Scott Stossel
@stossel.bsky.social
National Editor, The Atlantic. Author of My Age of Anxiety and Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver. Bostonian in DC.
"'That man is the future of America,' Dreher wrote of JD Vance in April. If Trump represents Armageddon, Vance for Dreher may be something like the Rapture."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Rod Dreher Thinks the Enlightenment Was a Mistake
The influential author derides secularism and the modern world. Conservatives—including the vice president—are joining him on a march back to the Middle Ages.
www.theatlantic.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:08 PM
"'That man is the future of America,' Dreher wrote of JD Vance in April. If Trump represents Armageddon, Vance for Dreher may be something like the Rapture."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
If you know anyone not vaccinating their kids, make sure they read this story. Effective and nauseating use of the second person.
You’ve taken your daughter to a birthday party. In the air, invisible, is the measles virus. Even if she survives, the virus may never be done with her. Elizabeth Bruenig on what measles can do to a body, to a brain, and to a family:
This Is How a Child Dies of Measles
When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak
bit.ly
February 13, 2026 at 11:14 AM
If you know anyone not vaccinating their kids, make sure they read this story. Effective and nauseating use of the second person.
"Certain critics, such as John Leonard and Elizabeth Hardwick, were usually better stylists than the writers they were reviewing."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Literary Ecosystem Is Dying
In a sense, the decline of book reviews, like the decline of newspapers themselves, is a story about disaggregation.
www.theatlantic.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:57 PM
"Certain critics, such as John Leonard and Elizabeth Hardwick, were usually better stylists than the writers they were reviewing."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
The Democrats Aren't Built for This ... ken martin has one of those resting dread faces ... (Mark Leibovich/The Atlantic)
Main Link | memeorandum Permalink
Main Link | memeorandum Permalink
February 12, 2026 at 2:01 AM
The Democrats Aren't Built for This ... ken martin has one of those resting dread faces ... (Mark Leibovich/The Atlantic)
Main Link | memeorandum Permalink
Main Link | memeorandum Permalink
“'Republicans are over here being straight-up mercenaries,” Longwell said. “Democrats give everybody Fridays off and talk about work-life balance.” She apologized for yelling into the phone. Democrats “are not built for when the fascists come.'”
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Democrats Aren’t Built for This
They say they want to save democracy. First they’ll need to get out of their own way.
www.theatlantic.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:17 PM
“'Republicans are over here being straight-up mercenaries,” Longwell said. “Democrats give everybody Fridays off and talk about work-life balance.” She apologized for yelling into the phone. Democrats “are not built for when the fascists come.'”
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"Mainframes are like Christopher Walken: They’ve been going nonstop since the 1960s, they’re fantastic at performing peculiar roles (processing payments, safeguarding data), and nobody alive really understands how they work."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
America Isn’t Ready for What AI Will Do to Jobs
Does anyone have a plan for what happens next?
www.theatlantic.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:00 PM
"Mainframes are like Christopher Walken: They’ve been going nonstop since the 1960s, they’re fantastic at performing peculiar roles (processing payments, safeguarding data), and nobody alive really understands how they work."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"Trump doesn’t do 'policy.' Or philosophy. Or grand strategy. He does Donald Trump," his former National Security Adviser John Bolton writes. "His incoherence on regime change is only one piece of evidence in the larger picture of his unfitness to be president."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
A Foreign Policy Worse Than Regime Change
The world is threatened by the president’s self-absorption and incoherence.
www.theatlantic.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:48 PM
"Trump doesn’t do 'policy.' Or philosophy. Or grand strategy. He does Donald Trump," his former National Security Adviser John Bolton writes. "His incoherence on regime change is only one piece of evidence in the larger picture of his unfitness to be president."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"We’re witnessing a murder.
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
The Murder of The Washington Post
Today’s layoffs are the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.
www.theatlantic.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:33 PM
"We’re witnessing a murder.
