President Trump ousts his national security adviser
making Mike Waltz the first casualty of Signalgate
And federal judges across the country call the biggest parts of Trump’s deportation agenda unlawful
Ali Vitali of MSNBC and Alexander Ward of The Wall Street Journal to discuss this and more
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy
Laura Barrón-López: President Trump ousts his national Security adviser making Mike Waltz the first casualty of the Signal gate fiasco
federal judges across the country called the biggest parts of Trump's deportation agenda unlawful
Trump's motivation for the White House shakeup and what's ahead on his collision course with the courts
Good evening and welcome to Washington Week
President Trump is looking for a new national security adviser tonight after pushing out Mike Waltz
It's the first ax to fall after the moderator of this show reported he was mistakenly added by Waltz to a signal chat about military attack plans
Trump is now nominating Waltz to be the next United Nations ambassador
Joining me tonight to discuss this and much more are Leigh Ann Caldwell
the chief Washington correspondent at Puck
Michael Scherer is a staff writer at The Atlantic
Ali Vitali is the host of Way Too Early on MSNBC
and Alexander Ward is a national security reporter at The Wall Street Journal
And we have some news tonight from President Trump's interview with Meet the Press with Kristen Welker
She asked him if he was okay with some -- a short-term recession to achieve his long-term goals
NBC News: Is it okay in the short-term to have a recession
I think we're going to do fantastically
you interviewed the president just last week
Is there any amount of financial chaos that would convince him to reverse course
I think that answer though is consistent with what he told us last week
could the markets move you to pull back further from your tariff policy if they crashed or if there was a real signal in the bond markets that people were moving away from the dollar
he introduced this very dramatic tariff policy
The bond market started to go a little haywire and the stock market collapsed about 20 percent
I think that he's in the middle of a negotiating process right now with the world
and I think he's trying to project a very strong negotiating position
But whether he would withstand that and whether his party could withstand it with the midterms just a couple years away is a different question
he got a lot of questions about the effects of his tariff policies and people were looking to see if he would provide some reassurance to Americans
maybe the children will have 2 dolls instead of 30 dolls
And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally
Laura Barrón-López: There appears to be little effort
despite the fact that his polling numbers are taking a bit of a hit
MSNBC's Way Too Early: Tough year for Barbie
this is an administration that above all does not want to look weak
They do not want to look like external factors impact them
for as long as all of us have been covering him since 2015
And so it makes sense that they are not trying to be moved by the markets or by others in the party
And I think that it's actually fascinating to see the way that the Hill has gone along with him on almost everything
pardoning everyone involved with January 6th
all of the actions that he's taken both in legal institutions
that's where they start to draw the line
And it tells the larger story that this is the thing that they cannot defend to their voters in the midterms
even if it's just a year-and-a-half away
because pocketbook issues were the thing that Trump really ran and won on
and they haven't seen the kind of price decreases that the president
they tried to have a vote on keeping the president in check on tariffs
There's just a few of them who are willing to speak up about this
I was talking to a lot of members on the Hill
whose full-time job is to elect Republicans to Congress
And one of them told me that they're not going to break with the president
They are -- the president -- part of the president's party
they're relying on him to -- they're the reason -- he's the reason they are elected
We might see little pockets here and there of Republicans who know their districts being able to speak out
Republicans are going to go in a different direction
It's only a little pockets of Republicans that are speaking out
I want to move on to the Mike Waltz Signal gate
Some Republicans after the initial Signal gate scandal broke called for Mike Waltz and others to resign
It was a month -- little more than a month after Signal gate
Trump was really mad with Mike Waltz at that moment
but he didn't want us succumb to the media pressure
And so he waited and waited and waited until a moment where he could claim some sort of strength
and it comes notably shortly after the 100 days
We also know that Mike Waltz was really grading on Trump and a lot of people within the White House
Part of it was Waltz was really feeling himself as the national security adviser at getting a little too big for his britches
fighting with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and others
bringing on war staff than he probably should have on Air Force One
That was actually considered a strength of his during the campaign that he could sell the president's agenda
he made some pretty glaring mistakes about Iran policy
or didn't fully give the strength and the oomph that Trump likes to see
we get to a moment where Trump's kind of also feeling himself
he feels like he's doing well and he feels good enough to remove a national security adviser that a lot of Republicans on the Hill really like
that actually a lot of Republicans feel was helping Trump in his national security decision-making and on all these issues
it's this moment of weakness for Waltz and a moment of strength for Trump
Laura Barrón-López: It's interesting that you mentioned that Mike Waltz wasn't doing so well in his media appearances
Trump likes it when people do well in media appearances
But let's get into who could potentially replace Mike Waltz
but there are a number of other names that have come up
what are you hearing about all of these replacements
We've heard that Witkoff is not interested in the job
that he likes the role he has now as sort of emissary to the world and personal consultant to the president
this job in the first term was one of two jobs in the White House that no one could really hold
and Trump has -- until Susie Wildes became chief of staff
He was never happy with his chief of staff
He was never happy with his national security adviser
and he would kind of roll through them one after another
I think there is a possibility that for the short-term
he's perfectly happy to keep Marco Rubio in that place and that they're going to have to bring in a deputy to actually run the operations of it
But the challenge that presents is that the national security adviser
is an honest broker who's meant to run a process that brings input from all parts of the government
If the head of the State Department is running that process
People won't feel like he's being an honest broker
The counterpoint to that is there's only really one person that matters in that process when Donald Trump's president and that's the president himself
The thing that I think if you're looking for patterns
but then also from what we're seeing now
that role of national security adviser is probably likely to be the one that has the most revolving door fashion to it
notwithstanding how long Rubio actually ends up holding this role
and that's because you don't have to be Senate-confirmed for it
And so now Michael Waltz has the next phase of perhaps punishment of having to actually go before the Senate and testify under oath about
imagine they're going to have some questions about Signal gate
imagine they're going to have some questions about the way that classified information is used and talked about in this administration
It's a real opportunity for Democrats to get a key member of the administration before them and ask them questions
And that's why I think there is more reluctance when it comes to the political pressure of pushing out someone like a Hegseth or another Senate-confirmed position because there's just more action and political capital being spent on the Hill to do that
Laura Barrón-López: After the news broke of Waltz's ouster and move over to United Nations ambassador
there was a photo that everyone seized on from when Waltz was in the cabinet meeting this week
Reuters snapped this photo that shows him using Signal
There were key foreign policy differences when it came to Mike Waltz and Donald Trump and other parts of the administration
Leigh Ann Caldwell: And that's why some Republicans on the Hill liked Mike Waltz
because they thought that he represented a more mainstream Republican view of foreign policy
and that did not mesh well apparently with the Trump administration
And so that is what's causing some of these Republicans a little bit of heartburn about who the replacement is going to be
even though some are frustrated with some of the positions that he has taken under a Trump White House
But that's -- when I talk to these Republicans about potential replacements for some of these cabinet positions
but should Pete Hegseth eventually be removed as well
that fear of who is going to replace them is very real on Capitol Hill
especially from the more like neo-conservative Republicans there that the confirmation process might be more difficult
Alexander Ward: Just the marriage of convenience was always doomed
Waltz was Trump's fifth national security adviser
although O'Brien was not allowed back into this administration
despite all the nice things he said on the campaign trail and all the defense of Trump he did on T.V.
the fact that Waltz and Trump had diametrically opposed foreign policies
one of restraint in Trump and one of hawkishness in Waltz
And it's kind of a shock to the system to believe that Waltz thought it would end any other way
Michael Scherer: Can I just go back to that photo of Mike Waltz's phone
and Jeffrey was the one who actually asked the president
And it's sort of funny that it still is
It's approved for use in the White House
I'm not sure the president knows that
It's not okay to include journalists when you don't want to
or to share was obviously classified information
But I do think it's a little window into the disconnect between a White House that is sort of built around pleasing and facilitating the president's presidency
but then has a separate operation amongst itself
the president's just not really aware of
Alex you were getting at the fact that Mike Waltz -- maybe it was never going to work and maybe it was remarkable that it lasted as long as it did
Is it going to work with Marco Rubio even in the interim
he's changed a lot of his foreign policy stances since he entered the administration
what does Rub want to do with this opportunity
There's a lot been said that he's got the same position of being Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger
does Ruby decide to use this moment and sort of take the reins of the foreign policy establishment and sort of try to direct it to his will and therefore provide Trump with options instead of just dictating
and then direct the foreign policy apparatus to do what it needs to do
This is actually a kind of a big moment for Rubio
one of him trying to guide foreign policy is going to put
probably put him in the same Bolton and McMaster in Waltz camp and just going with what Trump wants will probably help him in Trump's good graces
he could make -- at least make the case that he wasn't using Signal
It's this weird workaround that's less secure
but it at least allows for the text to be kept and records kept
Leigh Ann Caldwell: I was just going to say the interesting thing about Rubio is that people speculated when he entered the administration that he was not going to make it very long just because of how different philosophically and ideologically he is from the administration
But he is actually a lesson in how he has navigated the administration and morphed into this new being
maybe eventually nine roles in the administration
Leigh Ann Caldwell: And so he's navigated this in a way that has benefited him
Michael Scherer: The one thing Rubio has that Waltz didn't have is he went through the vice presidential vetting process
didn't have that relationship with Susie
Susie has enormous power overseeing that whole operation in there and being able to work well with her is sort of a crucial part of the job
Laura Barrón-López: I want to ask very quickly
She's been taking credit for the ouster of Mike Waltz
for the ouster of his deputy within the National Security Council
she took credit for ousting the director of the National Security Agency
does she have this direct line of influence to the president
I think she is part of a sort of exoskeleton around the White House of MAGA ideologues
Tucker Carlson's also been saying negative things about Mike Waltz
There's sort of an ongoing Twitter conversation -- we don't call it Twitter anymore -- X conversation among these groups in which Loomer and others are trying to dig down into the personnel records and the histories of some of these people to find people to pull out
it is true that after the Signal thing happened
Loomer was in the Oval Office and she did have a role in getting a bunch of Waltz's deputy underlings dismissed over his objections
He kind of lost control of personnel at that point
I've heard that she has been asked by the president to keep looking at other agencies
I think she's going to keep coming back
Trump wants people to keep an eye out for him
and he's very suspicious of the people he works for after the first term
this was always the case in the first term as well
and then you had the people who were unofficially in
because they were always on the phone with the president
you've always got these various spheres of influence around Trump
but he also likes for people to be able to make their cases
sort of duke it out behind the scenes or potentially on television
and then see the policy of the day win out
It kind of reminds me of when Musk and Peter Navarro were going at it over tariffs very publicly
The White House was asked about this and they were like
we're a transparent administration and
There was something to that effect in the explanation
They're not shying away from the fact that the conflict behind the scenes that spills into the public is kind of by design
It gives that reality show feel that we know Trump is a fan of
and I come back to how we started the show of strength is the thing that wins the day
No one ever wants to appear weak in that orbit
And I just want to add a bit of context on Laura Loomer
She is -- the reason we call her a far right activist is because she has said things like 9/11 is an inside job
But I also want to get to the other big story this week
which is the judiciary pushback against the president's agenda
a Trump appointed federal judge in Texas I want to run through some of what they said in their ruling
said that Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act exceeds the scope of the statute and is unlawful
And when ordering the release of a green card holder
another federal judge said legal residents are being arrested and threatened for their political views
Our nation has seen times like this before
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said
administration threats and harassments are attacks on our democracy that are undermining our Constitution and the rule of law
what's the significance of this pushback from judges
it shouldn't matter who appointed the judge
You're a judge and the courts exist as a check on the executive and other branches in this country for a reason
who walked around with the Constitution in their pocket know that very well
And yet it brings us to this point with the administration why people are toying with the idea of
is this country in a constitutional crisis or not
Because what happens when the courts issue orders
the appeals court process exists for a reason
That is how the administration is working through it
they are sort of openly flaunting and toying with the idea that they don't have to listen to the judiciary
I thought it was so telling when the president this week in an interview with ABC talked about
I could get Kilmar Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador
despite the fact that the court said he had to facilitate
the return of this person so that they could just go through due process
And I think that's the thing that Americans who are watching have to remember
that is what you're afforded in this country
whether you're a citizen of it or not
Laura Barrón-López: On that note of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
despite judges repeatedly warning the White House
it seems like you're defying our orders
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had this to say when he was asked about Garcia
Reporter: Have you been in touch with El Salvador about returning Abrego Garcia
Has a formal request from this administration been made
And you know who else I'll never tell
the defining fact of the first three months of this second term of Trump is that so many of the institutions that so successfully opposed him in the first term have been absent or in retreat
And the one exception to that is the legal process
and that's because there've been so many lawsuits filed against what DOGE has been doing
against some of the budget stuff they've been doing
And judges operate at a different tempo than politicians or executive orders
But you have seen in the last few weeks a really dramatic move by the judiciary to step in and say
you can't be doing this to these law firms
We're going to find out soon what they can do to Harvard University
and really upsetting the whole o overview of their immigration
deportation strategy here on a number of fronts
if you listen to what the administration says every day
they come out and they're angry that this is the place where they're meeting resistance and they haven't yet been able to overcome it
you said that some Republicans are getting heartburn over tariffs
but are they getting heartburn over the near daily rulings from the judiciary
saying things like the president's actions are unlawful or they're on the pathway to lawlessness
the way Congress works is they can think of about one thing at a time
and they are busy with their own legislation of trying to extend Trump's tax cuts
But there has also been legislation and some that has -- one that has passed in the House
which was an attempt to actually punish the judiciary for some of these decisions
trying to take away national injunctions so that they're much more narrow in scope of what judges can do
And so there is an effort among Republicans on the Hill to defend the administration and the president on this
They think that this is a very easy place to do so
And it kind of -- they don't have any direct confrontation with it
but it's an easy way to stand with the president
even though polling recently showed that on the question of due process
it seems like Americans are not on the administration's side
Rubio has become -- the secretary of state has become the face of many of these aggressive immigration actions
I too can only think about one thing at one time
but I've been thinking a lot about Rubio lately
he gets unanimously approved into this job
in part when you had lawmakers basically saying they thought
but he would mostly try to keep this administration in a somewhat within the bounds
despite its codification in federal statute
visa holders over op-eds that they've written
He has defied courts and openly mocked justices
or not done much when the president has been making deals or pushing diplomacy forward that could help
Rubio's just not been who people thought he would be
Leigh Ann Caldwell: -- A former gang of eight member
Alexander Ward: On immigration in particular
or at least he's playing this role in a different way
And he's appearing to be much more loyal to Trump than someone like Mike Waltz
that might be the lesson for Mike Waltz here
I know there's a lot more to talk about
But thank you to all of our guests for joining me and thank you at home for watching us
For more on Mike Waltz's White House exit
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Corumbá the puma was named after a river in the central Brazilian state of Goiás
as much of the world was locked down by the COVID-19 pandemic
Corumbá embarked on an epic journey through the state
he crossed different fragments of vegetation
He stayed at PESCAN for a period before moving on
Corumbá walked more than 120 kilometers (75 miles) during the 11 months that he was monitored by a GPS radio-transmitter collar
when the transmitter’s battery died and the collar released itself from around Corumbá’s neck
“[The cat] moved beautifully in the landscape, and we identified the fragments that he traveled through between the two parks,” says biologist Fernanda Cavalcanti de Azevedo, executive coordinator of the Mammals of the Cerrado Conservation Program (PCMC), <a href="https://www.pcmcbrasil.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" data-wpel-link="external">which is connected</a> to the Federal University of Catalão (UFCAT) in Goiás
“This enabled us to attribute a level of priority for the conservation of these specific regions because the puma acted as our ‘tool,’ showing us which areas they are.”
In this part of Brazil, pumas go by a number of names: leão-baio, suçuarana and onça-parda. The predator sits atop Brazil’s immensely rich food chain, alongside the jaguar (Panthera onca), another <a href="https://brasil.mongabay.com/2020/09/incendios-podem-contribuir-para-morte-lenta-das-oncas-pintadas-no-pantanal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" data-wpel-link="external">species considered endangered</a> in central Brazil
The Suçuaranas Detetives <a href="https://ufcat.edu.br/noticias/iniciativa-sucuaranas-detetives-do-programa-de-conservacao-mamiferos-do-cerrado" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" data-wpel-link="external">project</a> was created when two independent but related projects linked to the PCMC came together: Ecological Detectives
a research project that began in 2020 to generate data on the puma’s ecology; and Backyard Suçuaranas
which came two years later to study issues related to human-wildlife interactions in the regions surrounding the protected areas
These projects are the result of a collaboration between PCMC and the Goiás state environmental agency
“We needed to understand how certain key species were using the territory — not only the conservation units but also the regions surrounding them — and the relationships between wildlife and humans,” says Maurício Vianna Tambellini
a SEMAD official who coordinates both the PEMA and PESCAN parks
“We already had data from monitoring pumas
we chose them because pumas are an animal that needs a lot of territory
we were able to better understand the species and create a management target for the conservation unit that would guarantee the cat’s survival.”
During the very first conversation Tambellini had with the PCMC team
the idea was born to create a project that would involve both state parks and thus encompass both the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes in the state of Goiás
It would allow for recent puma sightings to be analyzed within the context of the two different ecosystems
transforming the species’ physical movement into a “compass” that would help define the most important zones for environmental protection
There’s a scientific basis behind the idea of using a species as a conservation tool: the main goal is to reinforce research for a potential ecological corridor in the 80-km (50-mi) stretch between PEMA and PESCAN
it will seek to recuperate this region by planting native tree species in both biomes
compensating rural landowners for their participation
The goal is to ensure that pumas and other native species in the region can safely travel through the corridor
Before the pumas can become “ecological detectives,” their routes and habits in the region must be understood
Experts installed camera traps inside both parks and took expeditions to collect data on signals like paw prints and scratch marks
The field studies also collected biological material like the animals’ feces and carcasses of their prey in order to learn what the pumas eat
some of the pumas were captured and fitted with GPS collars so their movements could be mapped
The three capture campaigns carried out so far were inside PEMA. In 2022, experts captured two male pumas that they named Corumbá and Pema (after the park). Both animals were monitored <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pcmc_brasil/p/CwlSpqrP4di/?img_index=7" target="_blank" rel="noopener external" data-wpel-link="external">for a year</a>
which is as long as the tracking collars work
The only puma still being monitored in 2024 was a female named Vulcanis
her wanderings cover territory that extends beyond the park limits
Vulcanis walked far enough to cross the Corumbá River
which lies dozens of kilometers to the north
giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) and capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
Cavalcanti also points to the reproductive habits of female pumas
known for their ability to mate with different males during their fertility period
the females avoid territories dominated by males to keep their young out of danger
“The camera traps photographed more males than females
but that doesn’t mean there are more of them
The females just avoid confrontations with the males to protect their young,” Cavalcanti says
a male may kill a cub that’s the progeny of another male
Aside from the social interactions that occur during mating season
the male leaves to patrol his territory and defend it from other males
goes on to give birth to a litter of one to four cubs and proceeds to care for them by herself during their first year of life
The young males leave their mothers at a younger age than young females
This behavior explains why more young males meet their end as roadkill than young females
animals fleeing the flames embark on new routes
“The wildcats use open areas modified [by human activities
like highways] to cross from one fragment to another,” Cavalcanti says
“These animals live in areas with vegetative covering like uncleared pasture with many bushes or forest where they can hide
pumas need a place to crouch and hide before they kill their prey.”
the range that these cats need to live can vary in size
the average size of territory for each puma was 210 square kilometers (80 square miles) for each monitored individual
But the region that Corumbá covered in southwestern Goiás was nearly 10 times larger
Pema was the champion in terms of area covered per month
while Vulcanis was the most reserved in her wanderings
an area similar to that covered by the cats monitored in Minas Gerais state
At least 15 pumas have been identified in PEMA and PESCAN since the project was launched
this is cause for celebration since these wildcats are rare here
these state parks share several species of wildlife
tayras (Eira barbara) and maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus)
PEMA is also home to otters (Lontra longicaudis) and tapirs (Tapirus terrestris)
together with jaguars and bush dogs (Speothos venaticus)
“It is amazing that a park measuring less than [10 km2
or 4 mi2] like PEMA can be home to nearly all the carnivores we know in the transition region between the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest,” says Frederico Gemesio Lemos
maned wolves and hoary foxes have also been sighted inside Terra Ronca State Park (PETER)
the third conservation unit to join the Suçuaranas Detetives project since 2024
PETER is home to what’s believed to be one of the largest cave complexes in Latin America
Within its 570 km2 (220 mi2) are more than 300 caves
and a rich diversity of Cerrado fauna including the endemic Pfrimer’s parakeet (Pyrrhura pfrimeri)
Capture activities inside PETER and PESCAN may begin within the next year
The team has already traveled to PETER to install camera traps
and speak with community members living there
“We hope this project will help people to gain a new perspective on the park and its fauna and flora,” says Wesley de Andrade
“We hope they will learn to understand the place inside out as a managed conservation unit.” He adds it’s important to involve the local community in the work to protect species
The park is part of a mosaic of conservation units abutting Terra Ronca Recanto das Araras Extractive Reserve
and is part of the wider Serra Geral de Goiás Environmental Protection Area
“A conservation unit’s greatest challenge is to deal with conflicts and transform them into green business opportunities for the state and for the community,” Andrade says
Since the current administrators began bringing projects to the park and involving the people who live there
they’ve been able to generate income by paying freelancers and hiring park employees
He points out that this has helped some people associate protecting the environment with financial gain and quality of life; today
some of the older community members who used to hunt and carry out illegal logging are working and see themselves as park “guardians.”
Cavalcanti says that species conservation won’t happen without human intervention
Most of the projects came into being with this objective
and it’s the foundation for the Suçuaranas Detetives project
We are collecting ecological data to be able to understand what the species need and then work together with the community to propose strategies and tools that will minimize the impacts [on nature].”
This cooperation between the team of experts and the community is paying off as hoped
The project team is composed of three researchers who live in Água Limpa municipality
which means they interact with the community daily
a PCMC biologist working on human-wildlife coexistence
says local recognition of the pumas seems to have improved since the project came into being
but today people feel like they have a connection with these animals
They talk about ‘the puma ladies’ and the ‘friends of the pumas.’ On many occasions people spontaneously ask questions about them
Ferreira says that evaluating the changes in people’s perceptions about the animals is complex
because the way they thought before the projects began must be considered
followed by the creation of targets and indicators for activities and monitoring
the team went door to door in rural communities with questionnaires to evaluate people’s attitudes
“What we want to know now is whether all this has brought about any change in attitude about killing wildcats and larger environmental questions
We especially want to hear what people active in the region think and want in terms of conservation and coexistence with the region’s biodiversity,” Ferreira says
One thing they expect in the coming years is to co-develop an action plan that incorporates discussions on coexistence and biodiversity conservation in the regions where the project is operating
Interviews and workshops focused on the data revealed by the original surveys will be held in the first phase
along with other topics like interaction with wildlife to find out if there have been any changes in opinion among the locals on the issue
When Pema the puma was captured in PEMA the park
the researchers realized that he’d already been seen on the Raposinha do Pontal Project’s cameras in Corumbaíba
where he fathered at least one litter of cubs
“Could he have been killed?” was the question that echoed among the monitoring team
Pema appeared in a social media reel posted by a farmer in Pontal
Pema returned to the park he was named after
Predators at the top of the food chain are indicators of a healthy ecosystem
and with respect and good neighborly conduct
This story was first published <a href="https://brasil.mongabay.com/2025/04/oncas-pardas-detetives-viram-trunfo-para-conservacao-entre-cerrado-e-mata-atlantica/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external">here</a> in Portuguese on April 9
Cavalcanti de Azevedo, F. (2017). Ecologia da onça-parda: Interações de um predador de topo em um agroecossistema (Doctoral dissertation, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil). Retrieved from <a href="https://locus.ufv.br/items/214846fa-c855-43c9-bdff-d133ffeb494c" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external">https://locus.ufv.br/items/214846fa-c855-43c9-bdff-d133ffeb494c</a>
The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa
as protected areas become battlegrounds over history
and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss
Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins
and trying to forge a path forward [&hellip;]
I have always believed that when you&#x2019;re doing what you love
there&#x2019;s a great chance that you&#x2019;ll be blessed with longevity
Look at this sampling of entertainer legends who have performed in Atlantic City
New Jersey and elsewhere into their 80&#x2019;s and beyond
the legendary President of Sports &amp; Entertainment at&#xA0;Mohegan Gaming Entertainment (MGE)
has booked them all &#x2026; except for Sir Paul McCartney &#x2026; although he&#x2019;s still trying
Cantone has booked more entertainment acts over the past 40 years then any other person in American history
Cantone books all entertainment at the Mohegan properties
for many years at Resorts Casino Hotel Atlantic City
We have revisited this issue with Cantone recently about the fact that many of today&apos;s entertainment performers are 80 years old and beyond
Cantone also books all of today&apos;s younger acts ..
it is fascinating to see the longevity and durability of the legends
who are still performing in their 8th decade of life and beyond
Look how 6 decades later the 1980&apos;s artists that are still selling out today&apos;s venues are the same ones that gave birth to when music of the 60&apos;s was its most important era of rock n roll according to Rolling Stone
it&apos;s the past that continues to rule the concert stages across America
&#x201C;So when you enter to Mohegan Sun Arena you&apos;ve got A Great Past Ahead of You&quot;..
all in their 80&apos;s now that have recently played Mohegan Sun
collectively have sold half a billion records in a time when people actually had to buy them...and have drawn more than 32,000 people to our venue
that does not include Felix Cavalieri of the Rascals who also played at Resorts in AC
the crowds coming to see them are all ages
When Rolling Stone magazine published their 500 greatest songs of all time
the Beatles having the most of any artist at 23
This is why their music and popularity will never die
Here&#x2019;s Cantone with some of the legendary greats and his FFL (me) with Paul McCartney
President - Sports &amp; Entertainment - Mohegan Gaming Entertainment (MGE)
Look at this sampling of entertainer legends who have performed in Atlantic City, New Jersey and elsewhere into their 80’s and beyond.\n<a href=\"//wpgtalkradio.com/legends-performing-in-atlantic-city-elsewhere-past-80-years-old/\" title=\"Legends Performing in Atlantic City &#038; Elsewhere Past 80 Years Old\">Read More</a>
Ring of Honor taped matches for future episodes of ROH TV on Saturday
AEW presented a live episode of Collision from the Adrian Phillips Theater in Atlantic City
Three ROH matches were taped before the show
whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine
A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary
he has covered the industry for a decade and a half
and close proximity to some of the most popular destinations in North America
the Atlantic Coast is a wonderful region to call home
spend your golden years surrounded by beauty
and quality healthcare is easily accessible
Discover the Atlantic Coast’s eight best retirement towns ranked to start planning your future today
Surround yourself with gorgeous golden beaches, diverse restaurants and entertainment options, and friendly neighbors in <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/ocean-city-maryland.html">Ocean City</a>
Experience small-town charm as you meander down Ocean City Boardwalk
and refreshing cocktails in spots like Hammerheads on the Beach
The grandkids will be extra excited to visit when they find out Jolly Roger Amusement Park is in town
Atlantic General Hospital is only a short drive away; you can visit the website to see the current wait times
Discover a piece of paradise on <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/this-south-carolina-city-is-an-underrated-gem-for-nature-lovers.html">Hilton Head Island</a>; one of the Atlantic Coast’s 8 best retirement towns for lovers of the outdoors
Enjoy lovely morning strolls by the coast in Coligny Beach Park
feeling the soft sand beneath your feet and the refreshing ocean breeze ease your mind
See the legendary Harbour Town Lighthouse with its iconic red and white stripes
and explore the picturesque Sea Pines Forest Preserve featuring bridges
Hilton Head Island has everything you need
from the 24/7 Hilton Head Regional Medical Center (granted the Surgical Care Excellence Award™ among others by Healthgrades in 2023)
to several retirement communities including Seabrook
Situated on the beautiful Lunenburg Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-historic-town-of-lunenburg-a-unesco-world-heritage-site-in-canada.html">Lunenburg</a> is an excellent town to call home
seeing the well-preserved 18th-century houses and buildings as you explore this UNESCO World Heritage Site
Practice your aim in a scenic setting on the 18-hole Bluenose Golf Club
Fishermen's Memorial Hospital offers long-term care
Halifax is also only one hour and 10 minutes away
which means capital city amenities are within reach
one of the top 20 Best Hospitals in Canada according to Newsweek and Statista in 2025
Bring your beach dreams to life all year round in Narragansett
one of the Atlantic Coast’s 8 best retirement towns
you can access major amenities in the state capital
while experiencing the perks of living in a serene oceanside town
From several beautiful beaches such as Narragansett Town and Scarborough State to fairytale-esque landmarks like The Towers (dating back to the 19th century)
Narragansett is an intriguing town to call home
you will be happy to hear that Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital
two of the best hospitals in the state according to Newsweek and Statista in 2025
Located on the <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/bays/bay-of-fundy.html">Bay of Fundy</a>
an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean home to the highest tides in the world
Saint John is another Canadian gem to consider
Discover exquisite views of the Fundy Coast as you stroll through the 600-acre Irving Nature Park
Head on a fascinating journey into the past as you encompass the Carleton Martello Tower National Historic Site
constructed to defend the city during the War of 1812
Explore the vibrant AREA 506 Waterfront Container Village with its diverse artwork
and pop-up activities by the waterfront in the summer
You can feel secure knowing Saint John Regional Hospital - Horizon Health Network
one of the top 40 hospitals in Canada as per Newsweek and Statista in 2025
Saint John was named one of the Safest Places to Own a Home in Canada in 2025 by Zoocasa
standing out on the list for its affordability
Escape to a peaceful island community in Nantucket
and incredible outdoor recreational opportunities (such as golfing
if you are flexible with your budget; Nantucket is the perfect place to call home
Unravel mesmerizing ocean views from Brant Point Lighthouse
an iconic landmark listed on The National Register of Historic Places over 110 years old
Enjoy trivia events and live music nights with craft beer in Cisco Brewers
and go swimming or walk along the scenic sand bars at Jettie Beach
Nantucket Cottage Hospital provides medical services in town; its Emergency department is open 24/7
multiple flight and ferry options make transportation quick and convenient
Welcome to Vero Beach, a stunning city in t<a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/united-states/florida"  rel="noopener">he Sunshine State</a>
Vero Beach is also one of the more affordable cities to live in the region
the median sold home price was $397,000 USD in March 2025
Surround yourself with fragrant florals as you meander through the paths of McKee Botanical Garden
and see the spectacular sunset from South Beach Park
the Vero Beach Museum of Art features extraordinary exhibitions
and programs; while Riverside Theatre hosts compelling concerts
Indian River Hospital has a 24/7 Emergency Department
A comprehensive list of medical services is offered
Experience the charming <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/geography/new-england.html">New England</a>-style atmosphere of Madison
a captivating coastal town with a laid-back pace of life
Madison is one of the Atlantic Coast’s 8 best retirement towns
Bask in the beauty of Hammonasset Beach State Park
Search for treasures in RJ Julia Booksellers
recognized for their diverse book collection and relaxing environment
Enjoy fresh seafood at Lenny &amp; Joe's; try their delicious Lobster Roll and Clam Strips
Madison is an excellent destination to call home
named the best hospital in Connecticut by Newsweek and Statista in 2025
Your golden years are a time to invest in yourself; living somewhere beautiful is a wonderful way to achieve that
Breathe in the fresh ocean air as you relocate to a place with access to quality healthcare facilities
From the entertainment options of Ocean City
take your pick from the Atlantic Coast’s 8 best retirement towns ranked
photos and original descriptions &copy; 2025 worldatlas.com
With UTSA all but running away with the regular season title
the Green Wave were set to face Florida Atlantic for a three-game series with a chance to take over second place by having a good showing
After things got postponed on Friday because of inclement weather
Tulane dropped both games of the doubleheader on Saturday
losing the first one 16-12 before turning around and getting beat 10-8 in the second
It was a tough start to the set for the Green Wave
but they were able to avoid the sweep on Sunday
with James Agabedis getting things going with an RBI double that was later followed by a two-run homer from Theo Bryant IV in the second inning
they were able to hold onto this lead by getting a strong showing from the pitching staff
Blaise Wilcenski started the contest and threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings
He was later pulled because he was on a predetermined pitch limit
and that&#39;s when things got a little shaky for the Green Wave
and despite Tulane taking a 6-0 lead in the bottom half of the fourth frame when Connor Rasmussen walked with the bases loaded
Jason Wachs scored on a wild pitch and Hugh Pinkney had an RBI single
they were in some danger of losing their lead
Benbrook gave up an RBI single in the top of the sixth
and then he allowed three more runs in the seventh on two singles and a ground out
throwing two scoreless innings where he struck out two batters
Tulane avoided the sweep with timely hitting and solid pitching
while also being tied with East Carolina (27-21
The Green Wave will return to the diamond on May 6 to face New Orleans on Greer Field at Turchin Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m
<a data-mm-click-analytics="true" data-vars-action="click" data-vars-label="https://www.si.com/college/tulane/authors/brad-wakai" data-vars-category="default category" data-vars-type="click" href="https://www.si.com/college/tulane/authors/brad-wakai">BRAD WAKAI</a>
Save Listen-1.0x+0:0048:16Listen to more stories on <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://harkaudio.com/">hark</a>
Last year, I visited the music historian Ted Gioia to talk about the death of civilization.
He welcomed me into his suburban-Texas home and showed me to a sunlit library. At the center of the room, arranged neatly on a countertop, stood 41 books. These, he said, were the books I needed to read.
The display included all seven volumes of Edward Gibbon’s 18th-century opus, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ; both volumes of Oswald Spengler’s World War I–era tract, The Decline of the West ; and a 2,500-year-old account of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, who “was the first historian to look at his own culture, Greece, and say, I’m going to tell you the story of how stupid we were,” Gioia explained.
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Gioia’s contributions to this lineage of doomsaying have made him into something of an internet celebrity. For most of his career, he was best-known for writing about jazz. But with his Substack newsletter, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.honest-broker.com/">The Honest Broker</a>
he’s attracted a large and avid readership by taking on contemporary culture—and arguing that it’s terrible
America’s “creative energy” has been sapped
and the results can be seen in the diminished quality of arts and entertainment
with knock-on effects to the country’s happiness and even its political stability
What’s so jarring about these declarations of malaise is that we should
The internet has caused a Cambrian explosion of creative expression by allowing artists to execute and distribute their visions with unprecedented ease
More than 500 scripted TV shows get made every year; streaming services reportedly add about 100,000 songs every day
We have podcasts that cater to every niche passion and video games of novelistic sophistication
Technology companies like to say that they’ve democratized the arts
enabling exciting collisions of ideas from unlikely talents
Yet no one seems very happy about the results
To a certain extent, such negativity may simply reflect an innate human tendency to fret about decline. Some of the most liberating developments in history have first triggered fears of social stultification. The advent of the printing press caused 15th-century thinkers to complain of mass distraction. In 1964, The Atlantic <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1964/08/what-do-they-get-from-rocknroll/658182/">published an essay</a> predicting
that rock and roll would only foster conformity and consumerism in young Americans
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1964/08/what-do-they-get-from-rocknroll/658182/">From the August 1964 issue: What do they get from rock ’n’ roll?</a>
For as long as I have been a critic at this magazine
I’ve tried to cut against the declinist impulse
was a turning point of sorts: Spotify launched in America that July; Netflix debuted its first original series soon after
The brainy rock bands that I’d grown up loving—Radiohead
and electronic music were cross-pollinating in fascinating ways
and appreciating how human creativity flourishes anew in each era
and the threat of AI have destabilized any coherent story of progress driving the arts forward
They’re citing very real problems: Hollywood’s regurgitation of intellectual property; partisan culture wars hijacking actual culture; unsustainable economic conditions for artists; the addicting
I wanted to meet with some of the most articulate pessimists to test the validity of their ideas
and to see whether a story other than decline might yet be told
Previous periods of change have yielded great artistic breakthroughs: Industrialization begat Romanticism; World War I awakened the modernists
Either something similar is happening now and we’re not yet able to see it
the Roman Senate ordered the construction of a gaudy monument called the Arch of Constantine
It incorporated pieces from older monuments
built in more glorious times for the empire
which had begun its centuries-long decline
The Arch is one of Gioia’s favorite metaphors for modern culture
The TV and film industry is enamored of reboots
Broadway theaters subsist on stunt-cast revivals of old warhorses; book publishers rely disproportionately on backlist sales
Entertainment companies have long understood the power of giving people more of what they already like
but recommendation algorithms take that logic to a new extreme
keeping us swiping endlessly for slight variations on our favorite things
“we’re facing powerful forces that want to impose stagnation on us.”
