The Rise of CliffsNotes Cinema
Oversimplified literary remakes miss the point of the works they are adapting.
Culture
Why Justin Bieber Played YouTube Onstage for Thousands of People
The pop star transformed the normal act of browsing your laptop into something interesting—and unsettling.
The New Age of Performance Anxiety
With the rise of screen culture, all the world has stage fright.
Where Did ‘Let Them’ Come From?
Years before Mel Robbins published her best-selling self-help book, a struggling writer posted a poem with a similar message.
The Director Who Fell in Love With Losers
Benny Safdie has built a career by capturing men on the downswing.
So Much Madeira
What the Founding Fathers ate—and drank—on July 4, 1777
Behind The Atlantic’s November 2025 Issue Cover
Capturing the Revolutionary era in its complexity, contradictions, and ingenuity. Plus: A guide to the figures.
You Have No Idea How Hard It Is to Be a Reenactor
Benedict Arnold’s boot wouldn’t come off, and other hardships from my weekend in the Revolutionary War.
Why Did Benjamin Franklin’s Son Remain Loyal to the British?
One of the most influential and ardent Patriots couldn’t persuade his son to join the Revolution.
What We Learned Filming The American Revolution
The co-directors of the new PBS series describe how they made a documentary about a war distant in time and shrouded in myth.
The Myth of Mad King George
He was denounced by rebel propagandists as a tyrant and remembered by Americans as a reactionary dolt. Who was he really?
Dear James: I’m Tired of the Religious Platitudes
Does this make me a bad person?
SNL Is Reading the Room
The show opened its 51st season by making a case for its pop-culture savviness.
After Balthus
A poem