Here’s how you know Project Hail Mary is a work of science fiction: It’s about the disparate nations of Earth pooling together their resources and intelligence to confront an apocalyptic problem—in this case, the pending death of the sun, due to a mysterious alien substance.
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To national audiences, the news that a North Carolina state senator had apparently lost a Republican primary race by two—yes, two—votes seemed like one of those quirky election stories that come around every year, such as when the mayor of Boca Raton, Florida, recently won by five votes.
Bad news to the many, many Duke-basketball haters out there: It appears that you’re going to have to put up with the Blue Devils in all of their punchable smugness, with their fade haircuts and the skinny blue letters on their swelling chests, their floor-smacking defense and their clean, net-twitching shots, for at least another day, if not another generation.
Taylor Frankie Paul’s turn on The Bachelorette was meant to be a fairy tale fit for reality, an age-old love story made modern by a heroine who had risen to fame as an antihero. Frankie Paul first gained notoriety as an online influencer and came to ABC’s soft-lit dating show through her role on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, where—as a reliable purveyor of high-stakes melodramas and telegenic tantrums—she has helped make the Hulu series a hit.
You’ve got a very special lineup today: the worldwide record holder for most entertaining Atlantic-branded trivia published on March 20, 2026.
And by the way, did you know that in addition to the nearly 70,000 active records that Guinness maintains, it has a handful that it has consciously discontinued? Largest pie fight is out on the grounds of food waste, and largest penny pyramid ended in 1984 out of (prescient!) fear of a penny shortage.
Experts are calling it “the worst voter suppression bill ever seriously considered by Congress.” As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on a Trump-backed voter ID bill known as the SAVE Act, millions of citizens who lack easy access to its required forms of documentation are now at risk of disenfranchisement. “Republicans are singularly focused on making it harder to vote and pursuing this MAGA fever dream,” explains Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.
As Israel continues to pummel Lebanon in its resumed war against the country and the Hezbollah paramilitary, we get an update from Associated Press reporter Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut. “If you compare this particular war to the last one, less than two years ago, what happened in the past three weeks is what happened in the past seven or eight months,” says Chehayeb, who describes masses of displaced people and fears of an imminent ground invasion.
A major New York Times investigation details the late co-founder of the United Farm Workers Cesar Chavez’s sexual abuse of women and girls. The revelations about Chavez’s history of grooming and abuse have sent shockwaves through the labor movement and California, where officials are already moving to cancel or rename public celebrations planned in his honor. Chavez is also accused of sexually assaulting fellow labor rights icon and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, now 95.
It’s quietly reshaping Main Street medicine. Your wallet—and health—might suffer as a result.
Mitu Gulati explains how the pervasive use of boilerplate is creating a legal crisis.
Live Nation’s settlement with the Justice Department is a big step toward accountability—and cheaper ticket prices.
The McDonald’s CEO took the tiniest bite of their biggest burger—and the internet went wild.
As a result of the ruling, HHS has postponed a planned meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices this week.
More states are giving tax breaks to businesses that help employees sign up for Obamacare using an authority Trump created.
Current grants run out on April 1.
A conference in Washington this week showcases mainstream and alternative health practices, a teen beauty queen and scientists.
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.
President Donald Trump has taken one risk after another that could have destabilized the American economy. Iran is the latest crisis to test U.S. economic resilience.
The president stopped in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s old district to defend his economic record.
A brief swing through the farm state underscored administration fears about the midterms.
The Trump administration is escalating threats against news organizations, with President Trump suggesting outlets should face “treason” charges for disseminating false information. Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has also threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses over their coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. This all comes as allies of President Trump consolidate their control over several major media outlets.
The ruling in a lawsuit brought by a group of states deals another setback to the Trump administration in its efforts to restrict the treatments.
The ruling in a lawsuit brought by a group of states deals another setback to the Trump administration in its efforts to restrict the treatments.
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
Etched into the facade of the Internal Revenue Service’s headquarters, just above a trio of limestone arches, is a quote from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.: “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.
Cold-water bathing has a long history as a health hack. The ancient Greeks and Romans partook to treat fevers. Eighteenth-century mental institutions employed a tactic called the bain de surprise, suddenly dunking their patients in cold water to jolt them out of their depression or psychosis. (Some doctors aimed to wet only the head to cure “hot brain.