The problem is particularly acute in music. In 2024, new releases accounted for a little more than a quarter of the albums consumed in the U.S.; every year, a greater and greater percentage of the albums streamed online is <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://luminatedata.com/reports/">“catalog music,”</a> meaning it is at least 18 months old
record labels and private-equity firms have spent billions of dollars to acquire artists’ publishing rights
The reemergence of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022
A brief placement in a popular TV show (Netflix’s Stranger Things
itself a pastiche of 1980s movie tropes) could
cause an old hit to outcompete most of the newer songs in the world
The music historian Ted Gioia at his home in Texas
Gioia touts the classics while arguing that contemporary culture stifles new ideas
(Ariana Gomez for The Atlantic)“Music is turning into a rights-management business,” Gioia said
“There are vested interests now that don’t want new music to flourish
The private-equity funds just want you to listen to the same songs over and over again
because they own them.” The ultimate effect
“he’d spend a few weeks trying to break into the L.A
working for Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey
releasing two albums and gigging around the world
he pulled up a recording of himself playing piano in 1986—before he suffered a debilitating case of arthritis in his 30s
“I always felt that if you give me another nine
I can be as good as anybody in the world.”
Gioia’s background as both an aesthete and a quant gives his criticism its distinctive edge
hardheaded analysis of an art form frequently discussed in soft abstractions
I’ve often found myself swept away by the force of his convictions
I nursed some doubts about his claim that the arts are frozen in amber
In a viral 2022 Substack post titled “Is Old Music Killing New Music?” (<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/">later republished by The Atlantic</a>)
Gioia described omens of stagnation in everyday life
such as when he encountered a “youngster” singing along to the Police’s “Message in a Bottle.” The example stung a bit: The Police broke up before I was born
yet I’ve been humming their songs my whole life
when I was listening to my parents’ records in the ’90s
no one was measuring the replaying of old music
every Spotify play is monitored and monetized
So might Gioia be overinterpreting data showing listening habits that have long existed
“nobody I know listened to their parents’ music.”
The rock-and-roll movement gave Boomers a fresh
Gioia asked me to compare that dynamism with what’s happened—or
“The music today doesn’t sound that much different from 20 years ago,” Gioia said
The radio does play new music that feels old
such as Sabrina Carpenter’s disco bop “Espresso” and Benson Boone’s classic-rock-flavored anthem “Beautiful Things.” But it also plays musicians who seem firmly planted in the present
Billie Eilish’s blend of jazz and electronic music diverges from the work of any pop star before her
Shaboozey combines country music and rap in a way that
and K-pop now reach English-speaking audiences to an extent that was unthinkable when traditional gatekeepers—major labels
These developments may not be quite as paradigm-shifting as rock and roll was
but they do suggest a culture that is still actively evolving
Gioia acknowledged some bright spots for culture—he’s not entirely fatalistic about the status quo
He tends to view culture as moving in predictable cycles: When malaise and mediocrity reach an extreme
upending the old order and installing a new one
“Most people fundamentally want to have cultural experiences that are mind-expanding and broaden their world,” he said
“If the corporations that control our culture refuse to deliver that
they will find a way around it and there will be a rebirth
We will have a new counterculture.” He predicted a wave of “new romanticism” (emphasizing humanity over technology) and “new maximalism” (art made with unbridled ambition)
Gioia himself is trying to help bring a revolution about
searching for gems that the algorithms have ignored
He showed me a draft of a post recommending nine new albums to his Substack readers
The lead image was of a young woman in a bonnet and stockings
sitting on a bed strewn with stuffed animals
who sings dreamy bossa nova songs in English and Japanese
Gioia noted that three weeks after her album’s release
“I sometimes recommend albums that have less than 100 views,” he said
the low listenership was evidence of the record industry’s efforts to smother new talents
But as I sat watching him pull up exciting find after exciting find
I started to feel oddly reassured about society’s creative energy
Today’s corporate behemoths may be powerful
but they’re reckoning with a force more destabilizing than Sgt
Pepper’s and London Calling ever were: a fractured global audience using technology to chase their obsessions
Gioia went to YouTube and loaded another video
Its members wore jeweled masks over their faces while playing intricate surf-rock grooves
He scrolled down to the answer: nearly 1 million
“So it’s not as big a secret as I was making it out to be,” he said
A few months later, I revisited the same video and saw that the play count had reached more than 6 million. The top comment read, “<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMuTgStG8w0&amp;lc=Ugw4fSQTaXI6Q9I7L4h4AaABAg">Praise to the algorithms for this!</a>”
The title of the show was “Transcendence.” On the second floor of the prestigious Pace Gallery in Manhattan hung white-on-white abstract paintings and what appeared to be line drawings of rocks
Wall text explained that this was the first-ever U.S
solo exhibition for the 79-year-old artist Huong Dodinh
One painting was inspired by the first snowfall she ever witnessed
after the First Indochina War forced her family to move from Vietnam to France in 1953
wearing a baggy pink polo shirt and short athletic shorts
“I don’t think I can do this,” he whispered to me
is a writer known in large part for his annoyance at the state of the art world
He believes we’ve been stuck in “the long 2017”: a period in which anxieties related to Donald Trump and Brexit have smothered culture with moralism
Although transcendence—achieved through beauty
or a kind of ambient healing of the world,” he told me
Kissick thinks we’ve recently lived through one—and it’s made everything drearier
We’d met up so Kissick could take me on a tour of the gallery scene in Chelsea
demonstrated a typical tactic among dealers these days: find a relatively obscure figure from an underrepresented group and try to sell his or her work
the better for serving rich people looking to furnish tastefully understated homes
gesturing toward Dodinh’s soothingly serene canvases
and I asked him whether he at least felt a sense of justice at seeing someone like Dodinh exhibited at one of the most exclusive galleries in the world
“I always like to see older Asian women doing well
because they remind me of my mother,” said Kissick
whose mother is a Japanese immigrant to the U.K
Last year, Kissick published <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://harpers.org/archive/2024/12/the-painted-protest-dean-kissick-contemporary-art/">a cover story in Harper’s</a> arguing that politics had all but destroyed contemporary art
Museums and galleries were blending “all forms of oppression” into “one universal grief,” he wrote
“We are bombarded with identities until they become meaningless
When everyone’s tossed together into the big salad of marginalization
The essay opened with a shocking scene: In May 2024
on her way to see a show at London’s Barbican Art Gallery
an accident that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs
Kissick flew from New York to London to visit her in the hospital
he checked out the show she’d been on the way to see
primarily by artists from historically marginalized communities
the curators further “proposed that textiles themselves had also been marginalized
having been gendered as feminine and regarded as ‘craft’ rather than ‘fine art.’ The show’s introductory text asked
a loom or a garment as a tool of resistance?’ ”
Critiquing progressive pieties in this fashion may simply sound conservative
Kissick’s complaints are now reflected in the anti-DEI wave that has swept the federal government—and rippled through American corporate
But Kissick insists he’s not ideologically motivated
“I just don’t care that much if people are very woke or very anti-woke,” he told me
“The conversation itself just takes up way too much space.”
The critic Dean Kissick contends that the art world has come to prioritize identity politics over originality and skill
(Ana Flores for The Atlantic)That conversation has been as impossible to avoid in pop culture as it has been in high culture
Proponents of the theory that “representation matters”—meaning that more inclusive media will create a more inclusive society—have cheered diversely cast remakes of films such as The Little Mermaid
body-positivity choruses sung by artists like Lizzo
and reckonings with perceived cultural appropriation in the literary world
attempting to score ideological points by racking up streams and downloads
When Jason Aldean’s 2023 song “Try That in a Small Town” was criticized by some on the left for tacitly endorsing lynching
a right-wing campaign to support the track resulted in Aldean hitting No
Similar campaigns boosted the box-office prominence of films such as the anti-DEI mockumentary Am I Racist
Even the most escapist forms of entertainment—blockbusters
children’s TV—are now treated like political battlegrounds
though you rarely hear about anyone’s opinions being changed in the skirmishes
In the world of fine art, Kissick feels overwhelmed by what he sees as cynicism masquerading as idealism. He mentioned the example of Amoako Boafo, an in-demand Ghanaian painter who was <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.artbasel.com/news/ghanaian-painter-amoako-boafo-numero-art?lang=en">hired to adorn the nose cone</a> of one of Jeff Bezos’s rockets in 2021
“His stunning portraits capture Black joy and the kind of shared future we hope to create for us all in space: vibrant
and full of wonder.” One could be forgiven
for thinking the commission was motivated less by Black joy than by PR concerns around a controversial billionaire’s vanity project
judging by Bezos’s actions since Trump’s reelection
for wondering whether future nose cones will be similarly adorned.)
Mediocre art really does get overrated on account of its politics
Any working critic knows how factional and reflexive audiences have become: Pan a woman
and many readers will call you sexist; champion one
and you risk being dismissed as a beta cuck
Such reactions don’t just represent the persistence of prejudice; they reflect an awareness of the way that “culture,” a supposedly binding force
has come to feel more and more like an embittered sports rivalry
impressionistic smudges of queer guys hanging out in bars or apartments
Toor typifies one of Kissick’s least favorite pairings—old-school technique with a 21st-century
popping in for mere minutes and then leaving
I began to get the sense that Kissick’s grudge against the art world goes deeper than politics
He deemed a colorful painting of motocross riders “rubbish.” A huge
haunting sculpture of a half-dressed woman with blurred features
received just a murmured “Cool.” At one point
“You can probably tell—I’ve seen too many white-cube shows of paintings in my life,” he said
has escalated since around the time Kissick graduated from art school
visual art was crossing over to become a mainstream cultural phenomenon—Jay-Z was rapping about collecting Basquiats
and Louis Vuitton was making handbags with the Japanese visual artist Takashi Murakami
was encouraging audiences beyond the walls of galleries and museums to develop an interest in art
But hope for technologically enabled creative flourishing gave way to oversaturation and numbness
So-called zombie formalism—rehashed abstract expressionism optimized for Instagram shareability—became a fad
a presumed antidote to the chaos of online life
“It’s been clear for a while that art’s running out of ideas,” Kissick declared in a 2021 column for The Spectator
activism-scented art is a symptom of all this burnout: If stylistic innovation can no longer break through the noise
we’re only left to argue over subject matter
but the culture wars are not the only important thing about the 2020s
he wants art to address the internet’s more ineffable consequences: rendering our thought processes glitchy
He thinks artists should find new ways to use time-honored techniques
while also being open to experimenting with emerging tools
“We should engage with the times we live in
and then maybe we’d feel less hopeless about everything.”
What he really seems to be yearning for is a paradigm shift: some sort of formal leap forward combined with a spiritual reawakening
“The culture we have is so obsessed with ourselves
with people’s identities and personalities,” he said
“Perhaps we’ll be able to transcend that somehow
Perhaps we will get over this deeply individualistic
a public radio station for the coastal town of Astoria
broadcasts from a 133-year-old Victorian cottage with burgundy eaves and stained-glass windows
I was greeted there by the 41-year-old musician and writer Jaime Brooks
who wore a tweed jacket over a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan Foresight Prevents Blindness
She introduced me to a variety of friendly station volunteers working in studios cluttered with stacks of vinyl records
and well-worn instruments and mixing boards
On one wall hung a hand-drawn map of the station’s broadcasting area
It was a strikingly analog setting in which to meet an artist who once embodied the internet’s futuristic potential
Best-known for her work under the aliases Elite Gymnastics and Default Genders
Brooks has long been a “bedroom musician”: someone who uses a home computer to make high-quality recordings
as a 20-something immersed in the hipster party scene in Minneapolis
Brooks collaborated with a friend to release a few ethereal dance songs that drew the acclaim of music bloggers
She was soon dating the similarly buzzy artist Grimes and living in Los Angeles
getting a close-up look at the modern pop ecosystem
her mics and guitar are packed up in boxes
Spending time working on new songs just doesn’t feel right given her belief
articulated in widely circulated tweets and essays
Brooks feels that tech and business interests are strangling the arts; like Kissick
she believes that most of the new work that gets made today just flat-out isn’t good
But Brooks’s view is even darker than either of theirs
She described the future of music to me in one word: wreckage
Many musicians believe that Spotify’s business model is predatory
forcing artists to participate in a system in which they make only a fraction of a penny whenever a song is played
but her concern runs deeper than the money itself; she argues that music’s role in society has been corrupted
Streaming encourages artists to play an enervating game of scale: The more songs they release
the more chance they have of going viral and turning pittances into real income
Artists are thus motivated to record as quickly and cheaply as possible
has led to a glut of music—both popular and obscure—that is plainly bad: less distinct
and less skillfully made than the minimal standards of previous eras
“Nobody can get the resources to develop their craft,” she said
This decline in quality has created the conditions for what Brooks fears will come next: a flood of AI-generated songs that further devalue music as an art form and an economic enterprise
streaming platforms have inculcated a huge demand for “utility” music
such as white noise to fall asleep to and “chill beats” to study to
Cheap AI tools can now conjure credible versions of such music
and over time they’ll only get better at imitating other styles
Listeners’ standards have become so diminished that they won’t be able to tell the difference
Brooks saw the early stages of this catastrophe unfolding during her time in Los Angeles
she casually mentioned being on set at a Lady Gaga video shoot
and watching Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend play songs in his backyard
“I didn’t really see a lot of success that I thought seemed desirable,” she said
a lot of people sitting in rooms by themselves
What she meant is that the ethos of the bedroom musician
once an indie phenomenon enabling outsiders to gain a foothold
quickly became the record-industry default
Producers can skip the studio to work on their devices at home
commissioning instrumentalists and beat makers who live time zones away
Music is now widely made much in the manner that it is consumed: by people who are alone
Listening to songs once meant getting a window into specific
communal circumstances—into the churches where R&amp;B evolved from gospel
into the block parties where hip-hop fermented
Now most music is shaped by and tailored to a fake place
It only feeds the broader trends of cultural fracturing and personal solitude that are now clearly depressing people’s sense of well-being
According to the musician and writer Jaime Brooks
the rise of streaming has led to a glut of plainly bad music
(Kristina Barker for The Atlantic)I share the feeling that the mundanity of streaming has made music feel smaller
than it used to—but I see plenty of signs that the art form still serves a social function
One of the biggest stories in the record industry in the 2020s has been the boom of country music
a style that’s rooted in a sense of place and shared identity
New stars such as Zach Bryan and Lainey Wilson have been drawing droves not just to stream songs
but to sell out their tour dates and tailgate in the parking lot
New honky-tonks have been popping up across the nation
“There’s still human culture that is being mined there,” Brooks said when we got to talking about country music
She pointed out that Taylor Swift’s success owes a lot to her having come up in Nashville
writing on guitar with seasoned songwriters
thus giving her skills that feel rarer with each passing year
But Brooks sees the country renaissance as a mere side effect of the genre being late to technological adoption
“Streaming is taking longer to eat it,” she said
the fate of most everything good about music and the broader artistic landscape
Kissick’s pining for creative reinvention—both sound naive in Brooks’s analysis
it all moves in cycles; it’s been going this way since time immemorial’—no
the sheet-music industry was completely replaced by the record industry
the practice of buying copies of records has been replaced by the concept of renting access to them.”
In other words: Great things don’t just change; they die, and what they’re replaced with may well be worse—if they’re replaced at all. As she <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://jaimebrooks.substack.com/p/the-base-determines-the-superstructure">wrote on Substack in 2023</a>:
Hearing all of this made me particularly sad
because Brooks’s own music always seemed like an example of how to defy modern alienation
She left Los Angeles in 2018—around the time that Grimes started dating Elon Musk—and recorded three excellent albums about searching for connection in a world made cold by technology
“crypto dipshits.” The music was electronic yet felt handcrafted
sounded like a human trying to escape being turned into a machine
The process of moving notes around on a computer screen
started to feel “masturbatory.” A successful new album would “generate a bunch of value for Apple
for whatever other companies are taking pieces,” she said
“And I don’t feel good about that.” Now she’s been spending her days hanging out at KMUN
learning about the seemingly outmoded technology of terrestrial radio
which she thinks will gain a kind of “postapocalyptic” usefulness to humanity as the internet is overrun with AI slop
Brooks can’t stop dreaming of new music she wants to make
She described one song idea that’s been rattling around in her head lately: “It’s got horn solos
Andrews Sisters backing vocals in the chorus.” I suggested to her that she might benefit from a new record deal to bring that vision to life
What she’s lacking is collaborators—real-life bandmates
with physical instruments and the skills to use them
Each declinist I spoke with made a convincing case that large
inexorable forces were wearing culture down
But they also left me clinging to scattered counterexamples that might tell another story
I’d seen the omens of death; I needed to make an effort to find signs of life
Which is how I ended up sweating in a poorly ventilated indoor skate park in Brooklyn one summer night. I was there for a concert thrown by <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://nobells.blog/">No Bells</a>
a hip-hop-focused blog that bills itself as “a hub of the wider internet underground.” Young people sat on either side of a half-pipe
looking like members of a very eclectic tribunal
S&amp;M-influenced getups; or pajamas emblazoned with cartoons
Two rappers shouted over a beat that paired incessant synthetic clapping with a sample of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” played on ukulele
among other techniques for optimizing their physical attractiveness
try to alter their faces by clenching their jaw for hours a day
Press-Reynolds is energized by the culture right now
“Maybe there aren’t amazing macro-trends at the moment,” he told me
but if you scratch the surface of the mainstream
he feels an obligation to spread the good news
“Every young person deserves something to champion,” he said
“Something to get really feverishly excited about.”
Press-Reynolds keeps his brown hair long and scraggly; his voice is hoarse and giddy
He described his own artistic obsessions in terms such as “fried” and “anarchic.” In music
he sees a turn toward an aesthetic he called “max stimuli,” which pushes the bounds of speed
and silliness while recombining bits of old culture into something new
“It feels like how our brains feel now: infested and congested with so much stuff,” he said
The song “makes you think of a human expanding and deflating like an accordion,” Press-Reynolds said
A heavily filtered voice ululated about money and guns for two minutes over a swell of digital sound
The effect was weirdly beautiful; it gave me goose bumps
Other genres are also getting scrambled in disorienting
noisy spin that bedroom electronic musicians put on bubblegum tropes
hyperpop had its commercial breakthrough with Charli XCX’s album Brat
whose frenzied rhythms became popular enough to be adopted by the official memes of Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign
Brooks had warned me not to put much stock in internet-native music scenes; she dismissed most hyperpop as “regurgitated video-game soundtracks” made by and for people who have “never been to clubs.” This had struck me as uncharitable
He traced his own teenage musical awakening to playing Minecraft while listening to hip-hop set to anime montages on YouTube
His culture-critic parents (his mother is the writer Joy Press) would play the slick beats of Daft Punk around the house
but he gravitated toward the blown-out distortion of angsty rappers such as XXXTentacion
he burrowed even deeper into the digital wilds
had inflicted him with “brain rot.” He makes no apologies for being a music critic who “almost can’t bear” to listen to full albums; sometimes he’ll just play a song for 30 seconds to “feel that texture.” This admission pained me a bit
I’ve felt my own attention span decaying in recent years
but I still cling to the idea that transcendent art—and transcendent experiences with art—requires sustained focus
and Brooks spelled out were problems of terminally distracted audiences preferring junk (recycled IP
it occurred to me that art itself might be the answer
The headliner was a trio—the rappers Polo Perks and AyooLii with the rapper-producer FearDorian
but had linked up online and developed in-person friendships
gaming music—with a kind of elegant dizziness
as if multiple browser tabs playing random audio were harmonizing together
the signature beat of the recently ascendant Milwaukee rap scene
created a sense of Energizer Bunny propulsion
I felt the music meet my own sense of distraction and supplant it
These artists had burst from the internet to convey feelings about friendship
delivered with a sound that suits its times
I thought of the concerts in the 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization
anti-establishment scene forming around hardcore-punk bands such as Black Flag
Its title evoked Oswald Spengler—and played as a joke about the way that elders often disdain cultural developments they don’t understand
The 62-year-old Simon Reynolds sometimes feels like one of those baffled elders
He told me that much of the music his son champions is “too gnarly” for his ears
seeing Press-Reynolds “chasing the latest convolution
the latest mutant” in music was a thrill: It’s what he used to do
Daft Punk—seemed as exciting to a young Reynolds as rock and roll had to the Boomers
and his generation of ravers started to lose steam
No comparable new scene seemed to be taking their place
about the feeling that culture had become too backward-looking
“The Slow Cancellation of the Future,” that has become one of the 21st century’s most influential statements of cultural pessimism.)
started to “crumble a bit” once they were published
Technologies such as streaming and social media began to upend the culture; Press-Reynolds kept discovering interesting oddities online
He realized that he’d been thinking of artistic evolution too narrowly
Innovation was happening; it just wasn’t the kind he’d been looking for
very fixated in that book on sound,” he told me
He now believes music is about more than sound
It—and culture in general—is a “messy hybrid” of images
The great media of the 20th century—the art-pop album
the literary novel—may be fighting for their life
but that’s because of competition from new forms defined by a sense of immediacy: short-form video
But they also invite surprising excellence: the minute-long songs of PinkPantheress
which glitter with detail and emotion; the writing of Honor Levy
who weaves lurid short stories out of internet slang
“It’s more of an aphoristic culture than an essayist culture
That sensibility emerged from the warrens of the internet
When Press-Reynolds described his idea of “max stimuli” to me
I thought back to a term Gioia had used: “new maximalism.” In Gioia’s analysis
translating grand ambitions into pop symphonies
The cultural triumphs of this decade fit that model
Audiences still want storytelling they can chew on—they just want it in a form that’s attuned to the accelerated ways we now consume information
and scale to tame the modern attention span
and foster a feeling of connection in an era of isolation
when Barbie and Oppenheimer both accomplished what the pandemic had seemingly made impossible: selling out movie theaters
These could have been emblems of Hollywood’s intellectual bankruptcy
representing a glorified toy ad and yet another Oscar-baiting biopic
Yet the movies connected in large part because of their daring use of rhythm—visual rhythm
Its pursuit of constant stimulation didn’t just keep audiences rapt; the movie breezily conveyed weighty ideas about gender
told a complex story by montaging lots of vignette-like
stately Best Picture winner whose hummingbird pulse felt stylish and modern
Beyoncé has been making the boldest music of her career—which is saying a lot—by trying to expand popular ideas about Black music: first with the 2022 album Renaissance
a twisty-turny odyssey into country and rock
If audiences have become numb to moralistic messaging
they seem excited by works that use formal experimentation to capture messy truths
The technologically induced isolation that Brooks worries about is also driving humanistic countermovements
The art of confessional songwriting is flourishing thanks to a wave of artists—Chappell Roan
SZA—whose lyrical candor creates an intense sense of closeness between listener and artist
these artists constitute an idea of “pop” that’s anything but generic; rather
who’s been pioneering a futuristic form of storytelling: every verse and every public utterance links together an intricate web of “lore,” which brings fans together for puzzle-solving and reinterpretation
told me he watched the concert film about her records-smashing Eras tour three times
“I take some comfort in the fact that the biggest musical event of the last year was Taylor Swift
playing real songs for real people in concert,” Gioia said
but it can’t forge social bonds like she can
Even seemingly brain-rotted content can sustain big ideas through inventive means: Internet comedians such as Psyiconic use costumes and visual filters to conjure bizarro characters that pop up in your social feeds
creating long-form satire out of snackable moments
When I’m locked in and enjoying such highlights of 2020s culture
I’m grateful: Most of this work couldn’t or wouldn’t have existed before now
That doesn’t mean I’m immune to the dread that plagues the declinists
They’re really talking about forces deeper than culture: technological
and social problems that require technological
The same YouGov survey that found Americans to be so unhappy with the state of movies
and music found that people also generally feel that this is the decade with the worst economy
What art can do is remind us that our lives are not simply shaped by systems—they’re also a product of our own thoughts, inspirations, and relations. My favorite new TV show of this decade is <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/06/fantasmas-julio-torres-tv-review/678594/">HBO’s Fantasmas</a>
a comedy created by the former Saturday Night Live writer Julio Torres
It’s a magical-realist depiction of a near future in which people live with bumbling AI assistant bots in housing complexes owned by corporations such as Bank of America
Torres’s character wants to make surreal films about animals
but is being pressured to cash in on his backstory as a gay immigrant
the shoe company—commissions a screenplay called How I Came Out to My Abuela.) This subject matter asks
whether the artistic spirit can survive modern life
But the imaginative way the show is rendered—in a dreamscape of interconnected skits
performed by talents from today’s offbeat comedy world—offers a hopeful answer
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/06/fantasmas-julio-torres-tv-review/678594/">Read: Fantasmas understands the absurdity of modern existence</a>
Culture is not just a map of the structures and forces that order our society
We all have the power to listen more curiously
and treat the present with the same sense of generosity that we extend to the golden ages of the past
When you tune in to the creativity that is still pulsing in these disorienting times
you can hear the story that most needs telling: Keep going
This article appears in the <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2025/06/">June 2025</a> print edition with the headline “The Day the Music Died.” When you buy a book using a link on this page
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NOAA Fisheries is working with many partners to conserve and recover endangered North Atlantic right whales using advanced technology
NOAA Fisheries is committed to working with our partners to address the North Atlantic right whale crisis
We are investing in high-tech solutions that address the primary threats to their survival: entanglements and vessel strikes.&nbsp;
Endangered North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction and experiencing an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2017-2023-north-atlantic-right-whale-unusual-mortality-event">Unusual Mortality Event</a>
There are approximately 370 individuals remaining
including about 70 reproductively active females
Human impacts continue to threaten the survival of this species
right whales have changed their distribution patterns
likely in response to changes in prey location and availability due to warming oceans
the whales began spending more time in areas with fewer protections from vessel strikes and entanglements
Technology has the potential to provide transformational solutions to prevent extinction
It could help marine industries (such as fisheries
We are directly supporting new and existing technology and investing in their development and implementation
New technology such as satellite observations will help transform North Atlantic right whale monitoring
They will improve our understanding of the whales’ distribution and habitat use to support regulatory measures
We will also increase the use of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-mammal-protection/developing-viable-demand-gear-systems">on-demand fishing gear</a>
and improve the enforcement of existing federal regulations
These efforts support our overarching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/north-atlantic-right-whale#road-recovery">North Atlantic Right Whale Road to Recovery</a> strategy
The strategy addresses threats to North Atlantic right whales and monitors our progress
and other organizations is key to our progress for right whale recovery
We are working in four major areas on this crucial work to develop and deploy technologies that help protect North Atlantic right whales
<a class="alt-link--more" href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/media-release/biden-harris-administration-announces-more-9-million-partnerships-recover-north">Partnerships with Duke University, Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology for monitoring and modeling efforts</a>
<a class="alt-link--more" href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/media-release/biden-harris-administration-announces-more-9-million-partnerships-recover-north">Partnership with Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to test fishing gear</a>
We host technology workshops with key partners to find new solutions to support North Atlantic right whale recovery efforts
We hosted a virtual public&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/event/north-atlantic-right-whale-vessel-strike-risk-reduction-technology-workshop">right whale vessel strike risk reduction technology workshop</a> in March 2024
It explored and promoted new technologies that offer mariners additional options for reducing lethal collisions with right whales
In November 2023, we convened a workshop to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/event/demand-interoperability-workshop">explore developing standards for acoustic communications and data to support on-demand fishing</a>
and other interested parties discussed the interoperability of on-demand
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taking care of our old dogs and infant son
The economy was great; the health system stable; the novel coronavirus an ocean away
I’d take him to a 24-hour grocery store or pharmacy and stock up on paper towels
I started listening to the evening news while making dinner
and subscribing to doctors’ social-media feeds
even if I did not know what I was preparing for
A tariff-induced recession is here and not here
visible and invisible—about to happen or already happening
even if we are not sure what we are preparing for
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/recession-tariffs-canada-trump/682297/">Annie Lowrey: Here are the places where the recession has already begun</a>
But companies rushed to buy big-ticket items before “Liberation Day,” on April 2
filling up warehouses and locking in input prices
The jump in investment and inventories pushed up GDP by nearly four percentage points; the surge in imports pulled it down by five percentage points
Partisans of President Donald Trump cheered the report. “When you strip out inventories and the negative effects of the surge in imports because of the tariffs, you have 3 percent growth,” the trade adviser Peter Navarro <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/trump-trade-navarro-us-gdp-drop-tariffs-stock-market.html">said on CNBC</a>
“That’s the best negative print I have ever seen in my life.” Maybe Navarro believes that
but there was nothing great happening in the first quarter
The yet-to-be-announced tariffs distorted business practices
affecting hundreds of billions of dollars of output
They did not improve the underlying economy
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/04/trump-dollar-economy/682574/">Read: What would be worse than a recession?</a>
A supply shock is beginning to ripple across the nation
consumers worried about looming shortages and rising inflation are likely to make panic orders and hoard household goods
Businesses worried about empty shelves are likely to restrict purchases
Even Americans who pay little attention to the news will notice their neighbors stocking up
Companies are likely to capitalize on the chaos
hiking prices even if they are unaffected by tariffs
though I am not sure what goods will end up affected
This is not February 2020. Whatever is happening will be less deadly than a pandemic, less damaging, less frightening, and less long-lasting, I hope. Still, it is a polycrisis: globe-encompassing and hard to understand. I don’t know what to do. I might pick up some dog food and ibuprofen this weekend.
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Republicans in Congress could soon make things much worse. GOP leaders are struggling to reconcile deep divisions as they try to pass Trump’s <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/02/21/upshot/house-gop-budget-blueprint.html">“one big, beautiful bill,”</a> which encompasses the bulk of his domestic agenda
The plan revolves around his 2017 tax cuts; Republicans want to permanently extend them before they expire at the end of the year
but they can’t agree on how to cover the more than $5 trillion price tag—or whether to cover it at all
is a bill that adds trillions to federal deficits
which could cause an already shaky economy to collapse
The GOP stands virtually no chance of stabilizing the nation’s finances
the Republican economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin told me
is “how much worse will it be when they’re done?”
fiscal hawks have warned that America’s ever-increasing debt (now more than $36 trillion) will provoke a crisis: Markets will crater and interest rates will spike
Even as both parties have run up the nation’s tab
these doomsday predictions haven’t come true
leading to an unspoken bipartisan understanding that growing the deficit would never really wreck the economy
But Trump’s proposals could shatter that assumption
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/04/congressional-republicans-might-set-off-debt-bomb/682567/">Read: Congressional Republicans might set off the debt bomb</a>
Enacting Trump’s agenda would probably be a “corrosive event” rather than an immediate disaster
but “there is a reasonable probability that we go over the cliff.” Trump’s aggressive tariffs already prompted a steep sell-off in the bond markets
which analysts monitor for signs that global investors are losing confidence in the U.S
In addition to making his first-term tax cuts permanent, Trump wants Congress to eliminate a suite of taxes—on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security benefits—while adding hundreds of billions in new spending to secure the southern border and bolster the military. As the fiscal analyst Jessica Reidl <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/04/congressional-republicans-might-set-off-debt-bomb/682567/">observed</a> last month in The Atlantic
add more to federal deficits than the four costliest bills signed by Trump (during his first term) and former President Joe Biden combined
A more fiscally responsible approach would offset Trump’s tax cuts with spending reductions and revenue increases elsewhere
Both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have said Republicans want to cut as much as $1.5 trillion in spending over the next decade
But most analysts doubt they’ll be able to trim nearly that much
Tax hikes are anathema to most Republicans
and a push by conservatives for deep spending has met resistance from moderate and electorally vulnerable GOP lawmakers
Even if Republicans manage to slash $1.5 trillion
they would cover only a fraction of the price of extending the Trump tax cuts
The party claims that lower taxes will generate more revenue through economic growth
and the president says his tariffs can make up the rest of the cost
who advised the late Senator John McCain and now heads the center-right think tank American Action Forum
told me the tariffs won’t generate anywhere close to enough money
“The administration is completely incoherent on this stuff,” Holtz-Eakin said
the GOP will pay for no more than a small slice of the tax cuts
The party didn’t offset the ones it enacted under President George W
or the ones passed during Trump’s first term
Republicans are unwilling even to acknowledge the cost of the cuts; through dubious accounting
they adopted a budget that hides the fact that an extension would increase the deficit at all
taxes will automatically go up for nearly all Americans next year
which Holtz-Eakin described as the worst-case scenario
If the economy isn’t already in a recession by that point
and Democrats have already begun attacking Republicans over the plans
In theory, one of the easiest moves available to Republicans is to repeal spending that none of them voted for in the first place. In 2022, Democrats enacted hundreds of billions of dollars in clean-energy tax credits under Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. No Republican supported the bill, but some are now <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/10/house-republican-clean-energy-tax-breaks-00218126">fighting</a> to protect the funding
because much of it went to their districts
“Those are probably the low-hanging fruit,” Holtz-Eakin said of scrapping the tax credits
he added: “some people can’t even harvest low-hanging fruit.”
Congress needs to increase the nation’s debt limit—likely by this summer—to avoid a first-ever default
GOP leaders want to include the measure in Trump’s big
but many House conservatives have never voted to lift the ceiling and are reluctant to start now
could spook the markets and force Republicans to turn to Democrats for help—an unattractive option because Democrats would likely seek policy concessions in exchange for their votes
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/republican-budget-trump-johnson/682400/">Read: A win—and a warning—for Trump’s agenda</a>
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Harvard’s <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FINAL-Harvard-ASAIB-Report-4.29.25.pdf">anti-Semitism report</a> has landed: elaborately footnoted
abundant in statistics as well as anecdotes
It was composed entirely by current insiders at the university—no alumni or
And it offers more than 300 pages of dismal reading
The report spends time—an inordinate amount of time, according to <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/4/30/miller-harvard-antisemitism-task-force/">some Harvard critics</a>—parsing the definition of anti-Semitism and its relationship to exterminationist hatred of Israel
By its very length and carefully modulated tone
it sometimes seems to reflect an academic wringing of hands rather than shocked wonder and volcanic fury at the Jew hatred that has infected this great university
The report nonetheless carefully documents a series of appalling incidents
and the failure of university leadership to address chronic and worsening Jew-baiting
It notes that the university leaders remained mute when a commencement speaker resorted to anti-Jewish tropes
It describes the silencing of Jewish students by their classmates
egregious faculty support of anti-Israel protests at the expense of classroom neutrality or even attendance
and sheer thuggishness aimed at Jewish students
It also documents the collapse of a once-demanding disciplinary system
as various penalties for misbehavior were reduced or rescinded wholesale in July 2024
including special training for students involved in DEI efforts
more courses on Judaism and the Israel-Palestinian conflict
and setting clearer expectations about civil discourse for new students
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/stanford-israel-gaza-hamas/677864/">Read: The war at Stanford</a>
Harvard President Alan Garber came to his position suddenly, being appointed first as interim president, then to his current role following the <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/harvard-claudine-gay-plagarism-standards/676948/">self-immolation</a> of his predecessor
That his presidency was accidental has not stopped Garber from undertaking a number of sensible reforms
including standardizing and centralizing disciplinary procedures at the university
canceling identity-driven graduation events
and attempting to rescue the diversity piece of DEI by focusing on community experience
He has been more than a safe pair of hands
is that the roots of Harvard’s Jew-baiting problem go far deeper than either the earnest recommendations of the task force or the more robust actions of Harvard’s president can address
The widespread harassment of Jews reported at Harvard reflects the attitudes of hundreds if not thousands of students
and staff—that last group is an often underappreciated element in indulging or even encouraging this behavior
It reflects the development of identity-driven politics
for which responsibility lies outside the university as well as within it
It has been fed by witch-hunting for “white privilege” (no matter that there are plenty of Jews of color
as a walk down the streets of Tel Aviv will show you)
It flourishes in the bogus specializations that have hived off from more traditional and all-embracing disciplines such as history
It has been nurtured in research centers whose very existence is premised not on the quest for truth but on the pursuit of a political or ideological agenda
And it has been compounded by craven behavior at the top
When the Harvard Corporation restored the degrees of 11 of the 13 students who had been bounced for violating the university’s rules
Neither has the corporation acknowledged any culpability for its disastrous appointment of Gay and the subsequent damage that did to the university’s reputation
Garber can only begin to tackle problems that are both deep-seated and not fully acknowledged in the task-force report
but neither are you permitted to desist from it.”
It insists on meritocracy—but then proposes to supervise faculty hiring and teaching on the basis of ideological criteria
It would eliminate academic freedom and put the university in a kind of receivership from which it would be released only at the White House’s discretion
And in orderto soften the university up with a bit of backroom third degree
and (if Donald Trump is to be believed) trying to eliminate Harvard’s tax-exempt status
One may be forgiven for thinking that the administration’s avowedly radical concern about anti-Semitism is impure
An administration that listens to the likes of Tucker Carlson is
the Trump administration appears to have seized on this issue in large part to batter universities
<a href="http://ic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/jewish-anti-semitism-harvard-claudine-gay-zionism/677454/">Dara Horn: Why the most educated people in America fall for antisemitic lies</a>
The administration likes to talk about terror—whether as a state to induce in bureaucrats or the “existential terror” that Christopher Rufo
not reform; you are promoting large-scale vandalism
The administration has no vision for universities beyond platitudes
and no realization that an attempt to impose one will simply fail—or breed outward submission that will turn into vengefulness when its moment passes
The deeper maladies behind Harvard’s Jew-baiting problem will take many years to fix
Harvard might even learn from others: Vanderbilt in its intolerance for physical obstruction
or Chicago for its unabashedly firm rules on speech
There is much more work to be done. Harvard might, for example, pare down its plethora of concentrations and centers that are driven by political activism more than scholarly inquiry. It might make its disciplinary system stick. Its leaders might give lots of short, unequivocal, and ironclad declarations of what its principles are. It will be a long haul, and one for serious people, of whom President Garber is plausibly one.
as a practical limitation on government action
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it has made great progress toward that principle
the Department of Justice has become an institutional embodiment of these aspirations—the locus in the federal government for professional
which is in itself a rejection of the kingly prerogative
That is why Donald Trump’s debasement of the DOJ is far more than the mere degradation of a governmental agency; it is an assault on the rule of law
His attack on the institution is threefold: He is using the mechanisms of justice to go after political opponents; he is using those same mechanisms to reward allies; and he is eliminating internal opposition within the department
Each incident making up this pattern is appalling; together
they amount to the decimation of a crucial institution
Investigations should be based on facts and the law, not politics. Yet Trump has made punishing political opposition the hallmark of his investigative efforts. The DOJ’s independence from political influence, long a symbol of its probity (<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-bill-clinton-loretta-lynch-meet-on-tarmac-in-phoenix/">remember how scandalous it was that Bill Clinton had a brief meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch</a>?)
