Will Gordon

Floodlines Part IX: Rebirth A visit with Le-Ann Williams, and her daughter, Destiny, 20 years after Hurricane Katrina

"We learn how trauma from Katrina still lives on in the hearts and minds of its survivors, and how, for the generation born after the flood, a disaster they never witnessed still governs their lives." www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...

A Democrat for the Trump Era Jasmine Crockett is testing out the coarse style of politics that the GOP has embraced.

Democratic voters have said they want a fighter, and now they might have one in Jasmine Crockett, @elainegodfrey.bsky.social writes. She spoke with Crockett about testing out the coarse style of politics that the GOP has embraced.

A Democrat for the Trump Era Jasmine Crockett is testing out the coarse style of politics that the GOP has embraced.

"Crockett is testing out the coarser, insult-comedy-style attacks that the GOP has embraced under Trump, the general idea being that when the Republicans go low, the Democrats should meet them there." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

I Fought Plastic. Plastic Won. My futile quest to avoid the material that my entire world is made out of

"More than I wanted to spend hundreds of dollars at Williams-Sonoma, I wanted to know my enemy." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

This Pride Month, the Backlash Has Officially Arrived Young LGBTQ people are facing the prospect of losing rights they thought they’d never have to worry about.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges. The intervening decade has been a trip—especially for Generation Z. I wrote about the vibes this pride: www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

A Provocative Argument About What Creates Serial Killers In her new book, "Murderland," Caroline Fraser argues that the rise of these criminals has deep roots in the release of industrial waste.

Caroline Fraser’s MURDERLAND makes a provocative argument — one that fascinated me greatly — connecting the rise of serial killers with levels of environmental toxins. I wrote about the book, and what I call “The Bundy Problem”, for @theatlantic.com:

A Provocative Argument About What Creates Serial Killers In her new book, "Murderland," Caroline Fraser argues that the rise of these criminals has deep roots in the release of industrial waste.

"Fraser juxtaposes the rise and fall of smelting with Bundy’s escalating spree of crimes, characterizing each murder he committed not only as an individual act of abrupt violence, but also as one part of a wider system of senselessness." www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...

Witness Sin and redemption in America’s death chambers

"What I witnessed on this occasion and the ones that came after has not changed my conviction that capital punishment must end. But in sometimes-unexpected ways, it has changed my understanding of why." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

It Should Not Be Controversial to Plead for Gaza’s Children Israel’s limits on aid have put the region at “critical risk of famine.” Help is within reach. But it’s not enough—and it’s arriving too slowly.

"Imagine a child at home, crying. She is inconsolable, screaming for food. A neighbor tries to offer some bread; the door is blocked. A grocery store down the road has plenty of supplies; no one can get to it. The clock ticks down and the child starves." www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

When William F. Buckley Jr. Met James Baldwin In 1965, the two intellectual giants squared off in a debate at Cambridge. It didn’t go quite as Buckley hoped.

In 1965, William F. Buckley Jr. and James Baldwin squared off in a debate at Cambridge. It didn’t go quite as Buckley hoped, Sam Tanenhaus writes.

When William F. Buckley Jr. Met James Baldwin In 1965, the two intellectual giants squared off in a debate at Cambridge. It didn’t go quite as Buckley hoped.

"Even now, Buckley seemed unable to grasp this reality of America’s racial history—very much alive in the winter of 1965. ... These were the facts putting the promise of the American dream to the test." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The Talented Mr. Vance J. D. Vance could have brought the country’s conflicting strands together. Instead, he took a divisive path to the peak of power.

"In an essay for this magazine in 2016, Vance called Trump 'cultural heroin'—the most apt metaphor possible. Trump is a drug that has led the white working class to resentment, bigotry, coarseness, delusional hope."

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The Talented Mr. Vance J. D. Vance could have brought the country’s conflicting strands together. Instead, he took a divisive path to the peak of power.

“J. D. Vance poses a problem, and at its core is a question about character.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert: 9780593656297 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books Named a most anticipated book of Spring by Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Bustle, LitHub, Our Culture, Kirkus, AV Club and WNYC From Atlantic critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist...

📚💪🏻🤩 Happy publication day to the brilliant, fearless @sophiegilbert.bsky.social, who explains in powerful detail how the culture of the 1990s and early 2000s got us here:

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738003...

The Critic Who Translated Jazz Into Plain English When Francis Davis pronounced judgment on music, it carried a great deal of weight.

