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Read about the surprising cells you carry from your relatives, why getting up early might be the best life hack, what happens when your kid’s best friend is a problem, and more.
The Most Mysterious Cells in Our Bodies Don’t Belong to Us
You carry literal pieces of your mom—and maybe your grandma, and your siblings, and your aunts and uncles. (From 2024)
By Katherine J. Wu
Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market
A new sign that AI is competing with college grads
By Derek Thompson
The Secret History of Trump’s Private Cellphone
“Who’s calling?” the president asks as he answers call after call from numbers he doesn’t know.
By Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer
J. D. Vance could have brought the country’s conflicting strands together. Instead, he took a divisive path to the peak of power.
By George Packer
Why an Early Start Is the “Quintessence of Life”
Not sleeping late could be the best resolution you ever keep.
By Arthur C. Brooks
When Your Kid’s Best Friend Is a Great Big Problem
A natural impulse is to forbid contact—but that’s likely to backfire.
By Russell Shaw
Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?
An emerging critical consensus argues that we’ve entered a cultural dark age. I’m not so sure.
By Spencer Kornhaber
The Week Ahead
- Shot Ready, a book by the four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry on his philosophy of success (out Tuesday)
- Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, the third film and conclusion of the Downton Abbey saga (out Friday in theaters)
- Play, an album by Ed Sheeran (out Friday)
Essay
How Did Taylor Swift Convince the World That She’s Relatable?
By Spencer Kornhaber
A great way to ruin a party is to put on a Taylor Swift playlist. The Swift fans in the crowd will stop what they’re doing to sing along, but pretty soon the non-Swifties will start to complain—about the breathy and effortful singing, or some fussily worded lyrics, or the general vibe of lovelorn sentimentality cut with dorky humor (“This. Sick. Beat!”). You’ll soon find yourself hosting another round in the endless debate about whether Taylor Swift is a visionary artist or merely a slick product of marketing. Both camps will be reacting to the defining feature of Swift’s music: There’s just so much of her in it.
More in Culture
- Dear James: I’m stuck caring for a husband I no longer love.
- The Big Lebowski friendship test
- Lauren Grodstein: “What I learned from the Georgia protests”
- What’s the point of a high-school reunion?
- How a tradition forged in slavery persists today
Catch Up on The Atlantic
- David Frum on how Trump gets his way
- RFK Jr.’s victory lap
- Yair Rosenberg: The MAGA influencers rehabilitating Hitler
Photo Album
Students, parents, and teachers greet the new school year, in images from recent years and from the archives.
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