This development should frighten all citizens, no matter what their political persuasion. As <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/ag/legacy/2011/09/16/04-01-1940.pdf">Attorney General Robert Jackson warned in 1940</a>
the ability of a prosecutor to pick “some person whom he dislikes and desires to embarrass
or selects some group of unpopular persons and then looks for an offense
[is where] the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies.” Choosing targets in this way flies in the face of the DOJ’s rules and traditions—to say nothing of the actual
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/courts-force-trump-comply/682545/">Read: The Supreme Court has no army</a>
who later came to be political opponents of his
(Both men are friends and colleagues of mine.)
Their offense of perceived disloyalty is perhaps the gravest sin in Trump world, and as a result, they will now be individually targeted for investigation. The personal impact on each of them is no doubt immediate and severe. Krebs, who is a well-respected cybersecurity leader, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.sentinelone.com/blog/an-official-statement-in-response-to-the-april-9-2025-executive-order/">has quit his job at SentinelOne</a> and plans to focus on his defense
If Trump’s DOJ pursues this investigation to the limit
The cases of Krebs and Taylor do not stand in isolation. Recently, the U.S. attorney in New Jersey (Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba) <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://apnews.com/article/new-jersey-alina-habba-phil-murphy-matt-platkin-sanctuary-immigrant-dbf95a1dc06aa35270b6c6f591e0c31c">launched an investigation</a> into the state of New Jersey for its alleged “obstruction” of Trump’s deportation agenda
because New Jersey won’t let its own employees be drafted as servants of Trump’s policy
the state becomes a pariah in Trump’s mind
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/04/ed-martin-russian-tv-trump/682488/">Read: Ed Martin has completely disqualified himself</a>
A less-well-known example of Martin’s excess is his <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/how-doge-thugs-enlisted-the-police">use of threats of criminal prosecution to empower DOGE</a>
When DOGE was first denied entry into the U.S
one of the lawyers for USIP got a call from the head of the U.S
threatening criminal investigation if they didn’t allow DOGE into the building
telling the police that there was “an ongoing incident at the United States Institute of Peace” and that there was “at least one person who was refusing to leave the property at the direction of the acting USIP president
who was lawfully in charge of the facility,” according to the journalist Steve Chapman
all of which break the law.” Were the investigation neutral in nature
In fact, there are two major fundraising platforms in use—WinRed (the Republican platform) and ActBlue (the Democratic one). Even though <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bsky.app/profile/maryjoy.bsky.social/post/3lnm466rcec2v">WinRed has been the subject of seven times as many FTC complaints as ActBlue</a>
the Trump memorandum involves only the latter
Trump is overtly marshaling the powers of federal law enforcement in his effort to shut down political opposition
Trump is using the department to try to ensure future Republican electoral victories
One can hardly imagine a more horrifying variation on Lavrentiy Beria’s infamous boast: “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.”
Just as the Justice Department is being used to punish Trump’s enemies
it is likewise being used to reward Trump’s friends
The first and most notorious of these rewards requires little introduction. On his very first day in office, Trump <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/g-s1-36809/trump-pardons-january-6-riot">pardoned nearly all of the January 6 rioters</a> or commuted their sentences
who had been convicted of orchestrating the violence
When convicted insurrectionists—people who have been subject to a fair trial and been found guilty by a jury of their peers—are rewarded with pardons and commutations
the bedrock of legal accountability is fractured beyond recognition
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/prosecutor-new-york-resignation/681707/">Read: A blatant violation of legal ethics</a>
If these were the only two instances of using the legal system to repay friends
in any other era and with any other president
they are only the appetizer to an entire meal of political rewards to his supporters—the crypto industry
Ulbricht was convicted of crimes related to the creation of Silk Road
an online crypto marketplace for illegal drugs and other illicit goods
but he is a cult hero to the crypto industry
reducing the possibility of reform and entrenching existing union power
it pays to have friends in high places—especially when they give you the special justice rate
None of these abuses of power could have happened if the career staff at the DOJ had refused to comply. That’s what occurred, more or less, in Trump’s first administration. Recognizing the lawlessness of his conduct, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/us/politics/trump-office-of-legal-counsel-doj.html">the career staff resisted,</a> both overtly and covertly
Trump learned his lesson from that failure
The final part of his campaign to destroy the department is sidelining any attorney who opposes Trump’s will
thereby removing those responsible for external and internal oversight
would be responsible for holding Trump in check
Likewise, the Office of the Solicitor General is responsible for all of the government’s litigation before the Supreme Court. Rather than advance Trump’s overly aggressive arguments, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://abovethelaw.com/2025/04/attorneys-are-fleeing-from-the-solicitor-generals-office/">at least half of the legal staff, some of the very best lawyers in government, are on their way out the door</a>
The inevitable result of this bloodletting? Many of those who remain behind are cowed into further submission. <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.economist.com/1843/2025/04/17/how-to-survive-a-purge-the-secret-diary-of-a-doj-staffer">One anonymous DOJ lawyer described their experience at work in recent weeks to The Economist</a>: “As time went on
The hallways used to be a hubbub of chatter about cases
The phrase rule of law can easily become a shibboleth
But the rule of law is the basis of any decent society
acceptance of the rule of law by those who govern is at the core of individual liberty
government restrains its own abusive tendencies
trust in that restraint enables individual freedom
giving citizens the confidence to act as they wish
If the government moves to punish those who speak out in opposition
merely the thought of that possibility can cause self-editing
But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before
I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice
That threat of retaliation is rampant; it underlies Trump’s assault on the <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/politics/harvard-trump.html">independence of universities</a> and <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/big-law-trump-executive-order/682173/">large law firms</a>
And it is enabled only by his diminution of the Department of Justice
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/big-law-trump-executive-order/682173/">Read: The pathetic, cowardly collapse of Big Law</a>
None of this would be possible without the DOJ’s destruction
and none of it would be permissible in any other administration
When those at the Justice Department who enforce the law embrace Trump’s scorn and no longer care about its content or consider it binding
we lose the system that undergirds our democracy
It exists and animates our society because we believe it does
When that belief crumbles under Trump’s assault
The Ronald Reagan–appointed conservative jurist J. Harvie Wilkinson <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://time.com/7278774/judge-harvie-wilkinson-opinion-read-full-text-trump-abrego-garcia/">issued an opinion the other day</a> denying an attempt by the administration to delay its efforts to bring Abrego Garcia back to the U.S.
saying that Trump is creating “a conflict that promises to diminish both” branches of government
“The Judiciary will lose much from the constant intimations of its illegitimacy
to which by dent of custom and detachment we can only sparingly reply
The Executive will lose much from a public perception of its lawlessness and all of its attendant contagions
The Executive may succeed for a time in weakening the courts
but over time history will script the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been
The United States once revered the rule of law. Americans believed that those who rule the country should be governed by it, and that it should be applied equally to each of us. Being subject to law means that government action is, as a general matter, less arbitrary, more predictable, less commanding, less subject to personal whims, and, in the end, less coercive. The rule of law is what makes citizens freer to say and do what they please.
Maintaining the rule of law is premised on the neutrality of DOJ employees. They must be committed to treating similar cases and defendants alike. They must apply the law without regard to political and social factors. And they must act without creating a fear of retribution or an expectation of receiving favors in return.
That is what Americans should be crying out for today. I fear it might already be too late to restore the faith in law we once had. The courts cannot save themselves, and Congress is supine. Significant damage to institutions has already been done.
Americans must reject the nightmare that lies ahead. They must work to restore a society of laws, and they can do so at the ballot box. But first, they must recognize the disease; only then can they demand a cure.
it needs to embrace a different kind of parent
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Source: CSA Archive / GettyMay 5, 2025, 8 AM ET ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0012:15Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
67 percent of Americans aged 25 to 49 lived with a spouse and at least one child; by 2023
That’s a profound shift: Most adults in this age group
went from being married with children to not
What some refer to as the “traditional” family is no longer a majority
is very clear about who should be encouraged to have children
A pronatalist policy that defines family so narrowly—acknowledging only a type of household that most Americans don’t fit into—wouldn’t just be a moral mistake; it would also be a strategic one
The United States is full of people yearning for children
or to afford caring for kids beyond those they already have
Not everyone agrees that more babies are necessary to sustain a society: Some argue that governments can find other ways to invest in the economy
But if raising fertility rates is the goal
Trump’s team should be embracing the many kinds of families that already exist—and lowering barriers for all the people hoping to start new ones
The White House may not follow Project 2025’s family plan to a T
run the gamut from sensible if insufficient (a $5,000 “baby bonus” for every new American mother) to somewhat strange (a plan to help women understand when they’re ovulating—as if low fertility rates are caused largely by people who are trying to conceive but just haven’t figured this out)
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/04/grandparents-child-care-work-retirement/682395/">Read: Grandparents are reaching their limit</a>
the administration hasn’t exactly been shy about how it defines family
“I want more happy children in our country
and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world,” Vance declared at this year’s March for Life anti-abortion rally
And the White House evidently wants its straight couples betrothed
that efforts to boost marriage or birth rates don’t actually need to be lumped together—though research generally shows that children fare better across several metrics when raised in two-parent households
Families often benefit from two parents working as a team; it’s just not a magical fix-all
The people most likely to marry are affluent
Cross’s research indicates that what’s influential for kids is not just the resources that tend to accompany marriage
but also the resources that people who end up marrying already tend to possess
she found that even when children were raised in two-parent homes
they did not end up with the same resources
or prospects in the labor market as children from more affluent families
constantly arguing parents might tell you the same thing
<a href="http://https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/12/4b-sex-strike-american-dating/680770/">Read: The slow, quiet demise of American romance</a>
At least half a century of research supports the idea that a household arrangement itself isn’t what makes a kid happy and healthy. Susan Golombok, a University of Cambridge psychologist and the author of <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781541758643">We Are Family: The Modern Transformation of Parents and Children</a>
has for decades studied nontraditional families: gay couples who adopt
she and other researchers have found that what counts more for kids is two things: the quality of their relationships with family members
and whether they’re accepted by the outside world
Golombok has even found that parents in nonconventional family structures tend to be more involved than straight
probably because they are more likely to have deliberately chosen parenthood
Gay couples and single parents by choice have to be intentional
“These were really wanted children,” she told me
Now she’s seeing many politicians and commentators blatantly ignore such findings
“All of this very painstaking research,” she said
“is just being brushed to the side as if it didn’t happen.” And erasing it isn’t likely to lead to a baby boom
They were putting up with a hugely expensive and uncomfortable process just to buy themselves a little more time to find a co-parent
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/10/child-free-voting-bloc/680475/">Read: This might be a turning point for child-free voters</a>
Or what if the government, acknowledging all those partnerless adults, were to encourage Americans to raise kids with friends? Some people are already doing it. Golombok has been studying platonic co-parents in recent years, and so far, she told me, the data suggest that their children are just fine. And if pooling incomes is good for kids—well, a group of pals combining finances, skills, and sets of hands might be even better.
But if the Trump administration doesn’t institute policies that help the actual majority of American families, it won’t be advancing a family-forward agenda at all. And it won’t be likely to create “more happy children.” Its goal has always been regression: not to open up the circle of parenthood, but to shut it.
​​When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic
a professor of psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and a geriatric psychiatrist
found himself at the center of a medical debate
The World Health Organization wanted to officially designate “old age” as a disease
but with more than 40 years of work with aging populations
Rabheru saw this as another example of ageism that needed to be challenged
Rabheru talks with Yasmin Tayag about how he fought the WHO and about the impact such designations can have on research and our understanding of growing old
Marla Mclean: And I am 60-wonderful years old
we’ve been asking people to call in and tell us their age and about some of their experiences of aging
and I’m married to a younger woman: only 85
Brennan: Not wrinkling because I’m Italian … I like the sound of that
But as I was moving through the collection of voicemails
We also received a lot of callers sharing very similar anxieties about the unknowns of what could lie ahead …
Gary Schuberth: And what aspects of aging am I nervous about
Jes Chmielewski: I am nervous about feeling older
Just all the aches and pains and failures of organs and body parts
Jennifer Moffat: The things that make me nervous about aging are just physical breakdown
Stella K.: I’m really afraid of getting dementia
and we heard a lot about disease and decline
I’m not totally surprised to hear that people are worried about getting sick as they age
I mean—I do think culturally we conflate aging and disease
It actually made its way to the center of a debate in the medical field
the World Health Organization tried to connect aging and disease more officially
they proposed defining aging itself as a disease
In the ICD—The International Classification of Diseases
the idea is that if old age is officially considered a disease
then drugs can be developed to treat it … the way we have drugs to treat diseases like diabetes and cancer
And these kinds of details are exactly what I wanted to know more about
Kiran Rabheru: We don’t have a good clear definition of old age
Kiran Rabheru—he’s a professor of psychiatry at the University of Ottawa and a geriatric psychiatrist
He’s been focused on aging populations for over 40 years
And he spearheaded the team that challenged the World Health Organization when it wanted to officially designate “old age” in the ICD
Rabheru and why he’s so interested in aging populations
Rabheru: That’s an easy one: my grandmother
but they were busy: setting up a business and so on
my grandmother was the main sort of person in my life
probably the wisest and smartest person I’ve ever met in my life
So how did that shape your view of older people
the privilege of getting to know a grandmother
historically: If you go back a century or two
if you were walking on the streets in the year 1800
Most people died by the time they got to the age of 30
Rabheru: If you fast-forward a hundred years
if you were walking around the streets in 1900
So there’s a difference of 10 years in that 100-year span
But if you fast-forward another hundred years
even across the lower- and middle-income countries
Rabheru: And therein lies the crux of the matter that we’re talking about
and that is the way people think and feel and behave or act towards the whole aging population
Tayag: So it sounds like there have been some big
but that may have led to an increase in the disparaging thinking we call ageism
and that’s embedded as an unconscious bias
Rabheru: The COVID-19 pandemic really shone a light on the gaps we have in our system
Although our government sometimes tries to pit the old against the young
But it’s about designing a society where everyone
can live together with dignity and purpose and opportunity
Tayag: One thing that I think makes those conversations difficult is that we don’t have agreed-upon language to talk about age
and our society’s perspective on aging seems to reflect that
our conception of age seems very rudimentary
I understand that one of the attempts to assign a definition to old age came when the World Health Organization wanted to classify it as a disease in the ICD
and the implications for how we think about age and illness
I used to teach the course on classification diseases
We have to adapt it as societal values change and our thinking changes
and we need to change the classification system to match it
it can change a whole generation of people going through the treatment and through the hospital or clinical system
and that seemed to change some of the cultural thinking around it
So that’s an example of defining a disease that really helped the culture find more empathy—and also more investment in the recovery and success of many people
Could you give me an example of a condition that
went through the process of being considered and classified as a disease but is no longer considered to be one
we’ve gone through “diseases” like homosexuality—classified as a disease
And think about the stigma associated with those terms
And words matter; it tells people what value you place on that human being
Tayag:  It’s so obvious to me that these official classifications matter
it makes me think of the legalization of marijuana in Canada
My parents were always super strongly opposed to it
I’ve noticed their tone softening a little
It’s not like they’ve gone and flipped and started using it
but now they talk about it as a thing that some people do
And it’s been fascinating to watch that shift just because there is some sort of
binding declaration of this being legitimate
Tayag: So I want to talk about disease classification specifically in relation to aging
In December 2021 you found yourself in the middle of some very high-stakes deliberation
Rabheru: It was the most fascinating experience
that lead different organizations in aging
And it came to our attention that the WHO was updating the International Classification of Diseases
And part of the changes that they were proposing was to include “old age” as a disease
And this is an example of ageism within WHO
the same organization put out the global report on ageism
So we wrote; we got together and we organized a campaign
There were like eight or 10 different organizations that all wrote to the WHO
and collectively we represented millions of people across the world
Our team and the people that I work with immediately thought: Aging is a privilege
The older people are much more challenging to see and treat because of the multiple medical and psychosocial conditions they have
Having a diagnosis of “old age” would automatically just lead people to put them into that category
that “This person’s just old”—and they move on to something that’s easier to deal with
one of the big questions that the proposal to call aging a disease brought up for me was: Where do you draw the line
if you have a car accident and you can’t walk tomorrow because of a spinal-cord injury
you would have the same level of intrinsic capacity as someone who’s had a stroke at the age of 80
is—not that it’s not important; it is a risk factor
So it is definitely part of the risk factor
but it’s not the main driver of functional capacity
Tayag: And so what happened next after you wrote to the WHO
Rabheru:  And we went through it in a systematic
And we explained we understand what they’re trying to do
and they want to go after the biological aspects of aging—which absolutely we need to do
There is a lot of pathology that we can reduce the risk of
But to call old age a disease is not going to play well in society
Tayag: Okay; so sounds like it was a worthwhile way to spend your Thanksgiving that year
Rabheru: They came back to us a few weeks later saying they’ve met several times
We were very happily shocked that they rescinded it
Aging is universal and should not be pathologized
And it’s time to reframe aging in a more positive way
I want to work through some of this tension I’m feeling
Rabheru talking about challenging the WHO—it does sound like a win for how health professionals and society in general think about older people
this perception has tangible effects on the care and treatment that people receive
Brennan: But I’m still trying to work out if treating aging is a worthwhile pursuit or not
And time has a physical effect on our cells—building up damage
I could understand a world where we are working to heal or repair that damage
I am guessing it would relieve some of the anxiety that we heard in so many of the voicemails we received
there are existing drugs that are being repurposed to maybe slow aging
And researchers are trying to determine if those or other existing drugs could slow the passage of time for cells
or the molecular junk that time leaves behind
Brennan: I have Timothy Caulfield in my ear from Episode 1 telling me to assume nothing works
I’m skeptical about the ability to achieve these things
And I’m just immediately wondering if something else is going on here
Tayag: I mean—a lot of this does come down to money
There’s a hope that there will be more investment in research on slowing aging
because if people get sick less often as they age
it will bring down the costs of health care
Tayag: So that’s one argument for exploring it. There was a report in 2021 from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission showing that much older people <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/aging-disease-science-medicine-6321f4a9">tend to be the most costly to the government, health care–wise</a>.
Brennan: Right. I guess what I am trying to understand is: Although aging is not a disease in and of itself, and it should not be classified as such, it is associated with disease, right? And we could work harder to address the concerns that people have when it comes to aging.
Tayag: Exactly. So aging is a risk factor for disease. But aging itself isn’t a disease. This was something I was really trying to work out, too, when I was talking with Dr. Rabheru.
Rabheru: It’s a risk factor. Aging is a risk factor—in fact, the strongest risk factor—for cognitive impairment or dementia, barring, you know, all other illnesses. So, if you have a stroke or a genetic predisposition, that’s different. But if you’re healthy and you’re getting older, the biggest risk factor is aging. One in three people by the time you’re 80 will have some form of dementia, regardless of any other conditions. And the biology of that should be explored to mitigate it.
Tayag: But, on the other hand, menopause is a part of aging. It’s just a normal life stage.
Tayag: And it’s in these sorts of questions that I’m not really sure where to fall.
Rabheru: The solution depends on what your agenda is; like, where you put your values. So for example—if your values are coming from the financing side of things, the aging industry, the anti-aging industry, is huge.
Tayag: Oh yeah, I have been victim to a lot of face creams.
Tayag: Okay, so we don’t know if reversing or stopping aging is even going to work, and you’re saying it’s something that maybe we shouldn’t pursue. Yet we still have this problem of people assuming that old age means they will get sick. But, you know, I think a lot about my grandfather-in-law. He’s 96 years old and walks two miles every other day!
Tayag: He’s my hero. He’s awesome. And so, he’s definitely old in numbers, but I would never think of him as unhealthy. Nobody would.
Rabheru:  The older population is growing. We have, you know, we’re going to—we’ll have billions of people by the year 2050 who are older. And that’s a resource; that’s not a burden. If we keep them safe and healthy and happy, they can provide support for the world.
Brennan: Okay, Yas, I have to admit when I hear those statistics about risk for diseases as you age. I do pretty immediately tense up. Disease does still sound so inevitable to aging.
Tayag: I hear you. I mean when I think about my family’s heart-health trajectory, I feel like it’s inevitable that I’m going to get all the same diseases as my parents as I get older.
Brennan: Oh my god, I hope my dad isn’t listening right now, because I had slightly high cholesterol this year, and I couldn’t bear to tell him after years of me pestering him about this. [Laughter.] Here I am on my little lentil-and-sweet-potato high horse, and I still had slightly high cholesterol. Meaning the same genes that came for his heart might just come for mine.
Tayag: You know, I have been on this same spiral lately!
Tayag: But have you heard of the concept of healthspan?
Tayag: It’s what comes to mind when I think about my grandfather-in-law. And all the other older people who called in telling us how they’re thriving and living their best lives. Healthspan is the idea of extending the period that a person is healthy. And that’s different from lifespan, which is about how long you actually live.
Brennan: Okay so, instead of trying to live longer, until 105, it’s about making it longer in your life without disease?
Tayag: Exactly. Just like: staying healthy for as much of your life as possible, no matter how long you live. Which is the case for a lot of older people.
Brennan: Okay—how do we do that? How do we extend healthspan?
Tayag: So we don’t know how to guarantee an extended lifespan yet. But we do know how to increase healthspan: Eat well, exercise, sleep a lot, connect with people. It’s all the stuff we’ve been talking about this season.
Brennan: And did Dr. Rabheru have any more advice, too?
Tayag: Well I thought you might ask. So I asked Dr. Rabheru what his advice to his patients is.
Rabheru: So for many, many years, I have given the same prescription to every single patient I see.
Tayag: Dr. Rabheru, I have one last question for you. As a person who is aging yourself, like all of us are, what is one piece of advice you think we could all benefit from?
Tayag: I love it; the 20 rule. I’m going to do this today. It seems easy enough. I’m smiling a lot after this conversation, and so I smiled a lot. I’ve talked to you for way more than 20 minutes, and I guess I just have to go on a walk later. Dr. Rabheru, thank you so much.
Brennan: Yasmin, I do think that a really important part of this conversation is making sure we highlight the aspects of aging that people are excited about. When we asked listeners for those voicemails, we didn’t just ask what people were nervous about as they aged.
Sue: What are you looking forward to? Well, the biggest thing is no more shoulds. I’m tired of shoulds. You should do this. You should do that. I don’t care about shoulds anymore, and the freedom of doing what I want when I want to.
John Shuey: What are you looking forward to as you age? Well. Staying mobile and fit and able to get around. And I really do get around. I, despite my age, I can shovel snow for two hours. I ride bikes 35 miles at a time. I just, I basically feel like I’m 40. Is there someone in your life who has made you excited to get older? And yeah. It’s this girl from high school. I married her, and we have a great time together.
Lynn Clark: I wanted to leave this message for all the women who are nervous about aging. At age 30 I started my own business. I’ve raised two children and was widowed by age 59. At age 60, I started weight-resistance training and cycling. I am slowly backing out of my company towards full retirement. I moved part-time to another state, something I wouldn’t have dreamed of when I was younger.
Brennan: Or, maybe better: Change your idea of what the old man is like!
Tayag: Right. My dad is on a 70+ senior basketball team, and I like the old man they let in. Like, they are just always looking forward to the next game, the next tournament, and just getting to hang out. And they’re still so excited for what’s to come.
Brennan: Yeah, I think for me it’s like: healthspan, lifespan … I want to extend my curiosity-span.
Myron Murray: I want to see ’em land on Mars. I want to see ’em land and live on the moon. I want to see all the new things that are gonna come and we’re going to get to see.
Tayag: That’s all for this episode of How to Age Up. This episode was hosted by me, Yasmin Tayag, and co-hosted and produced by Natalie Brennan. Our editors are Claudine Ebeid and Jocelyn Frank. Fact-check by Ena Alvarado. Our engineer is Rob Smierciak. Rob also composed some of the music for this show. The executive producer of audio is Claudine Ebeid, and the managing editor of audio is Andrea Valdez.
Tayag: Looking to the future doesn’t always feel easy when climate issues loom large.
Sarah Jaquette Ray: It’s not about taking shorter showers. It’s really about kind of setting up your brain when you consume this information.
Tayag: How to age up in a world affected by climate change. We’ll be back with you on Monday.
Save Listen-1.0x+0:0020:19Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
whose surname was a burden long before it became a curse—so fused with his disgrace that you can’t say it without triggering an avalanche of cringe
who was caught texting pictures of his penis
at which point he sexted again under the alias Carlos Danger
sexted a photo with his young son in the background
and forfeited a laptop with emails from his estranged wife that caused the FBI to reopen its Hillary Clinton email investigation
greasing the way for Donald Trump’s 2016 victory and hastening the possible end of the republic and democracy as we know it
Almost 14 years after he accidentally posted the first lewd photo to his Twitter account
and six years after he walked out of a minimum-security prison
having served 18 months for transferring obscene material to a minor
Weiner is running for city council in New York
Is his candidacy a test of America’s capacity to forgive
A provocation for Democrats to stop clutching their pearls while Trump gropes his way to authoritarianism
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/trump-second-term-comeback/682573/">From the June 2025 issue: ‘I run the country and the world’</a>
One consequence of living in an age when nothing seems to matter is a tendency
to overcorrect and insist that everything matters
The return of Anthony Weiner raises Big Societal Questions
We need to hurry up and vote before Rudy Giuliani gets any ideas
I figured he might be subdued by having to play the penitent
There’s not much evidence of his campaign in the neighborhood
and his one-word email response to my interview request felt like a sigh: “Ok.”
“I’m a fucking Rorschach!” Weiner told me exuberantly
“My thing is so sui generis,” he continued
they fundamentally know perfectly what approach I should take
Donald Trump got elected as a 34-time felon.” Or lean into it
Make a joke about it.’ And about an equal number of people say
‘You got to spend the first four or five pieces of mail apologizing
explaining that you served your whatever it is
Spending time with Weiner is like living inside an episode of The Bear
The profanity and fervor are relentless—and seemingly inextricable from the talent
Even with more than a decade of political rust on him
it only took a few minutes to be reminded that tact is often just the first casualty of his convictions
which he believes has become a kind of emotional-support pet for every progressive interest
“Voters don’t expect you to have every answer and to agree with them on everything,” Weiner said
his face scrunched in exaggerated bewilderment
“Sometimes they actually kind of like it when you say
Fuck you.’ That's more of an acknowledgment that you’re actually listening to them than just saying ‘Yes
If confrontation is the deepest form of love
The less generous one is that he’s obsessive—he’s never met a boundary he respects or a consequence he fears
That his certainty and enthusiasm are tied up with a need to dominate
That he’s not merely tumescent; he needs you to see it
deep into his fourth decade in public life
has never been particularly good at disguising or explaining any of this
“I’m not sure where the snake is eating its tail—did I have a need that was being fed by my career
Did I go into that career because I was dealing with these inner demons and whatever?” He is the only subject where his conviction has consistently failed him
Weiner’s latest comeback began at a countertop company in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
a friend who owned the place and believed in employing the formerly incarcerated installed Weiner as its CEO
After the company became an employee-owned co-op
Weiner moved on to consulting before landing a regular gig as the left-wing foil on WABC
a conservative talk-radio station that doubles as a rescue shelter for New York’s unloved political animals
this was more than he had a right to hope for
and the hours allowed him to “make life as easy as possible for Huma”—Abedin
famously an adviser to Hillary Clinton—and to be around for their then-9-year-old son
Weiner frames this period as “a decision to live a smaller life,” before adding
I am open to the idea that I don’t want the last chapter to be ‘He served time in prison
I’m open to the idea that I didn’t like that last chapter.”
Jordan reached the beginning of what parenting experts call the launching stage
and what Weiner jokingly calls a child’s “just doesn’t give a shit about having me around anymore” phase
a term-limited seat in our shared city-council district opened
decided that “there’s not a Muhammad Ali in this fucking race,” and called Huma
“My first response was wanting reassurance that there was minimal impact on Jordan,” Abedin told me
“And I also know that was the reason why I was the first person he asked
I’ve never doubted that Anthony was and is a very gifted and charismatic politician
Very few people who are familiar with his work disagree or dispute that
‘I hope you can find joy and purpose in doing this.’ That’s basically it
‘You should constantly be thinking about what your motives are.’ Like
Anthony Weiner has a sponsor because Anthony Weiner is a sex addict
He doesn’t quite squirm while talking about it
but it’s the rare subject that causes him to slow down
to consider his words rather than spit them out like spent shell casings
“Let me just start by saying I’m not trying to persuade you or anyone else who wants to argue about whether sex addiction’s a thing or not.” Pause
“But the easiest way to look at it.” Pause
“If you define addiction in the clinical way of doing something that
when you need more of that thing despite having more and more consequences for not being able to stop.”
For the record, the DSM-5 (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association) does not include sex addiction as a formal diagnosis. The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9295232/#:~:text=Recognizing%20compulsive%20sexual%20behavior%20disorder,behavioral%20addiction%20or%20sexual%20disorder.">does</a>
but calls it compulsive sexual behavior disorder
“I was a person who had this exaggerated belief in my own ability and worked really hard
So even though I lost my brother to addiction”—his older brother
struggled with drugs and alcohol and was inebriated when hit by a car as he crossed a Virginia highway on foot in 2000—“I never quite internalized it as a thing
rock bottom is what forced him to reconsider
and possibly the election of the first female president
Weiner could not understand how it had all happened
I knew that I was doing it an enormous amount
When people say ‘What were you thinking?,’ I could not answer.”
Peter Fisher for The Atlantic“I’m not a victim of some larger conspiracy,” he said
“It’s just a thing that I did that I’ve accepted responsibility for.” He credits the rituals of recovery—the naming of his condition; 12 steps; group meetings
which he says he still attends—for providing a ladder up: “It brought me relief
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/democratic-party-problems/682290/">Read: Democrats have a problem</a>
It’s impossible to know if Weiner has really become more decipherable to himself
He says all the things a sincere person would say about addiction—which are also the things a clever insincere person would say
We live in an era when every scoundrel has a pathology
It’s hard to imagine a person less suited to the Serenity Prayer
He at least seems to have arrived at an understanding that the forces inside him can not be dissociated
I asked if politics and sexting were intertwined compulsions
if chasing votes would lead to the world waking up to another shot of his junk on social media
But there’s still vintage material out there from the Carlos Danger era
“Part of the risk of all this is that people are like
Weiner listened to his sponsor and asked himself if he was chasing fame (“no”)
or action (“I did have the sense I ain’t doing enough”)
Jordan and Abedin are thriving and will not be at risk of financial ruin should he implode
(Weiner and Abedin separated in 2016 and officially divorced in early 2025; Abedin is now engaged to George Soros’s son Alex.) “I mean
and that ability translates into a better city and a better neighborhood for my son
And then the answer is usually some version of: People are gonna say mean things to you
but that didn’t seem like all that good a reason
To appear on New York City’s primary ballot
candidates for city council need 450 people to sign a petition supporting their candidacy
The Weiner campaign has no headquarters and one full-time staffer
I had fight-or-flight at every door,” Weiner told me
“It’s not like I’ve got a strategic view of how to deal with the scandal
I’m trying to deal with these things with honesty
and started yelling—and by now it should not surprise you that he yelled back
Some gently teased him or showed him grace
or Eliot Spitzer (“Wrong Jew,” Weiner told me)
This tracks with my own experience of being in public with Weiner
you must be a glutton for punishment,’’’ he said
“Or someone will say ‘I believe in second chances,’ or ‘I voted for you before; I’ll vote for you again,’ that kind of thing
But I always include in my calculus that people will say nice things and generally keep nasty things to themselves
especially when you’re out there face-to-face.”
Weirdly, the biggest obstacle to Weiner’s comeback may be not his past, but his politics. He’s lived in District 2 since 2011, but it’s far from the mostly white, middle-class parts of Queens and Brooklyn he represented as a congressman. Every District 2 council member since the early 1990s has been Hispanic. Just 8 percent of the district’s <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/origin/ny/2020/nyc_citycouncil.html">175,000</a> residents are registered Republicans
Fresh Defund the Police graffiti appears regularly
Weiner’s a centrist Democrat—he thinks the neighborhood needs more cops and fewer pot shops
“If this election is about the most anti-Trump
you’re not going to pick a Cuomo or a Weiner,” he said
but there seems to be a disconnect with the brand that New York Democrats are selling and what people want to buy right now.” I asked what evidence he had to support this
“I’m in New York with a head on my shoulders seeing what’s going on on 14th Street.”
The minimalist composer Philip Glass is a longtime District 2 resident
I mention this because the Weiner campaign is basically just two loud hunches
in a way that may or may not cohere into a melody
The first hunch is focusing the campaign relentlessly on quality-of-life issues
with moderate to conservative positions on subway-fare evasion (stop it)
and the recent proliferation of missile-like E-bikes in bike lanes (stop it)
Technocratic intolerance for disorder was last a thing in New York City during the Bloomberg administration
usually we associate firebrands with an extreme kind of thing,” Weiner said
I watched some game tape of Weiner at candidate forums and interest-group Zooms from the past few months
The truth is that these events can be both a bore and a circus
Sometimes Weiner was the clown—“I will take questions on anything
as you do watching anyone be excellent at something
When a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) group that represents medical residents and interns told him that its top priority is more housing close to hospitals
“Am I going to do that for the firefighters also
Am I going to do that for the guys who work in the sanitation department
You tell me how you expect this to work.” He did not sound like the unreasonable one
he took a simple question about a local homeless man and
lit into the progressive orthodoxy on homelessness—which prioritizes an unhoused person’s right to stay on the street over getting troubled people necessary care and preserving public spaces
Most politicians know how to live on the surface in these moments
But Weiner uses conflict to make small things feel more urgent
to make local democracy into something worthy of passion
but he challenges Democrats to hear the jagged melody blaring through his septum: Do we want to be polite
Weiner has few ways to know if any of this is working
He and his rivals are on the verge of reaching the council fundraising cap
The New York Times appears to find him too prurient to cover
while the New York Post sticks to dick jokes and contempt
When he entered the race, a rival candidate proposed the Withholding Eligibility in NYC Elections for Restricted Individuals Act, or <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/02/city-council-candidate-proposes-weiner-act-bar-sex-offenders-elected-office/403090/">WEINER Act</a>
to ban registered sex offenders from seeking office
his opponents seemed to have settled on a series of shared facial expressions that convey patience and pity
They patronized even as he schooled them on the fundamentals
like standing when you answer a voter’s question and underlining your policy differences from the rest of the field
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/04/democrats-infighting-immigration-primaries/682546/">Read: What the Democratic infighting reveals</a>
I asked Weiner what happens if he loses, and he reached for an “I’m not that guy anymore” story. Back in the 1990s, when he was first running for Congress, Brooklyn had one 24-hour supermarket. “So at 2 o’clock in the morning, I’m like, ‘I have nowhere else to be. I’ll be at the supermarket, talk to some voters.’ There’s no one there!” He laughed.
“I’m not running around every moment of the day like I have to be maximizing my voter contact. But campaigning now, here in Manhattan, that’s very different than it was when I did this in Brooklyn in 1991. And listen, if I want to reach people at 2 a.m., there are people I can reach.”
This article originally misidentified New York City Mayor Eric Adams as a candidate in the Democratic primary for mayor. He is running as an independent. 
