This is an amazing quote from Lindsey Graham about when he realized how politics works. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

A new CIA survey shows officers are worried about telling the truth if it cuts against the Trump admin's POV. This could have severe consequences—especially if our intelligence strategy is influenced by Laura Loomer's blog. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

And, finally, since reading is essential to how we think and learn about the world, we’re seeing IQ scores start to decline. Now please do your part to reverse this trend and read Rose’s entire story. 6/ www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Schools are assigning fewer books as a result and instructing teachers to rely on excerpts. This seems like a bad idea. How much do you really get by reading an excerpt of “To Kill a Mockingbird”? 5/

This shift is particularly concerning for children. Instead of reading, they’re watching more videos on social media. And it's changing the physics of their brains. 4/

But the one at the end of this paragraph is a close second. 3/

In a piece full of distressing sentences, this one might be the winner: “Gambling has become a more common leisure activity than reading a book.” 2/

Thrilled to announce the launch of our first narrative game: Lemony Snicket’s Suspicious Incident in Dubious Park. You're an investigator trying to solve the murder of a famous socialite. It's fun and challenging in all the best ways. Please play and share with your friends: theatlantic.com/play

The last paragraph of @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu piece on what patriotism means ahead of our 250th Independence Day. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

@radiofreetom.bsky.social on Trump’s appearance at the Great American State Fair last night. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Bill Pulte might not have the authority to make the changes he's already begun making—because he may not be eligible for the job in the first place. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

These numbers on the popularity of Trump’s Iran deal are rough: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

But there’s a downside to this shift: filter bubbles are likely to get much worse. Our entire convo is here. Please give it a watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7CW... Produced by Atlantic Re:think, The Atlantic's creative marketing studio, in collaboration with PwC. 4/

Those groups will proliferate thanks to AI coding tools. Rather than using one of the big messaging services, people will vibe code their own forums. He says these “chats [will] become their own kind of microplatforms.” Eli outlined this idea in a presentation from @newpublic.org last month. 3/

He says we’re heading toward a split social media ecosystem. Big, public platforms like this one will mostly run on agents. They’ll pull information and talk to other agents, but little of it will involve human-to-human interaction. That will increasingly take place in smaller messaging groups. 2/

A fascinating story from @thekenharbaughshow.bsky.social about the women sustaining Ukraine’s resistance from within Russian-controlled towns. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The Iran war was a calamity for many reasons. This is among the worst of them. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Missy Ryan on why Trump's war in Iran may have given Democrats an opening to define their foreign policy stance. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

He makes a great distinction between the kinds of creative problems it can and can’t solve. It can help refine and implement ideas, but for now, that’s mostly it. Please do watch and subscribe: youtu.be/LQNf8v8EW_4 Produced by Atlantic Re:think, The Atlantic's creative marketing studio. 4/

One potential effect of commoditized code is a blurring of the lines between product managers, engineers, and designers. In fact, it’s quite easy to imagine a world where you don’t even need designers. Paul says that line of thinking is wrong. 3/

In some ways, AI has revealed what distinguishes good software companies. As Paul says here, “the code was never truly the hard part.” The best businesses should find a way through. But there’s an entire swath of enterprise software that is at risk. 2/

Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court letting Alabama proceed with a redistricting map that a federal court found was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

This is a wild anecdote involving Trump’s new director of national intelligence. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Trump has always acted like he’s above the government. His recent defeats are proving that's not really the case. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The Trump administration’s new proposed NDA policy for federal workers—which would prevent them from sharing unclassified information—isn’t just unnecessary, it’s also probably illegal. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

A pretty remarkable quote about Trump's retribution campaign and the frustrations it's causing among Republicans ahead of the midterms. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

This is a wonderful piece from Russell Shaw about what it's like as a parent when the house goes from being too loud when the kids are young to too quiet once they go off to school. www.theatlantic.com/family/2026/...

But he’s concerned about what that might mean for the economy. The gap between how capable these models are and how prepared we are for the change they’ll bring is growing larger every day. It's important to close it. Produced by Atlantic Re:think, The Atlantic's creative marketing studio. 4/

Erik makes an interesting point here about why salaries for high-end coders could go up with AI. It is an incredible tool for inventing goods and services, and if you’re skilled enough to leverage it, you can create products no one ever has before. 3/

He says we’re making a mistake by building AI that mimics human intelligence. We’ll reap more value designing it in ways that complement rather than replace us—and it might make people more enthusiastic about it, too. 2/