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From The Atlantic. Elias Wachtel is 23 years old, and he doesn’t have an smartphone. A few months ago, Elias opted for a dumbphone—a device that can call, text, play music, take photos, and give directions, but that has no ability for endless scrolling. This means no email, no social media, and no internet. He…
From The Atlantic. Sports-gambling apps and websites have become a fracking-like operation, Charlie Warzel argues: "Extract as much as you can, scale as much as you can get it, and you have to get it now." For this episode of "Galaxy Brain," Warzel speaks with the journalist Pablo Torre about how these companies are failing…
From The Atlantic. Are sports the most valuable commodity in the world? On this episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel is joined by Pablo Torre for an examination of the role that sports and rampant sports betting are playing in our politics, culture, and economy. Pablo Torre is a longtime journalist and the host of…
From The Atlantic. When the Trump administration promised a mass deportation campaign they initially relied on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Disappointed with ICE’s pace and tactics, the White House turned to the Border Patrol for more sweeping, military-style enforcement. Commander-at-large Gregory Bovino has brought his green-uniformed agents (and his film crew) to Los Angeles, Chicago,…
From The Atlantic. On this episode of “The David Frum Show,” The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with his thoughts on the recent gifts given to President Donald Trump by the Swiss government. He argues that the incident is yet another example of Trump’s favor being won through personal gifts and another sign of how his…
From The Atlantic. The Trump administration is “creating a lot of mistrust out there in the world of the United States and its motives. And once you lose trust, I think it is very difficult to restore it,” the historian Margaret MacMillan tells David Frum. Watch "The David Frum Show."
From The Atlantic. The internet started as “Creative Common and Wikipedia,” Hank Green tells Charlie Warzel: “Now we have the discourse, and the discourse is in charge.” For the debut episode of “Galaxy Brain,” The Atlantic’s new weekly show, Warzel and Green explore what the history of the internet could tell us about its future.…
From The Atlantic. In this inaugural episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel examines the state of the internet as it stands now in November 2025 with Hank Green, a true citizen of the internet—somebody who has made a living riding the algorithmic waves of the social web. Warzel and Green look back on a time…
From The Atlantic. With the government shutdown, the Democrats scored “political points against the Trump administration in a way that the Republican shutdowns of the past have never been able to do,” David Frum argues. Watch “The David Frum Show” now.
From The Atlantic. The money keeps coming. Global spending on artificial intelligence is projected to hit $375 billion this year. In 2026, the figure is supposed to approach half a trillion dollars. The sums invested already are so staggering that the United States is beginning to look like an “Nvidia-state (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/10/data-centers-ai-crash/684765/) ,” where the tech…
From The Atlantic. To Abraham Lincoln, the American Revolution was “a living legacy to which we are bound,” our staff writer Jake Lundberg says, one Lincoln used to build a popular antislavery politics. As part of our special issue marking 250 years since the nation’s founding, Lundberg explores why Lincoln “might be the figure best…
From The Atlantic. On this episode of “The David Frum Show,” The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with his thoughts about the impending end to the government shutdown. David argues that the fight within the Democratic Party about ending the shutdown isn’t about the shutdown itself; rather, it’s about the future face of the party. David…
From The Atlantic. Do you really need to put that “modern twist” on the Thanksgiving meal? The “Radio Atlantic” host Hanna Rosin will be sitting down with the chef and author Alison Roman next week—and wants to hear from you. Are you wondering if that outlandish recipe you found online is really worth it? Or…
From The Atlantic. Democrats’ victories this week may only increase the urgency with which Republicans already view the 2026 midterms, David Graham argues, adding: Trump and his allies will do anything they can to make the election results “closer without having to actually change the policies that they want to pursue.”
From The Atlantic. Go ahead, Democrats. Enjoy your victory parties. But after that, brace yourselves, because Republicans may not be playing by the same rules a year from now. Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term—indeed, since his loss in 2020—he has shown his willingness to subvert the rules (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/12/2026-midterms-trump-threat/684615/) of free…
From The Atlantic. Venezuelans have experienced “propaganda” about Americans attacking for decades, Quico Toro tells David Frum, but now “there’s this disorienting feeling of ‘Wait a minute—this time it’s different.’” Watch “The David Frum Show”: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDamP-pfOskNgMNI1eg0pajQfRu-q3NUO
From The Atlantic. Spend enough time online and reality starts to feel surreal. Galaxy Brain, The Atlantic’s new weekly podcast hosted by Charlie Warzel, is a space for conversations, explanations, and tangents to help you understand what’s going on. Premiering November 14 on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe now: https://theatln.tc/dDMz2HTu
From The Atlantic. On this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with a warning about the coming Supreme Court battle over President Donald Trump’s use of tariff powers. If the Court endorses Trump’s claim that anything he deems an emergency allows him to impose tariffs, Frum argues that the United…
From The Atlantic. The internet has warped public life: Politicians behave like influencers, the economy resembles a casino, and people can no longer agree upon a consensus reality. New conspiracy theories, memes, and main characters seem to pop up every day. A constant war is on for your attention, and it’s easy to feel lost.…
From The Atlantic. Looking to try a new recipe for fall? Join the food historian Victoria Flexner on her journey to recreate a Revolutionary-era soup. As part of The Atlantic’s special issue on the American Revolution, Flexner met the award-winning documentarian Ken Burns at one of Burns’s favorite haunts, The Restaurant at Burdick’s, in Walpole,…
From The Atlantic. Nicholas Thompson took up running to be like his father; he kept going to avoid becoming him. Thompson joined Atlantic editor Paul Bisceglio on a run around The Wharf in Washington, D.C., to discuss what the sport has done for him, how it helped him after his battle with cancer, and more.…
From The Atlantic. Atlantic senior editor Drew Goins is on the National Mall in the name of life, liberty and trivial pursuits. Test your Revolutionary War know-how with some colonial trivia. And for questions delivered each day to your inbox, sign up for The Atlantic Daily newsletter.
From The Atlantic. Halloween treats are awfully light on chocolate this year, Yasmin Tayag reports. The un-chocolaty varieties have sprung up as the world supply of cocoa beans has dwindled, causing prices to skyrocket. Tayag hits the candy aisle to see how candy companies are getting around cocoa.
From The Atlantic. So far, the U.S. has blown up 14 boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing at least 57 people. In the two months since the strikes began, the administration has consistently offered the same explanation: The U.S. has a fentanyl overdose problem, and these boats are a source of that drug.…
From The Atlantic. At #TAF25 Dr. Becky Kennedy spoke with Julie Beck about setting boundaries for kids around technology and elsewhere. Even when Kennedy has “a nonnegotiable” boundary important to her kids’ safety, she said, it’s important to acknowledge their possible feelings of annoyance.
From The Atlantic. Atlantic staff writer Faith Hill majored in cognitive science in college—and found “how psychologically rich” stories on dating and partnership were. She discusses how she found her reporting beat, how she puts her own dates at ease, and more. This is “Behind the Byline”: a new series from The Atlantic that lets…
From The Atlantic. On this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with reflections on the new Trump administration’s pattern of “politicized stupidity”: the willful refusal to understand abuses of power, including the destruction of the White House’s East Wing and the perceived sale of government influence disguised as private donations.…