Culture

A blurred color photo of the Grand Foyer of the Kennedy Center, showing a bronze bust of John F. Kennedy in focus.
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post / Getty

What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center

I spent 10 months working at the institution because I thought I could help protect it. What I observed there is far worse than the public knows.

An illustration of Charlie Kirk
Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Sources: Nordin Catic / Getty; traffic_analyzer / Getty.

A New and Dangerous Kind of Fame

Charlie Kirk was a content creator—a job that shapes how people now talk about and experience politics.

collage-style illustration with black and white mirror images of the Spinal Tap logo, guitars, and band members over trio standing on top of Stonehenge, with red background
Photo-illustration by Paul Spella

For Those About to Mock

Forty years after Spinal Tap, history’s most hapless band turns it up to 11 one last time.