The Atlantic
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L.A.'s Day at the Mercy of the Wind
Three wildfires are burning as an ominous weather forecast of gusty winds threatens to spread disaster across the region.<p>LOS ANGELES—As dawn nears on the West Coast the residents of America’s second largest city are in something like the opposite position of stranded sailors praying for wind to …
Santa AnaThe Long Game of Republican Economics
Corporate tax cuts are just the first step.<p>Here is a brief modern history of Republican attitudes toward the deficit. For eight years under an Obama presidency, Republicans foretold of a debt apocalypse and urged lawmakers to slash deficits by trillions of dollars. Under Trump, both GOP-controlled …
EqualityWhat's Missing From Reports on Alabama's Black Turnout
Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones will have to get significant numbers of black voters to the polls in order to win, but the state’s voter suppression will make that a tough task.<p>In order to understand democracy in the United States, take a moment to consider Alabama. In the good old heart of …
Jon OssoffFrank Lloyd Wright's Striking Pop-Cultural Legacy
One hundred and fifty years after the architect was born, the Ennis House is a testament to his continued influence—particularly onscreen.<p>The apartment of Rick Deckard in <i>Blade Runner</i>. The titular <i>House on Haunted Hill</i>, where Vincent Price’s character invites guests to survive a night of frights and …
Rick DeckardHow Much Longer Will Inmates Fight California’s Wildfires?
They’ve helped combat the flames since World War II. But with more—and more intense—fire seasons still ahead, a series of prison reforms have cut their ranks.<p>For a dollar an hour and credit toward early parole, more than 1,700 convicted felons fought on the front lines of the destructive wildfires …
PrisonWill Richard Nixon's Three-Pronged Defense Work for Trump?
As Mueller’s investigation heats up, the president is drawing directly from Nixon’s playbook. This time, it might actually succeed.<p>No president has loomed as large over Donald Trump as Richard Nixon. Since he launched his campaign, when Trump appealed to his own Silent Majority through calls for …
GovernmentThe Closing of the Republican Mind
The tax debate offers a clear measure of how deeply insular the GOP has become. It’s now governing solely of, by, and for Red America.<p>When Ronald Reagan passed his historic tax cut in 1981, he won support from 25 Democrats in the Senate and 113 in the House.<p>When George W. Bush passed his sweeping …
Republican PartyDid Climate Change Worsen the Southern California Fires?
Seven of the state’s 10 largest modern wildfires have occurred in the last 14 years.<p>Massive wildfires are raging across Southern California, threatening thousands of homes and cultural landmarks like the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Some of the largest fires were still barely contained by Wednesday …
Climate ChangeThe Atlantic Daily: Nightmare Scenario
Trump’s Jerusalem announcement, new allegations against Al Franken, California’s wildfires, and more<p>What We’re Following<p><b>Trump’s Big Move:</b> The president officially announced the U.S.’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as well as his intention to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. …
Al FrankenThis Is Fine
First responders saw L.A.’s latest fire as routine, but people watching on the Internet saw a glimpse of the apocalypse.<p>In video after video posted to Twitter and Snapchat early this morning, the scene near Los Angeles was the same: a stream of cars moving through the Sepulveda Pass on the 405 …
California Highway PatrolA Missing Piece Falls Into Place in the Saga of Michael Flynn
A whistleblower alleges that the former national-security adviser promised to that sanctions on Russia would be “ripped up.”<p>A whistleblower claims that then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn promised that sanctions on Russia would be “ripped up,” enabling a business project for which he’d …
Michael FlynnThe Atlantic Politics & Policy Daily: 'Enough Is Enough'
A group of Democratic senators called on Minnesota Senator Al Franken to resign, weeks after the former comedian was first accused of sexual misconduct.<p>Today in 5 Lines<p>A group of Democratic senators called on Minnesota Senator Al Franken to resign, weeks after the former comedian was first accused …
Donald TrumpFinally, a President Who Looks at Jerusalem Logically
It’s just too bad Trump left out one important detail.<p>President Trump was correct when he said Wednesday that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is “nothing more nor less than a recognition of reality—it is also the right thing to do.” In fact, the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as …
IsraelThe Jerusalem Announcement Won't Really Hurt America's Arab Alliances
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that Muslim-majority countries are in any real sense “pro-Muslim.”<p>Most Arab countries won’t care much about Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which might seem counterintuitive. The official announcement, though, comes at an important and …
Foreign PolicyTaylor Swift and Beyoncé Speak Through—Not to—the Media
Whether landing magazine covers or making political statements, stars are avoiding the scrutiny of traditional interviews.<p>Taylor Swift stares defiantly from the cover of her album <i>Reputation</i>, newsprint scrawled on the side. Taken together, the image and the title are a taunt to the media, to whom …
Met GalaI Believe Franken’s Accusers Because He Groped Me, Too
The Democratic Party needs to stand with women who have been harassed—and not defend the politicians who abused them.<p>In mid-November, a Los Angeles radio host named Leeann Tweeden stepped forward to claim that Senator Al Franken had shoved his tongue down her throat under the pretext of a rehearsal …
Al Franken2017 in Photos: A Look at the Middle Months
As the year comes to a close, it's time to take a look back at some of the most memorable events and images of 2017. Among the events covered in this essay (the second of a three-part photo summary of the year): Hurricane Harvey hits Texas, France elects a new president, wildfires rage in Portugal …
Grenfell TowerTrump's Jerusalem Plan Is a Deadly Provocation
He needs his base to fear minorities for their supposed crimes. And if he can’t find any, he’ll create them.<p>For Donald Trump, Muslim barbarism is a political strategy. It inspires the fear and hatred that binds him to his base. Muslim barbarism is so politically useful, in fact, that, when …
IsraelDoes She's Gotta Have It Live Up to Its Promise?
