It’s hard to imagine a world in which Taylor Swift didn’t eventually get married. Perhaps no artist today has an identity tied as closely to the idea of a forever love as hers is. So the Instagram announcement yesterday about her engagement to her boyfriend of two years, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, felt existentially fitting, even preordained.
Swift has been writing songs that look ahead toward marriage since she was a teenager.
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On this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with reflections on the misuse of history in today’s politics. He argues that fascism, once thought to have been buried by the Second World War, has reemerged in modern forms, thriving on the endless hunt for enemies, stoking culture wars, and exploiting new technologies. And he explains why the best antidotes remain liberty, equality, and sometimes humor.
Like its mischievous demigod protagonist, the Chinese animated fantasy film Ne Zha II has been a practically unstoppable force. Since its initial release in China, over Lunar New Year, the blockbuster has earned more than $2 billion worldwide. It’s now the highest-grossing film of 2025, the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and the highest-grossing non-English-language film in history.
The Trump administration placed some staffers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency on leave Tuesday amid fallout over a letter to Congress signed by more than 180 current and former employees, who warn that budget cuts and mismanagement are putting the agency’s work at risk.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook is suing President Donald Trump to challenge his attempt to fire her from the board of the central bank. A president cannot get rid of Fed officials over policy disagreements, but he can dismiss someone “for cause.” In recent days, Trump’s allies have accused Cook of misrepresentation on her mortgage forms, which Trump cited Monday when demanding her removal.
The divide in the Democratic Party over Gaza came into full view at a meeting Tuesday of the Democratic National Committee, where party members debated rival resolutions on the U.S.-Israel relationship.
We speak with Allison Minnerly, a 26-year-old DNC member from Florida, who introduced a resolution for the party to support an arms embargo on Israel, cut off military aid to the country and recognize Palestinian statehood.
We speak with the head of pediatrics at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, where Israel killed more than 20 people, including five journalists, Monday in a “double-tap” strike, drawing global condemnation. Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra says Israel’s justification of targeting a camera on the roof is “unbelievable,” and calls the attack “a calculated trap aimed at targeting rescue teams.
Teens in an NYC work program learned a harsh lesson when an ATM glitch pulled them into a citywide scam.
Target bent the knee to MAGA—sinking profits and shaking up leadership along the way.
The sports network is finally releasing a revolutionary new product—that it doesn’t want you to buy.
Elizabeth Spiers is joined by Matt Sekerke and Steve H. Hanke to discuss their book Making Money Work.
From TSA Clear to seat selection, the airlines are trying to monetize giving you more time.
As an epicenter of small business growth and the MAGA movement, Florida offers a glimpse into the potential political fallout
The company that owns the hospital in Erwin, Tennessee, vowed to rebuild after Hurricane Helene. Federal cuts may make that impossible.
Some healthy people may have to prove they have an underlying condition, or get a prescription.
The American Academy of Pediatrics had earlier urged parents to get young children vaccinated against Covid — pushing back against the health secretary’s stance.
Nearly 2 in 3 Black children are enrolled in the program.
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Bill Beach said the president’s suggestions that the jobs report was rigged betrayed a misunderstanding in how those numbers are assembled.
The monthly jobs report showed just 73,000 jobs in July, with big reductions to May’s and June’s numbers
We speak with George Retes, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen and Army veteran who is taking on the federal government after he was detained by ICE for three days and three nights without explanation. Retes was arrested during a raid in July at a cannabis farm in Camarillo, California, where he worked as a security guard. Retes was driving to work when he encountered a checkpoint, where agents broke his car window, pepper-sprayed him and dragged him out of his vehicle for arrest.
“Put her on the cover!” the voice shouted. Everyone looked around to see where it was coming from. There appeared to be a kind of vortex in the middle of the table in the meeting room; it sizzled and gave off sparks. Some paper clips flew into it and disappeared.
“Her? Who?”
“Melania Trump!” the voice yelled.
© Jamie Smart / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Rutting Call. Highly Commended, 10 Years and Under. Jamie Smart portrays a red deer stag as it gives a mighty bellow during the autumn rut in Bradgate Park in Leicestershire, England. Jamie walked up and down a path in the park at a safe distance from the stag. She stretched herself up tall to avoid any long grass in the foreground spoiling her view.© Leana Kuster / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Pink Pose. Highly Commended, 15–17 Years.
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If you’re looking for reasons to be skeptical about the FBI’s raid on John Bolton’s home last week, you don’t have to look very hard.
Let’s be honest: We all knew they were getting engaged when she went on his podcast. In 2025, that’s as good as a diamond ring.
Even more tellingly, when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce sat next to each other earlier this month on the video feed of New Heights, telling the story of how they met, they looked like one of the old couples in When Harry Met Sally. They finished each other’s sentences. They gently mocked each other.
Updated at 7:31 p.m. ET on August 26, 2025
One of the more surreal knock-on effects of the gutting of USAID is that the U.S. government is now holding a massive fire sale for mosquito nets, water towers, printers, iPads, chairs, generators, defibrillators, textbooks, agricultural equipment, motorbikes, mobile health clinics, and more. Until recently, these items supported the 5,000-plus foreign-aid projects that the Trump administration has now canceled.