Anna Moneymaker / GettyMay 1, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:008:19Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
inadvertently included The Atlantic’s editor in chief in a group chat about military attack plans on the Signal messaging app
he found himself on very thin ice with his boss
But President Donald Trump and his advisers were loath to take a political hit by firing Waltz
especially within the first 100 days of the new administration
Trump acted against his national security adviser
removing Waltz along with his principal deputy
Hours after the news of Waltz’s removal broke, Trump <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114433942825461076">wrote</a> on Truth Social that he would nominate the former Florida congressman as ambassador to the United Nations
the added responsibilities of the national security adviser—at least on an interim basis
The dual roles were last held by Henry Kissinger from 1973 to 1975
Waltz is the first top aide to be replaced in Trump’s second term
The overhaul echoes the dismissal of Michael Flynn
who was fired in February 2017 for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he held with the Russian ambassador
Trump ultimately had four national security advisers in his first term
according to people familiar with Trump’s thinking
He didn’t work well with other senior members of Trump’s team
and couldn’t prove to the president that he was able to manage his own staff
This account of Trump’s decision to shake up his national-security team is based on interviews with 14 current and former White House officials and outside advisers
all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/national-security-council-fiasco/682595/">Read: Inside the fiasco at the National Security Council</a>
endeared himself to Trump by assiduously defending him on Fox News
Waltz was frequently spotted at Mar-a-Lago
Despite shifting his views to align with “America First” dogma
Waltz never found his way into the president’s inner circle
and was never trusted as a loyal foot soldier
And despite Waltz’s efforts to banish career officials whose service at the National Security Council began under Joe Biden
his staff remained a target for the powerful White House personnel office
which viewed the NSC as fertile ground for rooting out officials not fully committed to Trump’s agenda
distance remained between Waltz and other influential voices in Trump’s inner circle
He was one of the few advisers consistently pushing for escalating sanctions against Russia if Moscow didn’t cooperate in peace talks
The personnel overhaul followed months of chaos at the National Security Council
government that provides a forum for the president to consider pressing national-security and foreign-policy issues with senior advisers and the Cabinet
when Waltz’s team moved in the first week of the new administration to dismiss scores of career officials detailed to the NSC—a priority for Trump
who believes that NSC staff thwarted his agenda in his first term
The dismissals hindered core functions of the council
new hiring was delayed by the White House personnel office
which is typically uninvolved in internal NSC hiring
The dysfunction burst into public view in March and April and proceeded to undermine Waltz’s grip on his staff
Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic’s editor in chief
to a group chat on Signal about a forthcoming military attack on Houthi militants in Yemen
at one point describing why he had Goldberg’s number saved in his phone by saying
“It gets sucked in.” The problems for Waltz began in earnest after the Signal controversy
“There wasn’t a sense of a cloud of suspicion hanging over him,” the former official said
“It was Signalgate that made him vulnerable.”
Trump ordered the dismissal of numerous NSC officials based on the advice of Laura Loomer
the far-right activist who rose to prominence by making incendiary anti-Muslim claims and who last year shared a video that labeled 9/11 an “inside job.” In an Oval Office meeting with Trump
Loomer accused senior members of Waltz’s staff of disloyalty
wasn’t even present for the beginning of the meeting
the national security adviser protested that he had carefully vetted the members of his team
made clear that Waltz had lost control of his own staff
Waltz was originally slated to attend Trump’s Michigan rally this week to mark his first 100 days but was ultimately directed not to go
“He was hired primarily to look good on TV while defending the president's decisions,” an official from Trump’s first term
who remains in contact with the White House
“He failed at that; he was a bad messenger
The national security adviser’s dismissal elevated the anxiety of key U.S
who saw him as a stabilizing force in the administration because of his pro-NATO views and the support for Ukraine he had voiced as a member of Congress
Western officials were already alarmed by the dismissals of NSC staff following Loomer’s appearance in the Oval Office
as well as by the White House’s move to block a retired CIA officer for a key position at the agency because he was deemed too supportive of Ukraine
Some officials from allied nations told us recently they were concerned that loyalty tests were driving personnel decisions
particularly at lower levels of the national-security apparatus
which are normally staffed by career personnel and are not subject to such overt political influence
Michael Scherer contributed to this report.
2025 ShareSave Reading has been unfairly maligned as an indoor activity for far too long
I was told to put down my book and go play outside: You can read any old day
reminding me that sunshine can be fleeting
are certainly worth savoring while you can
Over years of reading outdoors—seated on a park bench
sprawled on a beach blanket—I’ve come to see reading as an experience that
rather than offering an escape from my surroundings
in fact supplements my appreciation of the setting
Turning pages can be an act of mental and sensory enhancement
Books can take readers to new places through vivid detail
allowing them to “see” things that might not even exist
the friends chattering at the next table in the beer garden
The books on this list employ both modes: Some offer intriguing glimpses into faraway places or striking journeys; others meditate on the beauty to be found in a backyard
each makes its own case for leaving your reading nook and getting out into the world
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780811238038">Carpentaria</a>
Great writing has the power to make a place you’ve never visited feel totally familiar
situated right below Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria
is the home of the Waanyi people to which Wright herself belongs
Her detailed attention to the environment—the smell of the sea at low tide
the feel of trudging through spinifex in the bush—grounds the book in a strong sense of place
Try listening to Carpentaria as an audiobook; the novel unfolds like an oral epic
the gruff seagoing patriarch of the Westside Pricklebush people
who seems to stir up trouble just by walking through town
keeper of Aboriginal history and tradition
a prodigal son who violently opposes the town’s new mine
their stories becoming inextricable from their landscape
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do more: visit Queensland myself or reread Carpentaria all over again
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/04/outside-spring-summer-book-recommendations/677959/">Read: Seven books to read in the sunshine</a>
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780811238038" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">Carpentaria</a>By Alexis WrightBuy Book
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781668066591">The Living Mountain</a>, by Nan Shepherd
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781668066591" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">The Living Mountain</a>By Nan ShepherdBuy Book
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780374538101">Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya</a>
Kincaid’s account of her three-week trek in Nepal—undertaken to collect rare seeds with several botanist friends—is sure to make any reader appreciate their local flora
Kincaid views the Himalayas through the lens of her own home garden in Vermont
searching for plants she can cultivate in the North Bennington climate as her group climbs up through the mountains
I often paused as I read to look up the species she mentions
shocked to see some of the huge plants that grow naturally in alpine zones
She approaches the experience as a true amateur
and her honest reflections on the trip’s difficulties make the book intimate and amusing
Reading Among Flowers feels like traveling alongside Kincaid: You can experience the highs of the journey (gorgeous vistas
camaraderie and companionship) alongside the lows (leeches
Maoist guerrilla groups) without ever having to navigate the forbidding range yourself
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/07/books-briefing-hidden-cost-gardens/678979/">Read: The hidden cost of gardens</a>
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780374538101" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">Among Flowers: A Walk In The Himalaya</a>By Jamaica KincaidBuy Book
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781250863041">Pure Colour</a>, by Sheila Heti
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781250863041" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">Pure Colour</a>By Sheila HetiBuy Book
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780811226158">The Rings of Saturn</a>
in the hope of dispelling the emptiness that takes hold of me whenever I have completed a long stint of work,” the melancholic
semi-autobiographical narrator of Sebald’s genre-defying novel tells the reader
The Rings of Saturn has a peripatetic form: Not only does it follow a man wandering through Suffolk
but the novel’s action largely lies in the meandering
the narrator finds unexpected connections between the path under his feet and Joseph Conrad’s seafaring days
The Rings of Saturn twists and turns in surprising ways
a reminder that much of what we see around us has its own intricate history
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/08/how-walking-became-pedestrian-duncan-minshull-erling-kagge-walking/592792/">Read: The unbearable smugness of walking</a>
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780811226158" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">The Rings of Saturn</a>By W
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780399563263">Devotions</a>, by Mary Oliver
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780399563263" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">Devotions</a>By Mary OliverBuy Book
​When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.
Save Editor’s Note: Read The Atlantic’s related cover story, “<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/trump-second-term-comeback/682573/">‘</a><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/trump-second-term-comeback/682573/">I Run the Country and the World.’</a>”Listen-1.0x+0:0040:31Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
On Thursday, April 24, I joined my colleagues Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer in the White House to interview President Donald Trump. The story behind this meeting is a strange one, told in their new Atlantic cover story, which <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/trump-second-term-comeback/682573/">you can read here</a>
which he said I was “somewhat more ‘successful’ with.”
We found the president—in an Oval Office redecorated in what I would call the Louis XIV Overripe Casino style—in an upbeat and friendly mood
Joining the president were his chief of staff
Karoline Leavitt; and numerous other staff members
What follows are substantial excerpts from our conversation
Our main goal in the interview was to encourage the president to analyze his unprecedented political comeback
and explain the way he is now wielding power—including the question of whether he sees any limits to what a president can do
was to convince us that he has placed his presidency in service of the nation and of humanity
(A subsidiary goal was to ask us if we thought he should hang a chandelier in the Oval Office
The Atlantic takes no position on that matter.) He said many noteworthy things about Ukraine
and about the retribution-driven nature of his second term
I found our encounter fascinating and illuminating
And thanks for announcing the interview on Truth Social
Trump: I wanted to put a little extra pressure on you
you’ll sell about five times more magazines
[He makes a sweeping gesture.] If you take a look back
this is the new Oval Office—and people love it
Parker: Are you using your own money for the Oval Office
which is interesting because they’ve never come up with a paint that looks like gold
They’ve never come up with a paint where you can just paint it and it looks like gold
Michael Scherer: Is there truth to the rumor you’re going to do the ceiling
And we had the prime minister of Norway just preceding you
We have a lot of great relationships with people
So we’re trying to get the killing field ended
But I first wanted to thank you for having us in
We are trying to do a cover story that I think is both fair and balanced
Goldberg: The animating question of our cover story is how you did it
people would not have bet that you would come back
I wanted to ask you what you think I don’t understand about your presidency
Trump: I really believe that what I’m doing is good for the country
I was just with the prime minister of Norway and separately
We also had the former head of NATO just a few minutes ago: Stoltenberg
and people are going to be killed for a long time to come.” And
they’re losing—I was saying 2,500 people a week; it’s close to 5,000 people a week
for the most part Russian and Ukrainian soldiers
because the portrait of Ronald Reagan is sitting right above your shoulder
American presidents have innately sympathized with the smaller nations and peoples that have been bullied or oppressed by Russia
You don’t seem to have that same innate sympathy
Why don’t you seem to have that same feeling for these bullied
oppressed nations that every other American president has had
I think that nation will be crushed very shortly
And if it weren’t for me—I’m the one that gave them the Javelins that knocked out the tanks
and I gave them tremendous numbers of Javelins
And they took out all those tanks when they got caught in the mud
they were 71 miles outside of Kyiv and they were going to take over Kyiv
That was the end of the war; it would’ve ended in one day
And that was one of the reasons it went on
I could also make the case that it’s too bad it went on
A lot more people died in that war than is being reported
I really can make the case that I’ve been very good because I’m saving that country
The prime minister of Norway—very respected guy—says that if President Trump didn’t get involved
I think I’m doing a great service to Ukraine
Goldberg: The Ukrainians don’t believe that
they don’t because they have pretty good publicity
the war in Ukraine would’ve never happened if I were president
Goldberg: I want to ask you about something that you just wrote in your Truth Social post
That’s my way of explaining to people that you’re up here
“Why are you doing that?” I’m doing that because there is a certain respect
after talking about “many fictional stories,” that I was “somewhat more ‘successful’” with Signalgate
Goldberg: Are you saying that Signalgate was real
Goldberg: How long does it take you to write these
What I’m saying is that it became a big story
Goldberg: But you’re not saying that it was successful in the sense that it exposed an operations-security problem that you have to fix
it was successful in that you got it out very much to the public
Goldberg: But is there any policy lesson from that
that you’ve derived and have talked to [Secretary of Defense] Pete Hegseth about
and [National Security Adviser] Mike Waltz
Trump: I think we learned: Maybe don’t use Signal
I would frankly tell these people not to use Signal
although it’s been used by a lot of people
Parker: You’re a big supporter of Pete Hegseth’s
but he’s fired three top advisers in recent weeks
he installed a makeup studio at the Pentagon
he put attack plans in two different Signal chats
including one with his wife and personal attorney
Have you had a talk with him about getting things together
you had a secretary of defense that was missing in action for a week and nobody had any idea where he was
Afghanistan was perhaps the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country
I was going to keep Bagram because it’s right next to where China makes their nuclear weapons
But you had a secretary of defense that did that
Parker: Does he stay longer than Mike Waltz
several people on the National Security Council were dismissed
People like Laura Loomer and others have come to you with concerns about some people currently in your government
Should the American people expect that there will be more changes coming in terms of who’s working in your government
You would take recommendations about a writer
and then you find out six months later they did something that you weren’t happy with
and you probably let them go or admonish them
I have the biggest people in the world coming into this office
and they all want to stop and they want to look: It’s the Oval Office
and appointments of Supreme Court justices—three—to much lower-level people
And during the course of all of those hirings
you’re going to find out that you made a mistake
Parker: Our story is tracking the arc of a remarkable comeback
It feels like you are wielding power quite differently now
But my question has to do with January 2021—you’re in exile; you’re fighting for your political life
Parker: When was the first moment when you realized you could return
when you realized that it could happen again
I was questioning whether or not I would want to come back
but I never thought that I wouldn’t be able to
on the Democrat side—I guess—you had some that were hot
He let millions and millions of people into the country who shouldn’t be here
call it the greatest political comeback in history
I just sort of view it as: I just keep trudging along
Scherer: When I came to the Oval Office last week as part of the press pool
I asked you a question about the IRS going after Harvard
and you talked pretty passionately about conservatives being targeted by the IRS
You also put out the executive order—Chris Krebs
you accused him of violating the First Amendment
but you’re punishing him for his view on the 2020 election
Scherer: There is a lot of concern in the country that your use of executive power to go after people you disagree with represents a slide toward authoritarianism
maybe it was a joke: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” Should people be concerned that the nature of the presidency is changing under you
There’s never been anybody that’s been gone after like I have. I say that in the first presidency, we accomplished a lot; you know, I’ve been given very good marks by, well, let’s say by people in the middle and on the right. On the right, definitely. But I’ve been given very good marks. And, you know, when you look at the economy, we then got hit with COVID, and when we handed back the stock market after COVID, it was higher than it was prior to COVID coming in, which is frankly pretty amazing.
But the real thing was: While I was here, I was being spied on; they spied on the initial campaign. And now that’s been proven—you know, many of these things were proven, the whole Mueller witch hunt; I mean, the bottom line on that was I had nothing to do with Russia.
Trump: Just to finish. This is a much more powerful presidency than I had the first time, but I accomplished a tremendous amount the first time. But the first time, I was fighting for survival and I was fighting to run the country. This time I’m fighting to help the world and to help the country. You know, it’s a much different presidency.
Goldberg: Let’s stipulate just for the purpose of the conversation that you are right about all of the things that you say happened to you. But you’re back on top now. Wouldn’t it be better to spend your time focused on China and all the other major issues, rather than vendettas against people who you think persecuted you four or eight years ago?
Trump: So, you have two types of people. You have some people that said, “You just had one of the greatest elections in the history of our country. Go do a great job, serve your time, and just make America great again.” Right? Then you have a group of people that say, “Do that. Go on and do a great job. But you can’t let people get away with what they got away with.” I am in the first group, believe it or not.
Trump: Yeah. But a lot of people that are in the administration aren’t. They feel that I was really badly treated. And there are things that you would say that I had to do with that I actually didn’t. Going after—and I don’t know if you say “going after”—but people that went after me, people in this administration who like or love Donald Trump and love MAGA and love all of it. I think it’s the most important political movement in the history of our country, MAGA.
Goldberg: Bigger than the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s?
Trump: No, no, no, but it’s a big movement. There’s been few movements like it. So, it’s just been an amazing movement, and I think I have great loyalty. I have people that don’t like the way I was treated.
Goldberg: The thing that I can’t get my mind around is that you’re one of the most successful people in history, right? You’ve won the presidency twice—
Goldberg: This is exactly the question! At this point in your career, don’t you think you can let go of this idea that you won? I mean, I don’t believe you that you won the 2020 election.
Goldberg: Most people don’t believe you won the 2020 election. A lot of people don’t believe you won. It goes to this point about vengeance versus moving forward.
Goldberg: I think the Canadians would disagree.
You know, they do 95 percent of their business with us. Remember, if they’re a state, there’s no tariffs. They have lower taxes. We have to guard them militarily.
Goldberg: You seriously want them to become a state?
Goldberg: A hell of a big Democratic state.
Trump: A lot of people say that, but I’m okay with it if it has to be, because I think, you know, actually, until I came along—
Goldberg: I’m no political genius, but I know which way they’re going to vote. They have socialized medicine.
Trump: You know, until I came along, remember that the conservative was leading by 25 points.
Trump: Then I was disliked by enough of the Canadians that I’ve thrown the election into a close call, right? I don’t even know if it’s a close call. But the conservative, they didn’t like Governor Trudeau too much, and I would call him Governor Trudeau, but he wasn’t fond of that.
Parker: The Trump Organization is selling “Trump 2028” hats. Have you sought out a legal opinion about running a third time?
Parker: I look at you and your presidency this time, and you’ve shattered so many norms, democratic norms—
Trump: That would be a big shattering, wouldn’t it?
Goldberg: That’s the biggest shattering of all.
Trump: Well, maybe I’m just trying to shatter—look.
Parker: “Trump 2028,” that’s not a norm you’re willing to shatter?
Trump: Well, I just will tell you this. I don’t want to really talk about it, but it’s not something that I’m looking to do. It’s not something that I’m looking to do. And I think it would be a very hard thing to do. But I do have it shouted at me: “No, no, you’ve gotta run.”
Scherer: You’ve talked about moving American criminals to foreign prisons. You’ve criticized the courts for requiring due-process steps for deporting undocumented immigrants here in the country. Are there, in your mind, clear limits of how far you will go?
Scherer: Is there any reason that an American citizen would have to be concerned about their due-process rights being honored by your government? Or, and I mean, the Declaration of Independence reads: We don’t want to be subject to foreign jurisdiction—
Trump: Oh, could you open that? Pull that. [He directs Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, to pull the blue curtains shielding a recently installed copy of the Declaration of Independence.]
Trump: How’s Karoline? How’s Karoline doing? Good? Doing a good job?
Goldberg: Karoline? She’s very tough on me.
Goldberg: I probably just got her a raise by saying that.
Karoline Leavitt: I did a whole briefing on Jeffrey Goldberg.
Trump: Oh, really? Ooooh, she could be tough. She could be tough. Anyway, this is pretty cool. That was in the vaults for many years, downstairs.
Scherer: So the original question was: What are the limits? Should American citizens be concerned about being sent to foreign prisons?
Scherer: Yes, and the issue the courts have raised is that people who are accused of being here illegally are being deported without due process. That raises the possibility that someone would be nabbed accidentally or improperly and deported, if you don’t have due process.
Trump: Well, they’re here illegally to start off with.
Scherer: But what if there’s a mistake? You might get the wrong person, right?
Trump: Let me tell you that nothing will ever be perfect in this world. But if you think about it: Clinton, Bush, and every president before me—nobody’s ever been challenged when they had so-called illegal immigrants in the country; they took them out of the country, and they took them out very easily and very successfully. With me, we’re going through a lot with this MS-13 person from, right now, from—where is he from? Where does he come from?
Trump: Well, he actually comes initially from El Salvador, I guess. Yeah, I guess he comes from El Salvador. I knew he was outside of this country, way outside of this country, and then it turns out that his record is bad. They made him, like, the nicest guy in the world, a wonderful family man. And then they saw the MS-13, by mistake, on his knuckles, and they saw lots of other things.
Parker: But what about Americans who aren’t here illegally who may have committed a crime? Do you feel like they are guaranteed due process?
Trump: If a person is legally in the country? That’s a big difference between being legally in the country and illegally.
And I said “if,” “if,” in terms of foreign prison, “if it’s legal,” and I always say “if it’s legal.” Jeffrey, I said—I did talk about this—I would love it, you have people that are back and forth between sentences 28 times, people that are put back and forth into jail, they immediately go out and they whack somebody or they hurt somebody, or they do something very bad, and they go back, and they’ll have, like, 28 different sentences.
If it was legal to do—and nobody’s given me a definitive answer on that—but if it was legal to do, I would have no problem with moving them out of the country into a foreign jail, which would cost a lot less money.
Scherer: In terms of a definitive answer, you still believe the judiciary is an equal branch of government and you will abide by whatever the Supreme Court says in the end?
Trump: Oh, yeah. No, I always have. I always have, yeah. I always have. I’ve relied on that. I haven’t always agreed with the decision, but I’ve never done anything but rely on it. No, you have to do that. And with that being said, we have some judges that are very, very tough. I believe you could have a 100 percent case—in other words, a case that’s not losable—and you will lose violently. Some of these judges are really unfair.
But I do say, Jeff—I do say “if it’s legal.” I always preface it by saying that, because I think it sets a different standard.
Scherer: There’s talk on Wall Street of what they call a “Trump put,” meaning that there’s a bottom to how far the market will fall, because if we’re headed to a recession, you’ll change your tariff policy. If we’re headed to de-dollarization and bond interest rates are rising, you’re going to change your tariff policy to adjust for that. Is that a fair characterization, that you’re watching the markets and that you’re going to try and protect the American economy?
And we’re gonna be very rich. We’re gonna make a lot of money. So I don’t think the answer is that it will affect me. It always affects you a little bit, but I don’t think—and certainly there’s no theory, like you say, that if it hits a certain number—I don’t know where it is today. How’s the stock market?
Trump: Anybody know? Let’s see. Just give me the good news if it’s good.
Leavitt: Dow is up 419 points; NASDAQ’s up—
Trump: This is a transition period. It’s a big transition. I’m resetting the table. I’m resetting a lot of years. Not from the beginning, you know. Our country was most successful from 1850 or so to, think of this, from 1870—really, from 1870 to 1913. And it was all tariffs. And then some great genius said, “Let’s go and tax the people instead of taxing other countries.”
Parker: Another theme of our story: You mentioned being a positive thinker. Putting the 2020 election aside, what have you learned about your ability to will reality into existence, or to shape the world around yourself? Can you tell us how that works?
Trump: Well, I think a vast majority of the Republican Party thinks I won in 2020. And I don’t think it’s necessarily what I’ve said. I think they have their own eyes and they have their own minds. They’re very smart people, actually.
Parker: The election aside, how are you able to do that? It seems like you sometimes are able to create reality, to make things true, simply by saying them.
Trump: Well, I’d like to say that that is reality. You know, I’m not creating it. But maybe you could use another subject, because probably I do create some things, but I didn’t create that; I think that is reality. I have an amazing group of people that love what I’m saying.
We don’t want crime. We don’t want people getting mugged and killed and slapped and beat up. We don’t want to be taken advantage of on trade and all these other things. We want to keep the taxes low. We want to have a nice life. And we weren’t having a nice life these last four years. People were really, really unhappy. And you saw that in the election. It’s hard to win all seven swing states. And I won them by a lot. You know, I won all seven.
I just think that I say what’s on my mind.
Trump: I also say things that are common sense, but it’s not that I say them because they’re common sense. It’s because that’s what I believe. It turns out to be common sense. When I hear—I watched this morning a congressman, who I don’t even know, fighting like hell to have men play in women’s sports.
And I think it’s a 95 percent—you know, they say it’s an 80–20 issue; I think it’s probably a 95 percent issue. And I don’t fight it too much. I don’t even mention it now. I save it for before an election, because I don’t want to talk them out of it. I see this Congresswoman Crockett [a Democrat from Texas], who’s so bad, and they say she’s the face of the party. If she’s what they have to offer, they don’t have a chance.
I think that the Democrats have lost their confidence in the truest sense. I don’t think they know what they’re doing. I think they have no leader. You know, if you ask me now, I know a lot about the Democrat Party, right? I can’t tell you who their leader is. I can’t tell you that I see anybody on the horizon. I would tell you, if you said, “Well, who do you think it would be?”
Trump: I don’t see anybody on the horizon. Now, maybe there’s somebody—
Goldberg: Not Wes Moore, Shapiro, Beshear, any of these?
Trump: So I spoke to Shapiro the other day. I liked him. I called him about his house, which was terrible. I said, “We’re behind you 100 percent.” And we had our people look and everything. It was a hell of a fire. You know, usually you hear that stuff and you see not much damage. That was—that place was burned out. I spoke to him. I like Shapiro. I think he’s good. I don’t know that he catches on. You never know what’s going to catch on.
Trump: I think she’s very good. She was here. You know, she took a lot of heat. She was here because she wanted to have me keep open an Air Force base, a very big one up in Michigan. A very noble cause.
Scherer: When we first talked to you on the phone, I asked if you were having fun. You said you were having a lot of fun. That was a month and a half ago. Has something between then and now been much harder than you expected?
Trump: It’s much softer than it was the last time. If you look at the inauguration, the first time, I didn’t have any of the people that you saw the second time, or the third time, I guess you would call it.
Scherer: Do they call you to complain about their portfolios, their net worth, with the stock market going down?
Trump: No, nobody—nobody called. Most people say, “You’re doing the right thing.” I mean, they’re doing the right thing. It’s not sustainable what was happening with our country. We were letting other countries just rip us to pieces.
Goldberg: Just to go back to the Russia question. “Vladimir, STOP!” You wrote that today on Truth Social.
Goldberg: He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who will say, “Oh, well, Trump told me he wants to stop, so I’m going to stop.”
Goldberg: Well, if that’s the case, I’ll come back and say, “You were right. I was wrong.” But I think I’m right. He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to just stop trying to take over all of Ukraine. The question is: If he advances, if he has more military success—
Goldberg: Do you ever see a situation in which you’re going to come in, not with troops, but with more weaponry, with full-blown support for Ukraine to keep its territorial integrity?
Trump: Doesn’t have to be weapons. There are many forms of weapons. Doesn’t have to be weapons with bullets. It can be weapons with sanctions. It can be weapons with banking. It can be many other weapons.
Goldberg: Is there anything that Putin could do that would cause you to say, “You know what? I’m on Zelensky’s side now.”
Trump: Not necessarily on Zelensky’s side, but on Ukraine’s side, yes. Yeah. But not necessarily on Zelensky’s side. I’ve had a hard time with Zelensky. You saw that over here when he was sitting right in that chair, when he just couldn’t get it.
Goldberg: That was one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen in the Oval Office.
Trump: All he had to do is be quiet, you know? He won his point. He won his point. But instead of saying “Okay” when I made the statement, I said, “Well, we’re working to get it solved. We’re trying to help.” He said, “No, no, we need security too.” I said, “Security?”
Goldberg: Well, isn’t he supposed to advocate for his country?
Trump: Yeah, he is, but somehow, let’s get the war solved first. I actually said, “I don’t even know if we’re gonna be able to end it.” You know, he was talking about security after. After. And then he made the statement, something to the effect that they fought it alone, they’ve had no help. I said, “Well, we’ve helped you with $350 billion, and Europe has helped you with far less money,” which is another thing that bothers me.
We’ll have to see what happens over the next period of pretty much a week. We’re down to final strokes. And again, this is Biden’s war. I’m not gonna get saddled—I don’t wanna be saddled with it. It’s a terrible war. Should have never happened. It would’ve never happened, as sure as you’re sitting there.
Goldberg: So that scene with President Zelensky over here, you don’t think that scared Taiwan or scared South Korea or Japan?
Goldberg: They’re not asking, “That’s the way he treats allies?”
Trump: Well, look. Ready? We’ve been treated so badly by others. We went to South Korea and we took care of them because of the war. We took care of them and we never stopped. You know, we have 42,000 troops in South Korea. Costs us a fortune. I actually got them to pay $3 billion, and then Biden terminated it. I don’t know why. They’ve become very rich. They took shipping; they took our cars. You know, they took a lot of our businesses, a lot of our technology.
You don’t have to feel sorry for these other countries. These other countries have done very well at our expense, very well. And I want to protect this country. I want to make sure that you have a great country in another hundred years. It’s a very important time. Jeffrey, this is a very important time right now. This is one of the most important periods of time in the history of our country right now.
Scherer: Did you mean to call me at 1:30 in the morning after the UFC fight? I got a call—
Scherer: After the UFC fight in Miami, I got a call from your cellphone number at 1:30 a.m.
Trump: Really? Oh, no, that’s another—that sounds like another Signal thing.
Illustration by Liz Sanders. Sources: Qilai Shen /Bloomberg / Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch /Getty; CFOTO / Getty.May 2, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:009:48Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
Trump is breaking what experts say are the federal government’s best tools for returning mining to the United States
Creating demand for minerals “is best done by ensuring clean-tech manufacturing markets are here,” says Milo McBride
a fellow researching the geopolitics of mineral supply chains at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
“Yet we’re cutting demand for the manufacturing of these technologies.” At some point
the administration will have to face the paradox of mineral security it’s creating: The country is now smoothing the path for production while closing off its main destinations
Syrah Resources, a graphite supplier, is trapped in that paradox. The company’s Vidalia project, in central Louisiana, is designed to refine graphite into battery-grade material, providing the first U.S. source of the soft, conductive mineral. (China controls <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.iea.org/reports/graphite">93 percent</a> of the world’s graphite-processing capacity.) Syrah is an Australian company
but it saw in the United States both a potential market for graphite and policies meant to encourage production
When the plant started producing graphite in February 2024
Syrah could bet on a few things to make its investment pan out
Under the Biden administration, the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.energy.gov/lpo/syrah-vidalia">put up</a> a $102 million loan to back the facility. The State Department, intent on competing with China to court mineral-rich African countries, had laid out a <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://mz.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2024/08/SPCPS-Factsheet.pdf">10-year strategy</a> for strengthening U.S
(The plan included improving transportation infrastructure
which would help get those rocks to port.) And the nation’s landmark climate-infrastructure law
was set up to redirect mineral supply chains away from China: Its electric-vehicle tax credit gave a major bonus for cars with batteries composed of American-made minerals
A year later, those federal policies are changing dramatically. The Trump administration is gutting the Loan Programs Office and could cut as much as 60 percent of its workforce. Goods from Mozambique now <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://aimnews.org/2025/04/03/trump-imposes-ten-per-cent-tariff-on-mozambique/">face 16 percent levies</a> at American ports; tariffs are also raising the cost of equipment needed for mining and processing minerals
the lead mining and minerals analyst at the energy consultancy BloombergNEF
And Republicans in Congress are all but certain to repeal the IRA’s electric-vehicle tax credits
“The administration is clearly worried about rare earths from a defense and aerospace perspective
and I’ve seen battery-industry players that are
in their rhetoric and advocacy in Washington
distancing themselves from EVs and selling themselves as strategic technology for grid resiliency and defense,” Seaver Wang
a researcher at the Breakthrough Institute
a think tank focused on policy around climate technology
“But we know EVs are like 80 percent of the demand.” (According to the International Energy Agency
electric-vehicles will account for 80 percent of global battery capacity in the future.)
cannot gain an advantage in mining and minerals control if it has no one pushing to buy those resources at home
no mining company would put a single drill in the ground to make an investment,” Ampofo told me
He described it as a chicken-and-egg problem in which “if you kill the chicken
which will spur lawsuits and clash with decades of case law
Projects to mine and process minerals have long lead times and high up-front costs
“you’re going to have very low tolerance for risk and uncertainty,” Arnab Datta
an expert in critical mineral policy at the think tank Employ America
“This administration has added uncertainty and chaos into every part of the equation.”
said tariffs could help counteract losing the electric-vehicle tax credits
by raising the cost of imported materials and therefore giving the company’s Louisiana plant a price advantage
But the administration’s math misses some key variables
If a country wants an abundance of minerals to supply batteries to one kind of buyer
it helps to guarantee demand from a more plentiful purchaser
such as automakers and the roughly 238 million Americans who drive cars
To rapidly divert mineral supply chains away from the rival nation that spent decades building up its industrial base
it helps to enlist allies who have not just resources you can potentially tap but developed reserves you can share
Trump’s formula ignores the fact that blanket tariffs might make domestic minerals more competitive
but also hike the cost of the equipment needed to produce those metals
Photograph by Vasantha YogananthanApril 30, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0015:14Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
I don’t know if I cried a lot compared with other boys
after the American Character doll that shed faux tears when her stomach was pressed
because the message was clear: Crying was not only a problem but akin to being a baby—worse
that boys who showed “weakness” were going to get hurt
and I can report that although none of my male friends
or colleagues remembers being referred to as Tiny Tears
virtually all of them recall messages from parents
The logic: Toughening up boys to meet the toughness of the world would help them thrive
But this attitude is in direct conflict with research suggesting that sons need the same nurturing that many parents so naturally bestow on daughters: time
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/11/jake-paul-mike-tyson-fight-logan-paul/680723/">Read: What the men of the internet are trying to prove</a>
children who had started kindergarten in 1998; they found that parents of daughters reported feeling closer to their kindergarten-age child than parents of sons
and that parents were more likely to report being too busy to play with sons
and that they used subtly different vocabularies: They spoke in more emotion-focused language with girls
they used terms related to competition and achievement
and as a father of twin sons and a daughter
I wasn’t entirely surprised to learn that many parents spend more time reading and talking with daughters than with sons
more conducive to reading and conversation
More of my parental reserves went to corralling them so they wouldn’t disassemble the house and build a bicycle ramp out of the spare parts
If a conversation was going to end loudly and gracelessly with my declaring “because I said so,” then more likely
I knew that I didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of my parents and shame my kids—my boys
especially—for crying or showing other forms of vulnerability
which meant that I sometimes said things I had sworn I would never say
I didn’t call my sons Tiny Tears when they cried
but (I am not proud to admit) I did call them “sissies” when they complained that it was too cold to take the garbage cans to the curb
“They are also—by almost every measure—more sensitive
males are more vulnerable than females.” From a physiological perspective
boys are born about a month behind girls developmentally
They also tend to be less proficient at regulating their emotions and more affected when things go wrong—and things go wrong
when parents feel overwhelmed by boys’ behavior
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/boys-delayed-entry-school-start-redshirting/671238/">From the October 2022 issue: Redshirt the boys</a>
biology and parents’ nurturing styles are not the only influences affecting outcomes for boys
Social and economic factors play a major role as well
these studies indicate that boys may be especially sensitive to the quality of early caregiving—an argument to both increase social support for families and resist dubious assumptions that boys do not require substantial affectionate nurturing
Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee
Kraemer wrote that when he first published his article
“the press said I was suggesting that boys should be treated more like girls.” Not so
“I said that boys should be treated more like human beings.”
The idea that boys are weakened by a more nurturing approach from parents still weaves its way through American culture, and is perpetuated by men and women. It affects not only how we perceive boys but also how we respond to them. As the sociologist Alicia M. Walker, the author of <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9783030498177">Chasing Masculinity: Men, Validation, and Infidelity</a>
“The enduring belief that boys are somehow diminished or emasculated by tenderness
or emotional nurturance is rooted in traditional gender expectations that demand stoicism from men.”
told me that “when Darwinian notions about life as a struggle began to spread through the culture
began to emphasize instilling toughness in boys.”
in which men were believed to be made weak or effeminate by the love and affection shown to them by their mothers
Women were warned that “they were turning their sons into sissies,” Coontz told me
“a word that was once affectionate slang for little sister.” Amid all this
a notion took hold that being male meant being the opposite of female
people were more likely to say that “the opposite of a man was a child.”
Some on the left have been more likely to assert that any whiff of traditional masculinity is toxic
effectively shaming boys and men without expressing empathy for the ways in which they may be confused or hurting
Don’t talk about your pain,’” Whippman told me
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/02/toxic-masculinity-history/583411/">Read: The problem with a fight against toxic masculinity</a>
Although the policing of boys’ emotions is often associated with fathers
mothers also engage in demarcating the acceptable and unacceptable when it comes to male expressions of vulnerability
“In our research helping couples become parents
we found that as men began to show more tenderness as fathers
they weren’t always supported by their wives in doing so,” Philip Cowan
a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of psychology
“men are encouraged to be more vulnerable and open but not always treated well by their partners when they are”—and if boys witness that dynamic
It took several decades to begin to reverse American stereotypes about what was possible for girls. It may likewise take decades to reverse current attitudes and perceptions, in our politics and culture, about what boys should be. But if Americans truly want to improve the outcomes for boys—and, by extension, for society—the place to begin is at home, with fathers’ and mothers’ first attempts at nurturing.
​​When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.
