Trump’s Pressure on Ukraine
Panelists joined to discuss the administration’s shifting international priorities, and more.
End the Year With Great Movies
A roundup of recommendations from our critics
The Real Reason for the Hong Kong Fire
Don’t blame the bamboo scaffolding.
Trump Knows What He Wants, Just Not How to Get There
Mystery surrounds planning for what happens if Maduro falls.
The Fed’s Succession Drama
Trump’s choice of a new Federal Reserve chair could reflect a broader power play.
The Last MAGA Prisoner
Trump desperately wants Tina Peters released but can’t make it happen without help.
Atlantic Trivia on Ketchup Alternatives and the End Times
And did you know that the Dutch East India Company was allowed to imprison its own workers?
The Indiana Vote Is an Inflection Point
The spines of the state’s Republicans stiffened where so many others snapped.
Sam Altman Got What He Wanted
For now
Trump Is Throwing Away America’s AI Dominance
Lifting export controls on Nvidia’s second-best chip jeopardizes America’s AI advantage over China.
Do We Really Know How Isabel Archer Felt?
Fictional people, especially those from the past, are interesting because they are both strange and familiar.
How YouTube Ate Podcasts and TV
Short-form video is taking over everything (including reading).
Trump’s Affordability Weave
The president can’t seem to stay focused on the issue that voters care about most.
A Barred Spiral
Day 12 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar
Obamacare Changed the Politics of Health Care
It’s one thing for Republicans to deny hypothetical care. It’s another to take this tangible benefit away.
A Throwback Rom-Com About One Millennial Trying to Have It All
James L. Brooks’s Ella McCay is wacky and weird—but it doesn’t quite work.
Why Couples Therapists Are Sick of ‘Therapy-Speak’
What happens when spouses accuse each other of gaslighting? Nothing good.
The 10 Best Albums of 2025
This year’s most interesting artists invented their own grammar and tunneled in idiosyncratic directions.
‘Six-Seven’ Is Six Feet Under
Grown-ups killed it.
Hopeful Images of 2025
Photos that recognize some of the abundant joy and kindness present in the world around us