activity in all sorts of ways, from choosing what news people see to...
One Nation Under God?
America prides itself on pluralism and tolerance, but how far does that tolerance extend when it comes to religious expression? Could faith in general be on the decline?
Radio Atlantic cohosts...
Radio Atlantic cohosts...
'Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory'
The Atlantic was founded on the eve of the Civil War to advance the American idea. But as we approach the magazine's 160th anniversary, has that idea taken an unprecedented turn?
In this inaugural...
In this inaugural...
Trailer
Coming July 21: A weekly conversation about what's happening in our world, how things got the way they are, and where they're heading next. Don't miss this sneak preview, for a taste of what's to...
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