Illustration by Jose FloresMay 5, 2025, 11:27 AM ET ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:009:38Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
Newlyweds scour online public-school ratings to decide on the neighborhood where they’ll raise their notional children
Tutoring programs offer to help students with the SATS
baking—tend to encourage rigging oneself up with just the right gear
and plenty of different product-review sites will recommend the best-fitting sports bra or superior pie dish
there is something to do: Rings and watches track heart rates and sleep states and inform wearers of their “daily readiness” first thing in the morning
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780385549738" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">Second Life - Having A Child In The Digital Age</a>By Amanda HessBuy BookBut the phone itself is just a gateway—I imagine that women in the 15th century lined up outside Gutenberg’s press for pamphlets that would help them tame their wikked cild
This is what so many participants in the online attention economy crave
and the internet is all too ready to proffer it up
But parents who are less online feel the same pressure
because the marketplace of expertise trickles out far beyond the realm of influencers and e-tailers
As a member of the particularly online elite
one I’ll gladly follow into the dense digital jungle
Yet she also smartly paints herself as just another willing victim of the internet
a contradiction that speaks to how so many people view their online habits
Everything she sorts through is fodder for Second Life’s questions about who—and what—to trust online when bringing a human into the world
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/04/boy-girl-nurture-gap-masculinity/682396/">Read: What parents of boys should know</a>
these service providers have been well covered by journalists
Some of them are earnestly engaged in helping parents navigate a bewildering time of life
But as pieces of an ecosystem that encourages the monetization of parental helplessness
is a level of insight—into sleeping habits
and much more—so powerful that it will bulldoze a path through what we know to be intractably rocky terrain
Flo, for instance, promises its users they will “become an expert” on themselves, Hess writes. In practice, that means it offers women information about ovulation phases and mood shifts. And then, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/you-give-apps-sensitive-personal-information-then-they-tell-facebook-11550851636">reportedly</a>
Hess uses it anyway: “Online advertisers already profited off the assumption that I hate myself
Would it really matter if they found out exactly when I hated myself the most?” The app claims to predict not only the timing of her periods
but “the emotional contours of my days”—which is not the same thing as helping her deal with them
manageable—birth control (there’s that word) can regularize it
or sometimes even cut it down to an annual lining shed
But the experience of having a period simply must be endured: No information can get you out of it entirely (though an IUD might)
The same goes for the gizmos that enable new parents to observe their little ones in previously unobservable ways
Track their heart rate; measure how much they twitch in their cribs: What used to be a beautiful and endearing
moment—watching a newborn sleep—has been sold as a method to ward off the specter of harm
Nowhere is the clamor for tricks and hacks more pronounced than in the flood of personalities who sell online courses with titles such as “Taming Temper Tantrums” and “Winning the Toddler Stage,” as if a tiny child were a foe to be defeated
When I solicited 21 sets of parents from my 8-year-old’s class to send me names of experts they loved or loathed
This cavalcade of professionals has induced many new parents like Hess
to imagine that we are on a pathway toward resolving the “problem” of parenting (that it’s hard) with techniques that will stamp out childishness itself
ruining the holiday family photo: any permutation of normal childhood behavior could trigger a specialized
imagining that his advice would sound relatively conservative and fusty to herself and many modern parents
“I found that the advice was virtually unchanged
Spock advised parents against scolding children
He advised them to embody the role of the ‘friendly leader,’ the parent who casually redirects their toddler with the full understanding that pushing boundaries is the child’s job.” The basic guidance is the same; it’s just been commodified and reproduced in so many forms that most parents can’t help but buy into the notion that more information is better than good information—and that
“our kids could be programmed for optimal human life.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/04/unfit-parent-disability/682412/">Read: The biggest surprise about parenting with a disability</a>
John P. Johnson / HBOMay 5, 2025, 2:04 PM ET ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:007:07Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
Predicting how an episode of the HBO show <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/07/the-rehearsal-tv-show-review-nathan-fielder/670546/">The Rehearsal</a> will end is nearly impossible
in which the comedian Nathan Fielder stages elaborate exercises to help—or rather
“help”—ordinary people prepare for challenging interactions
tends to go down rabbit holes dictated by Fielder’s fixations
A Season 1 installment found him supporting a man who wanted practice having a difficult conversation only for the focus to shift to Fielder rehearsing his own confessions
Another saw Fielder open an acting studio; by the episode’s final scene
a former National Transportation Safety Board member
But as Fielder notes in the season premiere
his history of being a mischief maker generates a “deficit of credibility”; he has to try harder to be taken seriously by airline-safety officials
Fielder’s endeavor is only tangentially relevant to his stated goal of helping pilots—making clear that
he’s the actual subject of the rehearsals he’s conducting
Fielder is trying to change his reputation too
The comedian is known for being a no-holds-barred prankster; as the host of Comedy Central’s Nathan for You
such as a poo-flavored offering for a struggling frozen-yogurt shop
A question nags at him throughout The Rehearsal
in spite of all the control he has as the show’s creator
and star: Can a noted troll ever assist people without mocking them
The pursuit of an answer results in a heady
often surreal interrogation of whether true sincerity is possible
especially for someone known for anything but
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/07/the-rehearsal-nathan-fielder-hbo/676447/">Read: The Rehearsal is a litmus test for cruelty</a>
Nathan appears deeply committed to helping pilots—except that his commitment veers into the absurd almost immediately
highlighting sentences he finds relevant to his mission of creating cockpit synergy
A section in which Sully describes how his journey to saving the lives of 155 people began long before that consequential flight leads Fielder to an epiphany: If he can personally experience key moments from Sully’s life
then he might develop some of the captain’s traits
who were cast in emotionally demanding roles; the experience has made him wary of working with them again
before dismissing his concerns and recruiting child actors once more
He eventually admits that he’s not sure whether what he’s doing is necessary for anyone at all
“I can function just fine without rehearsing,” Fielder insists
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2023/11/the-curse-showtime-review/675977/">Read: What on Earth is Nathan Fielder up to now?</a>
Illustration by The AtlanticMay 2, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0010:20Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
When Reddit rebranded itself as “the heart of the internet” a couple of years ago
the slogan was meant to evoke the site’s organic character
In an age of social media dominated by algorithms
Reddit took pride in being curated by a community that expressed its feelings in the form of upvotes and downvotes—in other words
Joining the chorus of disapproval were fellow internet researchers
who condemned what they saw as a plainly unethical experiment
a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology who has studied online communities for more than two decades
told me the Reddit fiasco is “the worst internet-research ethics violation I have ever seen
she and others worry that the uproar could undermine the work of scholars who are using more conventional methods to study a crucial problem: how AI influences the way humans think and relate to one another
The researchers, based at the University of Zurich, wanted to find out whether AI-generated responses could change people’s views. So they headed to the aptly named subreddit <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/">r/changemyview</a>
in which users debate important societal issues
and award points to posts that talk them out of their original position
the researchers posted more than 1,000 AI-generated comments on pitbulls (is aggression the fault of the breed or the owner?)
the housing crisis (is living with your parents the solution?)
DEI programs (were they destined to fail?)
The AI commenters argued that browsing Reddit is a waste of time and that the “controlled demolition” 9/11 conspiracy theory has some merit
And as they offered their computer-generated opinions
One claimed to be a trauma counselor; another described himself as a victim of statutory rape
the AI comments appear to have been rather effective
When researchers asked the AI to personalize its arguments to a Redditor’s biographical details
a surprising number of minds indeed appear to have been changed
far higher scores in the subreddit’s point system than nearly all human commenters
according to preliminary findings that the researchers shared with Reddit moderators and later made private
assumes that no one else in the subreddit was using AI to hone their arguments.)
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/arc-agi-chollet-test/682295/">Read: The man out to prove how dumb AI still is</a>
The researchers had a tougher time convincing Redditors that their covert study was justified
and requested to “debrief” the subreddit—that is
they had been unwitting subjects in a scientific experiment
“They were rather surprised that we had such a negative reaction to the experiment,” says one moderator
who asked to be identified by his username
the moderators requested that the researchers not publish such tainted work
the moderators revealed what they had learned about the experiment (minus the researchers’ names) to the rest of the subreddit
When the moderators sent a complaint to the University of Zurich
the university noted in its response that the “project yields important insights
trauma etc.) are minimal,” according to an excerpt posted by moderators
a university spokesperson said that the ethics board had received notice of the study last month
advised the researchers to comply with the subreddit’s rules
and “intends to adopt a stricter review process in the future.” Meanwhile
the researchers defended their approach in a Reddit comment
arguing that “none of the comments advocate for harmful positions” and that each AI-generated comment was reviewed by a human team member before being posted
(I sent an email to an anonymized address for the researchers
and received a reply that directed my inquiries to the university.)
Perhaps the most telling aspect of the Zurich researchers’ defense was that
The University of Zurich’s ethics board—which can offer researchers advice but
lacks the power to reject studies that fall short of its standards—told the researchers before they began posting that “the participants should be informed as much as possible,” according to the university statement I received
But the researchers seem to believe that doing so would have ruined the experiment
“To ethically test LLMs’ persuasive power in realistic scenarios
an unaware setting was necessary,” because it more realistically mimics how people would respond to unidentified bad actors in real-world settings
the researchers wrote in one of their Reddit comments
How humans are likely to respond in such a scenario is an urgent issue and a worthy subject of academic research
the researchers concluded that AI arguments can be “highly persuasive in real-world contexts
surpassing all previously known benchmarks of human persuasiveness.” (Because the researchers finally agreed this week not to publish a paper about the experiment
the accuracy of that verdict will probably never be fully assessed
which is its own sort of shame.) The prospect of having your mind changed by something that doesn’t have one is deeply unsettling
That persuasive superpower could also be employed for nefarious ends
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/chatbots-benchmark-tests/681929/">Read: Chatbots are cheating on their benchmark tests</a>
and that participants who were asked to distinguish between real posts and those written by AI could not effectively do so
also happens to be a scholar at the University of Zurich
and has been in touch with one of the researchers behind the Reddit AI experiment
who asked him not to reveal their identity
“We are receiving dozens of death threats,” the researcher wrote to him
“Please keep the secret for the safety of my family.”
Facebook altered users’ News Feed to see if viewing more or less positive content changed their posting habits
an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder who studies ethics and online communities
told me that the emotional-contagion study pales in comparison with what the Zurich researchers did
“People were upset about that but not in the way that this Reddit community is upset,” she told me
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/how-ai-will-actually-contribute-cancer-cure/682607/">Read: AI executives promise cancer cures. Here’s the reality.</a>
Illustration by Dale Stephanos. Source: Ethan Miller / Getty.April 28, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:001:11:54Listen to more stories on <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://harkaudio.com/">hark</a>
Before we begin, a primer on the science of arranging an interview with a sitting American president:
We went through this process in the course of reporting the story you are reading
which went like this: President Donald Trump
by virtue of winning a second term and so dramatically reshaping the country and the world
can now be considered the most consequential American leader of the 21st century
after the violent insurrection he fomented
Social-media companies had banned or suspended him
and he had been repudiated by corporate donors
and the country was moving on to the fresh start of Joe Biden’s presidency
and the endless disavowals by people who once worked for him
And yet, here we are, months into a second <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/tag/person/donald-trump/">Trump</a> term
how he’d pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks in political history
We were tentatively promised a meeting and a photo shoot—likely in the Oval Office
as is so often the case with this White House
The week our interview was supposed to occur, Trump <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114180060627046678">posted a vituperative message on Truth Social</a>
“Ashley Parker is not capable of doing a fair and unbiased interview
and has been as terrible as is possible for as long as I have known her,” he wrote
she doesn’t even know that I won the Presidency THREE times.” (That last sentence is true—Ashley Parker does not know that Trump won the presidency three times.) “Likewise
Michael Scherer has never written a fair story about me
as word of our meeting spread through Trump’s inner circle
someone had reminded him of some of the things we (specifically Ashley) had said and written that he didn’t like
We still don’t know who it was—but we immediately understood the consequences: no photo shoot
no tour of the newly redecorated Oval Office or the Lincoln Bedroom
But we’ve both covered Trump long enough to know that his first word is rarely his final one
So at 10:45 on a Saturday morning in late March
All we can say is that the White House staff have imperfect control over Trump’s personal communication devices.) The president was at the country club he owns in Bedminster
The number that flashed on his screen was an unfamiliar one
Despite his attacks on us a few days earlier
evidently feeling buoyed by a week of successes
was eager to talk about his accomplishments
as “very smart,” reversing in an instant 80 years of U.S
and prompting the countries of NATO to prepare for their own defense
without the protective umbrella of American power
He had revoked Secret Service protection and security clearances from political opponents
including some facing Iranian death threats for carrying out actions Trump himself had ordered in his first term
He had announced plans to pave over part of the Rose Garden
and he had redecorated the Oval Office—gold trim and gold trophies and gold frames to go with an array of past presidential portraits
making the room look like a Palm Beach approximation of an 18th-century royal court
had become an enthusiastic supplicant—had paid $25 million to settle a civil lawsuit with Trump that many experts believed was meritless
announced that he was banning his opinion writers from holding certain opinions—and then joined Trump for dinner the same night at the White House
We asked Trump why he thought the billionaire class was prostrating itself before him
“Maybe they didn’t know me at the beginning
“I mean, you saw yesterday with the law firm,” he said. He was referring to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &amp; Garrison, one of the nation’s most prestigious firms, whose leader had come to the Oval Office days earlier to <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/us/politics/paul-weiss-trump.html">beg for relief from an executive order that could have crippled its business</a>
Trump had issued the order at least partially because a former partner at the firm had in 2021 gone to work for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office
where he was part of an investigation of the Trump Organization’s business practices
threatened with the cancellation of $400 million in federal funding
had agreed to overhaul its Middle Eastern–studies programs at the Trump administration’s request
while also acceding to other significant demands
“You saw yesterday with Columbia University
Legal scholars were drawing comparisons to Franklin D
Roosevelt and the early stages of the New Deal
when Congress had allowed FDR to demolish norms and greatly expand the powers of the presidency
if they’d write good stories and truthful stories
Perhaps the magazine can risk forgoing hotness
because it is owned by Laurene Powell Jobs
referring to media owners generally and—we suspected—Bezos specifically
Media owners weren’t the only ones on his mind
He also seemed to be referring to law firms
moderate Republicans—all the people and institutions he expected to eventually
We asked the president if his second term felt different from his first
I had two things to do—run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,” he said
we’d been hearing from both inside and outside the White House that the president was having more fun than he’d had in his first term
it was just ‘Let’s blow this place up,’ ” Brian Ballard
he’s blowing it up with a twinkle in his eye.”
When we put this observation to Trump over the phone
That Trump now finds himself once again in a position to blow things up is astonishing
So much has happened so fast that the improbability of his comeback gets obscured
Perhaps no one in American history has had a political resurrection as remarkable as Donald Trump’s
In the waning days of his first term, his approval rating stood at a pallid 34 percent. A few weeks earlier, he had watched on television while an insurrection he incited overran the Capitol; polls showed that a clear majority of Americans believed he <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-poll-post-abc/2021/01/14/aeac7b96-5690-11eb-a817-e5e7f8a406d6_story.html">bore responsibility for the attack</a>
The House of Representatives had just impeached him for the second time—making him the only president to ever achieve that ignominy
And although the Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority required for conviction
seven Republican senators voted to convict—the most members of a president’s own party to vote for an impeachment conviction in history
To try to reestablish direct connection with his followers
Trump.” But it gained little traction and was abandoned within weeks
“We want to make Trump a non person.” Coming from Murdoch himself
the former Trump adviser Steve Bannon told us recently
On the morning of Joe Biden’s inauguration
Trump was a dozen miles southeast of the festivities
(Trump was the first president since Andrew Johnson
to boycott the swearing-in of his successor.) Standing before a modest crowd
his dark overcoat a meager bulwark against the cold
the soon-to-be-former president cut a diminished figure
Just before boarding Air Force One for the final time
Trump spoke to those gathered to bid him farewell
a notably modest framing from such a formerly oversize figure
It didn’t even sound like he believed it himself
Almost as soon as Trump arrived at his gilded Elba, he began plotting his return. He missed the press pool—the gaggle of reporters that tails every president—and once <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/18/trump-life-after-presidency/">tried to summon it</a>
only to be told that no such pool still existed
But it would turn out that the lack of attention in those first months—and the lack of access to social-media platforms—was a blessing
Enforced obscurity gave him the time and clarity he needed to plan his comeback
To understand how Trump rose from the political dead
and how he set himself up to wield power in his second term
Many who talked with us did so only on the condition of anonymity
in order to be more candid or to avoid angering the president
The story they told us revealed that Trump’s time in the political wilderness is crucial to understanding the way he’s exercising power now
He had been in Palm Beach a week when an opportunity presented itself
Trump heard that Kevin McCarthy would be in South Florida for fundraisers
Though the two men had clashed after the Capitol riot
shaking the political universe: Were Republican leaders
the former president asked the minority leader who had tipped off the Times
Donald Trump departed Washington in 2021 a pariah
and banned or suspended from his favorite social-media platforms
Sources: Noam Galai / Getty; Alex Edelman / AFP / Getty; Sepia Times / Universal Images Group / Getty.)“I know who leaked it—you did,” McCarthy replied
multiple people briefed on the exchange told us
“It’s good for both of us,” Trump shot back
McCarthy had already concluded that the path back to Republican control of the House in the 2022 midterms—and his own path to the speakership—required a unified party
each man separately released the same photo: the two of them grinning amid the ostentatious splendor of Mar-a-Lago
Trump had taken his first step toward political redemption
It is a truism that Trump has never felt governed by the traditional rules of politics
And he has always been convinced of his own genius
The past four years have turned him into a Nietzschean cliché
repeated brushes with assassins—all have combined to convince him that he is impervious to challenges that would destroy others
Those years also strengthened in him the salesman’s instinct that he can bend reality to his will—turn facts into “fake news,” make the inconceivable not just conceivable but actual
transform the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of America
make people believe what he’s selling in defiance of what they see with their own eyes
This is the core lesson that Trump and his acolytes internalized from the 2020 election and January 6
The real-estate mogul who branded buildings with his name everywhere from Turkey to Uruguay
who sold the “world’s greatest steaks” and the “finest” wine and “fantastic” mattresses
While reporting on Trump over the past four years
in failing to drive a stake directly through his heart
all of the would-be vampire slayers—Democrats
Which brings us to a second lesson: Trump and his team realized that they could behave with near impunity by embracing controversies and scandals that would have taken down just about any other president—as long as they showed no weakness
Trump—who described himself to us as “a very positive thinker”—struggles to admit that his return to power was a comeback
To concede that he’d had to come back would be to admit that he had fallen in the first place
we asked the Trump loyalist and former Breitbart News editor Raheem Kassam to explain how the president had been able to bend the country
and fries cooked in beef tallow at Butterworth’s
“He didn’t bend them to his will,” Kassam said
tanking the stock market and causing even some loyalists to question him publicly
Was this what happens when a feeling of indomitability curdles into hubris
Or was this just the next setback for Trump—some combination of Houdini and Lazarus—to recover from
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/">Read: The Trump administration accidentally texted me its war plans</a>
Trump advisers like to tell a story from November 5
He and his aides were preparing to head to the West Palm Beach convention center
His whole senior team was crowded into his private office at Mar-a-Lago
“They could have been getting rid of us by now
After a real-estate downturn in the early 1990s
Trump found himself on the brink of financial ruin
His near bankruptcy and recovery led to his 1997 book
The first pages list Trump’s “Top Ten Comeback Tips.” When we met one of his advisers recently
this person recounted from memory some of the rules on the list
“Rule 1 is: Play golf,” this adviser told us
“Always have a prenuptial agreement,” seemed less applicable to politics.)
that at nearly every turn in his first term
He needed smart people who would figure out how to let him do everything that he wanted to do
His first key hire was a political operative who had impressed the former president with her retrospective analysis of the 2020 election
Biden had won the election that year by flipping back into the Democratic column five key states—Arizona
and Wisconsin (along with a lone congressional district in Nebraska)
One of the few bright spots for Trump in 2020 had been Florida
where he had increased his winning margin from 2016
Trump began asking his allies after the election
had he done right in Florida that he hadn’t done in the rest of the country
who had run Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns in the state
the daughter of the legendary NFL announcer Pat Summerall
is an experienced campaign operative (she was a scheduler for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign)
who over the past three decades had developed deep Florida ties
Over dinner with Trump on the patio at Mar-a-Lago in early 2021
she delivered “the Florida memo.” Soon after
he hired her to run his political operation
Wiles saw that one thing that had held Trump back in 2020 was that he had not finished taking over the Republican Party during his first term
Part of Trump’s leverage had been his ability to endorse in Republican primaries—influence he was eager to reprise
“But even when I endorse them in the general election
It’s important.” (Now when Trump calls to pressure a fellow Republican about an issue or a vote
they are almost always grateful for his past support
The Wiles process for evaluating potential endorsees—which she undertook with James Blair
now a deputy chief of staff in the White House
now a congressman representing Georgia—involved researching how they had spoken about Trump in the past
“The basic thing was their loyalty and their political viability,” one adviser told us
What did they say during the Access Hollywood tapes
What is their voting record with us?” Trump was building a coalition of loyalists
something he hadn’t sufficiently done during the first term
Wiles had plenty of experience managing men with big personalities
But colleagues say a key reason she’s been successful working with Trump (she is now his White House chief of staff) is that she never tries to manage him
She does not imagine that she can control him
and she tends not to offer advice unless specifically asked
is to set up processes to help ensure Trump’s success
Trump’s banishment from the big social-media platforms
along with mainstream media outlets’ reluctance—including Fox News’s—to give him much coverage
But Trump turned to the far-right platforms and activists still welcoming him
Taylor Budowich—now a White House deputy chief of staff—worked with MAGA influencers to evade the Twitter and Facebook bans: They would print out pro-Trump social-media posts; Budowich would have Trump sign the paper with his Sharpie
and then mail the signed post back to the influencer; almost invariably
the influencer would then post the signed missive
flexing their access and building their audience—while simultaneously amplifying Trump’s voice
with streaming platforms such as Right Side Broadcasting Network stepping in to cover his events when cable networks would not
“Him being banned gave rise to people like me
because the president’s supporters followed me to find out what he was saying,” one MAGA influencer told us
“It backfired on the tech people who deplatformed him
continued to promote the lie that he’d won the 2020 election
and that January 6 was just an ordinary Wednesday
Normal political logic suggested that this was a bad strategy
we sat in Steve Bannon’s Capitol Hill rowhouse
pressing him on Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election
and his denial of what transpired on January 6
“Our reality is that we won” and that January 6 was a “fedsurrection,” Bannon said
referring to the conspiracy theory that FBI agents had incited the crowd on the Ellipse that day
here’s the interesting thing,” Bannon said
The first televised hearing of the House select committee on January 6 was scheduled for the beginning of June 2022
and it was sure to be a spectacle that reminded viewers of the horror of the insurrection and emphasized the former president’s culpability
Trump’s team at Mar-a-Lago was desperate to distract attention from the hearing
someone proposed a brazen gambit: Trump could announce his 2024 bid for the presidency just minutes before the hearing gaveled in
he’s not just thinking about it; he’s seriously thinking about how he wants to do it,’ ” one of his advisers told us
“He’s not going to just use it as a stunt to make a moment
Trump began emphasizing behind the scenes that he was serious
“Be ready,” he would repeat to people who had served with him the first time around
Even his most fiercely supportive advisers concede that the announcement
in the form of an hour-long speech at Mar-a-Lago
Surprisingly few political reporters from major outlets were in attendance; it was as though the mainstream media still didn’t believe that Trump could be a viable candidate again
some members of Trump’s own family hadn’t bothered to show up
switching to what Bannon called “a C-level panel,” before returning for the final few minutes
Trump’s longtime pollster Tony Fabrizio told us that even months later
getting donors to attend the first big super-PAC event “was like pulling teeth.” And although Trump was now a declared presidential candidate
his team said it was still having trouble getting him booked even on shows such as Fox &amp; Friends
A Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine
Sitting in the West Palm Beach campaign headquarters one day
Trump’s team watched Joe Biden’s press secretary struggle to answer a question about the president’s plans for outreach to East Palestine
Susie Wiles received a call from Trump’s oldest son
saying that his father ought to just show up there himself
When Wiles brought the suggestion to Trump
his response was unequivocal: “That’s a great idea,” he enthused
“All they know is that Trump was here buying everyone McDonald’s” and that Biden hadn’t visited for more than a year
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/how-win-pennsylvania/680302/">Read: George Packer reports on the 2024 election from Charleroi, Pennsylvania</a>
The halting start to the campaign kept Trump off the radar
Former Trump advisers had used their years out of power to set up their own groups—America First Legal
Center for Renewing America—to prepare for a second Trump administration
“The people who were the true believers knew Trump was going to run again and win,” Caroline Wren
adding that Trump’s policy loyalists “sat there and prepared executive orders for four years.”
The time out of the spotlight also allowed the team to build a new election strategy
Trump had alienated a significant share of the voting public
and he was polling lower among some demographic groups than in previous elections
The conventional wisdom was that the criminal investigations and legal proceedings then under way would only increase that alienation
His campaign directors decided that the best tactic was to turn this problem into a strength
who was a co–campaign manager alongside Susie Wiles and a military veteran wounded in the Gulf War in 1991
took to exhorting younger staffers with a Marine slogan: “Embrace the suck.”
so contrary to the instincts of much of the first-term staff
was laid out in a memo that James Blair and Tim Saler
This became known around the campaign as the “gender memo.” “Instead of saying
we did two points worse with white suburban women between 2016 and 2020’ and ‘How do we get those points back?,’ what if we did it the other way?” an adviser familiar with the memo told us
‘We gained eight points with non-college-educated men
Trump hired the campaign operative Susie Wiles
Sources: ablokhin / Getty; Tom Brenner / The Washington Post / Getty; ZUMA Press / Alamy.)The strategy had the benefit of letting Trump be the version of himself that appealed to those men
In a moment when the Democratic Party often felt like an amalgamation of East Coast elitists
Trump appeared to offer judgment-free populism to a populace sick of being judged
was more self-referential: “Why would I distance myself from my people
the day after Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges in a New York City courtroom
the treasurer at Make America Great Again Inc.
the main super PAC supporting the former president
A large wire transfer was incoming—a record $15 million
because the bank needed the donor’s name to approve the transfer
(The donation was eventually traced to Timothy Mellon
The Democrats assumed that Trump’s legal issues would politically neuter him. “A convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency,” <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-calls-trump-convicted-felon-2024-06-04/">Biden would say</a>
But all the scandals and controversies that would have sunk a different candidate became background static
“The thing about the court cases is there were too many of them
and this is one of Trump’s superpowers—he never just breaks the law a little bit; he does it all over the place,” Sarah Longwell
anti-MAGA political strategist who regularly conducts focus groups
there were so many court cases that it was just white noise to voters
Trump’s base continued to believe his claims that all the criminal investigations and January 6 hearings constituted a “witch hunt.” But for the sliver of voters who would actually decide the election
the Democratic argument that Trump was a threat to democracy was too far removed from their more urgent concerns about grocery prices
As time passed and Trump continued to rewrite history to turn insurrectionists into “patriots,” the events of January 6 receded into abstraction for many of these voters
Are you playing Battleship?’ ” the adviser familiar with the gender memo told us
describing what the campaign’s voter research had found
Trump’s felony conviction actually proved to be a boon
when Trump had been indicted over hush-money payments to a porn star
his support in Republican-primary polls jumped 10 points within a month
to more than 50 percent—a level it would never drop below again
had reported raising only about $600,000; in the three months following the indictment
“Democrats just played right into our hands,” Fabrizio
and they put his Republican-primary opponents in the difficult position of having to defend Trump against “lawfare” or risk being seen as supporting the Democrats’ position
So even while campaigning against him for the nomination
Trump had ignored the traditional fundraising circuit
He asked advisers to schedule more call time for him with top donors
and he regularly invited wealthy supporters and potential donors to dine with him at Mar-a-Lago
He judged generosity not by the size of the check
but by the size of the check relative to the donor’s net worth
He liked pressuring donors to bet on him—and watching them squirm if they hedged
invoking the specter of a President Kamala Harris taking their wealth
you’re fucked,” he would tell a roomful of oil executives at Mar-a-Lago after the election
You realize what would have happened to you if she was president
The Supreme Court decision in July 2024 regarding a legal challenge to the federal prosecution of Trump for interfering in the 2020 election gave Trump and his allies further momentum
United States addressed the question of legal liability for a president
but Trump’s allies focused on how the Court described the presidency itself
suggesting that all the powers of the executive branch were imbued in the personage
“the President is a branch of government.” That the prosecution of Trump both revivified his candidacy and then gave him more executive power in his second term remains a stinging irony for Democrats
we asked him if he thought the criminal prosecutions had made him stronger
and you’d go back and ‘fight for your name,’ like everybody says—you know
Democratic strategists working for Vice President Harris focused on seven swing states
told aides that he wanted to put resources into picking up voters even in states he was already certain to win
“We don’t want anyone to know—it’s a surprise—but I think we might win the popular vote,” Trump would say to his advisers
his team would place calls to groups of voters in red states and put him on the line
Trump reached thousands of voters directly
“If there was someone in America in some state
Donald Trump would find a way to get to them,” Chris LaCivita told us
Trump had been so frustrated about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton that he’d falsely asserted
“I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” Eight years later
As Election Night gave way to dawn in Palm Beach
Trump basked in the comprehensiveness of his victory—all seven swing states
and a strong showing in the popular-vote tally
Several aides got calls from him around 4 a.m
“I’ve already had 20 world leaders call me
Trump addressed a gathering of supporters in the living room at Mar-a-Lago
People who worked with Trump in his first term used to play a parlor game of sorts
weren’t there to correct the president’s errors
to explain to him all the things he did not know or understand
to talk him out of or slow-walk his most destructive impulses
But some of the most crucial pushback came from within the executive branch
his chief of staff and his White House counsel declined to carry out his orders
Trump had been apoplectic when “his” Justice Department
opened an independent-counsel investigation into whether the Russians had influenced the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign had colluded with them
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/mitch-mcconnell-legacy-trump/681951/">Read: Mitch McConnell and the president he calls ‘despicable’</a>
On January 15, at 8 p.m., five days before the inauguration, Trump sent out an incendiary post on Truth Social. In it, he <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113835342903467996">described the sorts of people his incoming administration would not be hiring</a>—a list that included anyone who had ever worked for
“Americans for No Prosperity (headed by Charles Koch)
Liz,” and anyone “suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.” For those staffing Trump’s second term
few experienced Republicans had been involved in Trump’s campaign
so the pool of presumptive loyalists to draw from was small
His incoming team also used key transition picks—Cabinet secretaries
West Wing advisers—to reassure a still-skeptical Republican Party that Trump was one of them
This produced a dysfunctional dichotomy in which Reince Priebus
a mild-mannered traditional Republican from Wisconsin
a revolutionary hell-bent on dismantling the administrative state
The competing camps—the MAGA fire-breathers
“Javanka” and the globalists—leaked relentlessly to the media and tried to knife one another
and impaired the administration’s ability to carry out its policy agenda
and he had no need to recruit traditional Republicans
who during Trump’s first term had served as a communications aide in the White House before going to work for the director of national intelligence
helped the transition team manage hiring for the second term
The formula for staffing the administration wasn’t hard this time
Sims told us: “Don’t hire anyone who wasn’t committed to the agenda last time.”
“I knew that Stephen Miller would ultimately run the policy operation, with immigration as a top priority,” Sims told us, referring to Trump’s <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/stephen-miller-presidency/682097/">senior domestic-policy adviser</a>
who had served as the chief of staff to the U.S
trade representative in Trump’s first term before taking over the role himself this time around
He asked Greer who Trump’s pro-tariff “killers on trade” were
‘I’ve been sitting here hoping someone would call about this; I’ve already got a list ready,’ ” Sims told us
Because the transition hiring for the second term harvested a uniformly loyalist crop of staffers
getting things done the way Trump wants became easier
executive orders designed by the MAGA faction were sometimes rushed through without proper legal vetting
in an attempt to prevent a warring faction from killing the directive
someone familiar with this process told us—which made them vulnerable to court challenges
the process for generating the orders is more disciplined
Trump’s aides and advisers also now understood the hydraulics of the government better
that immigration policy was not contained solely within the Department of Homeland Security
and that to curb the flow of immigrants across the southern border
they also needed to install loyalists in crucial roles at the Department of Health and Human Services
When it came to the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department
they now knew they needed MAGA diehards in key roles
This kind of knowledge would now be applied to thousands of hires across dozens of agencies
When his Cabinet nominees hit trouble in the Senate
Trump and his team were determined to test their new power
“It was ‘You’ll eat your breakfast and you’ll like it,’ ” a veteran Republican operative told us
The first major test came during the former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s quest for confirmation as defense secretary
Trump and his team saw the confirmation of their most controversial Cabinet nominees—Robert F
Tulsi Gabbard—as a chance to flex their power over the Republican Party
Sources: Rebecca Noble / Getty; Anna Moneymaker / Getty; Philip Yabut / Getty; Print Collector / Getty.)They decided to make an example of Ernst
as a warning to other senators about what to expect if they stepped out of line
An op‑ed implicitly excoriating her appeared on Breitbart News ; Bannon and the gang on his War Room podcast hammered her relentlessly; and the powerful young conservative activist Charlie Kirk and his Turning Point USA team threatened to send resources to Iowa to oppose her reelection in 2026
Ernst’s effort to “end Pete Hegseth,” Kirk posted on X in early December
“is a direct attempt to undermine the President and his voters
Trump’s team knew that once the most prominent MAGA figures began their onslaught
But they wouldn’t relent; she voted to confirm Hegseth
a Republican senator and physician from Louisiana
also briefly found himself in the hot seat as he struggled with his confirmation vote on Kennedy
a vaccine critic who has misstated scientific findings
(Cassidy was also viewed as a problem by Trump supporters because he’d voted to convict the president for his role in the January 6 insurrection.)
Cassidy ultimately supported Kennedy’s nomination
though he maintained that the vote had nothing to do with his own reelection prospects in 2026
in the course of general conversations about the midterms
Cassidy’s team sought Trump’s support in his upcoming GOP primary
Trump told an aide to relay to Cassidy: “I’ll think about it.” (A Trump adviser told us that
the president and Cassidy have reached “an uneasy détente.”)
Business leaders fell more quickly in line
Trump would sometimes play “Justice for All”—a song by the J6 Prison Choir that features men imprisoned for their actions on January 6 singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” interspersed with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance
One Trump adviser gleefully recounted how confused the tech billionaires appeared when “Justice for All” started
looking around for cues before inevitably rising and putting their hands over their hearts
“The troll is strong,” the adviser told us
a friend of Trump’s was sitting with him at Mar-a-Lago when the once and future president held up his phone to show off his recent-call log
“Look who called in the past hour,” Trump boasted
then scrolled through a list that included Jeff Bezos
The start of a new presidency is a famously harried and jury-rigged affair
But Trump and his team had spent his time out of office preparing for his return
told us—echoing something our colleague David Frum had warned about four years ago—that watching Trump’s second-term team attack the federal bureaucracy was like watching “the velociraptors who have figured out how to work the doorknobs.” Day one of the second term
the product of weeks of meticulous planning
was all about—in the Trump team’s words—“shock and awe.” “We did all the immigration and border executive orders,” an adviser told us
all the stories would have been about what bad people we are—we’re kicking people out of this country
But then right after he signed those border executive orders
bam: the J6 pardons.” The adviser explained that
along with Trump’s multiple speeches that day and inaugural balls that evening
this meant “the media had to choose what to cover
It’s either the J6 pardons or the immigration executive orders.” This convulsion of activity
and that’s advantageous for us,” another adviser told us
In his first term, Trump had <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/trump-greenland-denmark.html">floated the idea of buying Greenland</a>—speaking of it almost offhandedly as a potentially intriguing if unusual real-estate acquisition
he had suggested that Canada should be America’s 51st state
and vowed to gain control of Greenland—“one way or the other,” as he would later put it
He followed this during his inaugural address by invoking “manifest destiny,” the 19th-century idea that the United States has a divinely ordained right to control North America
Trump had floated as provocations or trollings or idle musings are now things the president realizes he can actually do
“When you’ve come back from such long odds
Trump and his team had not done certain things—fired key bureaucrats
“And then you touch it,” the former adviser continued
“and you realize it’s actually not that hot.” This may be the key insight of Trump’s second term
aides were constantly warning him that the stove was too hot
no one is even telling him not to touch the stove
Tradition holds that artists honored with lifetime-achievement awards at the Kennedy Center meet with the sitting president
some of the most prominent artists refused to do so
because I was always getting impeached or some bullshit
and I could never enjoy a show,” Trump said
according to an adviser familiar with the comments
But as planning for the second inauguration got under way
someone mentioned the possibility of holding an event there
impelling Trump to muse aloud about naming himself chairman of the Kennedy Center
a position that had long been held by the philanthropist and Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein
“Call David Rubenstein and tell him he’s fired.”
