Olga Khazan
She is the author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World. She has also written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. She is a two-time recipient of the International Reporting Project’s journalism fellowship and the winner of the 2017 National Headliner Award for Magazine Online Writing.
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Adoc / Corbis / Getty; The Atlantic How to Forgive Ourselves for What We Can’t Change
The things we can’t change often come back to haunt us. But our capacity to change the future may come from what we can’t change about the past.
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Kirn Vintage Stock / Getty The Misgivings of Friend-Making
The term social distance has come to characterize our times, with fewer chances to socialize and make friends. But for many, opportunities for friend-making and socialization have always been limited—veiled by the subjective rules of social inclusion.
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Photograph by Bill McCullough for The Atlantic The Insurrectionist in the Flower Shop
Jenny Cudd might regret storming the Capitol. But she’s still pushing election conspiracies.
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Paulus Leeser / Ullstein / Getty / The … When Can a Marriage Be Saved?
Knowing when to end a long-term relationship starts with knowing why things aren’t working.
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Rudolf Dietrich / Ullstein / Getty / The … When Partnership Is Not the Destination
In a society designed for romantic couples, singlehood can be seen as an unwelcome circumstance. For some, being single is not a matter of rebellion, but an irrefutable nature—worthy of its own social standing.
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Getty / The Atlantic ‘Parents Are Not All Good and All Bad’
As family norms evolve from generation to generation, so do parent-child dynamics. Changing our relationship with the people who raised us requires not only action but a consideration of whether it’s even possible.
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Jonathan Nguyen / Alamy; Susan Walsh / AP; … The Revolt Against Homelessness
Michael Shellenberger is betting on the frustration of California voters—even though most experts disagree with the solutions he’s selling.
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FPG / Hulton Archive / Getty Starting Over When You Think It’s Too Late
Starting over can feel impossible when it involves a sunk cost—an investment with no returns. But when it comes to your career, is it ever too late to start over?
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Bráulio Amado Introducing How to Start Over
Your one-stop shop for navigating the challenges of changing your life
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Patrick Smith / Getty You Were Right About COVID, and Then You Weren’t
Understanding when to abandon beliefs and when to recommit to them can help us ride out this pandemic and prepare for the next one.
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Oskar Poss / ullstein bild / Getty Republicans Have Sex Ed All Wrong
Some pundits say that talking with little kids about sex and gender primes them to be taken advantage of. Sex-ed researchers say that the opposite is true.
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Fototeca Gilardi / Getty; Paul Spella / The … A Yacht Owner’s Worst Nightmare
Nabbing a billionaire’s large boat is more complicated than you might think.
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Getty; The Atlantic Why People Are Acting So Weird
Crime, “unruly passenger” incidents, and other types of strange behavior have all soared recently. Why?
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Millennium Images / Gallery Stock What It’s Like to Get Worse at Something
I had been skiing since childhood. Why was I suddenly bad at it?
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Nanna Heitmann / Magnum I Watched Russian TV So You Don’t Have To
According to Russian state TV, Putin is the good guy. Many Russians believe it.
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Getty; The Atlantic Red Parent, Blue Parent
When it comes to masks, vaccines, and curricula, parents are divided over what matters most: parents’ rights, or the common good?
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Illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira; photographs by Devin Christopher … I Gave Myself Three Months to Change My Personality
The results were mixed.
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The Atlantic The Real Reason Americans Aren’t Isolating
Many workers with COVID-19 still—still!—can’t afford to isolate, because they don’t have paid sick leave.
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Ivan Nanita / EyeEm / Getty One-Way Masking Works
If you’re vaccinated, boosted, and wearing an N95, you’re protected—no matter what others are doing.
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Adam Maida / The Atlantic It’s Okay If You Don’t Have Baby Fever!
A deep, sudden longing for babies is certainly real, but it’s not a prerequisite for having kids.
