Vinay Prasad, until Tuesday one of the country’s top medical regulators, just got a bitter taste of what it means to have real power. In recent months, the academic hematologist-oncologist, medical contrarian, and polemic podcaster had become a central figure at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In May, he was chosen to lead its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research—a position that gave him authority over vaccines and gene therapies.

This week, the world seems to be finally paying attention to the magnitude of the suffering in Gaza. The futile policies pursued by the Israeli government—prodded by the far-right cabinet ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir—have reduced the supply of humanitarian aid, food, and supplies in Gaza. Israel has unnecessarily reengineered the distribution of aid, failing to achieve its goal of separating the civilian population from Hamas while further constricting its supply.

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“I am not a writer. I’ve been fooling myself and other people,” wrote John Steinbeck in his private journal when he was working on The Grapes of Wrath, his 1939 epic novel about a family fleeing the Oklahoma Dust Bowl during the Depression to seek a better future in California.

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Texas Republicans are planning to redraw their congressional districts this year, five years ahead of schedule. As with most other recent examples of norm-breaking behavior in American politics, the reason for this involves Donald J. Trump.

The Bear didn’t wait long to stress out its viewers. “Review,” the seventh episode of the dramedy’s first season, is one of the most anxiety-inducing viewing experiences in recent TV history. In it, the employees at the sandwich shop in which the show originally takes place lose their cool after a food critic’s praise directs a deluge of customers their way. But the crew’s panic quickly permeates off-screen too.

Until last Thursday, the team behind the app Tea Dating Advice was having an extraordinary week. They claimed to have amassed more than 2 million new users, making Tea the most popular free app in Apple’s App Store, after it stirred discussion on TikTok and Reddit.

The renowned sportswriter Sally Jenkins is joining The Atlantic as a staff writer this September, where she will continue her exceptional and deeply sourced reporting. Jenkins has been the lead sports columnist at The Washington Post for the past 25 years.
In a staff announcement, shared below, editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg writes: “Sally is quite possibly America’s greatest living sportswriter—and more generally one of the best feature writers working today.

President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to an unexpected place last week, touring the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, where two buildings are currently under renovation. Trump then staged a bizarre photo op with the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, and criticized Powell over the cost of the renovation before telling him to lower interest rates, which the Fed could do—but almost certainly won’t—at its meeting today.
This presidential conduct was all but unimaginable before Trump.