His cultural remit had gone overnight from entertaining his aides by playing oldies on his iPad on the patio of Mar-a-Lago to being chairman of the board of one of the nation’s premier arts institutions
One of the most chaotic departures from convention has been <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/tag/person/elon-musk/">Elon Musk</a>’s prominent role in the administration
The disruption Musk has unleashed through DOGE
putting swaths of government “into the wood chipper,” as he described it
has tended to obscure the fact that the richest man in the world
who is one of Trump’s biggest financial donors
is attending Cabinet meetings while continuing to run his private businesses
which benefit from billions of dollars in federal contracts
The conflicts of interest here run fathoms deep
But Trump has confidently normalized all of it
even going so far as to conduct an infomercial for Tesla on the White House grounds
Musk’s role in the administration would have been a scandal that dominated the media and congressional hearings for months
this—by design—gets drowned out by everything else
So, too, does Trump’s complete departure from convention regarding the Justice Department, which has historically had some independence from the president. In April, Trump <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/us/politics/trump-executive-orders-law-firm-krebs.html">ordered the DOJ to investigate Chris Krebs</a>
who in Trump’s first term ran the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
which declared the 2020 election secure and Biden the legitimate winner
wanted to prosecute Krebs for accepting reality
He has also made clear that he wants the attorney general to protect his supporters
whose Tesla dealerships and charging stations have been targeted by vandals
“When I see things going on like what they’re doing to Elon
Trump boasted to us of Musk’s private business successes as if they were his own
had just helped to retrieve astronauts who had been marooned for months on the International Space Station
“They don’t come out of there at some point
the bones start to break down,” Trump said
Trump marveled at the media’s coverage of the splashdown
‘And the rocket’s coming down in the Gulf of America.’ They didn’t make a big deal
They didn’t say Trump named it,” he told us
And it’s been the Gulf of Mexico for hundreds of years
For all of Trump’s success in dominating the political sphere
Democrats have grown more optimistic that his political fortunes may be changing
who gave the Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s address to Congress in early March
told us that some of her constituents say their votes for Trump were born of despair
several months into the second Trump administration
her constituents think the chemo is working
“I can’t tell you how many Trump voters have said to me
But in nearly every conversation we had with various Trump advisers
they told us that delivering on what people had voted for was in fact essential to holding the House and the Senate in the 2026 midterms
Every county along the Texas border is Hispanic
I won every one of them.” Though every single number he cited was wrong
the general thrust of his observation was correct
was the key not only to securing his legacy but to transforming the MAGA base into Republican voters for decades to come
(This project—persuading MAGA supporters to vote for Republicans even when Trump is not on the ballot—is a “central theme” of this presidency
one adviser repeatedly told us.) During the campaign and then the transition
Trump’s aides kept a shared document that meticulously cataloged and updated his promises for what he would do on day one
as well as what he’d promised to do more generally
The advisers we spoke with said that voters had absolutely known what they were asking for when they pulled the lever for Trump—and Trump’s team was determined to deliver
But this is where the now nationally ingrained tendency to take Trump seriously but not literally may have created a disconnect between what Trump’s supporters thought they were voting for and what they are now getting
Trump said many things that never came to fruition
Or he spoke with such hyperbole that everyone substantially discounted the reality of what he was ostensibly committing to
Or the policy implications of what he said would get obscured in the cloud of his ruminations about shark attacks and electrocutions and Hannibal Lecter—allowing voters to focus on what they liked and to ignore the riskier
So although it’s true that Trump is delivering on commitments to impose tariffs
many of his voters are only now beginning to realize the effect these policies will have on their daily lives
the blitzkrieg of the early days continues—but it seems to be meeting more substantial resistance
Federal courts are once again blocking—or at least trying to block—Trump plans that flout the Constitution or stretch legal reasoning
The repeated rollouts and rollbacks and re-rollouts of his tariff measures have pushed the world toward an economic breaking point
industrial base remains a long way off.) The Federal Reserve recently adjusted short-term-inflation projections higher
Financial analysts say the odds of a recession have risen significantly
The stock market just had its worst quarter in three years
Trump had told us that Vladimir Putin “is going to be fine” in the Ukraine peace negotiations—but Putin has thwarted Trump’s promise of a quick deal
(“I’m trying to save a lot of lives in the world,” Trump told us
but it could end up in a Third World War.”)
The <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/signalgate-trump-atlantic-interview/682576/">Signalgate fiasco</a> appalled <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/03/27/trump-signal-group-chat-yemen-strike-poll">even a majority of Republicans</a>
(Here Trump has so far stuck to his second-term policy of conceding essentially nothing
no one has been fired over Signalgate—though advisers we spoke with privately predicted that National Security Adviser Michael Waltz
who inadvertently added The Atlantic’s editor in chief to the attack-planning chain
would exit the administration by the end of the year
if not much sooner.) Mass anti-Trump protests
notably absent during the first two months of this term
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/signalgate-trump-atlantic-interview/682576/">Jeffrey Goldberg: Signalgate, Trump, and The Atlantic</a>
Even as Trump continually seeks to expand his presidential powers
he at times seems to acknowledge that they have limits
he seemed frustrated at the notion that a court might try to curb his ability to deport anyone he wanted
Yet when we asked if he would go so far as to actively disregard a judicial order
his answer suggested that he understood the Constitution would not allow that
the federal-district-court judge who had tried to stop deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador
But Trump then referenced the Supreme Court’s more congenial opinion in Trump v
which had given him immunity from criminal prosecution for anything he does as part of his core “official” duties as president
He told us that the Court is “going to do what’s right” when reviewing his expansive use of executive power
and he spoke with uncharacteristic charity about the Court’s Democratic appointees
and I think they’re very good people,” he said
Trump has sought to evade direct responsibility for individual deportations by his administration
legal challenges to which are wending their way through the courts
many layers of people that do that,” Trump told us when we asked if he was worried that he may have mistakenly deported innocent people
“Think about everything that’s happened immediately on immigration,” Cliff Sims told us
we’re just going to ship gang members to a prison in El Salvador
‘Sure.’ We’re going to send Tom Homan”—Trump’s border czar—“to kick down the door of every criminal illegally in the country
‘Have at it.’ It is the ultimate example of the ruthless efficiency of Trump 2.0.”
We asked Trump about the portraits on the walls of the Oval Office
had a legacy that he himself might like to have
But he was not good on trade—terrible on trade,” Trump replied
We pointed out that Reagan was also far more welcoming of immigrants
the toughest one in immigration was Eisenhower
and he just didn’t want people to come in illegally
but then seemed to leave open the possibility
Was this the rare democratic norm he was unwilling to shatter
maybe I’m just trying to shatter.” He noted
that his supporters regularly shout for him to seek a third term
“It’s not something that I’m looking to do
And I think it would be a very hard thing to do.” But not
a hard thing to profit from: The Trump Organization is now selling “Trump 2028” hats
As a final question during our conversation in March
we asked the president whether he had concerns that his successor will follow his precedent and directly steer the powers of the presidency against his opponents
something he had accused Biden of doing against him
Wasn’t he laying the groundwork for an endless cycle of tit-for-tat retribution
I’ve already gone through it,” the president told us
“I got indicted five different times by five different scumbags
the political complexion of the moment seemed to have shifted rather dramatically
and we wondered if that had changed Trump’s thinking
Trump traveled from Mar-a-Lago to Miami to watch the mixed-martial-arts spectacle of UFC 314
He entered the arena like a conquering general
surrounded by a coterie of Cabinet secretaries and other high-level advisers and officials
The cheers from the adoring fans were uproarious
the winner would rush to the side of the ring where Trump was sitting
Trump’s motorcade headed back to Air Force One
just as the pool report showed he was getting back in his motorcade
Had he been calling to ask if we’d seen what had transpired—the display of obeisance from these gladiators
Or was this merely a late-night pocket dial
We made another appeal for an in-person interview
an aide told us Trump was denying our request
But the rejection came with a message from the president—a message
If the article we were working on really told the remarkable story of how he had come back from the political dead
“maybe The Atlantic will survive after all.” As is often the case with Trump
his business advice could also be interpreted as a kind of a threat
“What can be said?” Trump had instructed his aide to tell us
and there isn’t anyone who can say anything about that
“I am doing this interview out of curiosity,” he wrote on Truth Social
just to see if it’s possible for The Atlantic to be ‘truthful.’ ” Goldberg
was a writer of “many fictional stories about me.” (Several White House aides
joked about playing a prank on National Security Adviser Michael Waltz
the official who had accidentally added Goldberg to the Signal chat
“Tell Waltz to go into the Oval,” they dared one another
by way of greeting us as we approached the Resolute Desk
Trump often plays against the bombastic persona he projects in larger settings—at rallies
There was none of the name-calling or hostility he regularly levels at our magazine
He boasted about the 24-karat gold leaf he’d had imported from Palm Beach to decorate the Oval Office
“The question is: Do I do a chandelier?” he asked
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/04/radio-atlantic-oval-office-donald-trump/682621/">Radio Atlantic: In the Oval Office With Donald Trump</a>
we asked questions about America’s place in the world
the latest challenges to his administration
and his use of his powers to punish his enemies
He often avoided direct answers in order to recite lists of accomplishments
he again committed to following the rulings of the Supreme Court
He also sought to distance himself from the most controversial parts of his own presidency
There are “two types of people,” he told us: those who want him to just focus on making the country great and those who want him to make the country great while simultaneously seeking retribution against his supposed persecutors
we interjected.) “But a lot of people that are in the administration aren’t
They feel that I was really badly treated.” In our presence
he seemed inclined to outsource his retributive id to others
Trump sought to exact further political revenge on his foes by directing the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue
When we mentioned the turmoil at the Pentagon, including recent reporting that Pete Hegseth had <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hegseth-orders-makeup-studio-installed-pentagon/">installed a makeup room in the building</a>
“I think he’s gonna get it together,” Trump said of Hegseth
but I had a talk with him.” Trump also said that Waltz was “fine” despite being “beat up” by accidentally adding Goldberg to the Signal chat
What had Trump told his staff after the controversy
He spoke of his opposition with earnest befuddlement
“I think that the Democrats have lost their confidence in the truest sense,” he said
“I don’t think they know what they’re doing
I can’t tell you that I see anybody on the horizon.”
a weakened dollar—would cause him to roll back his tariff policies
“It always affects you a little bit,” he said
no “certain number” at which he would feel compelled to change course
We asked about the concern that his administration was pushing the country toward authoritarianism
where politicians use the power of their office to punish their enemies for speaking their minds
as Trump was attempting to do to Chris Krebs
but instead talked about how he’d been wronged
again bringing up his efforts to deport undocumented immigrants without due process
if his administration accidentally got the wrong person—a legal resident
“Let me tell you that nothing will ever be perfect in this world,” he said
given that he’s now definitively won a second term
he can’t just let go of the claim that he won the 2020 election
The president told us it would “be easier” for him to just accept our assertion
and I believe it with all my heart,” he said
“I’d like to say that that is reality,” Trump said
Never mind that the votes had been counted
This article appears in the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2025/06/">June 2025</a> print edition with the headline “Donald Trump Is Enjoying This.”
Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The AtlanticMay 5, 2025, 11:24 AM ET ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0012:42Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
an egalitarian approach to content moderation
the second question that platforms are now asking themselves: How hard should you try
Community Notes programs—originally <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/03/twitters-birdwatch-aims-to-crowdsource-fact-checking/618187/">invented in 2021 by a team at X</a>
back when it was still called Twitter—are a somewhat perplexing attempt at solving the problem
naive idea of how people behave online: Let’s just talk it out
the approach is not as starry-eyed as it seems
TikTok will keep using a formal fact-checking program as well
These tools are “a good idea and do more good than harm,” Paul Friedl, a <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://paul-friedl.github.io/">researcher</a> at Humboldt University, in Berlin, told me. Friedl co-authored <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://policyreview.info/glossary/decentralised-content-moderation">a 2024 paper</a> on decentralized content moderation for Internet Policy Review
which discussed X’s Community Notes among other examples
including Reddit’s forums and old Usenet messaging threads
A major benefit he and his co-author cited was that these programs may help create a “culture of responsibility” by encouraging communities “to reflect
and agree” on the purpose of whatever online space they’re using
which helps in an effort “not to lose cultural capital with any user bases.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/11/x-white-supremacist-site/680538/">Read: X is a white-supremacist site</a>
People across the political spectrum do <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/3/7/pgae217/7686087">seem to trust notes more</a> than they do standard misinformation flags
That may be because notes feel more organic and tend to be more detailed
Friedl and his co-author wrote that Community Notes give responsibilities “to those most intimately aware of the intricacies of specific online communities.” Those people may also be able to work faster than traditional fact-checkers—X claims that notes usually appear in a matter of hours
while a complicated independent fact-check can take days
Musk himself has provided a good case study for this issue. A few Community Notes <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/elon-musk-x-twitter-community-notes-fact-check-awkward-end.php">have vanished</a> from Musk’s posts
It’s possible that he had them removed—at times
he has seemed to resent the power that X has given its users through the program
suggesting that the system is “being gamed” and chiding users for citing “legacy media”—but the disappearances could instead be an algorithmic issue
An influx of either Elon haters or Elon fans could ruin the consensus and the notes’ helpfulness ratings
100 percent committed to and in love with Community Notes,” but he did not comment on what had happened to the notes removed from Musk’s posts.)
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/04/katy-perry-space-celebrity/682476/">Read: The perfect pop star for a dumb stunt</a>
This article has been updated to clarify that Meta is ending fact-checking operations only in the United States.
Illustration by Jan BuchczikMay 1, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:008:56Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
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We’ve heard a lot lately about how miserable young Americans are. In the <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://worldhappiness.report/">recently released</a> World Happiness Report
the United States dropped to its lowest ranking since that survey began—and that result was driven by the unhappiness of people under 30 in this country
but it collects much more comprehensive data on well-being
in about half a dozen distinct dimensions and in 22 countries
from more than 200,000 individuals whom it follows over five years
the survey shows that although young people’s emotional and psychological distress is more pronounced in wealthy
industrialized nations such as the United States
we might expect that left side to be pushed down in newer estimates
this is exactly what the new GFS study finds
and around the world: The flourishing scores don’t fall from early adulthood
because they now start low; they stay low until they start to rise at the expected age
The flourishing survey discovers one notable exception to this global pattern: a more traditional U-shaped curve among those young people who have more friends and intimate social relationships
This dovetails with my own research into how young adults in today’s era of technologically mediated socializing are lacking real-life human contact and love—without which no one can truly flourish
This exception created by greater human connection is the starting point for how we might address this pandemic of young people’s unhappiness
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/bertrand-russell-philosophy-unhappiness/675471/">Arthur C. Brooks: Eight Ways to Banish Misery</a>
How to account for this paradox that a practice that gives so many people a tangible well-being boost is in such clear decline? Researchers have<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0024402"> hypothesized</a> that the phenomenon’s predominance in well-to-do countries is essentially a function of that affluence: As society grows richer
people become less religious because they no longer need the comfort of religion to cope with such miseries as hunger and early mortality
I have my doubts about this economic-determinist account
the new survey shows that people who attend a worship service at least weekly score
8 percent higher in flourishing measures than nonattenders
But it further reveals that this positive effect is strongest among the richest and most secular nations
wealth is not a great source of metaphysical comfort—and the well-being effect of religious attendance is relatively independent of economic factors
This leads to the question of what exactly is missing for so many people in wealthy countries when religion declines
Community connection and social capital are two answers
one of the study’s categories of flourishing
which it measures by asking participants whether they feel their daily activities are worthwhile and whether they understand their life’s purpose
is inversely correlated with this sense of meaning: The wealthier a country gets
the more bereft of meaning its citizens feel
The researchers also found that these results were likely explained by secularism in richer nations
This raises the issue of whether something about material success in a society naturally drives down religion or spirituality
Many writers and thinkers throughout history have made this case
we could go back to the Bible and the New Testament story in which a rich young man asks Jesus what he needs to do to gain admission to heaven
Jesus tells the young man to sell all he has
“At this the man’s face fell,” the Gospel says
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2023/03/nostalgia-defense-unhappiness-happy-memories/673320/">Arthur C. Brooks: Nostalgia is a shield against unhappiness</a>
The Global Flourishing Study exposes many interesting patterns and will undoubtedly stimulate additional research for years to come
But you don’t have to wait for that to apply the findings to your life—especially if you are a young adult living in a wealthy
Here are three immediate things you can do:
Put close relationships with family and friends before virtually everything else
avoid using technological platforms for interactions with these loved ones; focus on face-to-face contact
Humans are made to relate to one another in person
2. Consider how you might develop your inner life. Given the trend toward being a none, which I’ve written about in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/faith-spiritual-quest-fulfillment/678160/">an earlier column</a>
But let’s define spirituality broadly as beliefs
and experiences not confined to organized religion—even a philosophical journey that can help you transcend the daily grind and find purpose and meaning
but they’re no substitute for what your heart truly needs
Money can’t buy happiness; only meaning can give you that
But truisms do have the merit of being true—and the flourishing survey reveals how we’re in danger of forgetting these important verities
hard data are what we need to remind us of what we always knew but had come to overlook
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the president wasn’t likely to keep his national security adviser around long
Washington has been waiting to see how long National Security Adviser Michael Waltz could hold on
Any other national security adviser would have been deservedly fired after the leak
it’s hard to imagine that Waltz would have survived very long
outlast the first national security adviser of Trump’s first term
who didn’t reach the one-month mark.) Waltz was one of the more respected and expert hands on Trump’s team
and that would have doomed him sooner or later
Waltz’s demise was foretold shortly after Signalgate, when the 9/11–conspiracy theorist <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/laura-loomer-trump-warning/682314/">Laura Loomer</a>
persuaded Trump to fire several NSC staffers whom she believed were insufficiently loyal
Implicit in her critique and Trump’s acquiescence was a belief that Waltz wasn’t really on the team
Waltz is a right-winger and a convert to Trumpism
He won four Bronze Stars while serving in U.S
He worked at the Pentagon during the George W
he tried to bring his expertise to the service of the president
The problem is that Waltz was trying to serve two masters. <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/trump-national-security-foreign-policy/681495/">As I wrote in January</a>
Trump doesn’t care about national security
or actively trying to undermine it; he’s just not interested
He’s not interested in hearing reasoned advice
as the National Security Council has done—especially if this advice contradicts his impulses or ideology
On an issue like the strikes on Houthis in Yemen
where Trump has fewer interests to balance
But on marquee issues that Trump can’t ignore
and where tough trade-offs and complicated strategy enter the picture—such as with Ukraine or China—someone has to start giving him news he doesn’t like
but I had a talk with him.”) Waltz’s ouster might be an ominous sign
a traditional Republican and Trump critic turned vassal who holds another delicate foreign-policy job
Now Waltz joins a list of discarded Trump national security advisers
That unhappy fraternity is only likely to grow
Every administration official serves at the pleasure of the president
and nothing incurs this president’s displeasure faster than trying to get him to care about national security
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ATLANTIC CITY, NJ &#8211; (April 24, 2025) &#8211; Summer is quickly approaching, and <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/">Atlantic City</a> is getting ready to welcome visitors back to their favorite Jersey Shore destination with an array of exciting events
top-tier entertainment and new restaurants that make the destination a hot spot throughout the season
“Atlantic City is turning up the heat this summer with an incredible mix of can’t-miss entertainment
vibrant new dining experiences and unforgettable events for every kind of traveler,” said Gary Musich
there&#8217;s no better place to celebrate and create summer memories than right here in our iconic seaside destination.”
As travelers start to plan their summer vacations
activities and restaurants that are not to be missed
Atlantic City is preparing for an impeccable lineup of A-list entertainers across the destination’s casino resorts
Below is a look at some of the entertainment scheduled throughout the summer
with additional acts to be announced in the coming months
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/caesars-atlantic-city-hotel-%26-casino/1452/">Caesars Atlantic City Hotel &amp; Casino</a> <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/event/david-foster-and-chris-botti-featuring-katharine-mcphee/5595/">David Foster and Chris Botti Featuring Katharine McPhee</a> on June 14
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/jim-whelan-boardwalk-hall/2742/">Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall</a> <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/event/kane-brown%3a-the-high-road-tour/3007/">Kane Brown</a> on May 17 and <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/event/professional-fighters-league-world-tournament-championships/5860/">Professional Fighters League World Tournament Championship</a> on Aug
At H2Q Dayclub and Nightclub, travelers can dance along some of the biggest names in electronic dance music, including <a href="https://hq2ac.com/james-hype">James Hype</a> on May 24, <a href="https://hq2ac.com/fisher-0">FISHER</a> on June 21, <a href="https://hq2ac.com/two-friends-0">Two Friends</a> on July 5, <a href="https://hq2ac.com/beachclub/steve-aoki">Steve Aoki</a> on July 12 and <a href="https://hq2ac.com/tiesto">Tiësto</a> on Aug
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/tropicana-casino-and-resort/1508/">Tropicana Casino and Resort</a> <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/event/live-with-jake-shane/5536/">Live with Jake Shane</a> on June 28 and <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/event/rupauls-drag-race-werq-the-world/5802/">RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race &#8211; Werq The World</a> on Aug
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/atlantic-city-aquarium/1488/">Atlantic City Aquarium</a> The Atlantic City Aquarium recently reopened in March after a five-year closure
guests can spend the day engaging with animals using the new hands-on touch tank and learn about aquatic species naturally found in the area
Atlantic City Boardwalk and Steel Pier Visitors looking for a quintessential Atlantic City experience should spend some time exploring the iconic Atlantic City boardwalk, which is the first ever boardwalk to open in the United States. After strolling the boardwalk, visitors can ride the Flying Dutchman, Diving Horse or Freedom Flyer at <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/steel-pier/1534/">Steel Pier</a>
which is also expected to launch a new coaster just in time for summer
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/atlantic-city-cruises/4828/">Atlantic City Cruises</a> Atlantic City Cruises offers an array of tours for travelers to explore the destination on the water
from skyline to happy hour tours and dolphin watching adventures
Departing from Historic Gardner&#8217;s Basin
Atlantic City Cruises provides guests with a fully stocked bar
Fireworks Throughout the summer, <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/event/tropicana-atlantic-city-2025-summer-fireworks/5850/">Tropicana Atlantic City</a> will host dazzling firework displays overlooking the Atlantic City Boardwalk and Atlantic Ocean on May 24; June 28; July 4 and 19; and Aug. 2, 16 and 30. Additionally, the annual <a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/event/north-beach-fireworks/5851/">North Beach Fireworks</a> show will take place on June 27
with several viewing spots along the north end of the boardwalk
Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino Atlantic City
and other activities throughout the North Beach boardwalk area
<a href="https://www.theoceanac.com/experience/oceans-18-mini-golf-bar">Mini Golf &amp; Bar at Ocean Casino Resort</a> Opening this summer
Ocean Casino Resort is introducing Ocean’s 18 Mini Golf &amp; Bar
a new multi-million-dollar entertainment destination that the whole family will enjoy
This venue will present technology used at The Sphere in Las Vegas
featuring a state-of-the-art course and two stories of immersive fun
all within an expansive 8,000-square-foot space
they will be greeted by two eye-popping holograms
including a 12-foot Great White Shark towering over the vibrant main bar
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/things-to-do/spas/">Spas</a> If relaxation is on the mind
Qua Baths &amp; Spa at Caesars Atlantic City
Exhale Spa &amp; Bathhouse at Ocean Casino Resort
Spa Toccare at Borgata Hotel Casino &amp; Spa and Rock Spa &amp; Salon at Hard Rock Hotel &amp; Casino are the perfect wellness retreats for travelers to rejuvenate the mind and body while enjoying a day of pampering
<a href="https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/www.visitatlanticcity.com/soarandshorefestival/___.YXAzOnZpc2l0YWM6YTpvOmZjNTUyYzdjM2YyNTAwY2IzOTc5MWZhZmViZmJmMjhlOjY6ZmNiNzo5YzYyNzI4ZDYzYzg0YTY0OGJlNTE0NDBjMzNjNTZlZjE5ZjQ3ODNjNTQ0NWJlMDZmNTVlYTFiYjM3ZmJjNDU0OnA6VDpO">Visit Atlantic City Soar &amp; Shore Festival</a> Taking place on July 15 and 16
the Visit Atlantic City Soar &amp; Shore Festival is returning to the destination
allowing guests to experience a thrilling display of aerial performances and high-energy stunts
This free and family-friendly event can be viewed across the destination from the iconic Atlantic City Boardwalk
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/b-bar/1982/">B Bar at Borgata Hotel Casino &amp; Spa</a> Borgata Hotel Casino &amp; Spa will officially reopen the iconic B Bar in May
which is currently undergoing a refresh to the space
The new B Bar will feature a sleek new look inspired by Italian craftsmanship and will blend luxury and adaptability
guests can enjoy craft cocktails and video poker in a truly reimagined space
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/byrdcage/4822/">ByrdCage</a> The ByrdCage
an LGBTQ+ owned and operated hotspot is one of the newest additions to Atlantic City
bringing vibrant energy to the destination&#8217;s day and nightlife scene
The ByrdCage features a lively brunch menu
The first floor will host a piano bar where patrons can enjoy great food and music in a relaxed atmosphere
and the second floor will be home to an entertainment space offering drag shows
theme nights and more fun and inclusive nightlife experiences
This is the first full-time LGBTQ+ establishment in Atlantic City since the closure of Studio Six in 2004
and it is a landmark venue that contributes to the ongoing revitalization of the city&#8217;s dynamic culture
<a href="https://www.theoceanac.com/press-release/ocean-casino-resort-announces-50-million-2025-capital-property-investments">New Restaurants at Ocean Casino Resort</a> At Ocean Casino Resort
Philadelphia native chef Stephen Starr is opening two new restaurants this summer
The first is a French restaurant focusing on Steak Frites and the second is an American restaurant serving Thanksgiving dinner all year round
The two restaurant concepts are expected to open this summer and will be located on the lobby level across from The Park
a chop house offering premium cuts with featured dishes including the Wagyu Cheesesteak and classic Philly Cheesesteak
a new casual dining restaurant focusing on smoothies and acai bowls
LaScala’s Fire will open a restaurant in early summer
LaScala’s Fire at Ocean will offer classic Italian dishes with a twist
<a href="https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/listing/landshark-bar-%26-grill/4793/">Resorts Casino Hotel Expands On-Site Restaurant, LandShark Bar &amp; Grill</a> LandShark Bar &amp; Grill
will be opening a new outdoor stage this summer dedicated to bringing in more entertainment to the resort while highlighting the newly widened beach
The new expanded oceanfront tiki bar and deck will be equipped with private cabanas
Tennessee Avenue New Restaurants Tennessee Avenue in the Orange Loop will be introducing a few new restaurant concepts this summer
including Isabella’s Italian Pizza Kitchen
an authentic Italian restaurant with a modern twist serving up wood-fired pizzas
fresh salads and traditional Sicilian-inspired sauces
a classic steakhouse that will transition into a lively late-night destination with craft cocktails and live music
Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall will be transforming the outdoor garden space into Jennifer’s Oyster Bar
a seafood restaurant featuring locally sourced oysters from the Barnegat Oyster Conservatory
all paired with an extensive selection of draft beers and fresh wines on tap
<a href="https://visitatlanticcity.bookdirect.net/#/lodgings/ctab/540?checkin=20250424&amp;checkout=20250425">ACCOMODATIONS</a>
Atlantic City is home to an array of properties that appeal to every kind of traveler
For guests looking to enjoy luxurious accommodations and experiences
consider a stay at one of the destination’s nine casino resorts including Borgata Hotel Casino &amp; Spa
Resorts Casino Hotel and Bally&#8217;s Atlantic City Casino Resort
For guests looking to experience Atlantic City outside of the casinos
the destination is home to an array of hotels perfect for families
Families looking to partake in a weekend of fun should book a room at Showboat Resort to take advantage of the on-site arcade and water park
For couples looking for a relaxing weekend away
look to Seaview &#8211; a Dolce Hotel and The Claridge for the ultimate romantic atmosphere
Media Contacts MMGY <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#87f1eef4eef3e6f3ebe6e9f3eee4e4eef3fec7e9ede1f7f5a9e4e8ea">[email&#160;protected]</a>
Visit Atlantic City Jessica Kasunich <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#97fdf2e4e4fef4f6fcd7e1fee4fee3f6e3fbf6f9e3fef4f4fee3eeb9f4f8fa">[email&#160;protected]</a>
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15 South Pennsylvania Avenue Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: James Devaney / GC Images / Getty; Madelyn Keech / DOD Photo Alamy; Martin Bernetti / AFP; Reuters.May 1, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0012:09Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
“They are the best in the world—next to the Germans.”
The panzer invoked Nazi might and aggression even decades after the war ended. Sylvia Plath’s “<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48999/daddy-56d22aafa45b2">Daddy</a>,” first published in 1965
O You—— / Not God but a swastika / So black no sky could squeak through.” In the 2000s
popular video-game franchises—including Call of Duty
and Medal of Honor—released installments set during World War II that featured the panzer
etching it into the collective consciousness of a new generation of Americans
So you can see why it’s noteworthy that Joseph Kent, Donald Trump’s nominee to head the National Counterterrorism Center, has a panzer tattoo. Last month, Mother Jones’s David Corn <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://x.com/DavidCornDC/status/1910003128365404420">uncovered</a> a shirtless picture of Kent from 2018
in which he has the word PANZER written down his left arm
Kent did not respond to multiple requests for comment
and the Trump administration hasn’t offered an explanation either
a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
directed me to a post on X in which Ashley Henning
calls Kent a “selfless patriot who loves this country and his family.”
The tattoo “could mean that he’s glorifying the Nazis
Or it could have a different context,” says Heidi Beirich
a co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism
an organization that tracks right-wing extremism
panzer references are not common on the far right
Other discernible possibilities make less sense
Right-wing accounts on X have spread the claim that Kent has jäger—German for “hunter”—tattooed on his other arm
The two tattoos together would add up to “tank hunter.” The accounts claim that heavy-anti-armor-weapons crewman was one of Kent’s jobs in the Army
It’s oddly specific enough to sound plausible
except that I couldn’t find any evidence that Kent was part of an anti-tank unit—let alone one that would be targeting German tanks—or that he even has a jäger tattoo on his other arm
(Let me point out that Kent could resolve all of this by simply rolling up a sleeve.) There aren’t many other explanations
The United States Army has an installation on a base outside Stuttgart
but there’s no information to suggest that Kent was ever deployed there
All we’re left with is a strange tattoo associated with Nazi Germany
Tattoos can connote in-group belonging or membership to a subculture
Olympians are known to get tattoos of the Olympic rings to commemorate competing in the games
Bikers famously love getting tattoos of skulls and flames
who have emblazoned themselves with swastikas
Why settle for a T-shirt or a flag when you can carve your values into your skin
even as ABC’s Terry Moran noted that the actual M-S-1-3 in the photo Trump has distributed clearly is Photoshopped in
<a href="http://An%20%E2%80%98Administrative%20Error%E2%80%99%20Sends%20a%20Maryland%20Father%20to%20a%20Salvadoran%20Prison">Read: An ‘administrative error’ sends a Maryland father to a Salvadoran prison</a>
including an autism-acceptance symbol that he got in support of his younger brother
Tom Homan, the White House’s “border czar,” <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-claim-kilmar-abrego-garcias-finger-tattoos-ms-13/">has claimed</a> that tattoos alone are not being used to label people as gang members
I reached out to the White House for comment
but received only another response from Coleman
This post mocks the fact that The Atlantic had contacted them to ask questions
“Should we just reply that it’s photoshopped?” and then included a video clip of Trump’s ABC interview
To put this in plain terms: I asked the administration to address concerns that one of the president’s nominees has a tattoo associated with Nazis
Hegseth has a large Jerusalem Cross: It has even sides and looks like a plus symbol
with four smaller crosses in each quadrant
Hegseth has a large tattoo of Deus vult (Latin for “God wills it”)
Also on Hegseth’s right arm is a tattoo of the Arabic word Kafir
which commonly translates to “infidel” or “unbeliever.”
The Trump administration defends Hegseth’s ink: In an email
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said that Hegseth’s tattoos “depict Christian symbols and mottos used by Believers for centuries,” and that “anyone attempting to paint these symbols and mottos as ‘extreme’ is engaging in anti-Christian bigotry.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/09/us-far-right-trump-flags/679154/">Read: A field guide to flags of the far right</a>
especially those who have seen combat in the Middle East
An American soldier with a Kafir tattoo might be interpreted as a provocation—essentially
Taylor reads Hegseth’s Kafir tattoo as “a signal of aggression towards Islam and embracing Islamic aggression towards himself.” When Hegseth’s three tattoos are taken together
“it’s not hard to interpret what he’s trying to signal.”
Look at the Ports.A drop in maritime traffic suggests that the worst is yet to come
Eric Thayer / Bloomberg / GettyMay 3, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:005:27Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
Trump views tariffs as essential to rebuilding the manufacturing economy that the United States once had
But his erratic tariff announcements have badly disrupted the economy that the country has today
and that pain is already being felt in the world of logistics
massive bullwhips that have not been seen since COVID,” Evan Smith
the CEO of the supply-chain-management company Altana Technologies
“The tariffs themselves are a shock to the system
and the shock is echoed and amplified across the entire chain
it will take nine to 12 months to work out these bumps.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/04/tariffs-trump-recession-economy-stock-market/682383/">Listen: Trump didn’t actually undo tariffs</a>
The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest containerized-cargo port in the Western Hemisphere, processes about <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.portoflosangeles.org/business/statistics/facts-and-figures">17 percent</a> of everything the United States imports or exports in shipping containers
The adjoining Port of Long Beach accounts for another 14 percent
a whole ecosystem has arisen to support the loading and unloading of the cars
reservations for shipping products must normally be placed two weeks before a cargo vessel launches
The trip from China from California typically takes two or more additional weeks
tariff policies on maritime traffic may not be apparent for some time
even foreign trading partners who believe they have a deal with the United States could be at risk of capricious new taxes on their products
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/04/chinese-grocery-store-tariffs-trump/682591/">Read: Trump’s tariffs are coming for your chili crisp</a>
Tariffs don’t just reduce the flow of goods coming into the country; they also cause an atrophying of the logistics system that moves products into, out of, and around the United States. “Less cargo volume, less jobs. That’s the rule here,” Mario Cordero, CEO of the Port of Long Beach, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/la-county-ports-expect-roughly-40-drop-in-traffic-as-trumps-tariffs-continue/">said recently</a>
describing how one in nine jobs in the greater Los Angeles region arises directly or indirectly from its ports
“Port complexes are like your baby toe on your foot,” Peter Neffenger
the former commander of the Coast Guard sector that includes Los Angeles and Long Beach
“You don’t think about it until you break it one day and realize
Like the shipping business into and out of Los Angeles, the nationwide trucking industry is <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/trucking-industry-hits-brakes-tariffs-set-dent-imports-rcna202444">slowing down</a>, because drivers have <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.thedailyupside.com/economics/international-economics/tariffs-begin-choking-off-shipments-to-us-ports/">a lot less cargo to move</a>
small businesses will falter; bigger industries will shrink; shelves will be empty
This article previously stated that the Port of Los Angeles is the busiest in the Western Hemisphere. It is the busiest containerized-cargo port in the hemisphere.
