The insects’ sweet tooth should have made them easy to kill. But they outsmarted us with warp-speed evolution.

Sign up for The Weekly Planet, The Atlantic’s newsletter about living through climate change, here. Last year, Pakistan was hit with floods so devastating that they were hard to comprehend. In some areas, 15 inches of rain fell in a single day. And t

Russia’s unprovoked invasion is impossible to justify. Now is not the time to relent in helping Ukraine.

Every year at this time, viral college-acceptance videos start making the rounds, passed along from student to student, parent to parent, racking up views in the tens of millions. The videos—which have expanded their reach from YouTube to TikTok—foll

Nearly half a decade has elapsed since I last worked in the fashion industry, but one thing from my previous career remains a compulsion to this day: I look at people’s purses. In the brain space that might otherwise be occupied by dear childhood mem

One promising planet turned out not to have an atmosphere. But there are six more where it came from.

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the ne

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Pardon the intrusion, but I am asserting my right (s

Young people catch heat for being overly focused on personal identity, but they’ve got nothing on ChatGPT. Toy with the bot long enough, and you’ll notice that it has an awkward, self-regarding tic: “As an AI language model,” it often says, before ge

Among the many difficulties imposed upon America by the pandemic, the scourge of anti-vaccine sentiment—and the preventable deaths caused as result—ranks among the most frustrating, especially for infectious-disease doctors like me. People who are ho

The pope didn’t actually wear that great jacket, but a lot of people were ready to believe he did.

The best sessions of Dungeons & Dragons walk the line between stirring tales of teamwork and achingly nerdy jokes. A barbarian, a bard, a sorcerer, and a druid walk into an inn—what happens next? Why, deeds of derring-do, of course, or at least a bit

Yair Rosenberg on how the country got to this moment, and what coverage of the issue can miss

Ford’s electric Mustang, the Mach-E, is attracting an unusual bunch of drivers—including me.

Every visit I’ve ever made to Israel has included a screaming match with my relatives there. I know: They’re Israelis. It’s to be expected. It’s how they show love. But the fights always resulted from the gentlest of prodding on my part—about the occ

If the pandemic ought to have given us anything, it should have been a more universal empathy toward the condition of illness.

Editor’s Note: On the last Monday of each month, Lori Gottlieb answers a reader’s question about a problem, big or small. Have a question? Email her at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com. Don't want to miss a single column? Sign up to get “Dear Therapis

The U.S. requires parents to work in order to receive aid but does very little to enable parents to work—or workers to parent.

This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the ne

The Israeli prime minister and his radical allies pushed the country to the brink—and inspired the greatest mass movement in its history.

The machines may change the world as you know it. But first, they’ll write a sonnet based on your favorite cereal.

The January 6 jail anthem was a shocking addition to his repertoire. But our national attention span is so short that we’ve already moved on.

At the first rally of his 2024 campaign, the former president vowed vengeance. His fans loved it.

Did Trump and his buddy Vince McMahon turn politics upside down, or was it already that way?

In the premiere of its fourth and final season, the HBO show offered familiar beats but also a hint of a new direction.

After Donald Trump sabotaged the 2022 midterm elections for Republicans by endorsing unelectable extremists, a comforting narrative took root among GOP elites. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would offer a return to “normal” politics, continuing Trump’

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Good morning, and welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday