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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 18m

Federal investigators have announced that the Palisades Fire began with an act of arson. But for Los Angeles residents, the issue was never really about how the blaze started, Nancy Walecki reports.

L.A. Might Finally Know Who Started the Palisades Fire

But it still doesn’t feel like closure.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 48m

Trump understood the fundamental realities of the war in Gaza in a way that “the posturing leaders of many other countries did not,” @eliotacohen.bsky.social argues. If he pulls off a peace deal, “he will deserve that gala night in Oslo.”

Trump’s Great Achievement

If the president succeeds in ending the Gaza war, he will deserve a gala night in Oslo.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 1h

"We are fast approaching the moment when a shutdown stops being a subject of political bluster and starts hurting Americans," Toluse Olorunnipa writes. https://theatln.tc/ntdVSICm

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 1h

László Krasznahorkai is unusually experimental for a Nobel Prize in Literature winner, but in an unstable world, his selection feels perfectly timely. Walt Hunter on the political power of his timeless art:

Why the Latest Nobel Prize Winner Makes Perfect Sense

László Krasznahorkai is unusually experimental for a Nobel Prize winner, but in an unstable world, his selection feels perfectly timely.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 1h

Donald Trump might soon find that the same thing making the indictments of officials such as James Comey and Letitia James possible is exactly what will undermine the Justice Department’s ability to win convictions, Quinta Jurecic argues.

Trump’s Revenge Tour

The president is getting the indictments he wants, but the next phase will be much harder.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 2h

Groupthink is “harming both our democracy and our individual well-being,” Arthur C. Brooks writes. “Here is how to know if you are falling prey to a collective illusion—and how to break free from it without fear”: https://theatln.tc/V0zUKsse

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 3h

See images from around the world, including a long holiday across China, night surfing at a wave pool in Germany, reactions to a cease-fire deal in Gaza and Israel, the last day of Oktoberfest in Germany, and more in the photos of the week:

Photos of the Week: Horn Cupping, Target Practice, Pumpkin Forest

See images from around the world over the past week, including a long holiday across China, night surfing at a wave pool in Germany, reactions to a cease-fire deal in Gaza and Israel, the last day of Oktoberfest in Germany, and much more.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 3h

María Corina Machado deserves the Nobel Peace Prize she won, Anne Applebaum argues. Here’s what her conversations with Machado last year revealed:

Why María Corina Machado Deserved the Nobel Peace Prize

The Venezuelan opposition leader shows why participation matters.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 4h

The Trump administration sees National Guard deployments as a necessary protection for federal law enforcement in dangerous times, Marc Novicoff writes. “Taxpayers should see them as incredibly expensive”:

The National Guard Deployments Are Very, Very Expensive

If the Trump administration wants to reduce crime, it picked an inefficient way to do it.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 4h

As the nation fractured, Abraham Lincoln drew on the American Revolution as a project that could redeem the past and heal the present. It’s a lesson for us today, Jake Lundberg writes:

Lincoln’s Revolution

How he used America’s past to rescue its future

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 5h

Only 24 years of Eliza Schuyler’s life were spent with Alexander Hamilton, Jane Kamensky writes. What would it mean to write her into the history of America’s founding?

The Many Lives of Eliza Schuyler

She lived for 97 years. Only 24 of them were with Alexander Hamilton.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 6h

“Rip Van Winkle” isn’t just a folktale about a very long nap. It’s a story about the making of America, John Swansburg writes:

America’s Most Famous Nap

How “Rip Van Winkle” became our founding folktale

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 6h

Just how real should Colonial Williamsburg be? Telling the full story of the town’s past is an easy way to make a lot of people mad, Clint Smith writes.

Just How Real Should Colonial Williamsburg Be?

Telling the full story of the town’s past is an easy way to make a lot of people mad.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 7h

The question of what Thomas Jefferson really meant when he wrote “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence has persisted throughout American history. It’s time to move beyond the fixation on his intent, Annette Gordon-Reed argues.

Whose Independence?

The question of what Jefferson meant by “all men” has defined American law and politics for too long.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 7h

The Declaration of Independence is revered for its universalist language of freedom. But it also contains a derogatory indictment of Native Americans. On its 250th anniversary, the U.S. should reckon with this complex legacy, Ned Blackhaw argues:

How Native Nations Shaped the Revolution

The Founders were inspired—and threatened—by the independence and self-governance of nations like the Iroquois Confederacy.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 7h

The Atlantic’s special November issue marks 250 years of the American experiment. Start reading now, and check TheAtlantic.com and our app each day for more stories:

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 7h

What would the Founding Fathers say about America now? They might be surprised that the republic exists at all, Fintan O’Toole writes.

What the Founders Would Say Now

They might be surprised that the republic exists at all.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12h

Many birth mothers who choose open adoption hope to maintain a relationship with their child. But when contact agreements are breached, @nicolechung.bsky.social reports, they sometimes have little recourse.

When Adoption Promises Are Broken

Many birth mothers hope to maintain contact with their child. But their agreements with adoptive parents can be fragile.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12h

Elias Wachtel knows that Gen Zers like him have an attention span that is shot and screen time that is “out of control.” So he switched to a dumbphone and embarked on the road to digital minimalism:

Can Gen Z Get Rid of Their iPhones?

My dumbphone does what an app could never do.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 14h

Conspiracy theories about Amelia Earhart persist because "mystery sells far better than tragedy," Laurie Gwen Shapiro writes. But we should "remember the life she led, not just the myth she left behind":

The Truth About Amelia Earhart

Conspiracy theories about her disappearance do a disservice to the pilot’s remarkable, flawed legacy.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 16h

Helen Lewis, fresh from seeing Louis C.K. and Jimmy Carr perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, speaks with Hanna Rosin about what happened, and Vivian Salama explains how to understand Saudi Arabia's push for modernization.

Listen on "Radio Atlantic":

Saudi Arabia Gets the Last Laugh

The Riyadh Comedy Festival is just one part of a much bigger plan.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 17h

The idea that everyone has intrinsic rights to life and liberty was a radical break with millennia of human history. It’s the moral foundation of America, Elaine Pagels writes—and it’s worth preserving.

The Moral Foundation of America

The idea that everyone has intrinsic rights to life and liberty was a radical break with millennia of human history. It’s worth preserving.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 20h

Groupthink is “harming both our democracy and our individual well-being,” Arthur C. Brooks writes. “Here is how to know if you are falling prey to a collective illusion—and how to break free from it without fear”:

The Happiness of Choosing to Walk Alone

Going along with an untruth for fear of disagreeing with others is a form of self-betrayal that will make you miserable.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 20h

“To master a foreign language is to embrace an odyssey far from the comforts of your mother tongue,” Álex Maroño Porto reflects on linguistic duality through history in this week’s Time-Travel Thursdays.

Writing, Thinking, and Falling In Love in Another Language

I became a different person after learning English.

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 20h

Not long ago, Marjorie Taylor Greene was a hard-line MAGA acolyte. Lately she’s been breaking with her party, Will Gottsegen writes in The Atlantic Daily.

What’s Going On With Marjorie Taylor Greene?

The Georgia representative is finding a new voice.

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