Ideas
Arguments. Essays. Inquiries.
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Jonathan Ernst / Reuters Congressional Republicans Are the Real Authors of the Anonymous Op-Ed
The Constitution demands that the legislature serve as a check on the executive. In its absence, unelected bureaucrats are taking it on themselves to act.
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Yuri Gripas / Reuters This Is a Constitutional Crisis
A cowardly coup from within the administration threatens to enflame the president’s paranoia and further endanger American security.
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Chip Somodevilla / Reuters A Judge Who Can’t Be Vetted Shouldn’t Be Confirmed
If Brett Kavanaugh’s extensive paper trail can’t be fully and publicly disclosed, the simplest solution is to nominate someone else.
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Brian Snyder / Reuters The Key Lesson of Ayanna Pressley’s Victory
Her triumph in a chunk of Massachusetts once represented by Tip O’Neill shows that the former House speaker’s maxim no longer applies.
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Mortiz Hager / Reuters Taking a Blowtorch to Debate
Steve Bannon and Colin Kaepernick share little in common, but the backlash each faces is rooted in a common rage.
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Carlo Allegri / Reuters A Major Boost for Young Veterans Running for Congress
A nonpartisan group backing candidates who served in recent wars hauls in some big donations.
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Reuters Ahmadinejad’s Quarterback Sneak
The former Iranian president’s praise for Colin Kaepernick is best understood as an effort to deflect attention from his nation’s record on human rights.
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Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters The Rise of the Zombie Small Businesses
What your chicken dinner says about wage stagnation, income inequality, and economic sclerosis in the United States
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Boston Public Library Introducing The Atlantic’s Ideas Section
A new destination for incisive and intelligent analysis, essays, and commentary
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Alicia Tatone The Second Redemption Court
The Supreme Court again appears poised to pursue a purely theoretical liberty at the expense of the lives of people of color.
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Leah Millis / Reuters Reining In the Excesses of Title IX
The Department of Education’s proposed rule changes aren’t without their flaws—but they move the policy in a more just direction.
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AP Call Them What They Wants
As more English speakers adopt the singular they and reject the gender binary, resisters will have to accept that language changes over time.
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Fred Prouser / Reuters It’s Time for the Press to Stop Complaining—And to Start Fighting Back
A nearly 50-year campaign of vilification, inspired by Fox News's Roger Ailes, has left many Americans distrustful of media outlets. Now, journalists need to speak up for their work.
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Associated Press How to Fix the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings
Senate Democrats will likely do a terrible job of cross-examining Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. They’d do better to hire their own counsel—and they can.
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Joshua Roberts / Reuters Kavanaugh’s Unsettling Use of ‘Settled Law’
The Supreme Court nominee’s judicial record suggests he means only that Roe v. Wade hasn’t yet been overturned, not that it can’t be.
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Joshua Roberts / Reuters John McCain’s Parting Gift to His Nation
The senator orchestrated a final ceremony that called his fellow citizens to live up to the greatness of American ideals.
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Antara Foto Agency / Reuters Should We Dim the Skies to Save the World?
The podcast Crazy/Genius returns with the story of a volcano, a toxic cloud, and a radical solution to humanity’s most important problem.
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Siphewe Sibeko / Reuters The Dangerous Myths of South African Land Seizures
Reactionaries on either side of the Atlantic are empowering one another.
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters Does Brett Kavanaugh Agree With Bush v. Gore?
If he does, he can’t be trusted to distinguish between partisan demand and legal principle.
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Yuri Gripas / Reuters ‘Medicare for All’ Is a Fantasy
But the surge in support for the idea gives Republicans the chance to offer a coherent alternative.