Four Atlantic writers discuss the Netflix adaptation of Spike Lee’s 1986 film, and the ways the series exceeds and falls short of its potential.<p>In his 1986 film <i>She’s Gotta Have It,</i> Spike Lee imagined the life of a fictional young, independent, polyamorous, black woman living in Brooklyn and trying …
TVThe Most Distant Supermassive Black Hole Ever Discovered
The light from the hot gas surrounding the celestial object took more than 13 billion years to reach Earth.<p>Scientists searching for astronomical objects in the early universe, not long after the Big Bang, have made a record-breaking, two-for-one discovery.<p>Using ground-based telescopes, a team of …
UniverseApparently This Is What a Swimming Dinosaur Looks Like
Its features are so strange that scientists originally thought it might be a fake.<p>At first, the fossil was smuggled out of Mongolia, as many dinosaurs are. It found its way to Japan, then Britain, then France. In 2015, the private collector who finally bought it contacted the paleontologist Pascal …
DinosaursCommon Misperceptions About the Human Body
As it turns out, some widely-held ideas about the human body are flat-out wrong. In fact, many scientific discoveries in the 19th century made their way into 20th-century textbooks, but have since been disproven. In this episode of <i>School Myths</i> by <i>The Atlantic</i>, we explore some of the new discoveries …
Human AnatomyYou Can Be an Evangelical and Reject Trump's Jerusalem Decision
Conservative evangelicals may see the embassy move as in line with their reading of scripture. But there’s more than one way to read scripture—and more than one scripture to read.<p>Few developments could have excited President Trump’s evangelical base more than his intention to move the U.S. embassy …
IsraelEmbracing Depravity
Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and Roy Moore are making it increasingly difficult for a moral person to be a loyal Republican.<p>On Tuesday, Republican Senator Jeff Flake wrote a $100 check to the campaign of Doug Jones, the Democrat contesting the Alabama Senate race against Republican Roy Moore. The …
Jeff FlakeSenate Democrats Call for Al Franken to Resign
They say the embattled Minnesota Senator should step down amid allegations of sexual misconduct.<p>Democratic senators, starting with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, called on embattled Senator Al Franken to resign Wednesday as a result of the increasing number of sexual-misconduct allegations …
Al FrankenHow the Kremlin Tried to Rig the Olympics, and Failed
A study in humiliation.<p>When the Russian national hockey team lost to Canada, seven to three, in the hockey quarterfinals of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, forward Alexander Ovechkin knew it would be bad. “Now the dirt will pour down on us,” he said at the time. The dirt poured down from the …
RussiaThe Deeper Significance of Bryan Singer's Firing
With the director’s dismissal from the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, it appears that what movie studios see as acceptable behavior is starting to change.<p>Bryan Singer—a director with credits like <i>X-Men</i>, <i>The Usual Suspects</i>, and <i>Superman Returns</i>—was fired Monday from the upcoming Fox film <i>Bohemian</i> …
HollywoodThe Preventable Problem That Schools Ignore
Educators are ill-equipped to help victims of dating violence.<p>Nearly 1.5 million high-school students in the U.S. are physically abused by dating partners every year. More than one-third of 10th-graders (35 percent) have been physically or verbally abused by dating partners, while a similar …
EmotionsThe Secrets That Product Packaging Reveals About Retail
“Tuna in a pouch was a huge disrupter,” and other observations from the editor of the trade publication Packaging Digest<p>In the mid-to-late 1800s, shoppers interested in purchasing many everyday products—from flour to crackers to pickles—usually had to ask store attendants to fish what they wanted …
U.S. Postal ServiceThe Futile Resistance Against Classroom Tech
Critics of laptops in schools aren’t prepared for the future of technology.<p>Imagine a classroom in the not-too-distant future. Textbooks, slideshows, and notes all interface neatly with devices that once called “phones” and “laptops”—but now those learning materials proliferate through desks, walls, …
Bruce Schneier