What America’s Next Top Model Was Really Selling
The long-running reality series taught Millennials that beauty is work. We’re still recovering.
‘We Need to Do McCarthyism to the Tenth Power’
Conservative influencers are pushing for a return to the dark days of 1950s inquisitions.
Pete Hegseth’s Moral Unseriousness
The defense secretary appears unable to approach matters of life and death with even the slightest bit of reverence or humility.
I Don’t Know How the War Is Going
The case for a little epistemic humility
Photos of the Week: Death Valley, Steam Train, Cherry Blossoms
Missile attacks across the Middle East, preparations for the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy, a dog-grooming competition in England, and much more
Would Trump Risk an Oil Crisis?
The longer the Iran conflict goes on, the likelier such an outcome becomes.
Why Trump Changed His Mind on Kristi Noem
Congressional questions about contracts, ads, and extramarital sex ended her tenure.
Who Is the U.S. Actually at War With Right Now?
The Iran conflict is one in an extensive list of Trump-era interventions.
The Glaring Oversight in the U.S. War Plan
The Pentagon failed to adopt Ukraine’s best tools for downing drones.
Jay Bhattacharya Might Get His COVID Capstone
The CDC has been remade in the Trump administration, but its acting head says it still needs “renewal.”
How Kristi Noem Lost Her Job
She probably should have seen Trump’s decision to find a new homeland-security secretary coming.
The McDonald’s CEO’s Big Burger-Eating Mistake
If you’re going to eat on the internet, you’d better do it a certain way.
A Technology for a Low-Trust Society
Polymarket and Kalshi promise the wisdom of the crowds. They deliver something very different.
Why Dinner Never Gets Easier
If logistical innovation alone could have solved the nightly meal grind, it would have been solved several times over.
U.S. Capabilities Are Showing Signs of Rot
When a military force begins to decline, the first symptoms may be subtle.
The Trump Administration Is Trying to Have Its Vaccine Policy Both Ways
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his subordinates want Americans to have more conversations with their physicians. But they also can’t seem to stop disparaging the medical establishment.
‘The Most Dangerous Man in the World’
Mojtaba Khamenei, a candidate to succeed his father as Iran’s supreme leader, is no reformer.
A Western That Goes Where Cormac McCarthy Wouldn’t
Álvaro Enrigue’s Now I Surrender scraps the simplistic binary of cowboys and Indians in favor of a wild, multifaceted war story.
Trump’s Unauthorized War
The Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the power to mobilize the military—and for good reason.
Don’t Call It ‘Intelligence’
Humans are question machines. AI is an answer machine.