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May 22, 2025

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A Confederacy of Toddlers

The Trump administration is a regime of troubled children.

Mamdani Is the Foil Trump Wants

Prepare to hear a lot about New York’s new mayor.

The Solution to the Third-Term Threat

Republican leaders need to speak up now, loudly and clearly, against any schemes to put Donald Trump back into the White House yet again.

The Lonely New Vices of American Life

Booze is down and weed is up, and that’s doing something to us as a country.

The Validation Machines

Humanity thrives on friction—so why are the tools of the future built to make everything seem so easy?

5 stories // week 44

The Government Is Closed. The President Is MIA.

Trump has been busy with everything but the government shutdown.

The Age of De-Skilling

Will AI stretch our minds—or stunt them?

Bridesmaid Inflation

Why are we making those we love most suffer for our weddings?

J. B. Pritzker’s Dark Visions

Twenty-seven minutes with the latest governor Donald Trump wants arrested

China Is Building the Future

The United States can learn from its technological success.

5 stories // week 43

Steve Bannon and the Murderers and Hitmen Who Became His ‘Besties’

What the man who has Trump’s ear learned in prison

Resistance Is Cringe—But It’s Also Effective

Dismissing the movement as embarrassing pap ignores what has made it so powerful.

National Security

Pete Hegseth is bringing his fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity into the Pentagon.

The Great Ghosting Paradox

Is there a social phenomenon that’s as infuriating—and as commonplace?

Feeling Desolate? There Is a Cure for That.

Everyone sooner or later faces a dark night of the soul. Don’t hide from yours; learn from it.

5 stories // week 42

Retribution Is Here

The president’s threats of revenge are no longer bluster.

The Emptiness of Attacking Critics for Their Hypocrisy

It’s hard to defend crackdowns on free speech. It’s easier to simply claim everyone’s doing it.

The Lesson of 1929

Debt is the almost singular through line behind every major financial crisis.

Can Gen Z Get Rid of Its iPhones?

My dumbphone does what an app could never do.

The Happiness of Choosing to Walk Alone

Going along with an untruth for fear of disagreeing with others is a form of self-betrayal that will make you miserable.

Ein Gespräch mit "The Atlantic"

Chefredakteur Jeffrey Goldberg und Autor George Packer von "The Atlantic" im Gespräch mit Daniel Benjamin, Präsident der American Academy in Berlin sowie Chefredakteur Wolfgang Krach und Autor Andrian Kreye von der "Süddeutschen Zeitung". Am 03.11.2025 im Residenztheater in München, die Teilnahme ist kostenlos.

5 stories // week 41

The Race to Save America’s Democracy

Trump’s administration may seem chaotic, but Americans should not take the integrity of next year’s elections for granted.

Trump’s Campaign of Vengeance Is Already Backfiring

As the president knows too well, efforts to censor or convict foes can often make them more popular.

Trump Is Successfully Bullying Netanyahu

The more the president puts the prime minister in his place, the more likely it is that the Gaza war will end.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl

MAGA isn’t going to like this halftime show.

The Mind-Altering Effect of a Good Workout Routine

Few things lift your mood more than going to the gym. Exercise your body, and your mind will thank you.

5 stories // week 40

America’s Zombie Democracy

Its trappings remain, but authoritarianism and AI are hollowing out our humanity.

The Era of Step-on-a-Rake Capitalism

Trumponomics isn’t about economics. It’s about creating pain and demanding tribute.

Trump’s Grand Plan for a Government Shutdown

The Trump administration might use a shutdown to finish the job that DOGE started.

How to Think, Not What to Think

College is not just about transmitting knowledge—it’s also about learning and practicing the skills that connect us to one another.

If I Work Harder, Will You Love Me?

The tragedy of workaholism is the false belief that you can trade toil for affection. Knowing that is the first step to recovery.

5 stories // week 39

Trump Might Be Losing His Race Against Time

The president is gambling that he can consolidate authority before the public turns too sharply against him.

A Government of All the Podcasters

The right-wing podcast-industrial complex is establishing new norms and taboos—and expanding the White House’s power.

Why Trump Changed His Mind on Ukraine

And why he still might change it again

The Running Mate Kamala Harris Didn’t Dare Choose

“I love Pete,” she writes in her new book. But picking a gay man would have been too risky.

Have You Considered Not Polluting the Water?

The tech industry will do anything to solve our loneliness epidemic except stop causing it in the first place.

5 stories // week 38

What Charlie Kirk Told Me About His Legacy

He didn’t just want to win elections. He wanted to win a generation.

What If This Is a Turning Point?

Charlie Kirk’s closest allies will help determine whether the next few weeks bring confrontation, de-escalation, or something in between.

Strawberries in Winter

Most Americans do not want civil war. Anyone who is declaring it should stop.

Democrats Are Still Debating Joe Biden’s Decision to Run

In her new memoir, Kamala Harris takes on the issue that has haunted Democrats for more than a year.

