From The Atlantic. 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 they mostly agreed that the shift began in high school. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, we make the case for reading books, one memory…

From The Atlantic. The key idea behind democracy is that if politicians pass good policy, people will reward them with votes. But is that actually true? The political scientist Hunter Rendleman looked at what happened when governors extended a social-welfare benefit that has lifted millions of working-class Americans out of poverty. Share understanding this holiday…

From The Atlantic. Our latest season of How To is a collection of our favorite episodes from past seasons—a best-of series focused on slowing down, making space, and finding meaning in our hectic lives. This episode, from our fifth season, How to Keep Time, features co-hosts Ian Bogost and Becca Rashid in conversation with Oliver…

From The Atlantic. 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 NBC reporter Kristen Welker that he would “most likely” pardon Capitol rioters on…

From The Atlantic. New Zealand was in a major housing crisis. But then the Pacific nation actually took ambitious steps to address it. The researcher Eleanor West recounts the policy wins and political pitfalls of what happened—and what lessons the United States and other countries could learn.  Share understanding this holiday season. For less than…

From The Atlantic. This new season of How To is a collection of our favorite episodes from past seasons—a best-of series focused on slowing down, making space, and finding meaning in our hectic lives. This episode, from our fourth season, called How to Talk to People, features host Julie Beck in conversation with Eric Klinenberg…

From The Atlantic. 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 attached: “Mather, you dog, Damn you, I’ll inoculate you with this.” Today’s vaccines are as safe and effective as ever. So why,…

From The Atlantic. Four years ago, the murder of George Floyd—and the international protests that followed—amplified calls to defund or abolish the police. But what do we actually know about the relationship between policing and public safety? Share understanding this holiday season. For less than $2 a week, give a yearlong Atlantic subscription to someone…

From The Atlantic. This new season of How To is a collection of our favorite episodes from past seasons—a best-of series focused on slowing down, making space, and finding meaning in our hectic lives. This episode, from our fifth season, called How to Keep Time, features host Ian Bogost in conversation with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang,…

From The Atlantic. We warned you last month to “Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/10/black-plastic-spatula-flame-retardants/680452/) . (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/10/black-plastic-spatula-flame-retardants/680452/) ” In a recent study conducted about consumer products, researchers concluded kitchen utensils had some of the highest levels of flame retardants, which you do not want anywhere near your hot food. After the article was published,…

From The Atlantic. Last year, nearly half of childless adults under 50 told the Pew Research Center that they didn’t want kids. As the birth rate in the United States continues to decline, the philosopher Anastasia Berg wanted to know: Where is this ambivalence coming from? Share understanding this holiday season. For less than $2…

From The Atlantic. This new season of How To is a collection of our favorite episodes from past seasons—a best-of series focused on slowing down, making space, and finding meaning in our hectic lives. This first episode, from our third season called How to Build a Happy Life, features the Harvard Business School professor Ashley…

From The Atlantic. 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 power lies with the White House. The Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols explains why Trump’s picks to oversee the…

From The Atlantic. Was leaving behind our nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles a mistake? If so, why did so many different groups of people make the switch to farming? The researcher Andrea Matranga spent more than a decade looking at the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic era and found that humanity’s decision to settle down…

From The Atlantic. 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 that is over 50 percent Latino, explains why he believes Democrats need to shift their position…

From The Atlantic. What exactly happened to the Kamala Harris campaign in this year’s presidential election? Host Jerusalem Demsas and Tim Miller (https://podcast.thebulwark.com/guests/tim-miller) , a former Republican strategist and the host of The Bulwark Podcast, tick through the competing narratives about why the Democrats lost and which ones actually hold up. Get more from your…

From The Atlantic. 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 different kind of country?  Staff writers Anne Applebaum and McKay Coppins help us learn how to…

From The Atlantic. Do higher levels of immigration lead to lower wages? The Atlantic staff writer Rogé Karma (https://www.theatlantic.com/author/roge-karma/) breaks down the misconception that immigration creates an economic burden—when actually the opposite is true: Immigrants are a source of economic growth. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access…

From The Atlantic. 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 disciplined campaign, Trump’s advisers lost control of their candidate, the Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta reported this week (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/trump-2024-campaign-lewandowski-conway/680456/)…

From The Atlantic. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has mused, a few times, about throwing reporters in jail (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/american-journalists-second-trump-term?srsltid=AfmBOopUTgf0QS171s_A89Tc5q5jhEejwTvbU7etcbMB5KcH1HAbJ66J) if they refuse to leak their sources and taking away broadcast licenses (https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/22/media/trump-strip-tv-station-licenses-punish-media/index.html) of networks he’s deemed unfriendly.  These last couple of weeks, we’ve had clear signals that maybe his threats are having an impact…