The AI Mona Lisa Explains Everything
Depending on how you look at it, generative AI is either astonishingly powerful or totally pointless.
Phones at School Are a Disaster
Smartphones impede learning, stunt relationships, and lessen belonging.
Sterilizing Cats, No Surgery Required
A single shot might someday replace spaying as a tool for cat-population control.
Chris Christie Isn’t Here to Make Friends
The former New Jersey governor is entering the Republican primary raring for a fight, but voters...
The Atlantic’s July/August Cover Story: “How Baseball Saved Itself” by Mark Leibovich
Leibovich goes inside the MLB’s desperate effort to rescue America’s pastime from irrelevance
Inside Baseball’s Desperate Effort to Save Itself From Irrelevance
And why, to my surprise, it’s working
One More Screen for Your Face
Apple has unveiled its vision for a world beyond the iPhone. Are things any different?
The Secret Presidential-Campaign Dress Code
As candidates descend on Iowa and other early-voting states, the “everyman” cosplay picks up.
Welcome to a World Without Endings
Thanks to AI, every painting can now have an expanded border, every minor character a ChatGPT-written...
Poland Is Not Ready to Accept a New McCarthyism
On Sunday, half a million Poles marched to defend the country’s democracy against a ruling party...
A Love That Can Be at Once Platonic and Romantic
In Past Lives, distance and quiet are key to understanding a soaring intimacy.
The Savannah Bananas Take Banana Ball on Tour
Images of the Savannah Bananas baseball team, at home and on tour
The Murder Rate Is Suddenly Falling
The first five months of 2023 have produced an encouraging overall trend for the first time...
No One Knows What ‘Race Neutral’ Admissions Looks Like
How should colleges and universities replace affirmative action if the Supreme Court does indeed strike it...
Get Rid of the Debt Ceiling Once and for All
Regularly putting the entire economy at risk is in no way “fiscally responsible.”
In Defense of Humanity
We need a cultural and philosophical movement to meet the rise of artificial superintelligence.
Six Books That Feel Like Puzzles
These titles represent an eclectic mix of various styles and moods, but any one of them...
What Do We Owe Our Friends?
A culture that prioritizes romance and family relationships can push people to undermine their friendships.
The Arab Spring Is in Its Death Spiral. Does the West Still Care?
Tunisia was the best case, Sudan the last hope, Syria the bloodiest of all: The countries...
The Novelist Who Truly Understood the South
A new collection of Charles Portis’s work makes the case for his place in the American...
How Parking Ruined Everything
America has paid a steep price for devoting too much space to storing cars.
Ron DeSantis’s Joyless Ride
The ultimate performative politician doesn’t seem to enjoy the in-person performance of politics.
Wild, Wondrous Food Findings
Atlantic writers have challenged conventional food wisdom time and time again.
A New Cold War Could Be Much Worse Than the One We Remember
China is a more formidable adversary than the Soviet Union ever was, and the world is...
What People Misunderstand About NIMBYs
Asking a neighborhood or municipality to bear the responsibility for a housing crisis is asking for...
A Spidey Sense We Haven’t Seen Before
In Across the Spider-Verse, even more thrilling than the dazzling visuals is the hero’s bold psychological...
AI Doomerism Is a Decoy
Big Tech’s warnings about an AI apocalypse are distracting us from years of actual harms their...
Will We Remember 'Succession' or 'Ted Lasso' More?
What to make of two strikingly different series finales—and worldviews
A Nobel Laureate Walks Into a Supermarket
Annie Ernaux on the malaise of the grocery store
The Labor-Shortage Myth
Things are finally looking up for the American worker. Why does the government see that as...
A Tragically American Approach to the Child-Care Crisis
The U.S. is returning to a tired old playbook: If at first you fail to make...
Inside the Meltdown at CNN
CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious...
The Key to America’s Victory in the Second World War
Ernie Pyle understood that the war would be won, or lost, in the realm of steel,...
Why Putin’s Secret Weapon Failed
Russia’s gambit to deter support for Ukraine by restricting energy supplies flopped—thanks to concerted action by...
Photos of the Week: Bull Vault, Buddha Wash, Bass Guitar
A diving championship in England, Darth Vader on trial in Chile, Manhattanhenge in New York City,...
The Problem With Comparing Social Media to Big Tobacco
The surgeon general issued a warning about social media’s impact on teens. What do we know...
What Trump’s Recording Could Reveal
The reported existence of a tape says something important about how the former president operates.
The Filmmaker Who Knows What’s Wrong With Your Relationships
To Nicole Holofcener, the writer-director of You Hurt My Feelings, every partnership is about figuring out...
Online Ads Are About to Get Even Worse
Online ads have always been deeply flawed. Generative AI will only make them worse.
NASA Learns the Ugly Truth About UFOs
Talking about mysterious sightings in the sky can be a nasty business.
Lordy, There Are Tapes
Trump’s fear of damaging press was so much greater than his fear of criminal accountability that...
They Still Love Him
Trump may be unpopular nationally, but within his own party, the devotion has not subsided.
Seven Tips From Susan Sontag for Independent Thinking
What would the intellectual powerhouse think about our culture of groupthink and self-righteousness?