McKay Coppins

The violence that haunts American politics A conversation with Senator Mark Kelly about what's driving the rise in vigilante violence, how to stop it, and why he believes ICE agents should refuse to follow unlawful orders.

I also wrote a bit in my newsletter (subscribe below!) about why I wanted to talk to Sen. Kelly and what I found most notable from our conversation. mckaycoppins.substack.com/p/the-violen...

🎁 Forty-one days until Christmas. A perfect day to buy someone a gift subscription to The Atlantic: accounts.theatlantic.com/products/gif...

YouTube video by Deseret News Full Podcast: How to end the plague of political violence

For my first episode of Deseret Voices, I talked to @SenMarkKelly about the plague of political violence, how to stop it, and why he thinks ICE agents should stop following unlawful orders from the Trump Administration.

youtu.be/ExpTt31hfTI?...

Flying down to Austin this morning for the Texas Tribune Festival, where I’ll be interviewing former Sen. Joe Manchin and appearing onstage with several of my esteemed Atlantic colleagues. BBQ and taco recs welcome. Come say hi if you’re in town! festival.texastribune.org/event/c17d2d...

Meet McKay Coppins, the Trump-provoking journalist and podcaster whose observations are ‘minor’ no more Known for his work at BuzzFeed and The Atlantic, Coppins will be part of the new “Deseret Voices” podcast.

Grateful to the Deseret News for this profile, which covers my greatest professional achievement: my stewardship of the student newspaper at my kids' elementary school, The Sunshine Times.

(There's some other stuff in the story, too.)
www.deseret.com/politics/202...

Some exciting news A new podcast that brings together my reporting, my curiosity, and hope for better conversations.

Excited to share that I’ll be co-hosting a new interview podcast, Deseret Voices. I wrote on Substack about why I’m taking this on, and my goals for the show.

We’ve got some great guests lined up, but also taking suggestions—who should I interview?
mckaycoppins.substack.com/p/some-excit...

About - McKay’s Substack My personal Substack. Click to read McKay’s Substack, by McKay Coppins, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

I’ll have something cool to share soon. If you haven’t already, subscribe to my newsletter to get the announcement: mckaycoppins.substack.com/about

The Shooter and the Prophet Russell M. Nelson, the Latter-day Saint prophet who preached the need for peacemakers in an angry world, died over the weekend. Then a gunman opened fire on a church in Michigan.

On the death of a prophet, a church shooting in Michigan, and what I learned from President Russell M. Nelson. This was a difficult piece to write. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I don’t even know which side you’re insisting with such certainty doesn’t participate in political violence. But whatever you’re arguing, just the last few years would strongly suggest you’re wrong.

Trump Has a Warning for Spencer Cox Utah’s grieving governor opens up about his state, the country’s dangerous spiral, and a haunting conversation with the president.

I spoke with Utah's grieving governor about his state, America's dangerous spiral, and what social media is doing to us. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Trump Has a Warning for Spencer Cox Utah’s grieving governor opens up about his state, the country’s dangerous spiral, and a haunting conversation with the president.

Shortly after Utah Governor Spencer Cox's news conference yesterday, he got a call from the president. "You know, the type of person who would do something like that to Charlie Kirk would love to do it to us," Cox says Trump told him. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Growing Up Murdoch James Murdoch on mind games, sibling rivalry, and the war for the family media empire

Today is a good day to read @mckaycoppins.bsky.social on the mind games, sibling rivalry, and war for power that culminated in Lachlan Murdoch winning his family’s succession fight:

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

Life is complicated, human experience is varied, some people shouldn't be parents, etc.—I understand the aversion to having kids. But it's kind of amazing that "parenthood is good and makes people happy" is considered such a counterintuitive take in 2025.

The Marriage Effect A common narrative has it that commitment and motherhood make women unhappy. New data suggest the opposite is true.

From a new survey of 3,000 American women ages 25 to 55, controlled for age, family income, and education:

"Married mothers are actually happier than unmarried women and married women without children."

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Number of times I’ve heard a KPop Demon Hunters song in Mexico City this week: 3 (and counting)

Photos: Starvation and Chaos in Gaza Israel’s blockade of most food and aid, along with distribution difficulties inside the Gaza Strip, have driven many of Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians to the brink of starvation.

Photos: Starvation and Chaos in Gaza
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...

Jason Chaffetz: The Prince of Oversight The Utah Republican chairs the House’s watchdog committee. But critics charge he’d rather overlook the Trump administration’s infractions than look into them.

(Chaffetz, notably, resigned from Congress a month later, joined Fox News, and has enjoyed an apparently successful media career as a pro-Trump pundit/talking head/author.) Anyway, here's the link to that interview:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Something I think about often is when I asked Jason Chaffetz, then Oversight chairman, in March 2017 if he was worried about Trump profiting from his presidency.

“He’s already rich,” Chaffetz shrugged. “I don’t think that he ran for this office to line his pockets even more."

“They call Alden a vulture hedge fund, and I think that’s honestly a misnomer,” a former Chicago Tribune reporter told me in 2021. “A vulture doesn’t hold a wounded animal’s head underwater. This is predatory.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Some Pioneer Day reading

Is Colbert’s Ouster Really Just a ‘Financial Decision’? CBS no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.

"The network that once made Cronkite the most trusted man in America no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. CBS’s owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump..." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Solid picks. (Nominating El Scorcho!)

In this context, Lee's recent tweets about the murder of two Minnesota lawmakers inevitably became a subject of discussion at his church's headquarters, as @sambbenson.bsky.social reports. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Mike Lee has moved in the opposite direction in recent years, as many (including my colleague Tim Alberta) have documented. So the church is in an awkward position where its message is being actively undermined by the faith's most prominent elected official.

Some context: Leaders of the traditionally conservative LDS church have spent the past decade preaching depolarization. While other churches embrace Christian nationalism, the message from Salt Lake has been "moderate and unify," build "bridges of understanding," "be peacemakers"

Mike Lee Can’t Stop Throwing Social Media Grenades. His Church Isn’t Happy. The Utah senator’s online persona has further damaged his already frayed relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Mike Lee’s “based” online persona and Trump-era theatrics are a source of growing alarm among LDS church leaders, @sambbenson reports. “Mike Lee is far-right,” said one emeritus general authority. “The church is not far-right.” www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Trump Loves ICE. Its Workforce Has Never Been So Miserable. A “mission impossible” deportation campaign has left many employees burned out and morally conflicted.

"Officers and agents described a workforce on edge, vilified by broad swaths of the public and bullied by Trump officials demanding more and more."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Thank you! Glad you like it!

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Incredible. "Paramount said its payment includes Mr. Trump’s legal fees and costs and that the money, minus the legal fees, will be paid to Mr. Trump’s future presidential library."