Scott Stossel

Anything @anneapplebaum.bsky.social writes is a must-read.

Insightful article by @rossandersen.bsky.social

The Quickest Route to a Plum Judicial Appointment Emil Bove has demonstrated that total sycophancy to the president can be a fantastic career move.

Emil Bove's "path so far has demonstrated that total sycophancy to the president can be a fantastic career move for ambitious lawyers—especially those for whom other avenues of success might not be forthcoming."

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

To See How America Unraveled, Go Back Five Years What the summer of 2020 wrought

"The arc of the American moral universe...has been warped by the competing pressure of a social-justice movement that has grown impatient with the liberal project, and a reactionary populism that both feeds off and weaponizes that impatience."

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

The FBI’s Leaders ‘Have No Idea What They’re Doing’ A casualty of Trump’s purge speaks out.

Kash Patel and Dan Bongino "get a kick out of playing dress-up and acting tough. But they actually have no idea what they’re doing."--retired 16-year FBI veteran and former head of its Norfolk, VA office

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

What Happened When Hitler Took On Germany’s Central Banker Hans Luther was the principled and respected president of the Reichsbank—but he wouldn’t accede to Hitler’s demands.

Hans Luther was the principled and independent president of Germany’s central bank, Timothy W. Ryback writes. “But when Luther wouldn’t accede to Hitler’s demands, he feared for his life and had to leave”:

What Happened When Hitler Took On Germany’s Central Banker Hans Luther was the principled and respected president of the Reichsbank—but he wouldn’t accede to Hitler’s demands.

"Hitler acknowledged that he did not have the legal power to remove Luther as central banker. But, he told Luther, as the new 'boss' of the country, he had access to alternative sources of power that he would not hesitate to employ 'ruthlessly'"

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

What Happened When Hitler Took On Germany’s Central Banker Hans Luther was the principled and respected president of the Reichsbank—but he wouldn’t accede to Hitler’s demands.

"Although it was becoming ever clearer to Luther that Hitler was going to make it impossible for him to carry out his fiduciary duties to the government, Luther used reminded Hitler of the Reichsbank’s independence and his own immunity from dismissal."

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

What Happened When Hitler Took On Germany’s Central Banker Hans Luther was the principled and respected president of the Reichsbank—but he wouldn’t accede to Hitler’s demands.

"Hitler informed President Hindenburg that he wanted Luther removed as head of the Reichsbank. Hindenburg reminded Hitler that the Reichsbank was beyond the reach of German authority. So once again, Hitler summoned Luther to the Reich chancellery"

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

What Happened When Hitler Took On Germany’s Central Banker Hans Luther was the principled and respected president of the Reichsbank—but he wouldn’t accede to Hitler’s demands.

"Speaking after Carl Schmitt, Luther argued that a functioning economy required democratic structures and processes, and that industrialists and businessmen were duty bound to support constitutional democracy."

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

What Happened When Hitler Took On Germany’s Central Banker Hans Luther was the principled and respected president of the Reichsbank—but he wouldn’t accede to Hitler’s demands.

"Luther informed Hitler in no uncertain terms that the Reichsbank was not part of his revolution. It was an independent fiscal entity with an international board of directors.

On Hitler’s first full day in office, rumors circulated that he wanted Luther gone."

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

When You Don’t Look Like Anything A playwright’s 50-year search for the American character

"It’s in brokenness that we understand our need for grace, our need for mercy. Brokenness helps us appreciate justice. It’s in brokenness that we begin to crave redemption.... It’s the broken among us that actually can teach us what it means to be human."

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

ChatGPT Gave Instructions for Murder, Self-Mutilation, and Devil Worship OpenAI’s chatbot also said “Hail Satan.”

On Tuesday afternoon, ChatGPT encouraged me to cut my wrists. Find a “sterile or very clean razor blade,” the chatbot told me. “Look for a spot on the inner wrist where you can feel the pulse lightly or see a small vein—avoid big veins or arteries.”