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, and Will Lewis, the publisher he appointed at the end of 2023, are embarking on the latest step of their plan to kill everything that makes the paper special."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism."--Carl Jung
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Jung’s View of Christianity
“Today we need psychology for reasons that involve our very existence.”
www.theatlantic.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:28 PM
"Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism."--Carl Jung
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
Why, yet thy scandal were not wip’d away
January 31, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Why, yet thy scandal were not wip’d away
Governor Tim Walz: “I mean, is this a Fort Sumter? It’s a physical assault. It’s an armed force that’s assaulting, that’s killing my constituents, my citizens.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Tim Walz Fears a Fort Sumter Moment in Minneapolis
The Minnesota governor warns of a national unraveling.
www.theatlantic.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Governor Tim Walz: “I mean, is this a Fort Sumter? It’s a physical assault. It’s an armed force that’s assaulting, that’s killing my constituents, my citizens.”
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"Trump is taking the country on a path to tyranny. The first obligation for each of us is to see it and name it. The next is to figure out what to do about it."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
What Should Americans Do Now?
We need a mass movement for basic decency.
www.theatlantic.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:30 PM
"Trump is taking the country on a path to tyranny. The first obligation for each of us is to see it and name it. The next is to figure out what to do about it."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"The United States, once the world’s exemplary liberal democracy, is now a hybrid state combining a fascist leader and a liberal Constitution; but no, it has not fallen to fascism. And it will not."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
www.theatlantic.com
January 25, 2026 at 3:23 PM
"The United States, once the world’s exemplary liberal democracy, is now a hybrid state combining a fascist leader and a liberal Constitution; but no, it has not fallen to fascism. And it will not."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"Apparently, the federal boot heel is now colorblind, one of the Trump administration’s more notable anti-DEI achievements."
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
Minneapolis Is a Second Amendment Wake-Up Call
The federal killing of a Minnesota ICU nurse should worry every American.
www.theatlantic.com
January 25, 2026 at 3:14 PM
"Apparently, the federal boot heel is now colorblind, one of the Trump administration’s more notable anti-DEI achievements."
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
"The message the Trump administration is sending is not subtle: ICE is doing the work of God. The brutal and sometimes lethal tactics being used by...ICE agents are divinely sanctioned. Come join this holy campaign.
Leni Riefenstahl would have approved."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Leni Riefenstahl would have approved."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
MAGA Jesus Is Not the Real Jesus
Trump is causing incalculable damage to the Christian faith, yet most evangelicals will never break with him.
www.theatlantic.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:30 PM
"The message the Trump administration is sending is not subtle: ICE is doing the work of God. The brutal and sometimes lethal tactics being used by...ICE agents are divinely sanctioned. Come join this holy campaign.
Leni Riefenstahl would have approved."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Leni Riefenstahl would have approved."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
“In normal liberal democracy terms, the United States is in bad shape,” the international-relations scholar Nicholas Grossman wrote recently. But, he went on, considering that the country is struggling against an attempted authoritarian takeover, “we’re doing pretty well.”
"Early in 2025, scholars were horrified by how forcefully Trump appeared to be speeding through the process of establishing authoritarian rule—faster than almost any contemporary dictator. It turns out that there might be a reason other rulers moved more slowly"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Trump’s Attack on Democracy Is Faltering
One year into the president’s second term, the country’s institutions and civil society are still checking his authoritarian impulses.
www.theatlantic.com
January 20, 2026 at 10:15 PM
“In normal liberal democracy terms, the United States is in bad shape,” the international-relations scholar Nicholas Grossman wrote recently. But, he went on, considering that the country is struggling against an attempted authoritarian takeover, “we’re doing pretty well.”