Chuck Zlotnick / MarvelMay 2, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:006:39Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
But there’s no longer a team of Avengers for Yelena to join
nor a grand purpose to the whole superhero enterprise
but she might as well be asking it of this entire
leans in to the relative anonymity of its ensemble
The misfit crew is navigating a world that’s giving up on the idea of a straightforward bunch of do-gooders
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/02/captain-america-brave-new-world-review/681701/">Read: The failed promise of the new Captain America</a>
reprising his Black Widow role as Yelena’s surrogate father
He once functioned as a Soviet Captain America
but he now operates a rambunctious limo service
the evil bureaucrat has since begun using the CIA to fund the creation of her own experimental super team
The rest of the plot is fairly crisp and streamlined for a comic-book movie: Valentina is bad
and Yelena and her mercenary pals fall somewhere in the middle
before reluctantly joining up against Valentina and other pressing threats
There’s also a wild card in the form of Bob (Lewis Pullman)
the unassuming-looking result of a mad science project who belies a lot of hidden darkness; his arc is the latest example of Marvel wedging an entirely different bit of canon into one of its installments
misfit toys in a world looking for something shinier
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/03/daredevil-born-again-disney-plus-origin-story/682185/">Read: A much-needed course correction for Marvel</a>
Save Listen-1.0x+0:0020:47Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig looked back on Europe before the First World War
when institutions such as the Habsburg monarchy appeared destined to last forever
Zweig lived to see much of his world swept away by first one war and then another
which was raging when he died by suicide in 1942
The Europeans of Zweig’s youth did not grasp the fragility of their world
with its growing domestic tensions and fraying international order
Many of us in today’s West have suffered the same failure of imagination
We are stunned and dismayed that what we took for granted appears to be vanishing: democracy in the United States
and international institutions and norms that allowed many nations to work together to avoid war and confront shared problems
such as climate change and pandemic disease
I study those moments in the past when an old order decays beyond the point of return and a new one emerges
Today’s world is lurching toward great-power rivalry
and fear—an international order where the strong do what they will
and “the weak suffer what they must.” Imperialism
Governments and think tanks now speak of spheres of influence
this will not be an easy or pleasant transition
The past holds many examples of great change: regimes ending
ways of managing relations between peoples and states swept aside
The Roman empire and its successor in the East decayed gradually
the end of the Soviet regime and the Cold War happened within weeks or months
that the old structures and rules are giving way
and greedy neighbors start to encroach on the grounds
the causes tend to be economic: France before 1789 was effectively bankrupt
Sometimes governments have ceased to function
housewives were marching in city streets to protest a lack of food
and many Russians saw the czarist government as irrelevant
Soviet citizens in the 1980s could no longer ignore the glaring differences between the utopian promises of communism and the reality of an autocratic and incompetent regime
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/04/trump-maga-national-interest-usaid-destruction/681735/">George Packer: The Trump world order</a>
International orders collapse in the same way
Pressures mount on the system from within and without
even among those who have benefited most from the existing order
the fading Ottoman empire promised rich pickings in North Africa
the world’s powers shared a general understanding that they would leave it alone
for fear of setting off a major conflict among themselves
The Balkan states watched with interest as the other great powers did very little
several of them banded together to launch their own attack on the Ottoman empire
We should never underestimate the power of example in human affairs
we are seeing one country and then another flouting what had been a basic rule since the end of World War II: that ownership by one country of territory seized by force from another would not be recognized
President Vladimir Putin of Russia took parts of Georgia in 2008
and in 2014 invaded Ukraine to seize Crimea and part of the Donbas region to further his mission of rebuilding the czarist empire
The peace negotiations under way between Ukraine
which is being abandoned by the United States
and Russia seem almost certain to allow Russia to keep that territory and very likely acquire even more
Israel seems to be maneuvering toward annexing parts of Gaza and maybe even southern Lebanon
Rwandan troops are pushing into neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo
China can only be encouraged to think that the world will accept its bringing Taiwan under its rule
A new world order with new rules is taking shape
The alternative to an accepted international order
anarchic world with “no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all
continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man
and short.” The way back to a sustainable and effective international order
international orders were not global but regional in scale
Those regional orders became the models for much bigger ones later on
and one part of the world did not always know much
The underpinnings of a global order can be traced to the age of discovery
when Europeans first learned to circumnavigate the globe
then established a presence at vast distances
The Industrial Revolution in the 19th century produced
which connected people in far-flung territories with one another
The international orders that followed these advances assumed many different shapes
forging alliances and leaving them in a jostling for advantage that could easily topple into war
Sometimes international relations fell under the sway of a powerful hegemon—or of outright imperialism
dominated its neighbors and provided them with security
the Chinese believed that their land was the center of the world and that their emperor held the mandate of heaven to govern it
The British empire was the world’s hegemon from the second half of the 19th century until
the start of the Second World War—just as the United States was from 1989 until now
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/02/foreign-policy-mistake-china/681732/">Michael Schuman: Trump hands the world to China</a>
the United States no longer demonstrates the will to dominate the globe
History offers yet another model for the present situation
and perhaps for the future: spheres of influence
in which great powers dominate their own neighborhoods or strategic points
such as the Suez Canal for the British empire or Panama for the U.S.
while lesser powers within the sphere accept
and outside ones steer clear to preserve their own dominions
Western powers and Japan carved out such spheres of influence in the 19th century
when they took advantage of a declining China to establish exclusive zones of interest there
Britain and Russia did something similar in Iran in 1907
Such an order is inherently unstable: The regions where the spheres meet become fields of conflict known as “shatter zones.” Austria-Hungary and Russia vied for dominance in the Balkans before the First World War
just as China and India do with the countries between them and along around their shared border today
One power can be tempted to intrude on another’s sphere when it thinks a rival’s grip is slackening
And the influence that powers have in their spheres can wax and wane depending on domestic factors
including political upheavals and economic downturns
Lesser powers that find themselves under the dominion of a great power against their wishes can be resentful and rebellious
the Trump administration has reignited anti-Americanism in much of Latin America and turned Canadians against their neighbor
A once-dominant power that fears it is declining can be particularly reckless
Resentful and determined to destroy Serbia
Austria-Hungary instead precipitated a world war that destroyed the empire itself and much else
Perhaps history can offer some hope as well as warning
The notion of an international order based on rules
the great Dutch scholar of the 16th and 17th centuries
talked of an international society with laws and ways of settling disputes
Immanuel Kant proposed a League of Nations
which he imagined would prevent wars and eventually enfold all the countries of the world into one peaceful society
what Kant called the “crooked timber of humanity” appeared to be straightening
challenges to the received idea of the national interest as something determined by autocratic elites
or of military power as the only kind that mattered
Democratic leaders and thinkers began to envision a new and better international order—one with worldwide laws
The First World War turned such musings into a plan of action
The conflict’s outbreak came as a shock to many Europeans
Jobs for Europe’s skilled workers were vanishing
as production moved to areas of the world where labor was cheaper
Populist leaders stirred resentment against minorities—Jews
Revolutionaries condemned the whole system as unequal and unjust and called for the creation of a new order
the willingness of the great powers to work with one another
as they had done in the first half of the century in the Concert of Europe
New alliances emerged—one among Austria-Hungary
Crises and wars in the Balkans in the first years of the 20th century fueled resentments
Europe had entered a danger zone where a sudden crisis could start a chain reaction
And that is what happened with the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne in June 1914
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/america-first-trump-doge/682164/">Ryan Crow: I’ve seen how ‘America First’ ends</a>
The war’s consequences were so devastating for Europe and the wider world that many feared humanity was doomed
But catastrophes have a way of focusing attention on solutions that might once have been dismissed as fanciful or impossible
the president who took the United States into the war in 1917
made clear that he wanted nothing for his own country
and that his overriding aim was a new international order animated by ideals of fairness: Peoples are entitled to self-determination
and the nations of the world must come together to protect the defenseless and prevent future wars
Wilson told Congress in January 1918 that “reason and justice and the common interests of mankind shall prevail.” To that end
would provide collective security for its members
confront aggression (with military force if necessary)
and endeavor to improve the lot of humanity
When Wilson traveled to Europe for the peace conference in Paris
Historians now describe the league as a failure
which were members—defied it to wage unprovoked war: Germany on its neighbors
expressed disapproval and imposed some ineffective sanctions
A second and even more destructive world war was the result
But the hope and the idea behind the league did not die
the scale of the Second World War and the advent of the atom bomb made the quest for a peaceable international order more urgent than ever
had been talking about an organization of the world’s nations even before the U.S
He gained British support and brought the American people and Congress along with him
He also managed to gain Joseph Stalin’s grudging assent that the Soviet Union would join the new order
which included not only the United Nations but also the Bretton Woods institutions
established to organize global economic relations
these instruments and the order they upheld allowed the world’s powers to manage many of their antagonisms without resorting to war
The Cold War threatened at times to break that web apart
and shooting wars were always present somewhere in the world
such that even the United States and the Soviet Union found ways to reach agreements and ease tensions
When the Cold War abruptly ended with the collapse of first the Soviet empire in Europe and then the Soviet Union itself
the world looked set for greater cooperation
and perhaps even the onward march of democracy
History has a way of clarifying that what looks like the only possible future at one moment is actually just one possibility among others
Few in the 1990s anticipated the emergence of revisionist powers
a cover for the dominance of the United States and its allies
These actors saw the post–World War II order as an obstacle to their nations’ ambitions
reclaim land they felt was rightfully theirs
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has threatened to reconsider the Treaty of Trianon
which assigned much of Hungary’s territory to its neighbors after World War I
But perhaps the most serious rebuke to the liberal international order has come from inside the democracies
where populist parties have hitched economic grievances
and the loss of faith in their own elites and institutions to an authoritarian domestic turn
Resentments and goals may differ from country to country
but populism is fueled everywhere by the promise of undoing the mistakes of the past
this translates into contempt for the liberal rules-based order and international organizations such as the United Nations
Far-right leaders prefer to work with like-minded counterparts to further their own interests
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/02/trump-new-world-order/681683/">Yair Rosenberg: Trump is remaking the world in his image</a>
Nowhere is this shift more consequential than in the United States
which was the original visionary and anchor of the postwar order
The Trump administration has characterized that role as one for suckers
in which the United States restrained its hard power and allowed other countries to bleed its wealth
Donald Trump has proposed instead for the United States to use its economic and military predominance as tools of naked coercion
dispensing entirely with the niceties of international agreements and even domestic constitutional constraint
We are witnessing the resurrection of spheres of influence
leaders decried these as characteristic of the cynical old Europe that Americans had escaped
which warned outside powers to stay away from the Western Hemisphere
asserted an American sphere of influence; during the Cold War
the United States implicitly accepted Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe and extended its own influence over the West
which recognized the rights of small nations and spoke to much of humanity’s hope for a world run for the collective good
not just for the benefit of a few powerful states
seems openly wedded to the idea of dividing the globe among great powers
and oblivious to the potential for conflict where spheres interact and struggle against one another—for example
Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic. Source: Neville Elder / Corbis / Getty.May 3, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0012:27Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
the short story “speaks to and for every human being who thinks of him or herself as alone
and counted as unimportant and unworthy of attention except when considered en masse.”
Gallant indeed wrote almost exclusively about the marginals of the world: the orphaned and the exiled; the abandoned and the uprooted; the people who, like the protagonist of her story “<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1970/01/10/new-years-eve-3">New Year’s Eve</a>,” feel that they are forever being deposited in a place “where there was no one to talk to” and one “was not loved.” The aloneness in Gallant’s writing is often not so much stated as implied
creates an atmosphere whose absence of emotional connection is often experienced as existential—an isolation so penetrating
This sense of things is central to her writing
It comes not through character or plot development so much as through a tone of voice difficult to analyze but distinctly present: moody
with a feeling that humanity in general is destined—yes
perhaps even before birth—to straddle an inner fault line that short-circuits whatever drive is necessary to make a life feel achieved
Gallant died in 2014 at the age of 91. While her stories have repeatedly been gathered in a great number of collections, over the past 20 years, New York Review Books has assumed the task of publishing a uniform edition of her work: Paris Stories in 2002, Varieties of Exile in 2003, The Cost of Living in 2009, and now, this year, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781681378749">The Uncollected Stories</a>, in all probability the last of the set.
</a><a class="ArticleBooksModule_link__AEYwN" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9781681378749" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-event-element="book title" target="_blank">The Uncollected Stories Of Mavis Gallant</a>By Mavis GallantBuy BookShe was born Mavis Young in 1922
to an American mother and a British father
both more than a bit indifferent to parenthood; they sent her to boarding school at the age of 4 and hardly ever had her in the house from then on
she said: “I had a mother who should not have had children
and it’s as simple as that.” When her father died—she was 10—her mother quickly remarried and moved to New York
leaving Mavis behind in Montreal with a guardian
Although in later years she periodically joined her mother and stepfather in New York
Maxwell was quickly besotted with Gallant’s writing and went on to publish almost every work she sent him over the next 45 years: 116 stories in all
He was the editor heaven had sent her; a melancholic midwesterner also saturated in a damaged childhood
he had a sensibility that more than matched her own
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/06/the-way-vivid-way-underappreciated-short-stories-of-mavis-gallant/276528/">Read: The vivid, way underappreciated short stories of Mavis Gallant</a>
No sooner had The New Yorker accepted that second story than Gallant swiftly decided three things: All she wanted to do was write
“Perfectly free” meant living as a foreigner; she had grown addicted to not feeling at home anywhere
where she lived for the rest of her days among a people and a culture with whom she never felt at ease
much less intimate—and her writing flourished
The three Gallant stories that most move me— “Let It Pass,” “In a War,” and “<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1988/01/25/the-concert-party">The Concert Party</a>”—appear in Varieties of Exile
they make wonderfully metaphorical use of the ur-loneliness behind humdrum emotional remove: Gallant’s signature preoccupation
All three are set first in suburban Montreal just before World War II
and then in the south of France just after the war
Anchored in an inner rootlessness that never loosens its hold on the protagonists
knew everything she needed to know and was at the top of her game
Narrated in the first person by Steve Burnet
a low-level Canadian diplomat in his 40s or 50s
the stories relate the history of himself and Lily Quale
both born in the 1920s in the aforementioned Montreal suburb
The cultural divisions between them are strong but prove
to be inconsequential; some shared yearning for the world beyond their backwater town draws them ineluctably to one another
what they long to experience is themselves
not the wider world—but this they do not yet know
Lily is seen as a beautiful and alluring wild child driven by a hunger for excitement so extreme
it speaks to an inner need that no one can understand and nothing can dispel
Even though she is part of a functioning family
entirely alone—not exactly a stray like other Gallant strays
as women who make their way in the world sexually often do
They’ve been making out since their teenage years
but he has always known that although she holds him in special regard
he is essentially one among many in a “large pond” she has “stocked with social possibilities
nearly all boys,” every one of whom wants her
Amazed by “the scale of her nerve” and her bottomless “use of gall”—her betrayals are routine—Steve nevertheless knows that whenever she calls
He has promised that he’ll get her out of the provinces; the mistake he makes is thinking that this promise has created a bond between them
one that will induce in her a measure of loyalty
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/04/paris-the-taste-of-a-new-age/667145/">Read: Paris: The taste of a new age</a>
Steve and Lily decide to marry and leave for Europe
the thing she most wants—the thing dependable Steve is about to make possible
on her lunch hour from a tedious secretarial job in downtown Montreal
a sporting-goods-store owner notorious for conducting sexual liaisons in the back of his shop
Happening to pass down the street at the exact moment Lily is emerging from Peel’s store
Steve immediately intuits what has happened
a black and white postcard image of Lily on the edge of Peel’s couch
For the first time I noticed how much she resembled the young Marlene
the Weimar Dietrich: the same half-shut eyes
the other bent and bare.” That “invulnerable gaze” speaks volumes
Steve knows that their situation is static: He is as paralyzed as she is driven
Steve buys a ramshackle house in the south of France that leaves them almost broke
and they settle in among a group of American and European itinerants
Among these people is an English homosexual whose gardener is a 19-year-old blond rent boy
a day arrived when “the two blond truants plodded up the hill to the railway station.”) Before she’s through
Lily will have two more husbands and end up
Steve describes the depression he falls into after
“my marriage had dropped from a height.” He never marries again
telling him that women can do without a great deal
but they cannot do without sex and money—maybe one or the other
“what went wrong had nothing to do with either.” It flashes on him
The important thing about Lily was the ambition behind her longings
He often thought that she should have married some European artist or thinker
or “the billionaire grandson of some Methodist grocer,” not him
my Europe—as a swindle.” This swollen necessity of hers
this abstract loneliness: It was this that Steve’s own vacancy was so brilliantly doomed to fail
The affable Steve—“one of the rare foreigners to whom the French have not taken immediate and weighty dislike”—is Gallant’s ultimate marginal
no one and nothing has ever held his emotional attention for very long
each foolishly hoped to be rescued by the other
It is interesting to note that whereas Steve
in pursuit of what he thinks of as freedom
never breaks with the conventions of his class
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/04/single-positivity-obligation/682262/">Read: The new singlehood stigma</a>
These are both people who spend their lives looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time, in the process making instrumental use of each other without ever understanding that no one and nothing can do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Yet I must admit that it is Lily, a fictional favorite of mine, with whom I nonetheless sympathize; I suspect that, as a contemporary reader, I understand her perhaps even better than Gallant did.
Let us not forget that Lily’s was a time when no woman could imagine making her way alone in the world. Whatever the future held for her, she was bound to pursue it through a man in whom she aroused desire: the only card she ever had to play. Being loved could mean nothing to Lily, except for what being loved could get her: That was everything. In this, she was hardly alone.
I have known Lily Quale all my life. She was the transgressive among us. Mine was a generation of women characterized by a vivid split between girls like me who didn’t act out and girls like Lily who did. Only they dared the unknown; the rest of us lived with one Steve Burnet or another for more years than we care to remember, longing to be rescued from the hungers we either stifled or endured, while the stray within us hardened.
Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition
Friendships sometimes fall to the wayside out of not malice but unintended neglect
performing the requisite (though enjoyable) friendship maintenance can sink lower and lower on the to-do list
So we asked The Atlantic’s writers and editors: How do you like to stay in touch with your friends
I’ve been trying to connect with friends when I find myself thinking about them—especially if it involves a funny memory that we share
A recent example: I was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike a few weeks ago when a song came on the radio by a beloved female pop legend
whose husband is an old friend of said pop legend
because the artist was once very mean to her dog
whom I had not seen since before the coronavirus pandemic
I told her that I had just heard a song by this particular Grammy-winning
dog-hating singer—and that I did not enjoy the song
out of loyalty to Anne and to the memory of Pancake (since departed)
I just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you and why,” I told Anne
Don’t get me wrong: I love—love—gabbing with the girls
I’m so tired that I can’t hold up my end of the chat
I haven’t a single juicy life update to share
I wish to simply listen to my friends talk—like a live podcast?—but conversation is apparently a “two-way street.” In these moments
there’s nothing better than sitting side by side
I’ve gotten in a lovely rhythm: Some pals and I have the app Mubi Go
which allows you to watch one film in theaters each week and does the work of choosing for you
we know we’ll get together regularly; it’s just a matter of coordinating which day to watch
If the movie is one I’ve never heard of before
I like to show up without Googling the title
we’ve got plenty to talk about; we compare notes over a snack or a drink
debating divergent interpretations or naming scenes that moved or frustrated us
And you know I’ll be sending movie-review links in the group chat until the next showing—so the dialogue never ends
I’ve been asking my friends to come with Ethel and me to the dog park near our apartment for some people-watching
especially now that the cherry blossoms are in bloom
We’ve seen a man playing the saxophone on our street corner
and plenty of picnics along the field’s perimeter
While my friend and I catch up and exchange gossip
Ethel also gets to socialize with some of her friends: Pluto the dalmatian
Going to the dog park is great because it’s low-commitment and endlessly entertaining; it gets me and my friends into the sunshine
and it gives Ethel an extra hour of playtime too
and listening to music that friends have recommended to me (which may help explain the tens of thousands of minutes I logged on Spotify last year)
and I’ll often send them recommendations of my own
It’s an easy way to connect with friends who live far away or have busy schedules: Why not make some time to listen to a good song
this practice has taken me outside my usual viewing and listening habits
a friend asked me if I’d watch horror movies with him
a genre that I wasn’t interested in—and a little afraid of
But he said that no one else would go with him
That’s how I found myself sitting in the front row of a theater
watching vacationers get picked off one by one in Midsommar
I surprised myself by growing to like the genre
we saw a horror movie together almost every weekend over Zoom
friendship is about more than just having the same taste
But investing in those points of connection can lead to other conversations
ones that go deeper than what’s on your screen or in your headphones
Much has been made of how people of my generation (Millennials) and younger <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/why-people-hate-making-phone-calls/401114/">don’t like to talk on the phone anymore</a>
Texting is the primary medium of friendship these days
the phone call seems to have become a drawn-out affair
My friends and I text to schedule a time to catch up over the phone
and block out an hour or two on the calendar
we’ll be more reluctant to call one another regularly
I love to hear my phone ring and not see “Potential Spam,” as expected
I love to give a pal a quick jingle and chat for a few minutes while I’m walking to the store
Hearing a friend’s voice and having them keep me company in life’s mundane moments is so lovely—even just for a couple of minutes
Here are three Sunday reads from The Atlantic:
Source: ilbusca / Getty.The End of the ‘Generic’ Grocery-Store Brand
Inflation is (pretty) high, economic growth is stagnant, food prices are soaring, and Americans are once again turning to store-brand goods: In 2024, <a href="https://www.retaildive.com/news/private-label-record-high-2024/737947/">sales grew 3.9 percent</a>, and the year before that, <a href="https://www.grocerydive.com/news/private-label-record-high-2024/737758/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20private%20label%20sales,have%20fallen%20by%20nearly%207%25.">5 percent</a>
people actually want to be buying the stuff … If grocery-store products used to be unremarkable
inferior—the thing you bought because it was cheap and available—they have
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/04/grocery-store-generic-brand/682644/">Read the full article.</a>
A bird lifts its head as it courts another bird. (Karsten Mosebach / GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025)Take a look at the <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2025/04/winners-gdt-nature-photographer-year-2025/682643/">winning and honored photos</a> from the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year competition
<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://link.theatlantic.com/click/29767897.0/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlYXRsYW50aWMuY29tL25ld3NsZXR0ZXJzLz91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249YXRsYW50aWMtZGFpbHktbmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fY29udGVudD0yMDIyMTEyMQ/61813432e16c7128e42f4628B52865c35">Explore all of our newsletters.</a>
When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter
Fans of aviation should get a look in the next few weeks at a first-draft lineup of performers for the inaugural<a href=https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/soarandshorefestival/ data-type=link data-id=https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/soarandshorefestival/> Visit Atlantic City Soar and Shore Festival</a> this summer
Air shows are an annual tradition in Atlantic City
The selection of Herb Gillen Airshows of Columbus
and the air show is scheduled for July 15-16
Company President Herb Gillen and his team toured the city and facilities in early April
More: <a href=https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/2024/07/10/atlantic-city-airshow-2024-cancellation/74357548007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>What happened? Atlantic City Airshow 2024 cancelled</a>
“It looks like it’s going to be a great show
Gillen said a lineup announcement should be out in May
“It’s a pretty quick turnaround for something that really just got confirmed that we were doing it less than a couple months ago,” Gillen said
“It’ll be a little different than in the past
We’re not selling any kind of premium seating
should be easily watched from anywhere on the beach or the boardwalk
and you’ll get to see probably a little better down there,” Gillen said
“But you should be able to see everything from the boardwalk
More: <a href=https://www.courierpostonline.com/story/news/local/2025/04/23/whats-the-best-jersey-shore-beach-nj-poll-atlantic-city-ocean-city-margate-cape-may-voting-2025/83211744007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>What's the best beach in New Jersey? Wildwoods won last year; vote now for the 2025 winner</a>
Navy and Air Force demonstration squadrons are not available for the 2025 show
Those services book their schedules two years in advance
But Gillen said he expects to snare military acts in the future
“We’ll get military and civilian aircraft that will be able to support the show in the meantime,” he added
One independently confirmed performer is coming from FighterJets Demo Team
The company has a collection of military jets
and is sending a MiG-17 fighter to Atlantic City
Atlantic City has annually hosted an air show for decades
a string that snapped with the abrupt cancellation of a show planned for August 2024
The producer would have been David Schultz Airshows
members of the Greater Atlantic City Chamber had said there probably wouldn't be an air show until 2026
a nonprofit formed and funded to promote economic development in a private-public partnership with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority
has taken over the promotion role for this year's event while working with chamber members
“This is not just an air show,” Gillen said
“There will be other activities going on at the beach and along the boardwalk
they want to promote coming for a couple of days and seeing the airshow but doing other things while you’re in town.”
Herb Gillen Airshows has produced more air shows than any other group since its founding in 2005
For information on where to stay and what to do in Atlantic City, see <a href=https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/www.visitatlanticcity.com/___.YXAzOnZpc2l0YWM6YTpvOjVhNWYwODJkZTRmNmRkNjgwODAzOGM5MTgwYzZiNmRiOjY6ZGJmNDo3NDIzZDFiM2JlMGY2ZGNjM2NkMGJiODE5NGM3MTk5ZjFiNGI0ZjRlNDM2YTJhYzdlMzdjMjk3ODcyMzZlZjU3OnA6VA>visitatlanticcity.com</a>
Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago
keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey
He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland
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The York Revolution will not go undefeated in 2025
as the club’s season-opening win streak was halted after five games
But a strong first week at home has left plenty of excitement for what lies ahead
the Revs are second in the Atlantic League’s North Division behind the Staten Island Ferry Hawks
Their 5-0 start was the second-best in franchise history
trailing only the seven-game win streak to start the 2011 championship season
Perhaps the biggest news of the week was announced just before Tuesday’s home opener, as the Revs <a href=https://yorkrevolution.com/press-release-revs-extend-forneys-contract/>announced they had extended manager Rick Forney</a> through at least the 2028 season
who previously spent 17 years managing the Winnipeg Goldeyes in the American Association
has guided York to the Atlantic League’s best winning percentage since the start of 2023
His contract was previously set to expire this winter
“Rick is a first-class manager and leader in every respect,” new Revs president Ben Shipley said in a news release
and excited to assure Rick and our fans that we’ll keep this good thing going.”
Weekend whiparound: <a href=https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/high-school/softball/2025/05/04/kennard-dale-rams-yaiaa-division-ii-title-baseball-tennis-track-weekend-whiparound/83445039007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>Kennard-Dale softball wins battle at Susquehannock for D-II title</a>
College baseball: <a href=https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/college/2025/05/03/bren-taylor-millersville-psac-baseball-hits-record-eastern-york-career-stats/83427665007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>Eastern York's Taylor breaks PSAC hits record with Millersville</a>
York College: <a href=https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/college/york-college/2025/05/05/spartans-ncaa-division-iii-championships-mens-womens-lacrosse-tennis-golf-track/83458610007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>Spartans bound for NCAA D-III championships in 4 sports after banner weekend</a>
The highlights: The Revolution presented their 2024 championship rings before Tuesday’s home opener
and a military flyover punctuated the national anthem
Jalen Miller was 3 for 5 with two RBIs of his own
giving York a stellar 1-2 punch atop the lineup
Michael Berglund’s two-run single preceded Otosaka’s two-run double in the seventh
Justin Connell blasted a walk-off home run to left center in the ninth inning Wednesday as the Revs completed a five-run comeback
but two-run singles by Frankie Tostado and Miller made it 6-6 by the sixth
The teams traded runs in the eighth before Connell punctuated a 3 for 4 night with the Revs’ first walk-off homer since David Washington’s first-half division clincher last June
Will Simoneit’s three-run homer in the second inning and Berglund’s solo shot in the sixth led York to the victory in Sunday’s first game
Cam Robinson locked down the save in the seventh; he has two wins
Connell boasts a hitting line of .393/.585/.643 (1.228 OPS) with two homers in nine games
Otosaka is hitting .405 with a 1.149 OPS to lead a group of five Revs hitting over .300
The lowlights: It was Lancaster’s turn for a comeback Thursday
as the Stormers erased a 4-0 deficit with a four-run fifth and added five in the seventh
including a miscue in the sixth that set the stage for all five runs to score with two outs
Long Island scored four in Friday’s top of the second
then plated six runs across the last four frames to pull away
York’s offense managed just five hits and struck out 13 times in the setback
With a chance to sweep Sunday’s doubleheader
the Revs fell behind 7-1 when the Ducks scored four in the top of the fifth
York answered with four in the bottom half but left the bases loaded
Troy Viola’s seventh-inning homer put Long Island up 10-6
and the margin proved to be one run too many
two-run double to left brought York back within a run
but Miller flew out to left and the Ducks won the series
<a href=http://subscribe.yorkdispatch.com/>>> Please consider subscribing to support local journalism.</a>
Moves: York thinned out its bench and added to its pitching staff early last week
releasing backup catcher Paul Mondesi on April 28 and signing pitchers Wesley Scott and Chase Cohen one day later
allowing one run on five hits in four innings
and took the loss Sunday after surrendering five runs (four earned) in four frames
He’s walked 10 and struck out 10 in eight innings thus far
striking out the side in Tuesday’s seventh inning and allowing two runs Friday
Up next: It’s all about the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars this week
as the Revs will host a three-game series before switching venues for three road tilts over the weekend
Promotions for the midweek series include Teacher Appreciation Night on Tuesday and Bark in the Park on Wednesday
More: <a href=https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/high-school/basketball/2025/05/04/york-adams-league-boys-all-state-selections-natal-rill-holmes-wamsley-dallas/83443760007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>York-Adams League lands 5 boys' basketball players on all-state teams</a>
More: <a href=https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/high-school/wrestling/2025/05/05/nate-replogle-central-york-all-american-status-us-open-chance-marsteller/83460211007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>Central York's Replogle earns All-American status at US Open Wrestling Championships</a>
More: <a href=https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/sports/motor/2025/05/05/world-of-outlaws-pennsylvania-visit-preview-schedule-lincoln-williams-grove/83459153007/ rel=noreferrer target=_blank>World of Outlaws set for first Pennsylvania visit of 2025 racing season</a>
Threat Looming Over CanadaThe consequences if Trump followed through on his belligerent rhetoric about a “51st state” would be catastrophic
Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The AtlanticMay 4, 2025, 8 AM ET ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0010:27Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
The idea of a war between Canada and the United States was inconceivable even a few months ago
Most Americans still don’t believe it’s a possibility
or simply haven’t noticed their president’s occupationist rhetoric
or can’t imagine a world in which a neighbor they have been at peace with for 150 years is suddenly an enemy
But Canada does not have the luxury of dismissing White House rhetoric as trolling
Canadians are imagining the unimaginable because they have to
maybe they’re not our allies.” From that point on
spending on equipment from the American military-industrial complex is a form of national suicide for any country in the free world
Canada could no longer comfortably sit within the American military sphere
our nation has abruptly become an adversary of the most powerful country in the world
An American military threat is Canada’s worst nightmare
And Canada is unprepared precisely because it never considered the U.S
both Conservative and Liberal governments have worked toward greater integration with the United States
Our country’s trade and security policies have been built on the premise of American sanity
in binational projects such as the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
and for expeditionary forces such as the NATO mission to Afghanistan
This vulnerability does not mean that Canada would be there for the taking
military does not have the capacity to seize the country,” Scott Clancy
who served as a Colorado-based director of operations for NORAD
Clancy served 37 years in the Royal Canadian Air Force and rose to the rank of major-general
the more it would become unmanageable from an American military point of view.” A continental war would
likely play out as an insurgent conflict in Canadian North America—and across the U.S
“Let’s say they just hold the oil fields,” Clancy said
military occupation of Canadian oil reserves
And just because you attacked Alberta doesn’t mean that we’re not gonna strike at you in New York.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/04/canada-winning-liberals/682638/">Read: The Liberals who can’t stop winning</a>
When I interviewed half a dozen experts on insurgent conflict for my book <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-next-civil-war-dispatches-from-the-american-future-stephen-marche/17313488?ean=9781982123222&amp;next=t">The Next Civil War</a>
they all agreed that insurgent conflict was the least predictable and containable
a political-science professor at the University of Toronto
told me she does not think Canada’s reputation for gentleness would make it any less brutal as an opponent
“There’s no such thing as a warrior race,” said Ahmad
who is an expert on insurgency who has conducted field work in Afghanistan
Insurgency is what happens when someone kills your mom.” Just one soldier firing on a protester at a rally could be the spark
latte-drinking TikToker students,” she said
“You look at them and you don’t see insurgents
An occupying military force has three strategies for dealing with insurgent conflicts
The first we could call “Groznification”: complete suppression
as the Russian army did in Chechnya at the turn of the century
Even the destruction of any means of resistance works only temporarily
“Hearts and minds,” the strategy applied in Iraq and Afghanistan
is also ineffective: If you build hospitals and then fill them with corpses
The third option is “decapitation,” but the systematic targeting of insurgent networks’ leaders—the idea behind the recent U.S
air strikes on the Houthis in Yemen—can easily be countered by detailed succession plans
And killing leadership has the unintended consequence of fragmenting the insurgency’s power structures
if you ever do want to negotiate a peaceful settlement
you have dozens of mini-insurgencies to deal with
And that force would consist of machine-learning specialists and petroleum engineers rather than shepherds and subsistence farmers
Canadians are already a well-armed population
More than a quarter of Canadian households own a gun
which is vast beyond imagination and would provide ideal cover for insurgents
has some 90,000 unnamed lakes—even Canadians can’t keep track of their territory
a continental conflict would be an unmitigated act of murderous folly
But murderous folly is not beyond the capacity of this new iteration of the United States
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/04/trump-lost-canadian-election/682640/">David Frum: How the U.S. lost the Canadian election</a>
Already, the once-unthinkable idea of a war between Canada and the United States is growing less unthinkable. Before the 2024 U.S. election, 12 percent of Republicans <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/03/31/schooled-by-trump-americans-are-learning-to-dislike-their-allies">viewed</a> Canadians as “unfriendly” or “an enemy.” Now that number is 27 percent
Persuading the military to carry out an attack on Canada would probably be more difficult than convincing the population to support such an attack
in “the duty not to follow orders,” and combat operations against Canada would involve fighting against fellow soldiers who shed blood beside them in Afghanistan and other theaters
Canadian and American soldiers have attended a great number of one another’s funerals
The Trump administration fired the commander of a Space Force base in Greenland the moment she expressed a position wavering from his annexationist aims there
The Naval Academy has already purged its library and canceled various speakers
military’s leaders are on board with the ideological purification of their institutions
The conditions required for the occupation of Canada would also mean the end of American democracy
military adventure might even have both objectives in view
“The orchestration of a security crisis allows the incumbent government to declare emergency powers and bypass ordinary politics,” Ahmad said
“The Trump administration has already signaled that it wants a third term.” The 2028 election will be a watershed
a manufactured emergency over Canada would be a convenient excuse for overturning the constitutional barriers
Nobody wants to believe that a continental conflict could happen. Very few Ukrainians, right up until the point of Russia’s 2022 invasion, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/21/why-ukrainians-dont-believe-in-war-with-russia-distrust-west">believed</a> that their malignant neighbor would invade
Reflecting on U.S.-Canadian relations in happier times
Kennedy said: “Geography has made us neighbors
The occupation of Canada would destroy America
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but he’s taking things much further than anyone has before
Photo-Illustration by The Atlantic*May 1, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0010:08Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
Behind closed doors, the late Henry Kissinger left no doubt about how little he valued human rights. Exhibit A is the conversation he had with his boss, President Richard Nixon, on March 1, 1973, which was caught, <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/the-untapped-wealth-of-secrets-in-the-nixon-tapes/374868/">like so much else</a>
The two have just said goodbye to Golda Meir
and they are casually discussing a matter that came up during her White House visit: whether the administration should do anything to help Soviet Jews
a population persecuted in their country but also denied the possibility of leaving it
“The emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union is not an objective of American foreign policy,” Secretary of State Kissinger asserts
“And if they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union
Coming from a Jewish man who fled Nazi Germany in 1938 and found refuge in the United States
the purest distillation of the chessboard logic of his realpolitik diplomatic philosophy: When it comes to dealing with other countries
pragmatism must prevail; there is no room for morality
for America’s “missionary vigor,” as he scornfully called it in his book Diplomacy
Perhaps no other American statesman has ever disdained the role of idealism in foreign policy—the meddling of human-rights activists and democracy crusaders—quite like Kissinger
In just the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term
not only has the president sidestepped those annoying do-gooders Kissinger had to contend with
but he has pretty definitively blown them away with a few robust huffs and puffs
which Kissinger could have only dreamed about
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/america-trump-authoritarianism-global/682528/">Adrienne LaFrance: A ticking clock on American freedom</a>
He certainly had negative feelings about human rights
but that was because they were a bothersome obstacle to an overriding goal: world stability and the avoidance of nuclear war
by maintaining a balance of power among major states based on intersecting webs of self-interest
he might keep at bay the forces of geopolitical chaos and unpredictability
If a few Soviet Jews had to go to the gas chambers as collateral damage
a price worth paying for the greater good of avoiding a showdown with the Soviet Union that could blow up the world
Though this represented transactionalism toward a greater purpose—morally corrupting though it may have been—what we are seeing now is transactionalism all the way down
Trump seems to want to sweep aside moral concerns not because they preclude the new world order he envisions
but because he believes they are inherently worthless—or
the fruits of a “radical political ideology.” This is not to say that past presidents were necessarily more idealistic at their core (though Jimmy Carter probably was)
They found ways to use human rights and democracy promotion as rhetorical weapons for achieving their own global aims—such as Ronald Reagan’s attack on communism as a godless and immoral system
Bush’s framing of the Iraq War as part of a grand strategy to bring democracy to the Middle East
and the United States needs to assert itself as the biggest dog
I asked Jeremi Suri, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780674032521">Henry Kissinger and the American Century</a>
to imagine these past 100 days from Kissinger’s perspective
“He would have been happy to see an emphasis on power over ideals,” Suri said
“He long criticized the United States for having this Wilsonian obsession and placing the soft elements
ahead of the power elements.” And Kissinger would have appreciated Trump’s emphasis on powerful nations and contempt for international bodies
such as the European Union and the United Nations
which the statesman considered “a nuisance at best,” Suri said
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/12/henry-kissinger-failures/676275/">Stephen Sestanovich: The humbling of Henry Kissinger</a>
(It’s not so hard to imagine Trump saying a similar thing after Canada’s recent parliamentary election
in which the winning Liberal party won roughly 44 percent of the vote.)
The military coup that Kissinger helped foment in Chile, which ushered in the brutal regime of <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/09/chile-coup-democracy-1988-pinochet/675275/">Augusto Pinochet</a>
only further destabilized the region (and undermined his larger goal of global stability)
Where his approach was more effective—more enduring and less Trumpy—was in bringing about “systemic shifts” in world power
as Suri put it: détente with the Soviet Union (those Jews be damned); the diplomatic opening to China (tens of millions of Mao’s victims be damned)
but at least these moves were based on a strategy of arriving at more security and calm
Whether this was a worthy trade-off is the question that Kissinger’s legacy leaves us with
What he would never have anticipated is a world in which the “missionary” strain in American foreign policy would cease to be a factor at all. The idealists were foils for Kissinger, even when they called him a “war criminal,” as Christopher Hitchens <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.c-span.org/clip/qa/christopher-hitchens-on-henry-kissinger/4525859">did</a>
But Kissinger knew they existed as a countervailing force
What does it mean that this might no longer be the case
more self-interested version of realpolitik is upon us
An NPR <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/18/nx-s1-5357511/state-department-human-rights-report-cuts">story</a> on the new changes at the State Department contained a particularly chilling detail: According to a memo
employees were asked to “streamline” the annual human-rights reports issued by the department
so that they might align with “recently issued Executive Orders.” In practice
the reports should be scrubbed of references such as those to prison abuses
and locking up dissidents without due process
They should now contain only the minimum that was legally mandated by Congress
whose penal system has become a dumping ground for migrants deported from the United States
there will be no details on the conditions in those prisons
where Trump has a strongman ally in Viktor Orbán
the section titled “Corruption in Government” is to be struck
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/04/trumps-garden-heroes-replaces-inquiry-worship/682435/">Read: Looks like Mussolini, quacks like Mussolini</a>
*Illustration Sources: White House / CNP / Getty; Tom Chalky / Digital Vintage Library; Alex Wroblewski / Tetiana Dzhafarova / AFP / Getty; Getty
Photo-illustration by Alma Haser. Source: Brandon Bell / Getty.April 29, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0011:45Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
Donald Trump promised his supporters that he’d have “the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history.” And
his second administration certainly hasn’t been ordinary
Historians tend to rate presidencies by the breadth of their accomplishments
on a scale ranging from ineffectual to transformative
The classic measuring stick for 100-day achievements is the presidency of Franklin D
The frenetic first stretch of the New Deal featured a raft of major legislation that established new financial regulations and ambitious public-works projects
helping the economy begin to recover from the Great Depression
the first 100 days of the second Trump term can be deemed a miserable failure
The president has passed no major legislation
and his economic interventions have had the opposite effect of Roosevelt’s
injecting uncertainty into a healthy recovery and seeding an economic crisis
Yet his presidency has still been consequential
and realigned America against its traditional friends
Because Trump’s goals are so historically aberrant
the traditional measure of presidential achievement is of hardly any use
His Carter-esque record as legislator and economic steward stands in stark contrast to his Lenin-esque record in stamping out opposition
Trump’s 2024 victory paved the way for a traditionally successful presidency with broad popularity and concrete policy achievements
and numbed Democrats retreated into self-doubt; some of them concluded that their best path forward lay in working with the new president
Congress formed a bipartisan DOGE caucus of members eager to eliminate inefficiencies in government
at the time perhaps the Democratic Party’s best-positioned 2028 presidential contender
sent a letter to Trump offering cooperation
Trump never tested the possibilities for constructive engagement
The president laid bare his thought process in his speech to Congress early last month
and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy,” he complained
“I could find a cure to the most devastating disease—a disease that would wipe out entire nations—or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history.”
