As the year comes to a close, a lot of publications are rounding up the best books (or movies, or episodes of TV shows, and so on) of the year. In a period when most of us could really, really use a distraction from current events or personal tribulations, books can especially serve as a saving grace. Unfortunately, not all books get the limelight and attention they deserve.
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has been making the media rounds Monday to encourage voters to turn out in support of Democratic Senate hopefuls Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of the state’s runoff election.
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 lot has happened this year. Today, we’re reflecting on what The Atlantic covered in 2020. Below is a non-exhaustive list of must-read stories, including some of our standout work on the coronavirus, America’s racial reckoning, and the election.
Here’s one more thing to celebrate from November’s election, something that got kind of lost in the never-ending saga of Trump’s stupid and dangerous challenges. Yes, he lost many many times and that’s fantastic. But so is this: Two more major cities gave the finger to big telecom and embraced community broadband.
If the Senate seconds the House action, it would be the first veto override of Trump’s presidency
The tagline is “Trump: He’s What’s For America,” a riff on the beef industry’s “Beef: It’s What’s For Dinner” slogan.
The measure, approved a day after Trump signed a COVID-19 relief package, is now up to Senate Republicans.
Although Dan Patrick offered a reward to anyone who could prove voter fraud, he’s been ignoring John Fetterman’s evidence involving a Trump supporter.
“It’s nothing short of irresponsible,” the president-elect said Monday.
He will even open the door if I have it closed without knocking or announcing himself.
He says this is normal. I’m not so sure.
Dozens of immigrant women detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia have joined a class-action lawsuit against ICE over allegations they were subjected to nonconsensual and invasive gynecological procedures and surgeries that were later found to be unnecessary, and in some cases left them unable to have children.
Congress is set to override President Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act, the $740 billion annual defense policy bill that funds the U.S. military. Trump vetoed the legislation last week over objections to liability protections for social media companies and because he did not want to rename military bases currently named for Confederate generals.
President Trump has unexpectedly signed a $2.3 trillion spending package that includes a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package. The bill includes direct payments of $600 for most adults, expanded unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses, money for vaccine distribution and a temporary extension of a federal eviction ban. Millions were plunged into uncertainty over the holidays as Trump delayed signing the bill, allowing two unemployment programs to lapse.
Photographs by Ricardo NagaokaShould American cities defund their police departments? The question has been asked continually—with varying degrees of hope, fear, anger, confusion, and cynicism—since the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day. It hung over the November election: on the right, as a caricature in attack ads (call 911, get a recording) and on the left as a litmus test separating the incrementalists from the abolitionists.
Editor’s Note: Every Monday, Lori Gottlieb answers questions from readers about their problems, big and small. Have a question? Email her at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com. Dear Therapist,I need help with grieving and my feelings of anger toward this microscopic virus that has taken my father. I know that even when somebody is terminally ill, there’s no way to be fully prepared for loss.
At 10 o’clock one morning this November, Rob Beal’s bosses summoned him and his co-workers onto a mysterious Zoom call. Beal had spent more than two years working as a coach for AbleTo, which provides mental-health services to people through apps, videochats, and calls, like Uber for anxiety.Beal, a 50-year-old former attorney, had devoted himself to his job coaching people through AbleTo’s anxiety and depression programs.
For years, social-media platforms had held firm: Just because a post was false didn’t mean it was their place to do anything about it. But 2020 changed their minds.At the end of May, Twitter for the first time labeled a tweet from the president of the United States as potentially misleading. After Donald Trump falsely insisted that mail-in voting would rig the November election, the platform added a message telling users to “get the facts.
Parenting advice on hand-me-downs, plastic surgery, and surprise savings accounts.
Some states are shrinking or delaying plans for coverage expansion as they confront a challenging fiscal reality.
If he’s willing to do a coup, he’s probably willing to do this.
Boosted unemployment insurance? Check. A continued eviction moratorium? Check. Checks? Check. But there’s still much more that we need.
It’ll only be enough if the vaccination effort doesn’t blow it.
Health experts worry that the public could balk if offered a shot that’s only moderately effective.
This year’s 50 Best came together a little differently than before. Just five years ago we could address a fledgling podcastsphere with the 50 best episodes of the year—not shows. Now, something like 1.5 million podcasts exist. Even if only half of those were active in 2020 we still couldn’t possibly hear them all, no matter how pathological our dedication to listening.
I want to support him through this breakup, but the things he’s said make me ill.
Parenting advice on internet temptations, Santa delays, and Auntie worries.
We make compromises, then she moves the goal posts.
