Updated with new questions at 2:40 p.m. ET on October 16, 2025.
Atlantic Trivia reaches Week 3, which is by definition the most trivial of all: The word trivia originally referred to places where three (tri-) roads (-via) met in a crossing. If those slouch Romans had been more industrious builders, we might be playing quintivia or even septivia today.
The Department of Defense has introduced a new press policy requiring the Pentagon to authorize any reporting on itself. Top TV news outlets have rejected the pledge; only the far-right outlet One America News has agreed to sign on. Dozens of reporters with the Pentagon Press Association turned in their government-issued press badges and left the building Wednesday rather than agree to the rules.
The Supreme Court appears ready to strike down Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, threatening the equal representation of Black voters, and potentially greenlighting Republican gerrymandering ahead of the 2026 midterm election. The case concerns Louisiana’s six congressional districts, two of which are majority-Black, in approximate proportion to the Black population of the state.
We speak to Argentine journalist Pablo Calvi about the U.S. government’s multibillion-dollar bailout for Argentina, which could grow from $20 billion to $40 billion as Argentina is rocked by an ongoing economic crisis. “I don’t see that the bailout would benefit the Argentine people or the American people, for that matter,” says Calvi. Instead, he believes the tech industry will reap the financial rewards from its ties to U.S.
Palestinians who have been released from Israeli prisons as part of the hostage exchange with Hamas are describing physical and psychological torture, medical neglect, deprivation and more. Moureen Kaki, a Palestinian American aid worker with Glia International who has been interviewing the returnees, joins us from Khan Younis to share some of their stories. Most were captured and imprisoned without charge by the Israeli military in the past two years.
We get an update from Gaza as the ceasefire there concludes its first week. Despite the agreed-upon cessation of hostilities, the Israeli military has continued its deadly attacks on Palestinians. Israel’s pledge to let in the 600 aid trucks needed daily to fill the dire need among the starving population has likewise fallen short. “We do not have enough supplies entering Gaza,” says Rachael Cummings, who is with Save the Children International in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
“Deserves to be called out,” says the president of the United States about a fawning magazine cover.
When he signed off his talk show in 2023, he pivoted to MAGA politics. It’s not working so well for him.
Gold prices have skyrocketed this week proving once again proving humans love shiny things.
It began in 2008—and has only proliferated from there.
He built a sports empire on ESPN. Now he wants to see if it’ll win him an Alabama Senate seat.
The budget stalemate is forcing some hospitals to withdraw from a successful Medicare program that allows seriously ill patients to be treated at home.
A Trump administration legal document said HHS initially targeted 1,000 to 1,200 employees for dismissal, and people speaking with POLITICO say the firings focused on the CDC.
Women of reproductive age have long been missing from clinical trials. It’s getting worse where abortion is banned.
Notices of the Trump administration’s reduction-in-force arrived late Friday, several former and current agency employees told POLITICO.
The group of outside experts will also consider shot ingredients like aluminum, as well as the timing and order of vaccines, according to a document posted on the agency’s website.
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.
Trump’s strength with Republicans on the economy could prove to be a boon for the GOP.
A survey from the liberal-leaning group Somos Votantes shows Latino voters are souring on the president.
Privately, aides concede voters remain uneasy about prices but argue their policies are beginning to turn things around.
As Trump threatens to send more federal troops to Chicago, grassroots movements have mobilized to protect immigrants from ICE raids. Democracy Now!’s Juan González, who is based in Chicago, reports that there have been “meetings all around the city, at college campuses and in neighborhoods, to build this self-defense group.
The first person I saw when I walked into the Pentagon for the final time was Jimmy. I don’t even know his last name, but I know his story. Before he started work at the labyrinthine headquarters of America’s armed forces, he was a medic in the Marine Corps. For the past 21 years, he has been a building police officer and an unofficial, affable greeter.
“Interviews are NOT real anymore.” So reads the opening caption of a TikTok posted in September, punctuated by the skull-and-crossbones emoji. In the video, a young woman interviews for a job on a video call. She has a smartphone propped up against her laptop screen, so she can read off the responses that an AI app has composed for her: “Um, yeah, so, one of my key strengths is my adaptability.” She’s got a point.
Updated with new questions at 3:55 p.m. ET on October 15, 2025.
Atlantic Trivia reaches Week 3, which is by definition the most trivial of all: The word trivia originally referred to places where three (tri-) roads (-via) met in a crossing. If those slouch Romans had been more industrious builders, we might be playing quintivia or even septivia today.
Until recently, open support for Hamas in the United States was confined to the far left. The national chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, which circulated talking points supporting the October 7 attacks, has lately declared on Instagram “DEATH TO COLLABORATORS.” But the notorious terrorist organization has found a new defender: President Donald Trump.
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On this episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with observations about the ongoing government shutdown, how it could be a strategic mistake for Republicans, and why this political standoff is best understood as a “quasi-election” about the rule of law itself.
Then Frum is joined by Lord Charles Moore, the authorized biographer of Margaret Thatcher, to mark the centenary of her birth.
There are just weeks to go before the November 4 New York City mayoral election, a virtual rematch of the Democratic primary from earlier this year, when democratic socialist state lawmaker Zohran Mamdani defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for the party nomination. Cuomo is now running for mayor as an independent, but former aide Lindsey Boylan says New Yorkers must not forget why he was forced out of the governor’s mansion four years ago.
As Israel and Hamas exchange living and dead captives as part of a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement, questions are growing about how sustainable the truce is and whether the two sides will progress to the second and third stages of the plan.
