Olga Khazan
Being Black in America Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
In Baltimore and other segregated cities, the life-expectancy gap between African Americans and whites is as much as 20 years. One young woman’s struggle shows why.
-
![]()
Danish Ismail / Reuters What Your Facebook Posts Say About Your Mental Health
Psychologists are discovering just how much information about our inner states can be gleaned from social media.
-
![]()
Dani Cardona / Reuters Why Your Nemesis Psychs You Out
Sometimes people on the rise only inspire you to do worse.
-
![]()
AFP Contributor / Getty The Therapeutic Potential of Stanning
“Superhero therapy” encourages people to think like their favorite movie characters. It seems to work.
-
![]()
GBALLGIGGSPHOTO / Shutterstock A Strange New Culprit Behind Eating Disorders
Common infections such as strep throat might have a mysterious link to anorexia and bulimia.
-
![]()
John Minchillo / AP Beto’s Marijuana Moment
The Democratic presidential candidate promoted a substitute for opioids that might be more dream than reality.
-
![]()
Flashpop / Getty The Self-Confidence Tipping Point
There seems to be a key difference between self-esteem and narcissism.
-
![]()
Nick Ut / AP How Syphilis Sneaked Up on Americans
The U.S. stopped taking STDs seriously, and now we’re suffering the consequences.
-
![]()
Jeneil S / Getty What to Expect When You’re Expecting Gender-Reveal Backlash
The psychology behind a controversial trend
-
![]()
Noel Celis / Getty Lift Weight, Not Too Much, Most of the Days
Have you ever tried to grease the groove?
-
![]()
Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters No One Keeps Secrets Better Than Your Therapist
A side benefit of therapy is that it’s the perfect place for gossip.
-
![]()
Michael Caronna / Reuters I Was Never Taught Where Humans Came From
Many American students, myself included, never learn the human part of evolution.
-
![]()
Win McNamee / Getty The Health-Care Debate Gets Nasty
In the latest Democratic presidential debate, the candidates stopped being polite and started getting real.
-
![]()
Eric Thayer / Reuters The Trouble With America’s Water
Lead-tainted drinking water is not only a problem in Flint and Newark.
-
![]()
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters What Your Politics Do to Your Morals
A twist in the science of how people form their political identities
-
![]()
Beck Diefenbach/Reuters For members: Trump’s big housing reform, Jay-Z’s NFL deal, Impossible Burger in grocery stores
Atlantic writers look ahead at their beats.
-
![]()
Simon Montag What Happens When You Don’t Pay a Hospital Bill
As Americans sink under medical expenses, debt collectors go to great—and sometimes strange—lengths to collect.
-
![]()
Bob Wands / AP The Quick Therapy That Actually Works
Just a few hours of therapy-like interventions can reduce some people’s anxiety.
-
![]()
Jan Havicksz Steen / Fine Art Images / ... Why Some Doctors Purposely Misdiagnose Patients
Hundreds of people say a Michigan doctor falsely diagnosed them with epilepsy. He wouldn’t be the first to lie to patients about how sick they are.
-
![]()
Toby Melville / Reuters The Life of a Person Who Wakes Up Really, Really Early
“Extreme larks” get up naturally when some people have hardly gone to bed.
-
![]()
Celia Talbot Tobin / The New York Times ... Why Many Mass Shooters Are ‘Loners’
Social rejection can fuel violence, but only if the perpetrator has access to a deadly weapon.
