The Capital Is a Mess
Chain-link fences, construction cranes, armed guards, and portable toilets everywhere
Steph Chambers / FIFA / Getty 
Illustration by Alisa Gao / The Atlantic. Sources: Anna Moneymaker / Getty; Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress; Library of Congress.
Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Source: Alexandra Petri. I Went to the Great American State Fair and I May Never Sleep Again
A day at the fair featuring patriotic energy drinks, a George Washington impersonator, and lots of ABBA
Illustration by Lucy Naland. Sources: Alex Slitz / Getty; David Buono / Icon Sportswire / Getty; @FreddyLA7 / X; Getty. So Long to America’s Favorite Everymensch
The internet couldn’t get enough of “Freddy,” a German tourist on an epic World Cup road trip. Why did he suddenly go silent?
Dan Brandenburg / Getty A Supreme Court Decision That Might Improve Politics
The recent campaign-finance ruling is actually good. Or at least, it’s not bad.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. There’s Nothing Democratic About These Socialists
The DSA was formed in opposition to the very thing it has become.
Illustration by Alicia Tatone. Sources: Bloomberg / Getty; Getty. Young Republican Activists Are Turning Against Trump
Conservative groups at colleges across the country want a far more radical GOP.
Getty Putin Is Slipping Into Delusion
The Russian dictator remains obsessed with his war in Ukraine but doesn’t seem to comprehend how badly it’s going.
Glasshouse Images / Getty 
Win McNamee / Getty Trump’s Anti-Patriotic Trap
The president celebrates only some Americans. But patriotism is not about who is in the Oval Office.
The New (And Slightly Smelly) Center of the AI Boom
San Francisco’s brightest minds are stuffing themselves into hacker houses.
LightField Studios / Shutterstock / Katie Martin / The Atlantic How a Negotiation Expert Would Bargain With a Kid
Some tactical suggestions for managing volatile, sometimes nonsensical negotiation partners (From 2019)
Wenjia Tang The Six Forces That Fuel Friendship
I’ve spent more than three years interviewing friends for “The Friendship Files.” Here’s what I’ve learned. (From 2022)
Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Teaching a Stone to Talk
Wherever there is stillness there is the still small voice, nature’s old song and dance … A meditation on silence and other matters. (From 1981)
Bettmann / Getty Speaking of Music
“Can anyone explain in mere prose the wonder of one note following or coinciding with another so that we feel that it is exactly how those notes had to be? Of course not.” (From 1957)
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Glasshouse Images / Getty radio atlantic•Episode 192American History as Rorschach Test
A new curriculum plays down America’s sins.
Tasos Katopodis / Stringer / Getty the david frum show•Episode 65The American Experiment Is Worth Believing In
The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, on America’s 250th anniversary and the American idea today. Plus: what we can learn from American history on this Fourth of July and City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism by Abram Van Engen.
Illustration by Renee Klahr / The Atlantic galaxy brain•Episode 34A Writer Learns How to Read Again
Rewiring your attention in the age of the feed
LIMITED SERIESAutocracy in America
There are authoritarian tactics already at work in the United States. To root them out, you have to know where to look.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. how to age up•Episode 6How to Age Up on a Warming Planet
Younger generations are having a hard time imagining their future.
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