Atlantic Trivia (n.): that quiz which is too easy when one gets three of three correct and too difficult when one correctly answers any fewer.
And by the way, did you know—also a tidbit from Ross’s article—that the Chinese used their newfangled invention of paper only for packing and padding in the early days? It was not used for the dissemination of knowledge until some time later.
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.
The margins of my books are filled with handwritten annotations such as “Absolutely not” and “STOP IT!!!!” and “girl get UP.” These are not necessarily critiques of the story; some are expressions of high praise. Several of my favorite titles are full of characters who utterly vex, agitate, and perturb me.
Last Thursday, the CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond interrogated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in Jerusalem. This act of journalism was not unusual, but what happened next was. Diamond uploaded the exchange to social media, and the footage didn’t simply go viral—it became the locus of a mass digital delusion.
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What is Twitter’s legacy? In this episode of Galaxy Brain, Charlie Warzel traces how Twitter, now called X, evolved from a status-update tool to one of the most culturally and politically influential—and contentious—platforms of the modern internet. Charlie is joined by early Twitter executive Jason Goldman.
The 30th anniversary celebration of Democracy Now!, held in New York City’s historic Riverside Church this week, featured live performances and appearances from writers and musicians including Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. The musical performances were kicked off by singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra and their band Hurray for the Riff Raff, performing the Puerto Rico-inspired anthem “Pa’lante.
Juries in California and New Mexico have found the tech giants Alphabet and Meta liable for knowingly causing harm to children and teens who used their social media platforms. Over the course of the trials, documents revealed that tech companies were well aware of the addictive properties of their social media products and exploited these properties to increase their profits.
Drop Site News’s Jeremy Scahill joins Democracy Now! to discuss the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, including President Donald Trump’s lies about U.S. strategy and negotiations with Iran, possible avenues of U.S. escalation and what Scahill has learned about Iranian strategy in conversations with Iranian officials.
Millions of people are expected to take to the streets this Saturday in opposition to the Trump administration in the third iteration of the nationwide No Kings protest movement. Ahead of the thousands of No Kings demonstrations scheduled not only across the country, but also around the world, we speak to one of the organizers behind the campaign, Leah Greenberg of Indivisible. “People are coming out in every state, in every county, collectively, and saying, ‘Enough.
The seven-year war between the bookstore owner and the good liberals who went rogue.
TSA shortages, ICE agents in terminals, and security lines stretching for hours: You might want to consider booking a train instead.
HBO’s prestige TV luster seems to be taking a hit with the various mergers and rebrands.
It’s quietly reshaping Main Street medicine. Your wallet—and health—might suffer as a result.
He indicated that the FDA will soon take action on peptides, the mini-proteins biohackers tout as therapies for a range of ills.
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.
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.
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.
My daughter is now of the age where she will go see any new animated film in a theater, which means that again and again, I encounter a very specific utopian vision from the world of children’s entertainment: Wouldn’t it be nice if all of the animals lived together in harmony? The theme is certainly a knock-on effect from Zootopia, the 2016 smash hit whose sequel was the highest-grossing American film of 2025.
There are few situations so bad that they can’t be made worse by adding ICE: Your house is on fire? Here’s ICE! Now your house is still on fire, and someone has entered it with a “judicial warrant” to rifle through your burnt belongings. You’ve just suffered a massive cranial injury and don’t remember any of your rights? ICE is here—and it doesn’t remember your rights either.
Seeing the chaos at airports as TSA employees enter another week without pay, Donald Trump has decided to add ICE.
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.
Critics have used many phrases to describe Donald Trump’s presidency, some of them unprintable. Scholars and journalists have debated whether Trump’s approach is “authoritarian,” “white supremacist,” or “fascist.
The global economy has become dependent on the AI industry. Trillions of dollars are being invested into the technology and the infrastructure it relies on; in the final months of 2025, functionally all economic growth in the United States came from AI investments. This would be risky even in ideal conditions. And we are very far from ideal conditions.
This story was updated at 4:45 p.m. on March 26.
President Trump has been sounding desperate lately for an off-ramp from the war he started, emphasizing progress in negotiations that may or may not reflect reality and declaring that “this war has been won” despite ample evidence to the contrary. An Iranian missile attack on a major natural-gas facility in Qatar last week might help explain his turn-the-page posture.
