jenduende

The Murder of The Washington Post Today’s layoffs are the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.

"I was there. I was there. I was there. We were there." // That's the part where the lump came into my throat and wouldn't leave. A heartfelt, devastating portrait by @ashleyrparker.bsky.social @theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The Gene Kelly School of Life I thought I was okay, until I started watching musicals with my daughter—and couldn’t stop crying.

Moral of the story from @galuten.bsky.social: We could all probably use a bit more Gene Kelly...
www.theatlantic.com/family/2026/...

‘Commuting Is Bad’—Particularly for Women A growing body of research shows how longer travel times affect moms’ ability to work.

"This is, admittedly, not a terribly sexy topic," Stephanie H. Murray writes, but it is an intriguing one: She dives into some striking data showing how commutes affect women's employment and earnings, especially after they have kids—and thus the gender wage gap.
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

Why the Brown Shooting Felt Different I’m used to responding to sudden tragedies, but not ones this personal.

"The reality is that we’re all on the 'dead people' beat now." Devastating and true, from @juliettekayyem.bsky.social. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Why Couples Therapists Are Sick of ‘Therapy-Speak’ What happens when spouses accuse each other of gaslighting? Nothing good.

“Instead of learning the textbook definitions of psychological disorders,” @olgakhazan.bsky.social writes, “laypeople are absorbing the oversimplified versions, then diagnosing their spouse.” Might this sound familiar? Then you need to read this good piece:
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

When Did the Job Market Get So Rude? Employer ghosting is on the rise. Now candidates are punching back.

“An employer whose new hire ghosts before onboarding is inconvenienced; an applicant who’s ghosted by prospective employers over and over again can end up sleeping in their car.” Sharp analysis of the “job ghosting” phenomenon by Franklin Schneider:
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

Enough With the Brussels Sprouts Already Cabbage is the better Thanksgiving option.

Some sprout recipes "involve individually pulling all the layers of leaves off each one, which sounds like some kind of boarding-school detention." Now seriously second-guessing my Thanksgiving choices thanks to this delightful piece by @giladedelman.bsky.social. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

The Pig Is in the White House This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.

Bless @sophiegilbert.bsky.social @theatlantic.com: "The past decade has been a gloomy lesson in how limited a proportion of men actually see women as equal human beings...The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

How to Cheat at Conversation A new AI tool promises to improve social interactions but instead makes them worse.

“The assumption behind Cluely is that letting an AI pull a Cyrano yields better interactions than relying on your own brain,” @julieebeck.bsky.social writes. Her verdict after testing it: It's horribly inefficient—and could in fact harm your relationships. www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

Advent Calendars Are Totally Out of Control What began as a form of religious expression has morphed into a brand-a-palooza.

Now you, too, can count down to Christmas, @elcush.bsky.social writes, by unboxing: tea, designer lipstick, wine, weed, chili crisp, cheese, knives, crystals...toys for children, toys for cats, toys for dogs, toys for sex (or a daily thong). www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

The End of Naked Locker Rooms What we lose when casual nudity disappears

“Without exposure to the normal variety of bodies, we may become less comfortable with our own.” A fun, fascinating @theatlantic.com piece by Jacob Beckert on the decline of mundane, everyday opportunities to get naked together:
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

No, Women Aren’t the Problem America is rapidly becoming the manosphere, but, sure, let’s go after the “feminization” of culture.

"The political reality in 2025 is that our government is as stereotypically masculine as a dick-measuring contest in a weight room": @sophiegilbert.bsky.social @theatlantic.com wades into the "great feminization" debate and it is 🔥🔥🔥: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

Dear James: So Long, Farewell A reader keeps having to leave unsupportive support groups. And James Parker says goodbye to his column.

Some beautiful advice from James Parker @theatlantic.com as he wraps up his “Dear James” column: “If we can stay connected to the miraculous and fleeting fact of being here at all, we’ll have at least a chance of being—eventually—okay.”
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

When Helicopter Parents Touch Down—At College Hovering moms and dads are following their kids all the way to campus.

"College is, among other things, an exercise in independence": I recommend this piece to any parents of rising freshmen who might be experiencing "an inability to let go, to allow children the gift of separation," as Russell Shaw writes: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

What Leni Riefenstahl’s Work Reveals About Fascism The director’s collaborations with the Nazi government translated Hitler’s ideas to film, almost verbatim.