Six Ways to Start Early and Lift Your Mood

Try my protocol for a happy start to the day and see what works for your own well-being.

5 stories // week 37

Fear of Losing the Midterms Is Driving Trump’s Decisions

The specter of investigations and impeachment has fueled many of the president’s most dramatic actions.

The Epstein Letter Is Real, and It’s Bad

The president’s initial strategy of denying that the document exists leaves him with few options now that it has been made public.

The Abundance Delusion

I mean, what even is a Democrat at this point?

The Job Market Is Hell

Young people are using ChatGPT to write their applications; HR is using AI to read them; no one is getting hired.

How to Turn Anxiety Into Adventure

The secret is to turn your feeling of dread into the excitement of opportunity.

5 stories // week 36

The Anti-Trump Strategy That’s Actually Working

Lawsuits, lawsuits, and more lawsuits

How Trump Gets His Way

He commits to actions beyond the outermost limits of executive power, then confronts the courts with a risk of chaos if the limits are enforced.

The MAGA Influencers Rehabilitating Hitler

A growing constituency on the right wants America to unlearn the lessons of World War II.

What We Lose by Distorting the Mission of the National Guard

A compact that has defined the National Guard’s legitimacy for generations is being shattered.

The Marriage Effect

A common narrative has it that commitment and motherhood make women unhappy. New data suggest the opposite is true.

5 stories // week 35

Trump Is Sending a Terrifyingly Clear Message

The president is going after his enemies and undermining the American system.

What Trump Doesn’t Understand About ‘America First’

It’s time for Europe and the United States to accept how different they actually are.

The Virtue of Integrity

The only way out of our wreckage is to rewrite the cultural script, to make excellence in character admired again.

The Defiant Conventionality of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Swifties love seeing him take pride in her success.

Five Baha’i Lessons for a Happier Life

This 19th-century Persian religion has deep, humanistic teachings we can all benefit from.

5 stories // week 34

Trump Keeps Defending Russia

The president sees the Ukraine war through Kremlin-tinted glasses.

Europe’s Free-Speech Problem

Republicans are right to criticize Europe for attacking free expression, even if that makes them hypocritical.

Trump Is a Degrowther

What else do you call a strategy designed to raise prices and lower productivity?

Don’t Believe What AI Told You I Said

The chatbots are lying about me.

The Rise of ‘Cute Debt’

Female shoppers are being pushed toward buy-now-pay-later services.

5 stories // week 33

Trump’s Unforgivable Sin

Voters have proved willing to tolerate corruption, but there’s one thing they won’t ignore.

Vladimir Putin Could Be Laying a Trap

Donald Trump badly wants a deal to end the war in Ukraine. What is he willing to give up?

This Is the News From TikTok

When young adults use the social-media outlet to keep up with current events, what kind of information are they getting?

Donald Trump Doesn’t Really Care About Crime

His plans for Washington, D.C., are a warning to us all.

Resist the Snark and Be Happy

Being courteous can be challenging in these fractious times, but politeness is much better for your well-being.

5 stories // week 32

Emil Bove Is a Sign of the Times

He has demonstrated that total sycophancy to the president can be a fantastic career move.

Explaining away even the most horrific acts of violence by saying some people are just wicked is understandable—but it won’t help us build a safer society.

The Pro-Israel Right Is Shifting the Definition of Anti-Semitism

Building a coalition united by total indifference to Palestinian human rights requires teaming up with people who lack a certain moral refinement when it comes to the Jews.

What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones

Children who were raised on screens need more freedom out in the real world.

How to Know You’re Not a Phony

Impostor syndrome can certainly harm your happiness. Here are three ways to get over it.

5 stories // week 31

Trump Is Making Socialism Great Again

Capitalism needs better advocates.

The FBI’s Leaders ‘Have No Idea What They’re Doing’

A casualty of Trump’s purge speaks out.

The Pentagon Against the Think Tanks

Pete Hegseth finds a new enemy.

What Schwarzenegger Knows About George Washington

The former California governor is the latest to recognize that the most remarkable thing about the first president was not how he exercised power, but how he yielded it.

Lunch With Virginia Woolf

On finally reading A Room of One’s Own

5 stories // week 30

What a Democrat Could Do With Trump’s Power

America is entering an age of retributive governing cycles.

This Is the Presidency John Roberts Has Built

The country is witnessing the creation of an all-powerful institution, and one man is responsible.

Trump’s Campaign to Crush the Media

The president has launched a frontal assault on the journalism business. So far, he’s winning.

That Dropped Call With Customer Service? It Was on Purpose.

Endless wait times and excessive procedural fuss—it’s all part of a tactic called “sludge.”

How to Be More Charismatic, but Not Too Much More

It turns out that being charming has a happy mean.

5 stories // week 29

Flattery, Firmness, and Flourishes

World leaders and diplomats quietly swap strategies for managing Trump.

America Has Never Seen Corruption Like This

Trump’s Qatari jet was just the beginning.

