The Atlantic

Drew Philp is the winner of the 23rd annual Michael Kelly Award, given by The Atlantic, for his investigative feature “There Will Be No Mercy,” published by The Atavist Magazine in 2025. Philp’s harrowing exposé of Ethiopia’s civil war serves as the definitive account of the two-year conflict, considered one of the deadliest of this century.
The award was announced this morning at The Atlantic Festival in New York City.

Today The Atlantic is launching The Permanent Questions, a new video podcast hosted by staff writer David Brooks about the fundamental questions of human life that every generation—and every individual—must attempt to answer. In new episodes publishing every Sunday, David will engage thinkers, writers, and artists in conversations about what makes us human, what gives life meaning, and how we can build richer relationships and a more just society.

The Atlantic has hired Jessica Goldstein as senior vice president of events, who will work in partnership with managing director for events Evan Smith to lead and produce the magazine’s robust live programs nationwide. She begins with The Atlantic in early September.
Jessica has spent her career telling stories through reporting and creating live experiences that resonate far beyond the stage.

Today The Atlantic is announcing four new members of the editorial staff: Gabby Deutch and Ian Bogost as staff writers, and Nick Summers and Talya Zax as senior editors.

The Atlantic Festival, back for the second year in New York City from September 17 to 19, is announcing new speakers including the legendary quarterback, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Colin Kaepernick, who will be interviewed by contributing writer Jemele Hill about his forthcoming memoir, The Perilous Fight.

The Atlantic contributing writer Ian Bogost sat down with the senior editor Chris Suellentrop to discuss Bogost’s new book, The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life. Bogost argues that machines, technology, and other modern conveniences have contributed to a growing sense of societal disconnection and dissatisfaction. Bogost and Suellentrop’s candid conversation explores how to identify and appreciate the small, often overlooked joys in doing everyday tasks.

As part of its ongoing expansion into Games, today The Atlantic is launching its first immersive-narrative game: Lemony Snicket’s Suspicious Incident in Dubious Park. The game transports characters to the center of a fictional scene––written by the author Lemony Snicket––to solve a murder mystery.
The Atlantic is launching the game exclusively for subscribers in its first week, before opening it up to wider audiences on July 20.

The Atlantic is announcing the hires of three new staff writers: Ariel Sabar, who has contributed to The Atlantic as a freelancer since 2015, and Joshua Partlow and Sebastian Smee, both joining from The Washington Post.
Joshua will cover extreme weather and natural disasters. Ariel will focus on in-depth narrative reporting. Sebastian will write widely about visual art and its influence on modern life and culture.

Today The Atlantic is opening the first set of tickets for its three-day flagship event, The Atlantic Festival, which will be back in New York City after moving to the city last year. The festival will take place from September 17 to 19: The first two days will be hosted across three stages at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, and on Saturday, The Atlantic will fan out across the city for a series of intimate events at a host of cultural venues as part of its Out and About programming.

For its July issue, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the United States, The Atlantic considers how to tell the American story, with contributions from its staff writers and editors, including Yoni Appelbaum, Ian Bogost, Sally Jenkins, Idrees Kahloon, Adrienne LaFrance, Helen Lewis, Jake Lundberg, Clint Smith, and Caity Weaver.

The Atlantic is announcing six early-career journalists who have been selected for a yearlong editorial fellowship program: Laney Crawley, Catherine Goodman, Nora Lowe, Jack Rodriquez-Vars, Jacob Smollen, and Katherine Weyback. This is The Atlantic’s first class of fellows since 2020; the six joining next month were selected from a pool of more than 1,300 applicants.

On Wednesday, May 13, the Atlantic staff writer Gal Beckerman will sit down with podcast host Adam Harris to discuss Beckerman’s new book, How to Be a Dissident. Beckerman’s book is part philosophy, part history, and part manual for living with integrity in an age of conformity and authoritarian drift. In How to Be a Dissident, Beckerman draws on the stories of dissidents from around the globe and across time, to provide models for pushing back against tyranny.

On Wednesday, May 6, staff writer Megan Garber will sit down with The Atlantic’s executive editor, Adrienne LaFrance, to discuss Garber’s new book, Screen People: How We Entertained Ourselves Into a State of Emergency.

Seabourn is bringing The Atlantic aboard for an exclusive three-year partnership to host a series of curated events on select itineraries, developed specifically for Seabourn guests and designed to deepen onboard enrichment through thoughtful dialogue and cultural exchange. The partnership will culminate in a full itinerary takeover in 2028, with a 12-day cruise from Montreal to Boston, where The Atlantic was founded in 1857.

On March 10, Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and executive editor Adrienne LaFrance discussed the political fallout after publishing Goldberg’s Signalgate story last year.

On Wednesday, March 4, Atlantic staff writers Tom Nichols, Toluse Olorunnipa, and Missy Ryan will discuss the United States and Israel’s joint attack on Iran with staff writer Vivian Salama. In this virtual event, they’ll discuss the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Trump administration’s response, the complicated history of regime changes, and what comes next. Attendees can submit questions in advance for The Atlantic’s journalists to answer live during the session.

