A wave of protests started by shopkeepers swept through Tehran in December. Iranians have had such a terrible year—facing such a decline in living standards and such a sense of political impasse—that no one was terribly surprised when demonstrations filled the streets.
I asked one Iranian student why she had taken part in the street protests. “Yeah, why should we protest?” she replied sarcastically.
In this holiday special, we revisit our interview with longtime technology reporter Karen Hao, author of the new book Empire of AI, which unveils the accruing political and economic power of AI companies — especially Sam Altman’s OpenAI. Her reporting uncovered the exploitation of workers in Kenya, attempts to take massive amounts of freshwater from communities in Chile, along with numerous accounts of the technology’s detrimental impact on the environment.
Every year, I set myself a reading challenge. These are sometimes small—read more poetry; read older books—and sometimes quite large. More than a decade ago, I spent an entire year reading nothing but writing in translation, an experience that fundamentally reoriented my literary habits. Part of my annual resolution is to devote each summer to filling in a major blind spot.
In the months before the election of the young democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor, panic seized members of New York’s elite business community. Real-estate moguls, hedge-fund princes, and a well-known supermarket-chain magnate forecast disaster. Several of them vowed to move to Texas or Florida, or at least Hoboken, if Mamdani was elected. So far, however, the city hasn’t seen an exodus of its richest residents, and their alarm has lapsed into glum acceptance.
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In July, we published a series of stories about San Francisco’s attempt to address the growing number of homeless and addicted people living on the streets. We followed Evan, who had been homeless for years, as he sought to escape the addiction that was threatening his life. Four months later, we check in on how he’s doing.
Rating the spiciness and truthiness of the hottest takes we heard in 2025.
Mary Childs learned about how places like ALIMA and Givewell are moving forward now that USAID is done.
Trump Media & Technology Group has merged with a nuclear fusion company TAE Technologies.
Disney invests $1 billion in OpenAI so you can’t use Sora to make Darth Vader porn among other concerns.
Even state governments that want to help can’t completely cover rising insurance premiums.
Montana and California will receive near equal amounts in 2026, despite their massive size disparity.
Despite a Trump administration push, there are few facilities offering the complex treatment in the rural areas where many patients live.
The companies behind Doritos, Oscar Mayer wieners, and Kraft Mac & Cheese are warning state regulation promoted by the health secretary is driving up your food bill.
In some cases, Europe has better contained disease, in others it’s let them spread to keep costs down.
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
The vice president fine-tunes Trump’s economic message, but he’s only got so much wiggle room.
Voters who backed Donald Trump in 2024 and swung to Democrats in this year’s Virginia and New Jersey elections did so over economic concerns, according to focus groups conducted by a Democratic pollster and obtained by POLITICO.
In races across the country, Democrats focused on promises to make life more affordable — even as they offered contrasting approaches.
The White House plans to make affordability a key selling point for Republicans across the board as the 2026 midterm elections come into focus.
President Donald Trump will give a speech in Northeastern Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the first stop in a ‘tour’ where he will talk about affordability concerns, among others.
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Because every day is Black Friday at Costco, I choose to go on Saturday. I like to get there early. I always park in the same spot (right next to the cart return), and wait with the other die-hards. It has the thrill of a stakeout, absent any crime or danger.
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On this week’s episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with his thoughts on the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He examines the many actions President Donald Trump has taken that run counter to the ideals articulated in 1776, and considers how the Founders’ constitutional genius may ultimately be what frustrates Trump’s attempt to consolidate power.
A new report from the grassroots organization RootsAction aims to do what a promised “autopsy” from the Democratic National Committee ultimately did not: publicly reckon with the failures of the Democrats’ 2024 presidential campaign.
New York City is preparing to welcome Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist and member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America, into office as mayor. Ahead of the highly anticipated inauguration, we sit down with NYC-DSA’s co-chair Grace Mausser to discuss the goals of the incoming administration and next steps for the volunteer-powered campaign apparatus that helped propel Mamdani to City Hall.
Israel is set to suspend the operating licenses of Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam and dozens of other humanitarian aid groups in Gaza and the West Bank over alleged ties to Hamas, preventing international aid workers from entering Gaza and carrying out critical, lifesaving operations. Israel’s licensing process is “arbitrary and highly politicized,” explains Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the impacted groups.