Why Trump Can’t Make the Epstein Story Go Away

His brainwashing powers are finite.

To Be Happier, Stop Resisting Change

The Zen of archery is all about learning how to let go.

Pamela Anderson Forever

Alert the incels! The rest of us love her, and we will always love her.

5 stories // week 28

The U.S. Is Switching Sides

Donald Trump is giving Vladimir Putin every incentive to keep killing Ukrainians.

How to build a life

The Ciceronian Secret to Happiness

To feel good, do good.

Welcome to the Mafia Presidency

That’s a nice business you’ve got there.

Why Do So Many People Think That Trump Is Good?

The work of the moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre helps illuminate some central questions of our time.

How Much Worse Is This Going to Get?

Political violence poses an existential threat to our nation and our freedoms—but it’s not too late.

5 stories // week 27

The Red State Where Republicans Aren’t Afraid of Trump

Some of the last remaining GOP holdouts hail from the same state.

What a ‘Spiral of Silence’ Can Do to a Democracy

Protests show people they are not alone in caring about an issue.

The Conservative Attack on Empathy

Sometimes emotions are the voice of one’s conscience, and shouldn’t be ignored.

How to Build a Life

The Ultimate Career Advice: Make Your Work Your Calling

Three ways to find purpose and meaning in a job

The Birth-Rate Crisis Isn’t as Bad as You’ve Heard—It’s Worse

Humanity is set to start shrinking several decades ahead of schedule.

5 stories // week 26

Sinwar’s March of Folly

Seldom has any action backfired so spectacularly as Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Trump Got This One Right

The president has made many poor decisions, but in striking Iran, he acted where his predecessors had failed.

The Vatican Knows an ‘Industrial Revolution’ When It Sees One

To update Catholic teaching for the age of AI, Pope Leo should revisit the 19th century.

The Body-Positivity Movement Is Over

Liv Schmidt and the rise of SkinnyTok.

The True Impact of Trump’s Strike on Iran

The president insists Iran’s nuclear facilities were “totally obliterated.” Not everyone is so sure.

5 stories // week 25

The Tyrant Test

A leader who uses military force to suppress his political opposition ought to lose the right to govern.

Israel’s Bold, Risky Attack

The Israeli campaign may be necessary, but preventive wars carry great moral and practical risks.

Inside the Democratic Rupture That Undermined Kamala Harris’s Presidential Hopes

In the weeks before Election Day, it seemed like the candidate had two campaigns.

The Three Dramatic Consequences of Israel’s Attack on Iran

Great battles, won or lost, change the entire course of events.

Another Side of Modern Fatherhood

We hear a lot about how men are struggling, toxic, or both. Dr. Becky begs to differ.

5 stories // week 24

Trump Is Using the National Guard as Bait

Don’t give him the pretext he wants.

Where Is Barack Obama?

The “audacity of hope” presidency has given way to the fierce lethargy of semi-retirement.

Inside the Trump-Musk Breakup

The president tried to give his billionaire benefactor a dignified exit. It didn’t work.

Hitler Used a Bogus Crisis of ‘Public Order’ to Make Himself Dictator

Using disorder he had helped manufacture, the chancellor seized control of Bavaria.

The Beauty That Moral Courage Creates

A lovely paradox of doing good in the world is that it does you good too.

5 stories // week 23

The Trump Presidency’s World-Historical Heist

He is taking self-enrichment to a scale never seen before in America.

The Secret History of Trump’s Private Cellphone

“Who’s calling?” the president asks as he answers call after call from numbers he doesn’t know.

Strategizing With Ghosts

Memories of the past shape the choices of nations in the present.

The Key to Critical Self-Awareness

The ancient-Greek commandment Know thyself turns out to be a great modern way to become happier, more empathetic, and more successful.

The No. 1 Rule for Understanding Trump

A lot happens under this administration, but a lot un-happens, too.

5 stories // week 22

The Decline and Fall of Elon Musk

The Tesla innovator becomes the latest government employee to lose his job.

How to disappear

Inside the world of extreme-privacy consultants, who, for the right fee, will make you and your personal information very hard to find

The New Dark Age

The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself.

The Bliss of a Quieter Ego

We live in a world of noisy narcissism, but you can escape the cacophony—and be happier.

The Coming Democratic Civil War

A seemingly wonky debate about the “abundance agenda” is really about power.

5 stories // week 21

„I Run the Country and the World“

Donald Trump believes he’s invincible. But the cracks are beginning to show.

Read The Atlantic’s Interview With Donald Trump

A conversation with the president about executive power, Signalgate, and 24-karat gold

Is the AfD Too Extreme for Democracy?

Germany’s far-right party hates immigration, and some of its leaders have a disturbing tendency to say things that sound Nazi-curious.

The Talented Mr. Vance

J. D. Vance could have brought the country’s conflicting strands together. Instead, he took a divisive path to the peak of power.

Why Are Young People Everywhere So Unhappy?

Here’s the answer to that—and what we can do about it.

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