The Atlantic is announcing that Adam Harris is returning to staff to host and develop a new weekly video podcast, which will be the third recent video podcast from The Atlantic. Adam was a staff writer at The Atlantic for six years covering higher education and national politics, and remained a contributing writer when he joined New America in 2024 as a senior fellow with the Education Policy program.

The Atlantic contributor and renowned foreign-policy scholar Robert Kagan will discus the Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela with the Atlantic staff writer Vivian Salama. In this virtual event just for subscribers, Kagan and Salama will explore the political fallout of the ousting and capture of Nicolás Maduro, the United States’ complicated history of regime changes, and how the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela can serve as a warning for other world leaders.

The Atlantic and Prologue Entertainment—the independent production studio founded by Lloyd Braun, Sarah Bremner, and Noah Oppenheim, and backed by RedBird Capital Partners—have entered into an exclusive first-look agreement to develop films and series based on The Atlantic’s journalism. As part of the deal, RedBird IMI, the joint venture led by Jeff Zucker, also has a first look to develop unscripted projects.

Today The Atlantic is announcing that Michael Leibel will join as senior editor for community. Michael begins on Monday, and will lead efforts to engage with our readers more closely, including building a larger forum for conversation on the website and app. Michael spent the past eight years at Bloomberg News and Businessweek, leading audience, social-media, and video-curation strategy.

For The Atlantic’s January cover story, “The Most Powerful Man in Science,” staff writer Michael Scherer profiles Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, as he crusades against what he perceives as the corruption of the scientific establishment. Scherer asks what it means when the country can’t agree on common facts—even those once considered validated by the scientific method––and examines why RFK Jr. is so convinced that he’s right in his beliefs.

Today The Atlantic is launching Galaxy Brain, a new video podcast hosted by staff writer Charlie Warzel about making sense of the online fire hose of our information ecosystem. In new episodes released every Friday, Charlie will be joined by a different guest each week to ask big questions about the intersection of online culture and human behavior. The first episode, which is now available, features the YouTuber Hank Green on what it means to survive online for 26 years.

Today The Atlantic is announcing that Jonathan Haidt, who has written a number of hugely significant stories for The Atlantic, and Eugene Robinson, one of the most well-known and influential journalists and columnists, will both become contributing writers. The Atlantic will now be the primary home for Jonathan’s most ambitious essays and features, and Eugene joins us most recently from The Washington Post, where he worked for three decades.

The Atlantic is announcing two new editorial roles: the hire of Adam Kirsch as senior editor, coming from The Wall Street Journal, and Luis Parrales, who is moving from the role of fact checker to staff writer at The Atlantic, focusing on coverage of religion.

The Atlantic is announcing the addition of five journalists as part of a continued newsroom expansion: senior editor Paul Beckett and staff writer Simon Shuster, both as part of its growing national-security team; Lily Meyer, previously a contributing writer, as a staff writer covering books and culture; Alex Reisner, who covers tech and AI and moves to staff from contributing writer; and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, who will join as a staff writer covering politics from Arizona.

The Atlantic has released its 2025 “Report on Diversity & Inclusion,” an annual report showing gender and race metrics across the company. The data represent the composition of The Atlantic’s staff as of June 30, 2025. We have committed to run and release this report annually.
As a workplace, we commit to fostering diversity, inclusion, growth, and a generous disposition to all. Find the PDF here.

Sarah Topol is the winner of the 22nd annual Michael Kelly Award for “The Deserter: An Epic Story of Love and War,” published last year by The New York Times Magazine. Topol’s moving, five-part feature is about a combat officer who deserted from the Russian army and, together with his wife, defected to the West; Topol also spoke with 18 other Russian defectors for her reporting.
The award was announced this morning at the 16th annual Atlantic Festival in New York City.

Starting today, The Atlantic is offering every public high school in the United States free digital access to its journalism and 168-year archive. All public high schools and districts can register with The Atlantic to give their students, teachers, and administrators unlimited access to TheAtlantic.com while on campus at no cost: all articles, full magazine issues, podcasts and audio articles, Atlantic Games, and the complete archive.

The Atlantic Festival includes Richard Ayoade, Ken Burns, Tom Hanks, Allison Janney, Arvind Krishna, David Letterman, Tekedra Mawakana, and Lt. General H.R. McMaster, plus screenings of The American Revolution, The Diplomat, The Lowdown, Dread Beat an Blood, and Love+War
The Atlantic is announcing new speakers for The Atlantic Festival, happening September 18–20 and located for the first time in New York City.

The Atlantic is announcing four new members of its editorial staff: Emily Bobrow and Katie Zezima will join as senior editors, both as part of the politics, global, and ideas team; Will Gottsegen was hired as a staff writer for The Atlantic’s flagship newsletter, The Daily; and Jonathan Lemire, who has reported extensively on the Trump administration this year as a contributing writer, becomes a staff writer.
More details from our editors about all four journalists follow:
First, Emily Bobrow.