Caroline Mimbs Nyce

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inboxKATIE MARTIN / THE ATLANTICThis, but not that. Bars open, but not schools. Hygiene theater abounds.With coronavirus cases at the highest levels they’ve ever been, Americans are caught playing a life-or-death game of safety hopscotch. The rules may vary by household or region.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.Flip to the last page of any Atlantic print magazine, and you’ll find a humble ode.The source of all this goodwill is James Parker, a lyrical writer (and poet) turned monthly gratitude correspondent. In honor of Thanksgiving, I asked James to write an original holiday-themed ode.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.A scary season looms; poems can steel the spirit, or offer a distraction. Our writers and editors offer nine selections for exactly those purposes. Store them in your heart’s cellar, and retrieve as needed.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.SHUTTERSTOCK / PAUL SPELLA / THE ATLANTICThis week brought another round of urgent pandemic updates, both catastrophic and spectacular. Our writers help you process the good and the bad.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.Julia SellmannPrenatal testing gives expecting parents more information—and leaves them with complicated choices.In our new magazine cover story, science reporter Sarah Zhang looks at the case of Denmark, which established nationwide genetic testing for Down syndrome more than 15 years ago.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.JOHN MOORE / GETTYMore than 1,000 American hospitals report that they don’t have enough staff to manage the influx of coronavirus patients.That’s 22 percent of hospitals in the U.S..This frightening statistic, courtesy of my colleague Alexis C.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.Jordan Casteel. Photo of painting: David SchulzeBarack Obama is somehow still hopeful.The former president acknowledges the very real threats to democracy in this moment. But he urges Americans to take the long view and, within the time they have, work to make things better.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.A worsening pandemic may leave many Americans stripped of holiday comforts. Although an old TV show is no substitute for a hug from a loved one, perhaps some solace can be found in the familiar faces of beloved characters.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox. THE ATLANTICJoe Biden accrued a record-setting number of votes, proving that the Democratic Party’s coalition is the largest in the country. But that alignment could be tricky to maintain, writers on our politics team warn.
The party’s truce is over.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.GO NAKAMURA / GETTYThis pandemic never stopped being serious. But the situation just got more so.COVID-19 hospitalizations are up to an all-time high, and with them, fears that America’s hospitals could be overwhelmed.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.GETTY / THE ATLANTICAmericans were still processing Joe Biden’s victory when more big news arrived: a breakthrough in the search for a COVID-19 vaccine, courtesy of the drugmaker Pfizer.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.MARK MAKELA / GETTYDonald Trump isn’t going away. A majority of Americans served the 45th president an electoral rebuke, denying him a second term in the White House.But don’t expect him to quietly recede from public life, our White House correspondent Peter Nicholas warns.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERSThe election of Joe Biden marks the end of one process and the start of another.For four years, President Donald Trump aggravated the nation’s fissures for political gain.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.GETTY / THE ATLANTICTime froze. States stopped being called.For days, Joe Biden seemed perma-stuck on the precipice of victory. And the sitting president seemed to know it, delivering extraordinary and baseless claims about election fraud.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.BRETT CARLSEN / GETTYThe presidential contest appears likely to drag on at least one more agonizing day. But the Oval Office wasn’t the only thing on the line this year. We explore three winners of this cycle.1.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.GETTYThe presidential contest isn’t resolved. But the 2020 election has already proved revealing. Keep reading for three things we’ve gleaned from the results so far.1. This country remains deeply divided.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.Shutterstock / Getty / The AtlanticTo put the Election Day frenzy aside, this bears repeating: This is not a normal election, and you should prepare yourself accordingly. We don’t know when races will be called.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.As you try to suss out the national picture on Election Night, you can use these six states as bellwethers.
1.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.Getty / The AtlanticAmerica’s political schisms are so profound that we risk a repeat of the 1850s, when the country was on the precipice of the Civil War.Two Atlantic writers warn that the 2020s could mark another dangerous decade for the American experiment.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.THE ATLANTIC1. This isn’t 2016. Democrats fear a repeat of last cycle’s polling mistakes. Our staff writer Derek Thompson offers five reasons why this election is different.2. Here’s what liberals don’t understand about pro-Trump Latinos.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.THE ATLANTICOn the eve of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, our staff writer Ed Yong wondered how the incoming administration might handle a pandemic. In 2020, America got the answer.Now, Ed argues, the country faces a choice: Voters are about to decide how bad this pandemic will get.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.SHUTTERSTOCK / THE ATLANTICStimulus talks remain in a months-long stall, but one segment of America seems to be doing just fine in the meantime: the wealthy.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.SUSAN WALSH / APThe rushed appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court tells a story of a party aware of its own weaknesses. The nation is a week out from a national election that Republicans may very well lose.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.GETTY / THE ATLANTICWelcome to the great wait. The 2020 election is now close enough that you can feel its dragon breath on your neck. And yet! There’s still one more full week to go.American elections are drawn-out affairs, but this year’s contest may feel particularly long.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.THE ATLANTIC“Spectacularly obvious.”That’s what our editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, writing on behalf of The Atlantic’s editors, called the choice voters face this November.“Two men are running for president,” he writes.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.THE ATLANTIC“Spectacularly obvious.”That’s what our editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, writing on behalf of The Atlantic’s editors, called the choice voters face this November.“Two men are running for president,” he writes.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.NOAH BERGER / AFP / GETTYA century after winning suffrage, women voters will choose the next American president.
“The numbers are clear,” our politics reporter Emma Green noted back in August.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.ROHAN HANDEPresident Donald Trump held up a mirror to the American foreign-policy establishment, two of our writers argue, forcing it to reckon with a broken status quo.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.Three Stories We’re FollowingMARK FELIX / AFP / GETTY1. The third coronavirus surge is here. A troubling bellwether: Hospitalizations are up in many states, according to data from our COVID Tracking Project.2. We’ve reached the final weeks of the Trump-Biden race.

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.EVAN VUCCI / APLast night, President Donald Trump was given the opportunity to denounce QAnon outright. He didn’t.As my colleague Russell Berman writes, that news is shocking but not surprising.