Why Is Bernie Sanders Overtaking Hillary?
As the new year begins, new polling shows a reversal in the Democratic primary. What, if anything, stopped the frontrunner’s momentum?
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Aaron P. Bernstein / Reuters -
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Pool / Reuters A Strikingly Different State of the Union Address
President Obama went before Congress one last time, to offer a plea for civic unity—and some sharp jabs at Republican presidential candidates.
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Randall Hill / Reuters Nikki Haley’s Message for America
The South Carolina governor’s response to the State of the Union address aimed to unify, rather than divide.
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Sepahnews / AP Iran’s Release of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors
Iran freed the 10 U.S. Navy sailors and their two boats a day after they inadvertently crossed into Iranian territorial waters.
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Reuters The 3-D-Printed Gun Is Retro, Not Futuristic
People have been building their own firearms for centuries.
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Joe Berg / Way Down Video / The Atlantic Video: A Coral Reef Revival
How a scientist figured out how to regrow corals more than 25 times faster than normal
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More Top Stories
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters More Top StoriesObama Takes Stock of His Tenure
America has pared back its foreign entanglements, and its economy has regained its balance—but large chunks of the public have not.
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Dinodia / Corbis More Top StoriesThe Long and Winding History of Encryption
The technology that keeps your text messages private had its start on the banks of the Tigris River, 3500 years ago.
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National Institutes of Health / Flickr More Top StoriesWhat’s Next for the National Institutes of Health?
Congress rallied around the agency this year, giving it a major funding bump.
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Nick Prete / Flickr More Top StoriesThe U.S. Supreme Court Can Still Take Big Money Out of Politics
Who the next president appoints to the U.S. Supreme Court could revolutionize—or reinforce—big money’s dominance of political campaigns.
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Reuters More Top StoriesWhat Makes a Joke ‘Transphobic’?
Ricky Gervais doesn’t understand why people are peeved at him. It’s pretty simple, though.
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Rick Bowmer / AP More Top StoriesThe Decline of the Bundy Rebellion
As the Oregon occupation stretches into its 11th day, even local residents who are critical of the federal government are stepping up calls for the militia to leave.
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Mark Makela / Reuters More Top StoriesBill Cosby and His Enablers
Even victims of discrimination can look away from—and thereby enable—other forms of violence.
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Daybreak Game Company More Top StoriesWhen a Video-Game World Ends
What happens when the vast universes in massively multiplayer online games go offline?
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Notes
First thoughts, running arguments, stories in progress -
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Video
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VideoWomen in Combat, in Their Own Words
Long before the Pentagon's announcement, women were already embedded in the front lines of Afghanistan.
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VideoThe Unique Challenges of Teaching Migrant Children
How a teacher in the Salinas Valley in California imparts wisdom to his students
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VideoInside a Salon on Wheels for the Homeless
A mobile beauty shop serves the shelters of New York City.
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VideoThe Marathon Runner of Mumbai
Abbas Sheikh is a jewelry polisher who became a top competitor by running in his spare time. This is what the sport means to him.
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VideoA Visual Rendition of Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’
Lines from the classic poem are captured in a whimsical animation
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VideoFighting China’s Stubborn Stigma Around Mental Health
One man's journey to establishing the country's first depression support group
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Politics
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP PoliticsWill the U.S. Supreme Court Gut Public-Employee Unions?
The justices consider a challenge to labor organizations without weighing the practical implications of their decision.
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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters PoliticsA New Hurdle in the Push for Criminal-Justice Reform
A disagreement between a House Republican and the Obama administration creates a challenge.
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Brian Snyder / Reuters PoliticsWhat If Bernie Sanders Is the Democrats’ Best Bet?
The Vermont senator now argues that he’s more electable against a Republican than his leading rival.
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Evan Vucci / Associated Press PoliticsCan the Government Fix Its Corps of Managers?
The Senior Executive Service isn’t operating as it was designed to do.
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Erin Siegal / Reuters PoliticsDonald Trump’s Abuse of Power
The Republican frontrunner asks security to take coats from protestors, and then turn them out into the freezing cold.
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Mandel Ngan / AP PoliticsThe Decline of the Bully Pulpit
President Obama’s eloquence was praised on the campaign trail. Why hasn't it translated into more policy achievements?
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J. Scott Applewhite / AP PoliticsA New Threat to the Syrian Refugee Program
Republicans pounced on the news that two men indicted on terrorism charges had been resettled in the U.S. after fleeing Iraq.
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Science
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missy / Flickr ScienceTen Thousand Years of the Mortar and Pestle
The culinary tools still look more or less the same as they did in their earliest days: an Object Lesson.
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Jim Stephenson / VIEW / Corbis ScienceReclaiming LSD for Psychotherapy
Psychotropic drugs were once used to help patients work through a variety of mental-health issues.
