The ‘Consumer Socialism’ Trap
The wrong way to solve the affordability crisis
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty. 
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credit: Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Kevin Mazur / Getty; patstock / Getty. How Lizzo Became One of Pop Culture’s Great Flops
The singer is experiencing a new form of downward mobility—and she’s not alone.
Stefani Reynolds / AFP / Getty A President With More Control but Less Power
Slaughter is a necessary corrective to our age of unaccountable bureaucracy.
Mellon / Getty Prepare for Airplane Purgatory
The chances of getting stuck for hours in a grounded plane are soaring.
Brynn Anderson / AP The Alabamafication of National Politics
What the race between Doug Jones and Tommy Tuberville says about America’s past and future
Bettmann / Getty The Fourth of July That Saved My Family
My parents’ rescue at Entebbe taught me that freedom survives only because people choose to defend it.
Scott Olson / Getty What J. D. Vance Once Knew
Ten years ago, the vice president wrote that one day, voters would realize the truth about Donald Trump. That day has now arrived.
Alessandra Tarantino / AP Pope Leo’s July 4 Message to America Was Unmistakable
By spending the semiquincentennial mourning the plight of migrants, Leo sent a clear challenge to his native country.
Petr David Josek / AP
Opioid of the Masses (From 2016)
To many, Donald Trump feels good, but he can’t fix America’s growing social and cultural crisis, and the eventual comedown will be harsh.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Hulton Archive / Getty; ullstein bild / Getty; Universal Images Group / Getty. The Founders’ Guide to Happiness
Today people think of happiness as something that results from the pursuit of pleasure, but the Constitution’s Framers had other ideas. (From 2024)
Levi Brown / Trunk Archive Nutrition Science’s Most Preposterous Result
Studies show a mysterious health benefit to ice cream. Scientists don’t want to talk about it. (From 2023)
Nanna Heitmann / Magnum Teaching a Stone to Talk
Wherever there is stillness there is the still small voice, nature’s old song and dance … A meditation on silence and other matters. (From 1981)
Michael Parkin Gallery / Joan Warburton / Bridgeman Images
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Glasshouse Images / Getty radio atlantic•Episode 192American History as Rorschach Test
A new curriculum plays down America’s sins.
Tasos Katopodis / Stringer / Getty the david frum show•Episode 65The American Experiment Is Worth Believing In
The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, on America’s 250th anniversary and the American idea today. Plus: what we can learn from American history on this Fourth of July and City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism by Abram Van Engen.
Illustration by Renee Klahr / The Atlantic galaxy brain•Episode 35How Elon Musk Became More Powerful Than Ever
The authors of Muskism break down the beliefs, business strategy, and political influence behind the world’s richest man.
LIMITED SERIESAutocracy in America
There are authoritarian tactics already at work in the United States. To root them out, you have to know where to look.
Illustration by The Atlantic how to age up•Introducing How to Touch Grass
It may be time to rethink our relationships with our devices.
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