"Early in 2025, scholars were horrified by how forcefully Trump appeared to be speeding through the process of establishing authoritarian rule—faster than almost any contemporary dictator. It turns out that there might be a reason other rulers moved more slowly"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Trump’s Attack on Democracy Is Faltering
One year into the president’s second term, the country’s institutions and civil society are still checking his authoritarian impulses.
www.theatlantic.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:57 PM
"Early in 2025, scholars were horrified by how forcefully Trump appeared to be speeding through the process of establishing authoritarian rule—faster than almost any contemporary dictator. It turns out that there might be a reason other rulers moved more slowly"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"For Trump, foreign policy is a game of checkers...played one move at a time. The notion of reputational damage is alien to someone whose image was long ago tarnished beyond repair by grifting, lying, bullying, and double-dealing."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
How to Understand Trump’s Obsession With Greenland
Erratic though the president may sound, the Trumpian worldview is comprehensible.
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:15 PM
"For Trump, foreign policy is a game of checkers...played one move at a time. The notion of reputational damage is alien to someone whose image was long ago tarnished beyond repair by grifting, lying, bullying, and double-dealing."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"Americans are entering the most dangerous world they have known since World War II, one that will make the Cold War look like child’s play and the post–Cold War world like paradise."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
America vs. the World
President Trump wants to return to the 19th century’s international order. He will leave America less prosperous—and the whole world less secure.
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:12 PM
"Americans are entering the most dangerous world they have known since World War II, one that will make the Cold War look like child’s play and the post–Cold War world like paradise."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him. Also, he really is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive about the Nobel Prize."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Trump’s Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw
Will Republicans in Congress ever step in?
www.theatlantic.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:10 PM
"Donald Trump now genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him. Also, he really is maniacally, unhealthily obsessive about the Nobel Prize."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"A person can support trans civil rights with their whole heart and favor open competition for children yet also wonder whether athletes should compete in their birth category..for fear that a meaningful number of women may be harmed by transgender inclusion."
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
The Question That the Lawyers Representing Trans Athletes Didn’t Answer
The oral arguments for Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. were meandering and unsatisfying.
www.theatlantic.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:22 PM
"A person can support trans civil rights with their whole heart and favor open competition for children yet also wonder whether athletes should compete in their birth category..for fear that a meaningful number of women may be harmed by transgender inclusion."
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
"It’s hard to imagine a starker violation of academic freedom than forbidding students to read one of the most famous texts in all of Western philosophy. 'Your decision to bar a philosophy professor from teaching Plato is unprecedented,' Peterson protested."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Texas Sends Plato Back to His Cave
Even in ancient Greece, people worried about philosophy’s subversive effect on tender minds.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:04 AM
"It’s hard to imagine a starker violation of academic freedom than forbidding students to read one of the most famous texts in all of Western philosophy. 'Your decision to bar a philosophy professor from teaching Plato is unprecedented,' Peterson protested."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"For Natives, it is enraging that, now that being Indian finally has significant, remunerative opportunities attached to it, imposters have swooped in to take what is—by blood, history, and suffering—rightfully ours."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Who Gets to Be Indian—And Who Decides?
The very American story of Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance
www.theatlantic.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:56 PM
"For Natives, it is enraging that, now that being Indian finally has significant, remunerative opportunities attached to it, imposters have swooped in to take what is—by blood, history, and suffering—rightfully ours."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"The White House, after months of struggle, believes that it has found its footing again. Trump, though never restrained, is now pure id, acting on impulse and goaded on by advisers who see an opportunity to further expand executive power."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
A Breathtaking Week of Pure Trump Id
Military success in Venezuela has emboldened the president to flex his power even more.
www.theatlantic.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:23 AM
"The White House, after months of struggle, believes that it has found its footing again. Trump, though never restrained, is now pure id, acting on impulse and goaded on by advisers who see an opportunity to further expand executive power."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
"Trump’s clumsy legal intimidation of Powell mirrors tactics used by regimes such as those of Argentina, Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. This is not a list of the most prosperous economies in the modern world."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Banana Republicanism
A criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will test whether Republican loyalty to the president has any limits.
www.theatlantic.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:54 PM
"Trump’s clumsy legal intimidation of Powell mirrors tactics used by regimes such as those of Argentina, Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. This is not a list of the most prosperous economies in the modern world."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...