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The health of a nation reflects the health of a democracy. Illustration by Tyler Comrie In the winter of 168 C.E., the famed Greek physician Galen arrived in Aquileia, an Italian city on the northern edge of the Adriatic. The city had grown large since its founding as a Roman colony, but during

The Risk of Speaking Spanish in Public

2 hours ago

Trump’s immigration crackdown has Latinos wondering if they belong in his America. Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic Veronica was born in California into a family with roots in Mexico. She flies the American flag outside her home on national holidays, and proudly belts out “The Star-Span

This Is So Much Bigger Than Pete Hegseth or Mark Kelly

2 hours ago

A decision against the senator could affect all military retirees. Heather Diehl / Getty Of the many questions posed by those gathered in U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s courtroom last week, the most obvious one of all never came up: Why on earth was anyone here in the first place? Unti

‘Together, We Are America’

8 hours ago

Bad Bunny’s critics said his Super Bowl halftime show would be divisive. They were totally wrong. Ishika Samant / Getty In the days and weeks leading up to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, a nervous kind of hype swept America. The 31-year-old artist is, by some measures, the most popular w

‘The Trust Has Been Absolutely Destroyed’

15 hours ago

Some state election officials say they no longer trust their federal partners. Joseph Prezioso / AFP / Getty The email that federal law enforcement sent this week to the nation’s top election administrators would have been routine just a few years ago. “Your election partners,” the Tuesday miss

Lindsey Vonn Had Every Right to Compete

17 hours ago

Skiing in the Olympics at 41 with a torn ACL, Vonn pushed her body as far it could go. Jacquelyn Martin / AP Updated at 3:40 p.m. ET on February 8, 2026 Lindsey Vonn always knew that it would take just one slight catch of an edge to turn her from the reigning empress of alpine skiing into

Literary Theory

20 hours ago

A poem Liz Hart Somehow the word allow is in the word swallow and in swallow two wholly different meanings: one to take in through the mouth and another what we call the common winged gnat hunter who is, in all probability, somewhere near us now. Once, I thought if I knew all the wor

GLP-1 Envy Was Just the Beginning

20 hours ago

A Super Bowl ad by Hims & Hers sells the idea that everyone should want to be billionaire-healthy. Hims & Hers / YouTube Americans watching the Super Bowl today will hear a tantalizing pitch: You, too, can live like the rich. All you need is a way to order up health care the way they do. A

Deadlier Than Gettysburg

How the cruelty of the Confederacy’s prison camps gave rise to the rules of war Bettmann / Getty The Civil War isn’t what it used to be. Instead of the romantic version, a “good war” of courage and glory, that emerged in the conflict’s immediate aftermath, or the post-civil-rights-era emphasis

Six Satisfying TV Shows You Can Watch in One Sitting

These miniseries tell a good story in a single season. Element Pictures / British Broadcasting Corporation / Hulu Originals / Album / Alamy 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

Let Trump Keep Building Monuments to Himself

The president’s penchant for gilded statues and self-glorification might at least help clarify the nature of his leadership. Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic Donald Trump’s supporters really need to think bigger. A 15-foot-tall golden sculpture of the president—“Don Colossus” to friends

British Politicians Still Have Shame

The Epstein case keeps threatening politicians—just not in the United States. Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic* There is an irony to the undying Jeffrey Epstein scandal: It may never be more than an annoyance for President Trump, who knew Epstein well, but it could topple Bri

Trump’s Election Fixation

Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss the president’s call to “nationalize” the upcoming elections. Courtesy of Washington Week With The Atlantic This week, Donald Trump called for Republicans to “nationalize” the upcoming elections—even though state and local officia

The Payoff of Deep Contemplation

The practice may not be fun at first, but the end result is worth it. Gary Yeowell / Getty This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.

Smart Homes Are Terrible

You shouldn’t need a tech tour and app to turn the lights on. Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic My folks are visiting me in Southern California for a couple of months, so I rented them a house down the street. The place is new construction, modern and sleek. Rentals tend to be

The Mysterious Devices Speeding Mining Exploration in Utah

Hiking guides hired to carry 20-pound nodes into the mountains were part of a new type of resource survey. Lauren Steele Bushwhacking through a stand of stunted aspens above 10,000 feet in Utah’s Tushar mountain range, the mountain guide Trevor Katz held his Garmin to the sky and pointed it sou

Pete Davidson’s Charm Is Working Against Him

His new Netflix “video podcast” leans into his laid-back style, to a fault. Illustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Source: Todd Owyoung / NBC / Getty. The first question to confront when considering The Pete Davidson Show, a new Netflix series that the streamer is calling a “video podcast,

ICE After Minneapolis

Trump’s team wants a reset on its mass-deportation goals, not a retreat. Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic* A few hours after Tom Homan announced a drawdown of federal forces in Minneapolis this week, the rest of President Trump’s fractious immigration team gathered at the bor

The Meaning of Melania

The most interesting part of the first lady’s film is what it leaves out. Craig Hudson / Variety / Getty Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts One thing the Melania documentary is not is a documentary, at least in the traditional journalistic understa

What Everyone Assumes About Jeffrey Epstein

The theory that Epstein was blackmailing his rich contacts was always based on speculation. Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: U.S. Justice Department / Anadolu / Getty. In the case of Jeffrey Epstein, association seems to imply guilt. And so the release of the so-called Epstein files is gen

A Very Retro Olympics Opening Ceremony

The performance in Milan looked squarely at the past, both in substance and in style. Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Every Olympics opening ceremony is an advertisement—for the host country, for the Olympics themselves, for the notion of a free-trading global order competing through sport, in th

Why Trump Is Picking Fights With Big U.S. Banks

He claimed that his accounts were closed for “political and social” reasons. The real explanation is likely much simpler. Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg / Getty 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

The Real Winner of TrumpRx

Donald Trump’s online drugstore isn’t what it seems. Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty. Nothing about TrumpRx is subtle. When you open up the government’s new online drugstore, the first thing you see is a banner with giant text: “Find the world’s lowest prices o

The Obama Meme on Trump’s Truth Social Was Exactly What It Looked Like

The White House took 12 hours to remove a video depicting the former president and his wife as apes. Kevin Deitsch / Getty Donald Trump supercharged his political career by claiming that Barack Obama wasn’t American. Yesterday, 16 minutes before midnight, the president’s account on Truth Social

The Manosphere Breaks Containment