Leni Riefenstahl’s 1938 film on the Berlin Olympics is dull in the way porn is, @sallyjenx.bsky.social writes: It has an obsession with "perfect" bodies; "monotony; repetitive floggings.” But a riveting new doc offers a better way to decipher her work—and Nazism: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...

How Delivery Destroyed American Restaurants We’ve become a nation of order-inners. Eating will never be the same.

"Convenience is like sex: Once you’ve had it, it’s hard to forget how good it is to have it," @elcush.bsky.social writes. So it has gone with restaurants and delivery—and the results are...not great.

The Louvre Heist Is Terrific Here was a dreamy little crime in which no one really got hurt.

"How nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre"—especially when the article about that heist is by @caity.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The Rich-Mom, Poor-Mom Happiness Fallacy Where commentary on parental satisfaction goes wrong

Many people have claimed that wealthy moms are "the most miserable and stressed." But Stephanie H. Murray, after a deep dive into the research on parental well-being, finds that in many instances, the opposite is true: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

The Cruel Calculus of Palestinian Grief In times of mass atrocity, processing personal sorrow becomes more complicated.

Such a moving, powerful essay by Reem Kassis: "My grief from witnessing what has been done to my people is so vast, so relentless, that sadness over my grandmother’s death feels like something too indulgent. I am heartbroken, and I am ashamed of that heartbreak."
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

One Obvious, Underused Child-Care Solution Pay grandparents.

In other countries, Marina Lopes writes, stipends for grandparents "recognize a fact of family life that tends to go unacknowledged in the United States: that the contributions of older people are essential labor that deserves to be remunerated." www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

One Obvious, Underused Child-Care Solution Pay grandparents.

"Many Americans might balk" at the thought of paying grandparents, Marina Lopes writes. But the benefits "ripple through society": parents get affordable, reliable care; grandparents get financial support; and children learn early the value of caring for kin. www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

One Obvious, Underused Child-Care Solution Pay grandparents.

Where the grandparents are willing: Would you pay them for child care? Marina Lopes makes a persuasive case for doing just that: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

When Adoption Promises Are Broken Many birth mothers hope to maintain contact with their child. But their agreements with adoptive parents can be fragile.

“I am absolutely terrified that they would take away what I do have…because they took away what I did have.” @nicolechung.bsky.social on birth mothers in open adoptions and what happens when their contact with their children is curtailed: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...

Parents and educators, please share with your schools: @theatlantic.com is offering U.S. public high schools FREE IP-based access to our journalism—an excellent way to improve news literacy and inspire a new generation of independent thinkers. For info, visit theatlantic.com/hsaccess.

What’s the Point of a High-School Reunion? Social media should have killed them. Instead, they’re popular again.

As a person who doesn't get invitations to reunions (because: didn't do normal high school), I'm fascinated by other people's—and am loving this essay by Jordan Michelman (h/t my @theatlantic.com colleague Serena Dai for shepherding) www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

Apologies: You Have Reached the End of Your Free-Trial Period of America! Want rule of law? That’s premium.

The inimitable @petridishes.bsky.social, saying it all out loud. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Why Marriage is an Appallingly Bad Deal for Straight Women And the new explanation for why marriage rates are falling

Excellent analysis from @katemanne.bsky.social
katemanne.substack.com/p/why-marria...

Dear James: I’ve Got a Bad Case of Unrequited Love I’m 19, and I’ve fallen deeply for a colleague. But he’ll never feel the same.

Loving this advice from James Parker to a 19-year-old pining for romantic attention: “You do not need to be thinner, smarter, or better. I don’t mean to be glib about the effects of generations of patriarchal damage and...consumerism, but—you’ve got to get that stuff out of your head. It’s poison.”

What Many Parents Miss About the Phones-in-Schools Debate Some focus on reaching their children in an emergency—and overlook the devices’ everyday threats.

A case against phones at school: Besides distracting kids from learning, phones are "a digital umbilical cord tethering students to their parents,” @gailcornwall.com writes—diminishing kids’ autonomy and setting an expectation that parents must always be on duty.
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

The Growing Cohort of Single Dads by Choice For some men, fatherhood is an answer to questions about modern masculinity.

ICYMI: Fascinating piece by @faith-hill.bsky.social sky.social @theatlantic.com on single men choosing to become dads, and how this plays out in their personal relationships + affects their sense of self. A nuanced look at tangly territory:

www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...