Will Gordon

Testing Teachers for ‘Wokeness’ A vision of public schools by conservatives, for conservatives. The second episode in a two-part series.

"Schools ... evolved in a democracy over centuries, towards the consensus that they should be free, open to everyone, and secular. But as we’re learning lately about those institutions, they can be gone faster than you can fall asleep in civics class." www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...

Is Oklahoma Breaking Public Schools? “Woke”-teacher screenings. Trying to get Bibles in schools. A two-part series on how one state is remaking American education.

"Walters and a larger conservative movement seem to be trying to redefine public schools as only for an approved type: 'If you’re going to come into our state,” he said, 'don’t come in with these blue-state values.'" www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...

The Neighbor From Hell Israel and the United States delivered a blow to Iran. But it could come back stronger.

Israel and the United States delivered a blow to Iran. But it could come back stronger, Graeme Wood reports.

The Neighbor From Hell Israel and the United States delivered a blow to Iran. But it could come back stronger.

"Now that talk of what happens after war is back, I rise to make the case for déjà vu. The region risks reverting to its default setting, which is peace that has characteristics of war." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Was Language a Parental Invention? A new book argues that child care drove the evolution of human speech.

"The complicated and enriching work of raising individual babies was also important, pushing humans to discover new internal capacities and modes of connection."

www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...

My Father, Guitar Guru to the Rock Gods When the greatest musicians of the 1970s needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad was there.

This is beyond great. A wonderful story by @nancywalecki.bsky.social, full of love (and rock stars!) www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

And here’s a non-exhaustive list of the amazing people who made this piece possible

My Father, Guitar Guru to the Rock Gods When the greatest musicians of the 1970s needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad was there.

When the greatest rock musicians of the 1970s needed an instrument—or a friend—Fred Walecki was there. @nancywalecki.bsky.social writes about her father’s work:

My Father, Guitar Guru to the Rock Gods When the greatest musicians of the 1970s needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad was there.

When Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, and other 1970s music legends needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad, Fred Walecki, was there. My love song to him in @theatlantic.com September issue: bit.ly/45eZIfa

My Father, Guitar Guru to the Rock Gods When the greatest musicians of the 1970s needed an instrument—or a friend—my dad was there.

"My father has been there since the 1960s—doing his work so that some of America’s greatest artists can do theirs." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

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… 🧵📚