Letters

Readers Respond: The Case Against Paper Straws

“Paper straws are not going to solve the ocean plastics crisis,” a reader writes. But they’re a good first step.

• Sep 13, 2019

What Daniel Patrick Moynihan Actually Thought About Race

A reader pushes back on the notion that Moynihan was “quiet” in the face of Richard Nixon’s racism.

• Sep 9, 2019

‘Extreme Larks’ Share Their (Very) Early Morning Routines

Some get right to work. Others watch the sun come up and listen to the birds.

• Sep 1, 2019

Letters: The Medieval World of Incarceration

After Jeffrey Epstein’s death, readers discuss the mistreatment of inmates in U.S. correctional facilities and state penitentiaries.

• Aug 24, 2019

When Public Schools Rely on Local Property Taxes: Letters

Readers discuss the phenomenon of school districts being isolated from financial resources in their communities.

• Aug 17, 2019

Singapore’s Ambassador: ‘Our Laws Are for Us to Make’

The city-state’s ambassador to the United States defends a new law that allows Singapore’s government to determine what is true and what is “fake news.”

• Aug 8, 2019

Letters: How to Help Monarch Butterflies

Two readers discuss their efforts to support the migration of wild monarchs.

• Jul 28, 2019

Letters: Trump Is a ‘Source of Hope’ for Taiwan

A Taiwanese American reader reflects on American-Taiwanese relations in the age of Trump.

• Jul 22, 2019

Qatar Responds: Don’t Cancel the 2022 World Cup

The tournament’s host country pushes back on Franklin Foer’s proposal that FIFA change course and reallocate funds to women’s soccer.

• Jul 15, 2019

What Do We Owe Our National Parks?

In 1961, Atlantic readers debated a question Americans are still asking today.

• Mara Wilson
• Jul 4, 2019

Readers Defend the Boomer Generation

“Greed and self-interest know no generational boundaries.”

• Jul 1, 2019

Letters: The Navy Was ‘Conceding Defeat to an Overbearing President’

Members of the American military weigh in on the USS John S. McCain scandal.

• Jun 19, 2019

Letters: Confronting Biological Denialism on Campus

Readers discuss the dangers that arise when students reject well-established scientific ideas—and suggest ways to encourage productive dialogue.

• Jun 13, 2019

Letters: The Meaning of Shakespeare's Identity

Readers discuss the possibility that the person behind Shakespeare’s works was not the man buried in Stratford.

• Jun 8, 2019

Letters: The Two Types of Airport People

People who arrive at the airport early aren’t “overprepared,” one reader argues. “They’re just organized.”

• Jun 7, 2019

Letters: ‘There’s a Joy in Interacting With the Printed Word’

Readers discuss the decline in the use of library books at colleges and universities.

• Jun 1, 2019