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Yuriko Nakao / Reuters ScienceWhen an Endangered Species Endangers a Culture
Eel farming is at the core of one Japanese city's identity—but overconsumption threatens both the animal and a tradition.
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James Gathany / Flickr ScienceThe Quest to Make a Better Mosquito Repellent
Leslie Vosshall is trying to block mosquitoes’ sense of smell, but the blood-suckers are proving to be tricky foes.
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Danny Moloshok / Reuters ScienceNot Doomed Yet: El Nino’s Heat and Imminent Famine
December was a weird month on planet Earth.
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Andrew Winning / Reuters
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Daily
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Stefan Wermuth / Reuters DailySubscribe to Our Afternoon Newsletter
The Atlantic Daily: our wrap-up of notable news, ideas, and images—by email each weekday
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Adnan Abidi / Reuters Tattoos as an Act of Faith and Defiance
For decades, low-caste Hindus in Chhattisgarh, India, tattoo the name of the Hindu god Ram on their bodies—acts of faith and defiance, saying “God is everywhere."
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Business
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Stephanie Keith / Reuters BusinessWhat Becomes of Lottery Winners?
Millions are buying Powerball tickets assuming that winning will bring them a prosperous, work-free life, but research suggests they shouldn’t be so certain.
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Street Yoga BusinessYoga, but Affordable
Some nonprofits insist that the practice can benefit everyone, not just those who have the money for classes and a mat.
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Kevin Lamarque / Reuters BusinessHow the Government Underestimated Income Inequality
Social Security is underfunded today because policymakers didn’t foresee just how rich today’s rich would be.
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Stephen Chernin / AP BusinessDavid Bowie: Musical and Financial Innovator?
The story of the artist’s foray into asset-backed securities
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desingmilk / Flickr BusinessThe Sublime Beauty of Powerball
Playing the lottery is foolish, but it affords the public a communal encounter with the weird majesty of mathematics.
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Todd Korol / Reuters BusinessCanadian Millennials: Winning
They're more likely to have what many young Americans don't: jobs, homes, and healthy paychecks.
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Culture
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Damian Dovarganes / AP CultureThe Rams’ Return to Los Angeles
After having no NFL team for 21 years, the city may suddenly have two.
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Universal CultureEnough With the Origin Stories
Does anyone actually care how Robin Hood got to Sherwood Forest?
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Stephen R Woolverton / Wikimedia CultureWhen the Forgery Is the Art
At the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism Architecture, curators are considering the creativity required to create counterfeit goods.
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Fox / Lucasfilm CultureThe World Doesn’t Need a Young Han Solo
Disney’s actor shortlist for a Star Wars prequel has prompted outcry from fans. They’re right to be worried.
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Reuters CultureDavid Bowie’s Perfect Farewell
He used his creativity and the power of silence to set the terms of his exit, and not for the first time.
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Lucy Nicholson / Reuters CultureThe Tao of the Reaction Shot
A feather-ruffling host and expletive-laded speeches elevated the Golden Globes.
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Leonhard Foeger / Reuters CultureRemembering David Bowie
Rock’s chameleonic maestro died Monday at age 69, his family announced.
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U.S.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters U.S.Florida’s Death Penalty Is Struck Down
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the state’s jury sentencing system in capital cases violated the Sixth Amendment.
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Eduardo Munoz / Reuters U.S.America’s Fittest Cities Are Also Its Richest
Many believe that people are healthier in warm, sunny places like Los Angeles and Miami Beach, but money, not climate, is what matters.
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Jonathan Alcorn / Reuters U.S.LAPD Chief: Charge the Cop Who Shot an Unarmed Man in the Back
The highly suspicious killing of Brendon Glenn
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Rick Wilking / Reuters U.S.How to Spot a Likely Voter
A new report examines whether there’s a better way for pollsters to figure out which respondents will actually cast votes.
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Internet Archive Book Images / Flickr U.S.‘Bound for the Promised Land’
African Americans devised a mass exodus from the Jim Crow South, largely at the urging of The Chicago Defender.
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Chad McDonald / Flickr U.S.How to Tell What’s Going to Kill You
What should you fear? The answers are different at each stage of life—and vary dramatically for different groups of Americans.
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Edward DeWitt
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Education
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Najlah Feanny / Corbis EducationDo Metal Detectors in Schools Do More Harm Than Good?
Airport-style security checks are an everyday for more than 100,000 students across New York City.
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Jacquelyn Martin / AP EducationThe Irony of STEM Funding
Despite Obama’s push for science and tech education, research institutions have battled budget cuts for years. Will new spending measures fix the damage?
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Susan Walsh / AP EducationWhere Are All the High-School Grads Going?
More Americans are getting their diplomas—but fewer are enrolling in college. Why the mismatch?
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Shannon Stapleton / Reuters EducationThe Legal Standing of Free-Range Parenting
An amendment in the new federal education law seeks to clarify when kids are allowed to walk to school alone.
