Alex Wong / Chet Strange/ Sarah Silbiger / Bloomberg / Getty / The Atlantic 5 Pandemic Mistakes We Keep Repeating The assumptions made by public officials, and the choices made by media, too often backfired. Zeynep Tufekci
Adam Maida/ Tom Williams / Brendan Smialowski/ Getty / The Atlantic The Man Who Refused to Bow Peter Wehner
Chang W. Lee / The New York Times / Redux The Most Likely Timeline for Life to Return to Normal Joe Pinsker
The New Comedy of American Decline Even works of escapism are reckoning with waning national myths. Megan Garber Apple TV+ / Stephanie Branchu / Netflix
The Double Meaning of the American Dream Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari is filled with symbols of abundance that are also residues of prosaic commercialism. Anne Anlin Cheng David Bornfriend / A24
Chadwick Boseman Gave Us Something We Had Not Had Before He brought King T’Challa to life in a way that transfixed the world and spoke uniquely to Black Americans. Clint Smith Getty / Arsh Raziuddin / The Atlantic
The Crown Takes the Shine Off Queen Elizabeth’s Reign In its fourth season, the Netflix drama is sharper than ever as it paints a portrait of an out-of-touch ruler caught off guard by change. Shirley Li Des Willie / Netflix
Adam Maida A Playlist for Your Next Walk It’s time for a walk. Liven it up with a peppy playlist of an hour of new music, chosen for you by our music writer. Spencer Kornhaber