In a series of definitive pieces that earned him the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting, The Atlantic’s Ed Yong anticipated the course of the coronavirus pandemic, clarified its dangers, and illuminated the American government’s disastrous failure to curb it.Yong, who has been a staff writer at The Atlantic since 2015, began warning readers about the fragility of America’s pandemic preparedness long before COVID-19 emerged.
Though the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, the end appears to be in sight in the United States. And with that hopeful end, this will mark the last episode of Social Distance.James Hamblin, Maeve Higgins, and returning co-host Katherine Wells gather to say goodbye to the show, reflect on what we’ve learned these past 15 months, and listen to voicemails from past guests.
The Atlantic staff writer Ed Yong has won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. He was awarded journalism’s top honor for his defining coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and how America failed in its response to the virus. This is The Atlantic’s first Pulitzer Prize.
Yong anticipated the course of the pandemic, clarified its dangers, and illuminated the American government’s disastrous failure to curb it.
Sometimes, the actions a government takes look bad at the time, but posterity treats them kindly. Other times, a president might look good in the moment but see his reputation sink in retrospect. Then there’s the Trump administration, and especially its Justice Department, which looked bad when it was in power and now looks even worse.
Parenting advice on after-school jobs, cuddle time, and period products.
The former attorneys general are subject to a subpoena if they refuse.
Peter Turnley / Corbis / Getty
When the psychologist Michael Reichert became a father to sons, he aimed to avoid putting his boys into narrow masculine boxes, an effort that he details in his book, How to Raise a Boy. Still, he sometimes slipped. For example, in a 2019 Atlantic interview, Reichert recalled forcing his young son to face off against bullies rather than offering him a refuge.
The agency also cleared 10 million doses for use.
Germany has apologized for its role in the first genocide of the 20th century, which took place in Namibia, a former colony then known as German South West Africa. Between 1904 and 1908, German colonizers killed tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people in Namibia. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas officially described the massacre as genocide and outlined an offer of more than $1.34 billion in development aid to the Namibian government.
The U.S. State Department is pushing to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Britain, where Biden is now meeting with leaders during the G7 summit. A U.K. judge blocked Assange’s extradition in January, citing serious mental health concerns. Assange faces up to 175 years in prison if brought to the U.S., where he was indicted for violations of the Espionage Act related to the publication of classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes.
As world leaders gather for the first in-person G7 summit in two years, talks are set to focus heavily on ending the pandemic and the climate crisis, and climate activists are calling on them for more immediate action. “It’s not just one crisis,” says Asad Rehman, executive director of War on Want and spokesperson for the COP26 Climate Coalition.
The scandal was absurd, but the problems are broader than that.
Janet Woodcock did not release a statement with the approval — noteworthy considering it was the first new Alzheimer’s drug in nearly two decades.
A late-breaking campaign controversy, explained.
I want us to travel and have more free time. She’s worried about looking like a gold digger.
President Joe Biden will announce the plan tomorrow ahead of the G-7 meeting in the United Kingdom.
The FDA’s decision to approve the drug, siding with industry and patient advocates, raises new questions about whether it is lowering its burden of proof for drugmakers.
Less than a quarter of Black Americans have received their first Covid-19 shot. That’s less than other racial and ethnic groups tracked by the CDC.
Parenting advice on sudden SAHMs, accidental daycares, and coerced guardians.
Income growth has been relatively strong, particularly in the last couple of months, despite disappointing overall job growth.
It’s a stunning reversal for a brand that once lured the rich and famous willing to pay a premium to live in a building with Trump’s gilded name on it.
The figure will provide some relief to the White House after the April report, but it’s well short of the pace predicted by many economists earlier this year.
Some analysts suggested that the administration is essentially admitting that its proposed surge in federal spending won’t actually boost the economy much at all.
A new film called “Takeover” follows the 12 historic hours on July 14, 1970, when members of the Young Lords Party took over the rundown Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx in New York City. The Young Lords were a radical group founded by Puerto Ricans modeled on the Black Panther Party. Democracy Now! co-host Juan González, a co-founder of the Young Lords, helped organize the action.
As Boris Johnson prepares to host Joe Biden and the leaders of the world’s other G7 democracies this weekend, Britain appears to have recovered something of its old self. After years of stasis, slump, and division culminating in last year’s catastrophic COVID-19 response, the country can legitimately count itself in a vanguard of powers leading the globe out of the pandemic.
In the news today: A Trump-appointed inspector general’s claims that the gassing of peaceful protesters had nothing to do with a planned Trump publicity stunt is at odds with known facts. Investigations into the Jan. 6 insurrection continue, despite Republican attempts at stonewalling. The Arizona “audit” gets challenged by real experts who say they can produce a more accurate count without ever leaving their homes.
Former Rep. Jim Renacci, who was the 2018 Republican nominee for Senate, announced Wednesday that he would challenge Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for renomination.
Renacci has been a loud DeWine critic for well over a year, but he intensified his attacks in 2020 over the governor’s measures to combat the pandemic.
Alan Hostetter, a police chief turned yogi, was indicted along with Three Percenter extremists in a conspiracy to attack the Capitol.
Prosecutors sought records on a dozen people connected to two lawmakers, including Rep. Adam Schiff, to hunt those who leaked classified information.
In many parts of the country, warmer weather tends to bring rain and/or storms—something you may be enjoying from a dry, safe place even as you read this.
But as ever, GOP lawmakers in legislatures across the country continue to cast ominous clouds over things like equality, voting rights, and basic decency.
That’s right—you’ve been caught in a Statehouse Action squall.