“Mr. Higginson,” an unpublished, reclusive 31-year-old poet wrote to an Atlantic contributor—a man she had never met—in 1862. “Are you too deeply occupied to say if my verse is alive? The mind is so near itself it cannot see distinctly, and I have none to ask.” The letter, with its quaint phrases and handwriting that looked almost like bird tracks, was unsigned, and accompanied by a card nestled under a smaller envelope.
“That is a serious misunderstanding of one’s role, of loyalty and character,” the far-right pundit said on his radio show.
Each installment of “The Friendship Files” features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.This week she talks with two men whose friendship of convenience—Mitchell served as an unofficial guide when Judo moved to his hometown, and vice versa—grew more intimate as they became embedded in each other’s lives.
The parents of a student killed in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School duped a former president of the National Rifle Association into giving a high school graduation speech defending gun rights in front of 3,044 empty white chairs — one chair for each student who could not graduate this year because they were killed by gun violence.
The Taliban have continued seizing districts in Afghanistan ahead of the U.S. military pullout set for September 11, now holding twice as much territory as they did two months ago. According to a Wall Street Journal report, U.S. intelligence agencies believe the government of Afghanistan could collapse within six months of the U.S. withdrawal. The Biden administration is reportedly planning to keep 650 troops in Afghanistan after the September 11 deadline, and the U.S.
An Ethiopian military bombing of a marketplace in the Tigray region killed at least 64 people in one of the deadliest attacks since government forces invaded the region last November. The bombing came just a day after Ethiopians voted in national and regional elections, but polls could not open in some areas due to ongoing fighting. The country is still waiting for results that will determine if the ruling coalition, led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, stays in power.
Every Fast and Furious movie strains credulity, but F9 shatters it so completely, even the production’s own characters have noticed. In the ninth main installment of one of Universal’s most durable film franchises, Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) and his trusty band of drag-racing ex-cons are so indestructible that they ride out bullets, land mines, and the void of outer space. (I repeat: Outer. Space.
UFOs can be fun. See: the official sign on the road near Area 51, which dubs it the Extraterrestrial Highway. UFOs can be weird. See: E.T. phoning home with a MacGyvered communication device. But UFOs are also a national-security story, a government-contracting story, a conspiracy-culture story, and a technoscientific story. They are a human story.
The GOP’s new embrace of Lincoln, emancipation, and Juneteenth is no sign of progress.
She’s played us against each other our entire lives.
Even if we’re still waiting for a new mayor.
Republicans yanked away federal help to nudge people back to work. So far, it doesn’t seem to be working.
When you need a negative result to board a flight, you’ll pony up.
A CDC safety panel has determined there is a “likely association” between the Pfizer and Moderna shots and cases of myocarditis and pericarditis in vaccine recipients.
FDA gave the drug conditional approval earlier this month, making it the first new Alzheimer’s therapy approved in nearly 20 years.
Parenting advice on open relationships, infertility, and sibling sadness.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank still expects rising inflation to subside in the coming months but underscored that he will be watching the data to see if that’s wrong.
A continued inflation spike could make it a lot harder for the president to push through trillions of dollars in additional federal spending.
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.
The White House says it will miss its goal of getting 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated by July 4. Vaccinations are available for anyone age 12 and up in the U.S., but just 45% of people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated, and only 16 states have fully vaccinated more than half of their populations. Epidemiologist Dr. Ali Khan says despite more than 150 million people in the U.S.
And he was likely contagious when he ripped off his mask on his return to the White House from Walter Reed, according to “Nightmare Scenario.
In the news today: Trump fixer Rudy Giuliani’s license to practice law in New York is suspended after a pattern of flagrant lying about supposed election “fraud” in and outside courtrooms. The White House and a group of 10 senators announced an agreement on “bipartisan” infrastructure funding—but both the details and the supposed bipartisanship that will allow it to pass remain sketchy.
I envision a day—perhaps not that far in the future—when Donald Trump and his doofus-y name are radioactive, not just to the decent people of the world but to a wide swath of Republicans, too. Will that happen? I’m trying to be an optimist, so I say yes. Trump himself is doing his best to make that reality come to pass.
Of course, in the wake of Jan.
In a major blow to farmworkers and labor rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled against the ability of union organizers in California to access agricultural worksites to speak to laborers, The New York Times reports. The high court ruled along political lines, with all six right-wing justices ruling against unions and farmworkers. Growers had lost in the lower courts.
“Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
Graduations are a time for celebration, not only for those achieving the milestone but their family members and friends alike. But unfortunately, not all students are treated the same way or given the respect they deserve. Instead of being able to enjoy her high school graduation peacefully with her peers, a hijab-wearing Muslim student was subjected to harassment and boos from parents and peers alike.
It was probably a good idea for her to speak out.
We all have to deal with them. Some member of our extended family, or a co-worker, or someone we at a store who is just so incredibly wrong that at a certain point you want to throw up your hands and say, “Really? Really?” Enter Matt Gaetz. After testimony yesterday, Gaetz decided to go on the attack. Boy, did it go badly for him:
With Generals like this it’s no wonder we’ve fought considerably more wars than we’ve won. https://t.
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 world works in strange ways, and interesting design choices can often be found in the everyday objects we overlook. Here are two to think about just in time for summer.Ketchup bottles.