Pete Hegseth Needs to Go—Now
A man with such contempt for the military should not run the Pentagon.
Tom Stoppard Made a Spectacle of History
In a career of magnificent plays, The Coast of Utopia stands out for its humor, its characters, and its warnings about ideological fervor.
2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar
Welcome to the 18th annual Space Telescope Advent Calendar, featuring remarkable images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. Every day until December 25, this page will present a new image of our universe.Updated at 10:19 a.m. ET on December 25, 2025
Trump’s Boat Strikes Could Make the Cartel Problem Worse
The administration’s lethal strikes on suspected traffickers may compromise, not advance, America’s battle against cartels.
Rising Prices Are Bad, but Plummeting Prices Are Worse
Americans may envy China’s deflation. They shouldn’t.
What History’s Fallen Societies Have in Common
A new book argues that civilizations built on centralized wealth and power contain the seeds of their own destruction.
The Long History of the Hamnet Myth
The belief that his son’s death inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet is itself inspired by an enduring, compelling, and highly questionable theory.
When Donald Trump Fired David Rubenstein
The private-equity billionaire spent decades building influence in the capital. Then his philanthropy collided with the president.
The People Outsourcing Their Thinking to AI
Rise of the LLeMmings
The Bubble-Wrapped President
Trump surrounds himself with those who flatter him in places where he is comfortable.
The New German War Machine
After World War II, Germany embraced pacifism as a form of atonement. Now the country is arming itself again.
Today’s Instagram Trivia Answers
Here are the questions and answers from today’s Atlantic Trivia on Instagram.
The Eloquence
A poem
The World Still Hasn’t Made Sense of ChatGPT
OpenAI’s chaos machine turns three.
Five Books to Read on Your Next Flight
These stories will help pass the time while you travel.
The Movies Got Small, and So Did We
Going to the movies with my dad
Why the Gulf Monarchs Shower Trump With Gifts
Until now, no president had yielded to royal temptations from abroad.
What Is RFK Jr. After?
On Washington Week With The Atlantic, Michael Scherer joins a discussion about his story on the HHS secretary’s plans to remake America’s public-health system.
How to Change Your Sleep Patterns
Altering your habits one bit at a time is possible—if you have a good reason to do so.
The Germans Who Stood Up to Hitler
And the Germans who didn’t