For years, experts have warned of a wave of political violence. We should prepare for things to get worse before they get better. Read by Marni Penning.

Exploring the American idea through ambitious, essential reporting and storytelling. Of no party or clique since 1857.

The Atlantic

American Fury

“Habits once labelled vices are creeping into all areas of life—thanks to our phones.” writes Christine Emba. Read by Deanna Anthony.

Gambling enters the family zone

David Brooks reflects on the life secrets of those who flailed early but succeeded by old age. Read by Michael Satow.

Life secrets of the late bloomers

Reflecting on the surgeon general’s recommendation to add a warning label to social-media apps, Caroline Mimbs Nyce argues that his proposal is not as straightforward as it seems. Read by Gina Rogers.

Instagram is not a cigarette 

'Tea,' 'folks,' 'bro,' 'lit'—quirky language used to tell us where other people were coming from. Online, it’s all just a bunch of empty words, Dan Brooks laments. Read by Ron Butler.

Social media broke slang. Now we all speak phone

Johann Hari is a self-proclaimed “recovering former columnist” once accused of plagiarism. His recent books, including his latest one, continue to chronicle his issues with self-control—a struggle, writes Daniel Engber, that has not ended. Read by Karl Miller.

What a year on Ozempic taught Johann Hari

"There are many ways to define a good economy. America is in tremendous shape according to just about any of them," Rogé Karma writes. Here, she examines the factors driving this success and what it means for the future. Read by Karl Miller.

The U.S. economy reaches superstar status

McKay Coppins writes a new book about The Apprentice, revealing how the 45th president was shaped by tawdry reality-TV culture. Read by Ron Butler.

The most consequential TV show in history

What may be America’s first Juneteenth took place in New Orleans in the summer of 1864. Ten formerly enslaved men published a history of the events as a gift meant to inspire Abraham Lincoln. 
Susannah J. Ural and Ann Marsh Daly examine what the document reveals. Read by Betsy Foldes Meiman.

Before Juneteenth

Too cute to fail: chlamydia is coming for koalas

Koalas are threatened by climate change, cars, and chlamydia, Katherine J. Wu writes. Can Australia find a way to protect its most beloved animal? Read by Gina Rogers.

The koala paradox

Any act of procreation is a gamble with someone else’s life, writes Anna Louie Sussman. A new book explores how people might consider that fact when contemplating childbirth. Read by Betsy Foldes Meiman.

To have or not have children

As a child, Lee Isaac Chung was captivated by tornados in rural Arkansas, Shirley Li writes. Now the director is reimagining ‘Twister,’ one of the biggest climate-disaster thrillers of all time. Read by Emily Woo Zeller.

Tornado watch

Susan Tallman writes that the Harlem Renaissance was bigger than Harlem. A new exhibit at The Met shows how Black artists made modernism their own. Read by Deanna Anthony.

The Harlem renaissance was bigger than Harlem

A small island nation may have devised the best idea for arresting climate change in 1991, Vann R. Newkirk II writes. Paying America’s climate debt could avert the worst effects of climate change. Read by Sean Crisden.

The glacier rescue project

​​A small island nation may have devised the best idea for arresting climate change in 1991, Vann R. Newkirk II writes. Paying America’s climate debt could avert the worst effects of climate change. Read by Karl Miller.

The Vanuatu plan

After years of delay and a last-minute pile up of issues, Boeing has finally launched NASA astronauts to space for the first time, Marina Koren writes. Read by Gina Rogers.

NASA finally has an alternative to SpaceX

Trump’s greatest asset may be voters' belief that the cost of living would be more affordable if he’s reelected, Ronald Brownstein writes. But economists and policy analysts are warning that his second-term agenda would accelerate inflation. Read by Michael Satow.

Trump’s plan to supercharge inflation

Kohei Saito’s theory of how to solve climate change is economically dubious and politically impossible, Christopher Beam writes. Why is it so popular? Read by Mark Deakins.

Is America ready for ‘degrowth communism’?

Amazon returns used to be easy. Now, they’re more infuriating than a visit to the DMV. Ian Bogost reflects on the growth of the retail returns bureaucracy. Read by Ron Butler.

Amazon returns have gone to hell

"A new filing in a lawsuit brought by the families of 9/11 victims against the government of Saudi Arabia alleges that al-Qaeda had significant, indeed decisive, state support for its attacks," Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon write. Read by Ron Butler.