The available evidence suggests that Trump could never imagine supporting a piece of legislation proposed by a political opponent merely because it advanced some worthwhile policy goal
(That is why passing an infrastructure bill and bolstering domestic manufacturing of silicon chips ranked among Trump’s highest stated priorities
until President Joe Biden passed these ideas into law
at which point they became disasters to be repealed.) And so
the ability to disappear people who may or may not have committed crimes
and may or may not even reside in the country illegally
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/trump-constitution-abrego-garcia/682487/">Jonathan Chait: A loophole that would swallow the Constitution</a>
Trump has inscribed a double standard into law enforcement
through generous pardons of allies and selective enforcement
he has cleared the way for systematic corruption
he is laying the groundwork to ignore court orders that go against him and to construct an extralegal regime in which laws bind only his enemies
Trump’s allies do not recognize any legitimate place for democratic opposition. They have <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/trump-constitution-abrego-garcia/682487/">come to see</a> all of progressivism as a false consciousness implanted in an unwitting populace by a handful of puppet masters in academia
Trump and his inner circle have consciously patterned themselves after Viktor Orbán’s regime in Hungary
which seized control of the commanding heights of government power to suppress opposition
while permitting its president and his family to siphon vast corrupt fortunes
The Orbánization project has advanced like clockwork
But one detail seems to have escaped the attention of Trump and his allies: Hungary
whatever benefits the Orbán model presented to the right-wing ruling class that would carry it out
it held little promise of helping to usher in the “golden age” of prosperity Trump offered the country
Almost every personnel decision he has made has prioritized the consolidation of power over traditional governing skills
The trade-off between loyalty and competence has already been evident
Trump’s first major domestic-policy decision was to hand nearly carte-blanche power to Elon Musk
a man whose limited knowledge of government was exacerbated by a boundless ego and a weakness for conspiracy theories
Musk first promised to cut the federal budget by $2 trillion
a target he revised downward to $1 trillion and then
almost certainly overstates the actual savings Musk has accomplished
by cutting such functions as IRS tax collection
the DOGE project could very well end up costing the government much more than it saves
Musk has managed to wreak havoc within the federal bureaucracy through sheer chaos
His worse-than-random managerial methods of wanton demoralization and targeting probationary employees (a category that includes not only new hires but many longtime civil servants who have received recent promotions) have stripped the workforce of some of its best talent
The administration’s deep cuts to scientific and medical research have been compounded by Trump’s decision to hand control of public health to Robert F
and to sic immigration enforcement on foreign students and professors
some of whom play key roles in American scientific research
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/05/viktor-orban-hungary-maga-corruption/682111/">From the May 2025 issue: Orbán’s Hungary could be America’s future</a>
this result is the product of design rather than incompetence: Trump regards scientists and other experts as an enemy class
one he seeks to repress in order to pursue his political goals
Trump’s ineptitude has been most obvious in the prosecution of his trade war against the planet
His allies cast this as a negotiating strategy
requires him to use the “madman theory” to gain leverage by scaring the rest of the world into thinking he is crazy enough to instigate a global economic recession
while simultaneously reassuring American businesses that he is not
He has accordingly caromed between bluster and retreat
economy to absorb nearly all the costs of a total trade war without having any chance to capture whatever theoretical benefit Trump hopes to achieve
providing a taste of the hostile world stage Trump has built for himself
In the meantime, the trade war has caused domestic inflation expectations to <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2025/20250414#:~:text=Stock%20price%20expectations%20declined%20and%20reached%20the%20lowest%20level%20since%20June%202022.&amp;text=Median%20inflation%20expectations%20increased%20by,five%2Dyear%2Dahead%20horizon.">rise</a>
forcing the Federal Reserve to pause its plans to reduce interest rates
Trump’s initial instinct to this setback was to fulminate against Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell
as if removing the person trying to manage the predicament Trump caused would eliminate the predicament itself
That impulse underscores the degree to which Trump has bungled the issue that played the largest single role in getting him elected: discontent over pandemic-induced inflation
Rather than recognize the precarious source of his victory
he has treated it as a mandate to wage authoritarian culture war
The consequences of Trump’s mismanagement lay almost entirely ahead
The hammer blows to bureaucratic functioning have only begun to take effect
and there’s no telling what routine tasks or emergency responses will collapse later
Unless Trump reverses course both quickly (which he probably does not desire) and deftly (which requires a level of skill that he probably does not possess)
the economy will undergo consequences ranging from a stagflationary slowdown to a full-on recession
Trump’s first 100 days have set the country on an unsustainable course. The clash between the president’s determination to rule and his inability to govern has generated two opposing forces: a weaponized, illiberal state, and a smoldering political backlash. One of them will have to break.
Richard Jopson / Camera Press / ReduxApril 30, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:009:55Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
after it became clear that the Trump administration would not be facilitating the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran megaprison
He’d voted for Donald Trump in each of the past three presidential elections
“Trump might be taking it too far,” my friend replied
“he’s a man of action and we wanted change.”
But even as Trump’s critics cheer the apparent change of heart among some of his supporters
they face an inconvenient reality: Many of his voters are jubilant
the first 100 days of Trump’s second presidency have been a procession of fulfilled campaign promises—and have brought the country not to the precipice of economic ruin or democratic collapse
They see Trump as ushering in a new era of action
according to my conversations with several Trump supporters and pollsters in recent days
“Even if they don’t agree with everything he’s doing
and something is better than nothing,” Rich Thau
the president of the nonpartisan qualitative-research firm Engagious
The new administration says that ICE has so far carried out 66,000 deportations
a rate that is lower than that of previous administrations but that is partly the result of historically low border crossings
“It’s a night-and-day difference” from the Biden administration
a 24-year-old college student from Fort Lauderdale
Cadet voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but switched to Trump in 2024
partly because he felt that Democrats had moved too far left and partly because he thought that Biden simply hadn’t done enough to address illegal immigration
Trump’s “immediate action is something I would have appreciated from a Democrat,” he said
In the early days of the new administration
Cadet regularly called a friend to discuss Trump’s executive orders on immigration
The two would joke that they should cancel their Netflix subscriptions and tune in to Trump instead “because watching everything he does is kind of hilarious.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/02/trump-busy-second-term/681664/">Read: Donald Trump is very busy</a>
it just happens.” My own interviews reflected a similar sentiment
“How many presidents have tried to implement everything they said they wanted to accomplish instead of backpedaling?” Timothy Hance
a 34-year-old manufacturing assembler from Ottumwa
For some Trump voters, this yearning for action makes them willing to indulge more authoritarian impulses. Self-identified MAGA Republicans are about twice as likely as Americans overall to say that detaining legal residents by mistake is “acceptable,” according to a <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-poll-trump-100-days-tariffs/">new CBS poll</a>
And although most of the Trump supporters I interviewed were not keen on the possibility of sending American citizens convicted of crimes to jail in another country
the humane thing would be for us to send them away,” Hance told me
(He also suggested that Trump should plow through the court orders from “activist judges” holding up deportations
But the still-high tariffs on Chinese goods are an important course correction and worth any discomfort they might cause
You can’t build car plants in two days,” Jerry Helmer
the chair of the Sauk County Republican Party
the leader of a pro-Trump grassroots group in Luzerne County
likened the short-term pain from the tariffs to subsisting on ramen noodles in college—or switching to a healthier diet
“There’s a little pain and suffering to make sure I don’t lose any more toes.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/maga-voters-economic-concerns/681913/">Read: The Trump voters who are losing patience</a>
Some of Trump’s staunchest defenders acknowledged to me that they might reassess their loyalty if a forthcoming trade war results in an untenable increase in their cost of living
said that they find it difficult to even fathom such a red line
He’d rethink his support for Trump “if that was banned.”
Of course, Trump and his Republican allies cannot afford to make appeals to only their most ardent supporters. Not everyone is interested in the belt-cinching that tariffs might require. Overall, Americans are unhappy with the nation’s economy, and 59 percent of the public now say that Trump has made economic conditions worse, according to a CNN <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/28/politics/poll-trump-economy-tariffs/index.html">survey</a> released on Monday
“Even folks who like him and think that he has good ideas tell us in focus groups that they hope they don’t have to pay a lot in tariffs,” Margie Omero
a pollster at the Democratic research firm GBAO
In a recent focus group that Omero conducted of 13 independents who had voted for Trump in the 2024 election
most participants gave the president a B or C grade
although none of them regretted their vote
Omero is right that many Americans probably haven’t paid much attention to the details of Trump’s first 100 days. But it’s also true that, if and when they eventually tune in, some of them are going to like what they hear.
or risk losing what makes our nation great
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic*April 30, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0011:49Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration. Listen to more stories on the Noa app.
Today the concept of academic freedom may seem obvious to Americans. But the roots of academic freedom, which can be traced back to medieval European universities, were never certain. Back then, when scholars demanded autonomy from Church and state, they were often rebuked—or worse.
Especially targeted by the administration have been international students.
At my university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at least nine members of our community—students, recent graduates, and postdocs—have had their visas and immigration status unexpectedly revoked. MIT’s president, Sally Kornbluth, recently sent a letter to our community, part of which read:
Our country, a relatively young country but a country weaned on freedom dating back to the American Revolution of 1775, has helped build the modern world, has helped human beings reach their fullest capacity and creativity. Academic freedom is what has made America great.
I have served on the faculties of several universities in America and visited a hundred more. And I have felt intellectually safe in all of them. More than safe, I have felt encouraged to express myself and to listen and debate and question. The ethos of academic freedom is subtle. It is a kind of liberation, a buoyancy of the spirit, a nourishment of the mind. It is a basking in the light.
Academic freedom is the greatest lesson we can give to our students. Our young people are shaping the future. Do we want them to be afraid to express their ideas? Do we want them to be afraid to explore, to invent, to challenge the status quo? Do we want them to be afraid of being who they are?
*Illustration sources: The Naturalist / Getty; mikroman6 / Getty; Huizeng Hu / Getty
In 2019, President Donald Trump asserted that cryptocurrency was <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192?lang=en">“highly volatile and based on thin air.”</a> The description is still highly accurate—but Trump seems to no longer believe it
he praises the crypto community as brimming with “the kind of spirit that built our country and is exciting to watch.”
What’s less predictable is how the president’s change of opinion could destabilize the American financial system
we talk with the Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowrey
about Trump’s plans to integrate crypto into the government and mainstream banking
What happens when Trump weakens regulation on a notoriously unstable currency
And when the crypto-induced financial crisis comes
The following is a transcript of the episode:
The price has not dipped since Donald Trump was elected—skyrocketing 40 percent in just the past two weeks
The president-elect vowing to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the planet.”
Hanna Rosin: Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have been around for a while now
And headlines about crypto always have a boom-and-bust quality: overnight billionaires and tech entrepreneurs
It wasn’t clear which way the crypto story was headed
because Trump opposed it in his first term
pushing to change regulations and create a world where crypto plays a much bigger role in Wall Street and in Washington—all while he and his family stand to profit from crypto investments of their own
And this week on Radio Atlantic: crypto in the new Trump era
With so many high-stakes changes coming from the administration
Annie Lowrey: There’s just so many things going on right now
and people are so excited about some things and so upset by other things
Rosin: That’s Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowrey
and she’s here to tell us why we shouldn’t lose sight of this one
because what Trump is proposing could have real risks for all of us
And the people who are paying the most attention are the ones pushing for it to happen
So the people that members of Congress are going to hear from are the crypto people
Rosin: So let me just start basic: What was the initial idea of cryptocurrency
Lowrey: Cryptocurrency initially started as basically a way to create a financial structure outside of governments and outside of the banking system
Andreas Antonopoulos: Bitcoin is disruption
It’s disruption on a scale that most people haven’t even begun to imagine
News reporter: In the world of libertarian high techies
skepticism about government-issued paper money abounds
Completely decentralized money with no borders
Brock Pierce: Every industry in the world is going to be affected
an investment—perhaps something that you could put money in and get more money back later—and also a financial technology that would allow people to transfer money between each other without having to go through the kind of financial conduits that are controlled by governments and banks
Don Tapscott: For the first time now in human history
people everywhere can trust each other and transact peer to peer
Lowrey: So a certain level of anonymity and privacy—that you wouldn’t necessarily have
Uncle Sam looking over your shoulder—and again
just something that was outside the aegis of the system that a lot of early crypto adopters really felt was suspect
Antonopoulos: Bitcoin is about the other 6 billion
Lowrey: There were some other kind of kookier ideas out there too
right: that this would come to supplant the dollar; that
this would be a way to rebuild the entire globe’s financial architecture
I think none of that is true at this point
and I feel like the idea of crypto has in some ways gotten smaller and smaller and smaller
Lowrey: When I say that the idea has gotten smaller
I think that unless you are a die-hard crypto booster in Silicon Valley or elsewhere
that this is going to supplant the global financial ecosystem
that this is going to lead to the demise of the dollar and the euro and the yen
that this is going to eliminate banking and radically change how we use money
So I’m going to buy and hold with the hope that it’s going to go up in price
I’m going to bet against it and hope that it’s going to go down
Or I’m going to invest in these crypto companies
and I think this one is going to make a lot more money than that one
And I would note that I feel like people somehow underrate the degree to which crypto remains a foundational part of black markets
It’s been a big part of our regulatory skepticism and legal skepticism of it—is that it is used for human trafficking
And a lot of crypto activity happens outside of the United States precisely because companies cannot or do not want to comply with American securities and banking laws
“speculative instrument.” What does that mean exactly
Lowrey: But we say it’s a speculative asset
it’s a price that is unusual in the sense that it’s completely untethered
So when we think about investments in general—so a stock
I’m not just getting the value of the stock itself; I’m getting the money that that company is going to remit to shareholders
The value of the stock and the amount of money that’s going to get remitted to shareholders is based on the company’s core financials
Bitcoin is different in the sense that there’s nothing underneath at all
There’s no way in which it’s generating and throwing off cash over time
which is a really speculative asset in the same way—gold itself does have
I know it sounds weird and alarming and virtual
but why is that an important thing to think about
a thing that we’ve all agreed is worth a certain thing that can be traded for other things
So why does it matter that there is no there there with bitcoin
Lowrey: It means that the price is purely speculative and completely and only based—literally only solely based—on interest in the asset
We’re all moving to ether or another cryptocurrency
There’s nothing underlying the value of bitcoin
If bitcoin had some beating heart of an investment
it was an apartment building where you could rent the apartments out
it was a farm where you could eat or sell the apples
any of a million other things I could think of—there would still be some base value to it
And the thing with crypto is that there’s nothing
smaller cryptocurrencies just completely crash and burn
And so it means that they’re much more volatile
and it also means that they’re harder to assess the value of
It’s just literally a bet on who’s going to want it at what price
in your voice—you haven’t said this yet—but I think what I’m starting to understand is it’s: The volatility probably makes everything more risky
and makes it more vulnerable to manipulation
And so if we were talking about somebody that we wanted to advise to have investments but to have pretty safe investments
And bonds are low risk because they come with these kind of steady income streams—even
you’re going to need the government to decide not to pay the bondholder in order for that to be a bad investment in some cases
And there’s sort of—I’m simplifying a lot here
you might be pretty confident that the price is going somewhere
and it’s like you’re in a room in which you’re trying to suss out what everybody else is trying to do
it has boomed and busted and boomed and busted and boomed and busted
and it’s boomingish right now but kind of busting a little bit at the moment
If you remember back to just a few years ago
crypto had this big mainstream advertising push
The Staples Center was renamed the Crypto.com Arena
You started to see ads on television challenging people to embrace risk and invest in crypto
Matt Damon: History is filled with “almosts,” with those who almost adventured
there were these ads with LeBron James and Larry David that were hawking crypto
It’s a safe and easy way to get into crypto
which was Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto mega-exchange
And that fed a giant blowup in the crypto market
crypto or digital currencies have now lost $2 trillion in value after peaking at $3 trillion in November 2021
Lowrey: One thing that I’ve also <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/black-investors-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-crash/671750/">written about</a> is that
you had a lot of targeted advertising in Black communities
which were slow to adopt crypto—kind of late to get in
But there was a ton of advertisement basically
kind of making this argument to Black folks who might have been kind of skeptical investors that this was their chance outside of
financial companies that had redlined them and hadn’t treated them fairly—that this was their big opportunity
And because there’s such great racial wealth disparities in this country
I think that this was a very kind of attractive case
and a lot of Black folks bought in when the bubble was about to burst
right—when the bubble was getting blown up
they bought in when crypto was really expensive
and then they saw the price of their investment crater
Rosin: So into this boom-bust world of incredible volatility walks Donald Trump
What does his return to office mean for crypto
Lowrey: So Donald Trump had been a <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/01/donald-trump-crypto-billionaire/681388/">crypto hater</a> for a long time
News clip: Trump <a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192?lang=en">tweeted</a> yesterday
“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies
and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”
His Trump Steaks and his Trump shoes and his Trump Bibles and his Trump University
And my sense of what happened by talking to people in this industry is that crypto folks began flattering Donald Trump, and they started sending him a ton of money, and they started setting up business ventures with his family members—<a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/09/trump-crypto-world-liberty-financial/679914/">with his sons</a>—and all of a sudden
probably more than any but just a couple handful of members of Congress
Donald Trump: The energy and passion of the crypto community is the kind of spirit that built our country
and it is exciting to watch as you invent the future of finance
Lowrey: And so he said he was going to make, you know, the United States the <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/27/us/politics/trump-bitcoin-crypto.html">crypto capital of the world</a>
He said that the Biden administration had basically been strangling this nascent industry and punishing it by attempting to get it to comply with United States securities laws and banking laws
Trump: Together we’ll make America the undisputed bitcoin superpower and the crypto capital of the world
But what if I never want to buy crypto or I never even want to think about it
you or I or anybody can go buy crypto assets
We can lose all our money on crypto if we want to
Crypto is not really knitted in with the American financial system
although that is changing slowly and is about to change quickly
And so when these really volatile assets crash
you can have a lot of kind of personal pain
A lot of people could personally get scammed
Donald Trump is planning on doing a few things
So first, he’s planning on cutting financial regulations for all financial businesses, so deregulating. He’s reducing financial regulatory enforcement through the SEC and the other alphabet-soup agencies that do that in the United States. He’s thinking about creating a <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/trump-crypto-capitalism/681919/">crypto reserve</a>
so using public assets to purchase bitcoin
And then he’s promised to sign a bill that would change the regulatory status of crypto
it’s also worth noting that his family and he are kind of in the crypto business now
They’re staked in a company called World Liberty Financial
His older sons recently invested in a [bitcoin]-mining operation
which cratered in value but appears to have made his family and their partners a lot of money
And so all of these things are happening at once
And the thing that I fear is that you could end up with less price volatility because you have this kind of stable government investment and this government interest—now a public interest—in stable crypto prices
It could be the taxpayer that’s called on to bail out crypto businesses
And I worry that Donald Trump is taking risk away from crypto investors—particularly big crypto magnates—and is putting it on the American taxpayer
the citizen is going to have those benefits redound to them
and whoever invested in it just took on the risk themselves
It wasn’t integrated in the American economy in any particular way
Is that one of the things Trump is changing
there had been an argument from the crypto industry that crypto assets were different than the assets that were regulated by financial regulators like the CFTC and the SEC—basically that crypto needed its own legislation
and securities are regulated by me here at the Securities and Exchange Commission
We need all of you to comply with securities laws
News reader: SEC Chair Gary Gensler describing the world of cryptocurrencies as the “Wild West.”
Lowrey: And I think to give the crypto industry some benefit of the doubt on this
How does this rule exactly apply for a bunch of really technical reasons
there were lots of crypto companies in the United States
the financial system was mostly protected from this quite scammy
in part because Main Street and Wall Street banks declined to do a lot of business with crypto firms
because of questions about how they would be regulated
Would they get into trouble with their regulators
And that’s really one of the things that’s changing now that we’re on the precipice of pro-crypto legislation coming out that
is going to dramatically increase risk in the American financial system
Rosin: When we’re back: What does a crypto-doomsday scenario look like
I promised to make America the bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet
and we’re taking historic action to deliver on that promise
I signed an executive order officially creating our strategic bitcoin reserve
And this will be a virtual Fort Knox for digital gold to be housed within the United States Treasury
one thing you said that isn’t so clear to me: You mentioned a bitcoin reserve
Lowrey: I wish I had a great answer for this
we don’t know yet—but the plan is to take $100 billion or so and to buy bitcoin and ether and a bunch of other cryptocurrencies
And the U.S. government <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://dune.com/21co/us-gov-bitcoin-holdings">owns</a>
roughly $20 billion of cryptocurrency that it has seized as a civil-asset forfeiture or in criminal cases
And look—the United States has a bunch of strategic reserves for strategically important goods
So petroleum: They will release that when gas prices spike because of crude-oil shortages
We have strategic stockpiles of kinds of pharmaceuticals
certain minerals that are important in defense
what’s the strategic point of the United States holding crypto
huge boon—huge giveaway—to the crypto industry
so you have inched towards answering my big question
which is: Let’s say I never plan to buy or even think about crypto
The first has to do with public corruption
taken a stake in this venture where we’ve had a foreign national with involvement with the American legal system
regulatory system effectively buying him off
Members of his family or representatives of his family have reportedly been holding talks to take a stake in the U.S
which is the world’s biggest crypto exchange
That’s a company that pled guilty to violating American money-laundering laws
My favorite fact about Binance is that it will not even name what jurisdiction it is based in
And the founder of Binance pled guilty to violating money-laundering rules and is reportedly seeking a pardon from Donald Trump
Rosin: So that’s effectively just another way in which we are becoming a corrupt
this is like the Trump Hotel next to the White House on steroids
And I worry about President Trump and his agents in office not acting in the public interest in ways that might be opaque
more material big problem that I’m worried about: So say you don’t have any investment in bitcoin
The thing that I am worried about is that Wall Street firms
will take the pro-crypto legislation and they will reformat parts of their business as crypto businesses in order to skirt financial regulations
aren’t they regulated by the CFTC and the SEC and OCC and the Fed and Treasury
financial industry excels in regulatory arbitrage
is figure out how to get out from regulations
And so I worry about them investing in crypto
I think that that’ll be somewhat self-limiting
Lowrey: I worry about bitcoin being today’s credit-default swap
I worry about it being the instrument that—through its lack of regulation
the lit match with a lot of kindling around
And that could be affecting people who have nothing to do with crypto
who don’t have crypto investments but have a mortgage or have a retirement account or
want to open a business by getting a small-business loan
if we increase risk in an opaque way in the financial system and reduce trust in it
and that’s exactly what I was going to say
The reason it doesn’t sound outlandish is because we all lived through the subprime-mortgage crisis
that there were a whole bunch of things happening behind the scenes
but they did turn out to deeply affect the average American
and not just people who are out there speculating
Lowrey: And that really was a fin-reg problem
really made the system safer and has held up
We have a lot of soul searching and response to that
and yet that doesn’t really matter at this moment
we’re not reading the crypto crisis coming in exactly that same way
Lowrey: I think crypto is seen as this fringy
And I think that history repeats itself and we forget so often
So one of the things that Dodd-Frank did was it set up this little institution in Washington called the CFPB
because there was a recognition that the many financial regulators that the United States has—from the Fed to kind of obscure ones like OCC and
important ones like FDIC—they’re not really consumer facing
And so they set up an organization that was really aimed at consumers
and would not just help consumers who are getting ripped off by financial firms but would also watch for problems
Lowrey: And then could communicate those problems to the Fed and Treasury and other organizations that could maybe do something about it
So we did set up guardrails that are now just destroyed
Lowrey: Destroyed or in the process of being destroyed
but the Trump administration has functionally closed the CFPB
Lowrey: The other risk with crypto—and in some ways
I think people underrate this—but it’s really scammy
There are a lot of companies that kind of get set up overnight
and they target people who might not have a lot of savvy
if you or I walked into a bank and we said
I want to send $10,000 to somebody in Southeast Asia
that would trigger a bunch of internal flags
both within the bank and also regulatory flags
Are you absolutely positive you want to do that
looking for a boyfriend on Hinge or a girlfriend on Bumble who are getting scammed
people can lose their entire life savings in—you know
But then there’s also businesses that get set up that completely misrepresent what they’re doing and scam larger numbers of people
Lowrey: Yeah, it’s so bad. So, you know, it was just a couple weeks ago. Probably most people didn’t notice this. But, you know, there was a Dubai-based exchange called Bybit that got <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/technology/bybit-crypto-hack-north-korea.html">hacked</a>
which is run out of North Korea—out of the North Korean military dictatorship
There’s a tremendous amount of state-sanctioned theft
state-sanctioned terrorism that runs through here
And one thing that I quite worry about is: If the United States government is invested in these crypto businesses
and these crypto businesses are sort of being under-regulated in the American system
what happens if China or North Korea or another adversarial country—or just
an adversarial terrorist group that isn’t state sponsored—comes in and decides to screw with the crypto markets
So one way in which this could happen is something—I’m not going to get into the details of it
because it’s very detailed—but it’s something called a “51 percent attack,” which is that in a given crypto market
if somebody can take over kind of 51 percent of a blockchain
they can control the whole blockchain and kind of change rules within it
But I don’t know—maybe if you have state resources
and maybe you want to do it now that Washington is going all in
going back to what we were talking about before
2007–08 and the global financial crisis: One thing that I worry about a little bit is
Donald Trump is not going to be president four years from now
Lowrey: (Laughs.) I’m going to put a small—according to current American law
he shouldn’t be president four years from now
Lowrey: And financial crises tend to take a long time to brew
Lowrey: It took a long time for the 2007–08 crisis to really kind of sink in and the conditions to come that
the markets are probably going to be fine for a while
It’s going to take a while for Congress to pass legislation
I really worry that it might not be the president after Trump
or the president after that or the president after that—that’s one thing that I really worry about
They’ll put a block in the slow brewing of collapse
I don’t think they’re going to bother to reinstate rules afterwards
Lowrey: Who is going to prioritize floor time in the House to make sure that they get all the little Dodd-Frank provisions back
The motivations run in the opposite direction
they’re suddenly making unregulated money through crypto
and why would anyone have the motivation to stop that train
I think it’ll take another financial crisis for them to fix it—
Rosin: This episode of Radio Atlantic was produced by Kevin Townsend and edited by Claudine Ebeid
We had engineering support from Rob Smierciak and fact-checking by Sara Krolewski
Claudine Ebeid is the executive producer of Atlantic audio
Listeners, if you like what you hear on Radio Atlantic, remember you can support our work and the work of all Atlantic journalists when you subscribe to The Atlantic at <a data-event-element="inline link" href="http://theatlantic.com/podsub">theatlantic.com/podsub</a>. That’s <a data-event-element="inline link" href="http://theatlantic.com/podsub">theatlantic.com/podsub</a>.
Illustration by Ben Kothe / The Atlantic. Sources: baona / Getty; Ayvan / Getty.May 2, 2025 ShareSave Listen-1.0x+0:0014:10Produced by ElevenLabs and <a class="ArticleAudio_link__bjoip" href="https://newsoveraudio.com/?offerId=atl_reader_exclusive_jks1kjl"> News Over Audio (Noa)</a> using AI narration
What if you took the least appealing aspects of traditional broadcast journalism—the self-absorption
the grandstanding—and sucked out any sense of conflict and challenge
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has invited MAGA-friendly influencers to ask her questions during a dedicated press briefing
The results should be deeply embarrassing for everyone involved
We all enjoy getting together with like-minded people to kvetch about petty grievances in our professional lives—that’s what keeps bars open—but most of us would have the sense not to do so in the White House
The first rule of the new-media briefing is that your question should include either personal thanks to her for inviting you
or a pro forma denunciation of the legacy media
The second rule of the new-media briefing is that your question should be
in the five words that conference organizers most dread
Yesterday, Jack Posobiec, perhaps best-known for <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/disinformation-propaganda-amplification-ampliganda/620334/">promoting the Pizzagate conspiracy theory</a>, asked a <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1917663765497073826">minute-long question</a> about how violent the far left was
and received a two-minute-long answer from Leavitt about how violent the far left was
Viewers also heard from Dom Lucre (who describes himself to his 1.5 million X followers as a “breaker of narratives”) asking if the White House would investigate “Barack Hussein Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton” for election-integrity offenses
“It’s refreshing to actually hear a question on election integrity, because the legacy media would never ask such a question,” Leavitt replied, ignoring the fact that the media asked quite a lot of questions about her boss’s well-documented efforts to pressure officials in <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.wabe.org/fulton-election-case/">Georgia</a> to declare him the winner there in 2020
“They’re so out of touch with where the American people are on this issue.”
although the barrage of safe questions and safe answers made it feel much longer
The obvious knock is that this is not journalism but entertainment
The trouble is that it’s not even particularly entertaining
who understands that jeopardy and drama equal ratings
would never be involved in something so dull
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/02/maga-likes-andrew-tate/681866/">Read: Why MAGA likes Andrew Tate</a>
Pool’s <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lockstep-on-false-narratives-right-wing-influencer-tim-pool-asks-wh-press-sec-about-unprofessional-media-behavior/vi-AA1DprJZ">question</a> to Leavitt was just culture-war content in a different form
“Many of the news organizations that are represented in this room have marched in lockstep on false narratives such as the ‘very fine people’ hoax
and now what’s being called the ‘Maryland man’ hoax
where an MS-13 gang member—adjudicated by two different judges
I believe—is just simply being referred to as a ‘Maryland man’ over and over again,” Pool said
wearing what looked like a hoodie with lapels
He was talking about Trump’s <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/apr/26/context-trumps-very-fine-people-both-sides-remarks/">explanation</a> of the white-supremacist violence in Charlottesville
and an incident two years later where students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky were wrongly accused of racism based on an out-of-context viral video
The most recent incident is the Trump administration’s decision to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia
As well as relitigating press coverage of these incidents
Pool wanted Leavitt to issue a wider condemnation of the traditional media
“In an effort from the White House to expand access to new companies
you’ve created this new-media seat,” Pool went on
adding that “you’ve had numerous outlets disparage the companies that you’ve had sit here
I’m wondering if you could comment on that unprofessional behavior as well as elaborate if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/03/trump-populism-britain/682055/">Read: The global populist right has a MAGA problem</a>
The MAGA-friendly influencers are happy to collude with the White House because it flatters them
portraying them as the only independent-minded bringers of truth
At the White House, Marshall <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14657935/Winston-Marshall-Mumford-Sons-Brits-speech-asylum-US.html">wanted</a> to talk about the state of free speech in Britain
Vance recently delivered a short homily to European leaders
there are people in prison for quite literally reposting memes,” Marshall told the press secretary
“We have extensive prison sentences for tweets
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/an-administrative-error-sends-a-man-to-a-salvadoran-prison/682254/">Nick Miroff: An ‘administrative error’ sends a Maryland father to a Salvadoran prison</a>
This is a legitimate point—in Britain we have far fewer speech protections than America, and the police here have <a data-event-element="inline link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/world/europe/uk-riots-speech.html">arrested</a> citizens for their social-media posts
But the alleged topic at hand was merely a setup for Marshall’s zinger: “Would the Trump administration consider political asylum for British citizens in such a situation?”
“I have not heard that proposed to the president nor have I spoken to him about that idea
and talk to our national-security team and see if it’s something the administration would entertain,” she replied
Let me decode that: Thank you for your absolute nonquestion
which you and I both understand was asked purely to be clipped and posted on social media
The reaction over here in Britain to Marshall’s showboating was rather less warm
“Why stop with free speech martyrs?” one friend texted me
“I think we should encourage all banjo players to seek asylum in the States.”
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/donald-trump-oval-office-interview-excerpts/682623/">Jeffrey Goldberg: Read </a><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/donald-trump-oval-office-interview-excerpts/682623/">The Atlantic</a><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/donald-trump-oval-office-interview-excerpts/682623/">’s interview with Donald Trump</a>
Other observations from the first day included: “It’s so refreshing to have a press secretary after the last few years who’s both intelligent and articulate” and “Great job this morning
and as always; you’re really crushing it.” Anytime someone crept close to a real question—asking when the promised border wall would be completed
or when Trump’s pledge of eliminating the federal income tax would be enacted—Leavitt simply brushed it aside
“This is something the secretary of commerce and the secretary of Treasury are both equally as excited about
as is the president,” Leavitt replied to the second inquiry
it’ll happen on about the seventh of never
“You’re a very high-profile young mother who seems to juggle and balance it all beautifully,” Lauren said
“What advice do you have to young parents out there who are starting their careers
and trying to find that balance so desperately?”
Almost everything about the Trump presidency can be understood as a quid pro quo. In the case of the influencers, they are offered access to all the awesome scenery of the White House—the perfect backdrop for any viral video—and the heady sense of being insiders. In return, all they have to do is ask questions that would make a Soviet propagandist blush.
Illustration by Akshita Chandra / The Atlantic
The share of jobs posted on Indeed in software programming has declined by more than 50 percent since 2022
For new grads hoping to start a career in tech
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/02/jobs-unemployment-big-freeze/681831/">Read: </a><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/02/jobs-unemployment-big-freeze/681831/">The job market is frozen</a>
The college wage premium was never going to rise forever
and the fact that non-college workers have done a little better since 2010 isn’t bad news; it’s actually great news for less educated workers
But the upshot is a labor market where the return on investment for college is more uncertain
The third theory is that the relatively weak labor market for college grads could be an early sign that artificial intelligence is starting to transform the economy
“When you think from first principles about what generative AI can do
it’s the kind of things that young college grads have done” in white-collar firms
“They read and synthesize information and data
a novel economic indicator: the recent-grad gap
It’s the difference between the unemployment of young college graduates and the overall labor force
young college graduates almost always have a lower—sometimes much lower—unemployment rate than the overall economy
because they are relatively cheap labor and have just spent four years marinating in a (theoretically) enriching environment
But last month’s recent-grad gap hit an all-time low
today’s college graduates are entering an economy that is relatively worse for young college grads than any month on record
as firms use the downturn to cut less efficient workers and squeeze productivity from whatever technology is available
And even if employers aren’t directly substituting AI for human workers
high spending on AI infrastructure may be crowding out spending on new hires
Luckily for humans, though, skepticism of the strong interpretation is warranted. For one thing, supercharged productivity growth, which an intelligence explosion would likely produce, is hard to find in the data. For another, a New York Fed survey of firms <a data-event-element="inline link" href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2024/09/ai-and-the-labor-market-will-firms-hire-fire-or-retrain/">released</a> last year found that AI was having a negligible effect on hiring
told me she’s not seeing clear evidence of job displacement due to AI just yet
today’s grads are entering an uncertain economy where some businesses are so focused on tomorrow’s profit margin that they’re less willing to hire large numbers of entry-level workers
who “often take time to learn on the job.”
the labor market for young grads is flashing a yellow light
It could be the signal of short-term economic drag
or medium-term changes to the value of the college degree
or long-term changes to the relationship between people and AI
The German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) just announced the winning images for its annual members-only <a href="https://www.gdtfoto.de/seiten/gdt-nature-photographer-of-the-year-2025.html?lang=English">photo competition</a>
selected from more than 8,000 entries submitted by photographers from 11 countries
Contest organizers were once again kind enough to share some of their winning and honored photographs with us below
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A collection of amazing recent images made with the Hubble Space Telescope
Mourners of Pope Francis gathered at the Vatican
scenes from the the second weekend of Coachella 2025
and landscapes of the Earth’s arctic and subarctic regions
Images of the remarkable life of the first pope to come from the Americas