The Wonder Reader
Welcome to The Wonder Reader, a weekly guide to the new and classic Atlantic stories that will fascinate and delight you. Sign up for the newsletter here.
-
![]()
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. The Many Sides of Love
A collection of Atlantic stories that interrogate the idea
-
![]()
Ascent Xmedia / Getty The Thrill of the Quest
A roundup of essays in which Atlantic writers travel near and far to find what’s missing
-
-
![]()
Iuliia Bondar / Getty To Stay In or to Go Out
The cost-benefit analysis of weekend plans
-
![]()
Harold M. Lambert / Getty Reimagining the Meal
Dinner is whatever you want it to be, and that fact can be overwhelming or freeing.
-
![]()
Yuliya Taba / Getty How Americans Drink
Perspectives on moderate alcohol consumption have flip-flopped over the decades.
-
![]()
Justin Paget / Getty The Choices That Create Isolation
Everyday decisions accumulate into a life.
-
![]()
Ashley Cooper / Getty The Power of the Mental Workout
Reading, puzzles, and physical activity strengthen the mind in different ways.
-
-
![]()
H. Armstrong Roberts / Retrofile / Getty What Setting Personal Goals Is Really About
Ultimately, the point is to take more control of how you’re spending time.
-
![]()
Rosmarie Wirz / Getty The Strange Challenge of Small Talk
Unlike some other life skills, it doesn’t seem to get easier the more you practice.
-
![]()
Steven Errico / Getty Books and Movies to Sustain an Attention Span
Attention is hard to come by when you want it most.
-
![]()
Thomas Barwick / Getty Dining Out Isn’t What It Used to Be
Especially in major cities, the idea of simply walking into a restaurant and sitting down can seem quaint.
-
![]()
altrendo travel / Getty How Humans Handle Housework
Minimizing gender disparities in house chores means reconsidering some deeply held societal truths.
-
-
![]()
Moyo Studio / Getty The Long-Held Habits You Might Need to Reconsider
One of the most humbling parts of being alive is realizing you’ve been doing a simple thing wrong.
-
![]()
Shinko Music / Getty The Inner Lives of Musicians
Learning where famous artists sleep and what they eat is like finally glimpsing the unknowable.
-
![]()
Keystone View / FPG / Getty How Good Sleep Became a Business
Sleep is a universal human need, but there’s no universal solution to struggling with it.
-
![]()
Illustration by The Atlantic When Fancy Appliances Fall Short
Reassessing the tools we’ve long relied on, and the ones that claim to improve our lives
-
![]()
Annie Otzen / Getty Halloween Has Changed
We’ve strayed from the spirit of the holiday.
-
-
![]()
Ina Fassbender / Reuters The Real Differences Between Introverts and Extroverts
Understanding these two types of personalities can help us better understand how personality is formed.
-
![]()
Artur Widak / NurPhoto / Getty How to Find a New Hobby
And how to deal with being bad at it for a while
-
![]()
Charles Krupa / AP The Singular Wonder of October
“October is the month of painted leaves,” Thoreau wrote in 1862. “Their rich glow now flashes round the world.”