Francis Davis, an eminent jazz critic, lamented that the music he loved was viewed as elitist—but he wrote about it in terms that could reach both serious fans and casual listeners, David A. Graham writes in Time-Travel Thursdays.

Why Has America Ignored Its Best Addiction Treatment? Buprenorphine can stop cravings for opioids, yet its uptake in the U.S. has stagnated.

"the drugs that have made addiction even more deadly—synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—are making buprenorphine more complicated to use. As a result, the window in the U.S. for this treatment to fulfill its greatest promise is nearly closed."
www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

Emergency Food for 3 Million Children Is Stuck in DOGE Limbo Elon Musk said he would preserve lifesaving aid to foreign children. Then the Trump administration quietly canceled it.

EXCLUSIVE

Crucially important reporting from @hanamkiros on the American companies that have emergency food for 3 million children—but can't ship it because DOGE cancelled their orders.

Gift link here so anyone can read without a subscription:

www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

How Organ Meat Got Into Smoothies Americans hated offal. Now it’s a trendy food—in grocery stores and online.

"'If nutrition were a Roman coliseum, kale would be the defeated gladiator,' he wrote, 'and beef liver would be the lion tearing him to shreds.'" www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

DOGE Is Making the IRS a Tip Jar for Public Services Sabotaging the agency’s work amounts to an inducement for the ultra-rich to treat taxes as a voluntary contribution.

Me in @theatlantic.com: When you look at how Trump is mismanaging the IRS, you begin to understand how he managed to bankrupt a casino.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

For anyone who wants a quick guide to understand today’s remarkable developments in the case of the deported Maryland man, the following articles are free to read even if you don’t subscribe to The Atlantic… 🧵📚

The Project by David A. Graham: 9798217153725 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books An urgent, topic-by-topic guide to Project 2025, with everything you need to know about how the second Trump administration is remaking America—from a go-to authority at The Atlantic When President.....

I just pre-ordered @dgraham.bsky.social's new book on Project 2025 and you should, too www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/800230...

Ringo Starr Still Believes in Peace and Love The 84-year-old Beatle is still making new music, still performing, and still spreading a message of joy and amity in an America starved of such things.

Ringo Starr is among the most scrutinized, fetishized, analyzed, and catechized people in history. @markleibovich.bsky.social spent about a year reporting on the former Beatles drummer.

The world still needs him:

Ringo Starr’s Enduring Optimism “Nobody has generated more goodwill than Ringo,” says the producer T Bone Burnett. “Not a single person in the world.”

“Peace and love, peace and love,” Starr said back to a cluster of onlookers, sounding cheerfully bored. He paused and puffed out his cheeks into an ostentatious deep breath. I imagine that’s one of the hassles of immortality: It tends to go on forever."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Ringo Starr’s Enduring Optimism “Nobody has generated more goodwill than Ringo,” says the producer T Bone Burnett. “Not a single person in the world.”

"Here was Ringo, still banging around. It felt like a small but significant win for humankind, and one to be celebrated as often as possible." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.

Without a doubt, one of the wildest stories ever. A little over a week ago, the national-security adviser inadvertently added @jeffreygoldberg.bsky.social to a group chat with the VP and others to plan an attack on the Houthis.

You have to read this now:

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Jeff Bezos’s Laughable Assertion of Power His decision will only make The Washington Post a weaker institution.

As @joshuabenton.com observes, a newspaper owner is entitled to run the opinion section the way he wants. What's ridiculous about the Post situation is the hypocrisy of saying the paper must avoid all appearance of bias, only to now triple down on a specific bias: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The DOGE Project Will Backfire Trump’s war on public employees is bad for all of us.

“The costs of dismantling agencies, dramatically politicizing state capacity, and demeaning the idea of public service will still be counted long after Trump has departed the scene,” Donald Moynihan writes:

The DOGE Project Will Backfire Trump’s war on public employees is bad for all of us.

New, from me @theatlantic.com:
*No, the federal government is not too big
*It has real human capital needs
*Firings are indiscriminate, weakening state capacity
*Creating a toxic and politicized workplace is driving away dedicated employees
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The Federal Government Is Not Too Big Trump’s war on public employees is bad for all of us.

read @donmoyn.bsky.social in
@theatlantic.com: "The costs of dismantling agencies, dramatically politicizing state capacity, and demeaning the idea of public service will still be counted long after Trump has departed the scene." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...