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Joshua Lott / Reuters EducationThe Steep Costs of Keeping Juveniles in Adult Prisons
Despite federal statues prohibiting it, many states imprison those under 18 alongside adults, where they are much more likely to suffer sexual abuse and violence.
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Max Whittaker / Reuters EducationThe Schools Taking in Syrian Refugees
In Connecticut, communities have welcomed those searching for a home and set up systems to help them rebuild.
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Christine Armario / AP EducationSalvaging Education in Rural America
Rural towns struggle with poverty, limited opportunity, and low college-attendance rates. What role do schools play in improving the quality of life?
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Henry Romero / Reuters How to Interview a Global Villain
A journalist who spoke with bin Laden reflects on Sean Penn’s conversation with el Chapo.
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Global
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Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters GlobalAngela Merkel’s Response to the New Year’s Eve Assaults
Government officials proposed Tuesday legislative changes that would make it easier to deport asylum-seekers who commit crimes in the country.
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AP GlobalThe Humanitarian Crisis in Madaya
A U.N. official says 400 people need to be evacuated from the Syrian town so they can be given life-saving medical treatment.
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Rebecca Blackwell / AP GlobalWill El Chapo Be Extradited?
Mexican authorities have formally begun the process to transfer the head of the Sinaloa cartel to the U.S.
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Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters GlobalThe Growing Fallout From the Cologne Attacks
A New Year’s Eve crime spree has put the German city at the center of the debate over migrants and refugees.
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Jake Simkin / AP GlobalWhy ISIS Cannot Be Negotiated With
Jonathan Powell argues that talking to terrorists has brought peace in the past. But the Islamic State really is different.
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Denis Balibouse / Reuters GlobalA Hospital Bombed in Yemen
At least four people were killed and 10 injured after a strike on a Médecins Sans Frontières-supported facility in Yemen.
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Health
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Brian Snyder / Reuters HealthHow Urban Planning Can Influence Obesity Rates
A Swiss case study sheds new light on the link between a city’s layout and the health of its residents.
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Jenny Elia Pfeiffer / Corbis HealthMore Kids, Longer Life?
In a new study, women who had more children had longer telomeres, challenging a theory that reproduction leads to accelerated aging.
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Owen Franken / Corbis HealthThe Outcome of My Clinical Trial Is a Mystery
I’ll live the rest of my life with a heart implant, but may never know how well it actually works.
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Jason Lee / Reuters HealthCan Child Dolls Keep Pedophiles From Offending?
One man thinks so, and he’s been manufacturing them for clients for more than ten years.
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Andrew Winning / Reuters HealthSugar Is the New Public Health Enemy #1
Governments try to reduce consumption of the sweet stuff through guidelines and taxes.
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Internet Archive Book Images / Wikimedia HealthThe First Artificial Insemination Was an Ethical Nightmare
The 19th-century procedure involved lies, a secrecy pledge, and sperm from a surprise donor.
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Ronen Zvulun / Reuters HealthThe Israeli Army Unit That Recruits Teens With Autism
Many autistic soldiers who would otherwise be exempt from military service have found a place in Unit 9900, a selective intelligence squad where their heightened perceptual skills are an asset.
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Technology
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Mark Kauzlarich / Reuters TechnologyHow ‘Gun Control’ Became a Taboo Phrase
When talking about firearms, people choose their words carefully.
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Fox Searchlight TechnologyHow to Write a Golden Globe-Nominated Song With Google
A search engine can be a great source of lyrics.
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The Atlantic TechnologyOkCupid’s New Feature for the Polyamorous
Seeing an increased interest in non-monogamous arrangements, the company will allow couples to link their profiles and search for additional mates.
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Ingrid Burrington TechnologyWhy Amazon’s Data Centers Are Hidden in Spy Country
The company powers much of the Internet, but its cloud facilities are difficult to find.
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Mike Blake / Reuters TechnologyDon’t Fear the #10kTwitter
The micro-blogging service is at its best when it adopts user-invented hacks.
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2 / Riko Pictures / Ocean / Corbis Can You Spot a Liar?
“When you’re vulnerable, your world no longer makes sense. Con artists are people who are happy to make sense of it for you.”
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Video
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VideoWhen War Becomes Personal
Photographer Nicole Tung reflects on how loss has shaped the way she covers conflict.
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VideoAn Animated Account of a Migrant’s First Days in New Zealand
An elderly Turkish man recounts his early days in a new country.
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Hani Ali / Xinhua Press / Corbis Yemen’s Unending Chaos
For nearly a year now, Yemen has been torn by a ferocious war pitting rebels against the government, militias against each other, Al Qaeda and ISIS against everybody, a Saudi-led coalition against Iranian-backed forces, and a desperate civilian populace caught in the middle.
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