J. D. Vance’s Bad Answer to an Anti-Semitic Question
The vice president will need to choose between accommodating and rejecting the right’s anti-Semites.
The Powerful, Unpredictable Nature of Fear
Halloween is the perfect time to think more deeply about the role it plays in our lives.
All Our Brilliant Friends
The explosion of novels about intense female friendships, in the Elena Ferrante mold, is changing the genre—and making it more fun.
America’s Grocery Lifeline Is Fraying
Inflation and tariffs are hitting canned food just when the most vulnerable Americans need to stock up.
Israel’s Critics Have Canceled Themselves
Withholding submissions from The New York Times in order to promote your views is some odd logic.
Patti Smith’s Family Secrets
Nearing 80, the punk poet reflects on the twists in her story that have surprised even her.
Gertrude Stein Wanted It All
A new biography deconstructs some myths around the enigmatic modernist’s legacy.
Don’t Blow This, Baseball
The thrilling World Series shows that baseball is truly back—just in time for its next crisis.
Photos of the Week: Pumpkin Patch, Witch Paddle, Giant Labubu
The aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, the festival of Chhath Puja in India, a bird-flu outbreak in Germany, armored-battle re-creations in Moscow, and much more
Trump’s Plan Is Now Out in the Open
It’s getting ever harder to avoid connecting the authoritarian dots.
Here’s How the AI Crash Happens
The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.
Are the Democrats Overthinking This?
In wringing its hands over how to win elections, the party is ignoring the more foundational question of what it believes in.
The Validation Machines
Humanity thrives on friction—so why are the tools of the future built to make everything seem so easy?
The Real Worry About Trump’s Deals With China
Today he’s resolved little more than a crisis of his own making. What might he trade away later for such negligible gains?
Traditional Values Came for TV’s Weirdest Dating Show
A season with a notably old-fashioned streak ended in a breakdown of Love Is Blind’s premise.
The Movies That Capture Women’s Deepest Fears
To understand how American horror connects with a cultural moment, look to the 1970s.
Why You Should Keep an Open Mind on the Divine
There are more things in heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in a purely materialist philosophy.
What Ghosts Reveal When They Visit
Many of the ghost stories in The Atlantic’s archives come from true believers.
Strike First, Explain Never
What is Trump up to with Venezuela?
Thomas McGuane Is the Last of His Kind
What will we lose when we lose the “literary outdoorsman”?