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.
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RKO Pictures / Getty Why the Holiday Movie Endures
Plus: 20 movie families to spend your holidays with
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Mihail Minea / 500px / Getty The Fate of Your Holiday-Season Returns
Their future doesn’t look too bright.
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Jose Luis Pelaez / Getty How to Love Winter a Little More
It’s about how you dress but also how you think.
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Darren Staples / Reuters What the Act of Crying Can Offer
“I think about tears as a doorway: an invitation to be fully human and to connect with others.”
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Joanne Imperio / The Atlantic Why Gift Giving Is So Stressful
An Atlantic guide to giving and receiving presents—without forgetting the joy of the process
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Pete Lomchid / Getty What Humans and Nature Get From Each Other
It’s not a coincidence that America is getting both lonelier and more indoorsy, an Atlantic writer argues.
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Marco Goran Romano What We Do With Our Faces
Why do Americans smile so much?
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Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Getty What Really Happens When You’re Sick
There’s an odd power in understanding the science behind colds and other illnesses.
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Annie Otzen / Getty A Halloween Reading List for Adults
Channeling the joy of the most childish holiday
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Charles Platiau / Reuters The Pleasures of Amateur Photography
Revisiting an ode to the camera from the Atlantic archives
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Charlie Riedel / AP ‘The Month of Painted Leaves’
An ode to October
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Brian Ulrich / Robert Koch Gallery Supermarkets Are More Than Stores
The everyday wonder of food shopping
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Daniel Zender Low Stakes, High Drama
Some of our writers’ most entertaining—and controversial—opinions on everyday matters
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Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. When Kitchen Appliances Feel Stuck in Time
A reading list on our relationship with our gadgets
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Yannick Schuette / Connected Archives How Siblings Shape Who We Are
For many of us, these relationships are the longest of our life.
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Getty Why Persuading People to Give Up Meat Is So Hard
Scientists have made impressive breakthroughs in lab-grown meat, but consumption of the real thing is more popular than ever.
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Minnesota Historical Society The Journey of the American Shopper
An Atlantic analysis of consumption over the years, from the mall to the Amazon package
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Sir Edward John Poynter / Fine Art Photographic … The Rules of Flaking on Plans
Atlantic writers explain how to do it kindly and gracefully.
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James Leynse / Corbis / Getty Why We Drink What We Drink
Physiology, habit, and marketing all play a role.
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Nikita Teryoshin An Atlantic Reading List on Pets
The animals we love are playing a more and more pivotal role in modern life.