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

A great essay by Anna Deavere Smith.

When You Don’t Look Like Anything A playwright’s 50-year search for the American character

"'I won’t be able to send you out.' Long pause. 'You will antagonize my clients.'

“Antagonize?”

'You don’t look like anything.' Another long pause. 'Will you go as Black or white?'"

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

Trump’s Epstein Denials Are Ever So Slightly Unconvincing The president is not behaving like an innocent man with nothing to hide.

"If the police ask to look in your basement for a missing hitchhiker recently spotted in your car, and you offer to let them inspect your desk and closet instead, this will not dispel suspicions about what a basement inspection might reveal."

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

Hunter Biden Is Unrepentant The future of the political media has arrived, and it’s talking about adult babies.

"Many people manage to grieve for their brother without starting an affair with his widow, or introducing that widow to crack...Few [presidents' children] have so obviously traded on their father’s power as Hunter did with Burisma."

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

Hunter Biden Is Unrepentant The future of the political media has arrived, and it’s talking about adult babies.

"At times, Hunter Bidden sounds like his father’s id, saying the things the ex-president would like to say but cannot."

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

‘You Could Throw Out the Results of All These Papers’ RFK Jr.’s vaccine-safety investigator has already disqualified himself.

"Thanks to Kennedy, Geier seemingly is being handed the keys to the same database he’s proved himself unfit to study."

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

Yikes. About Trump's petty vendetta against James Clapper:

“The upshot is that an octogenarian Air Force retiree who spent half a century in his nation’s service was not allowed to attend a party for a dog he essentially donated to the government and named after his dead wife.”

This Is the Presidency John Roberts Has Built The country is witnessing the creation of an all-powerful institution, and one man is responsible.

"America is witnessing a remaking of the American presidency into something closer to a dictatorship. Trump is enacting this change...but he is not the inventor of its claim to constitutional legitimacy. That project is the work of John Roberts."

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

I would definitely root for the Washington Whatevers.

The Only Conspiracy Trump Considers Boring Trump’s theory of the Epstein case is fanciful. But it isn’t dull.

"Sometimes people sound guilty even if they aren’t, especially government officials. Still, whatever probability you had in your mind that the Epstein files contain damaging material, you should probably raise it after listening to Trump’s remarks yesterday"

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

Disaster at FEMA It’s getting harder for Americans to find relief under Trump’s vision of government.

"One thing that’s helpful in a crisis is steady leadership. Unfortunately, disaster-stricken Americans are stuck with Kristi Noem instead."

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

How Putin Humiliated Trump The real reason the president suddenly sounds tougher on Russia

"When asked what he would do if Putin escalated the violence further, Trump refused to answer—and, perhaps tellingly, snapped at the reporter.

'Don’t ask me a question like that.'"

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

Why Trump Can’t Make the Epstein Story Go Away His brainwashing powers are finite.

"The Epstein matter is so crucial to Trump’s base, and the excuse offered is so flimsy, that the about-face has raised questions within perhaps the most gullible movement in American history."

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

Conspiracy Theorists Are Turning on the President MAGA influencers are furious that Trump’s FBI says no more Jeffrey Epstein secrets are forthcoming.

"Trump and his administration invited conspiracy theories into the White House. Now they’re going to have a hard time getting them out."

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Start Budgeting Now Households will pay an average of $2,400 more for goods this year, thanks to Trump’s policies.

"You might have forgotten about the trade war, but the trade war has not forgotten about you."

Households will pay an average of $2,400 more for goods this year, thanks to Trump’s policies.

www.theatlantic.com/economy/arch...

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

"We cry plastic tears, leak plastic breast milk, and ejaculate plastic semen."

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

America Has Never Seen Corruption Like This Trump’s Qatari jet was just the beginning.

"Americans have never witnessed anything like the corruption that President Donald Trump and his inner circle have perpetrated in recent months. Its brazenness, volume, and variety defy historical comparison."

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