This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
In a recent article, the writer Haley Mlotek asks: “How can we define [love] well enough to demarcate its beginnings and endings?” Or, in the words of a classic ’90s song that I imagine will now be stuck in your head, “What is love?”
This post–Valentine’s Day morning, we’re sharing a collection of stories that explore the many facets of love. The following articles interrogate love as a feeling, a source of happiness, and the foundation of friendship and romance alike.
Seven Books That Capture How Love Really Feels
By Haley Mlotek
These books are all exquisite arguments for the necessity of stories about romance.
The Type of Love That Makes People Happiest
By Arthur C. Brooks
When it comes to lasting romance, passion has nothing on friendship.
What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life?
By Rhaina Cohen
“Our boyfriends, our significant others, and our husbands are supposed to be No. 1. Our worlds are backward.”
Still Curious?
- Don’t let love take over your life: In 2023, Faith Hill argued for the importance of love-life balance.
- The case for dating a friend: The warmth and care of an existing friendship is a great foundation for a romantic relationship—even if it feels scary to take the leap, Joe Pinsker wrote in 2022.
Other Diversions
- The rich tourists who want more, and more, and more
- What the biggest Saturday Night Live fans know
- The brilliant stupidity of internet speak
P.S.
Each week, I ask readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. “On my daily drive to town in Schoharie County, New York, I’ve stopped many times to take this same panoramic shot of the upper Catskills. I never tire of it as it changes each season,” writes Scott Oglesby, 78, from Middleburgh, New York.
I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks. If you’d like to share, reply to this email with a photo and a short description so we can share your wonder with fellow readers in a future edition of this newsletter or on our website. Please include your name (initials are okay), age, and location. By doing so, you agree that The Atlantic has permission to publish your photo and publicly attribute the response to you, including your first name and last initial, age, and/or location that you share with your submission.
— Isabel
The post The Many Sides of Love appeared first on The Atlantic.
