The Best of The Atlantic
20+ most popular The Atlantic articles, as voted by our community.
Exploring the American idea through ambitious, essential reporting and storytelling. Of no party or clique since 1857. http://theatlantic.com
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The Meme That Defined a Decade
Over the past 10 years, the “This Is Fine” dog has evolved from a joke into an indictment.
We’ve Lost the Plot
Our constant need for entertainment has blurred the line between fiction and reality—on television, in American politics, and in our everyday lives.
The Case for Sleepovers
They are a chance for children to be silly and a touch subversive, and to get a glimpse of how other families live their lives.
My Printer Is Extorting Me
Subscriptions such as HP’s Instant Ink challenge what it means to own our devices.
Death By a Thousand Personality Quizzes
AI-assisted internet posting is already in a race to the bottom.
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Eight Self-Help Books That Actually Help
These titles are challenging where others are pandering, and open-minded where others are prescriptive.
«“Solitude, observation, and simple conviviality should be recognized not only as ends in and of themselves,” she writes, “but inalienable rights belonging to anyone lucky enough to be alive.”»
Nothing Drains You Like Mixed Emotions
Feeling conflicted can be even more distressing than feeling bad. Here’s how to manage it.
«Researchers in 2017 showed that people can find a deeper sense of purpose when contemplating both their happy and sad emotions about a particular occurrence»
74 Things That Blew Our Minds in 2022
Where The Atlantic’s science, technology, and health reporters found wonder in a sometimes-sobering year
The Transcendent Brain
Humans are evolutionarily drawn to beauty. How do such complex experiences emerge from a collection of atoms and molecules?
«But the more general appreciation of beauty could well be a by-product of a trait, like sexual attraction, that did (and does) have survival benefit.»
The Atlantic on Elon Musk
Elon Musk Is Fighting for Attention, Not Free Speech
The social-media platform isn’t a public square. It’s a gladiatorial arena.
Elon Musk Isn't Buying Twitter to Defend Free Speech
Business moguls tend to be big on protecting speech, right until it hurts their bottom line.
The Atlantic on Friendship
The Atlantic on Happiness
If You Want Success, Pursue Happiness
Many people chase achievement, assuming it will lead to well-being. They should reverse that order of operations.
«The first thing to remember is that happiness requires balance. No matter how much you enjoy your work, overwork will become an obstruction to well-being.»
Envy, the Happiness Killer
Eradicating this ugly emotion entirely would be impossible, but we can stop fueling it with our behavior.
«1. Focus on the ordinary parts of others’ lives.»
The Atlantic on Housing
Against Homeownership
Real estate should be treated as consumption, not investment.
The Billionaire’s Dilemma
Marc Andreessen says he’s all for more new housing, but public records tell a different story.
The Atlantic on Marriage
The First Lesson of Marriage 101: There Are No Soul Mates
A course at Northwestern University teaches students about what makes a healthy relationship.
What You Lose When You Gain a Spouse
What if marriage is not the social good that so many believe and want it to be?
The Atlantic on Parenting
Why Rich Kids Are So Good at the Marshmallow Test
Affluence—not willpower—seems to be what’s behind some kids' capacity to delay gratification.
Why American Teens Are So Sad
Four forces are propelling the rising rates of depression among young people.
«Anxious parents, in seeking to insulate their children from risk and danger, are unintentionally transferring their anxiety to their kids.»
The Atlantic on Relationships
The Six Forces That Fuel Friendship
I’ve spent more than three years interviewing friends for “The Friendship Files.” Here’s what I’ve learned.
«I’ve come to believe that friendship doesn’t always have to be about presence; it can also be about love that can weather absence.»
The Nuclear Family Was Never Going to Last
The family structure we’ve held up as the cultural ideal for the past half century has been a catastrophe for many. It’s time to figure out better ways to live together.
«Marriage, according to the sociologists Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas, “is no longer primarily about childbearing and childrearing. Now marriage is primarily about adult fulfillment.”»
The Atlantic on Society
We Are Living in a Failed State
The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken.
Why You Never See Your Friends Anymore
Our unpredictable and overburdened schedules are taking a dire toll on American society.
The Atlantic on Trump
How to Build an Autocracy
The preconditions are present in the U.S. today. Here’s the playbook Donald Trump could use to set the country down a path toward illiberalism.
The First White President
The foundation of Donald Trump’s presidency is the negation of Barack Obama’s legacy.
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Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?
More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.
How the Pandemic Will End
The U.S. may end up with the worst Covid-19 outbreak in the industrialized world. This is how it’s going to play out.
You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus
You’re washing your hands, practicing social distancing and coughing into your arm like a good citizen, but will this stop the spread of COVID-19? Your efforts may slow the spread, which offers social benefits, but the ship probably already sailed when it comes to actually stopping the virus. So will the world be able to pull it together and limit impending global disaster? James Hamblin, MD explains the barriers to a happy COVID-19 resolution in this article from The Atlantic, and describes what would be necessary for effective global responses to future pandemics.
Why Managers Fear a Remote-Work Future
Like it or not, the way we work has already evolved.
«In fact, your position at a company becomes more difficult to justify if all you do is delegate and nag people.»
NFTs Are an Art Project Gone Awry
When we invented non-fungible tokens, we were trying to protect artists. But tech-world opportunism has struck again.
«Technology should be enabling artists to exercise control over their work, to more easily sell it, to more strongly protect against others appropriating it without permission.»
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The Atlantic on Social Media
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
It’s not just a phase.
The Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls
The preponderance of the evidence suggests that social media is causing real damage to adolescents.