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illustration of a pink white and blue football spinning
Tyler Comrie/ The Atlantic

Separating Sports by Sex Doesn’t Make Sense

Though school sports are typically sex-segregated, a new generation of kids isn’t content to compete within traditional structures.

  • Maggie Mertens
September 17, 2022
illustration of yellow triangular warning sign with black skull and crossbones and red tape across skull's mouth
Illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira. Sources: CSA Images / Getty; Fotograzia / Getty; Ryasick / Getty

That’s It. You’re Dead to Me.

Suddenly everyone is “toxic.”

  • Kaitlyn Tiffany
August 13, 2022
Eyes with the Close Friends icon for pupils
Katie Martin / Paul Spella / The Atlantic

The One Social-Media Feature That People Still Love

Instagram’s Close Friends toes the privacy line by offering users a safe, semipublic space of their own creation.

  • Jennifer Miller
August 12, 2022
A gif of a pregnancy test with a search bar
Getty / Alex Cochran

The Risk and Opportunity of Online Fertility Groups

Seeking health advice on the web is precarious. But for some people, internet strangers provide helpful information and emotional support.

  • Maggie Mertens
July 22, 2022
A Vodou ceremony in Miami
Woosler Delisfort

The Black Religion That’s Been Maligned for Centuries

Vodou has been condemned for much of its history. But some Haitian Americans are reclaiming the narrative through their own journeys with spirituality.

  • Nadege Green
June 29, 2022
Amish women writers in a collage
Getty / The Atlantic

The Conservative Women Radicalizing Amish Literature

A growing network of Christian writers is pushing past tradition to broach topics like depression and marital conflict.

  • Kelsey Osgood
June 28, 2022
A bicycle with three seats
Alex Cochran

Want Closer Friendships? Move Away From Your Friends.

Distance, as it turns out, isn’t the barrier to deep relationships that some may think.

  • Maggie Mertens
June 22, 2022
An illustration of a Zoom workout
Gabriela Pesqueira / The Atlantic

Standing Now Counts as Exercise

Americans have become far more sedentary over the past two years, and that’s changing how we view what constitutes a workout.

  • Maggie Mertens
June 1, 2022
Chairs on an aircraft
Alex Cochran

Airlines’ Premium-Economy Trick

Carriers are banking on the psychological allure of marginal luxury.

  • Mac Schwerin
May 29, 2022
Students on a bus feeding a giraffe at Out of Africa in Camp Verde, Arizona, on May 6, 2022
Cassidy Araiza

The Miraculous Comeback of the Field Trip

What we can learn from a group of third graders on their first school outing since the start of the pandemic

  • Rowan Moore Gerety
May 18, 2022
Mother and daughter pose with straw hats.
H. Armstrong Roberts / ClassicStock / Getty

The Women Naming Their Babies After Themselves

Female “Juniors” are rare. But for certain mothers, passing down their name is a no brainer.

  • Maggie Mertens
April 29, 2022
An illustration of people stranded on Facebook's logo
Alvaro Bernis

The Only Good Thing Left About Facebook

Some people believe that the company’s scandals are reason enough to quit the platform. Others have found one compelling reason to stay.

  • Mansee Khurana
April 28, 2022
jewish women in an audience
Sharon Pulwer

How a Polarizing Best Seller Became Required Reading for Orthodox Jewish Women

The book, rooted in modern Christian fundamentalism, has captured the attention of this insular community.

  • Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt
April 25, 2022
Woman sitting on a phone surrounded by online purchases.
María Jesús Contreras

The Resurrection of Retail

Buying online became even more of a utility during the pandemic. But for some, IRL exchanges will always beat clicking a button.

  • Allie Volpe
April 6, 2022
SPAM, the canned meat, on a globe stand
Getty / The Atlantic

One Community’s Complicated Relationship With SPAM

A conversation about the canned meat’s lasting cultural impact on Filipino American life

  • Mary Stachyra Lopez
March 29, 2022
Today’s tech firms realize the benefit of meeting the spiritual needs of their busy employees.
Chaimae Studio

What the Anti-work Discourse Gets Wrong

Tech companies are offering spiritual care to make employees more productive, and it’s likely a sign of what’s to come in other industries.

  • Carolyn Chen
March 22, 2022
A post-it note with the words "I quit!" sits on top of a keyboard, next to a crumpled piece of paper.
Nora Carol / Getty

What You Find When You Leave Your Job

The “Great Resignation” isn’t really about rejecting work—it’s about redefining one’s sense of self.

  • Maggie Mertens
February 26, 2022
Two nurses pop out of jack-in-the-box-style cubes with the TikTok logo.
Irene Suosalo

Death Is No Laughing Matter. But on DeathTok It Is.

An unlikely group of influencers on TikTok is using cheeky skits and viral songs to change our relationship to mortality.

  • Jessica Lucas
February 17, 2022
Two dialogue boxes
Gabriela Pesqueira / The Atlantic

What College Students Really Think About Cancel Culture

Despite the common refrain from pundits, a grassroots movement is seeing politically divergent undergraduates come together for uncomfortable discussions.

  • Jennifer Miller
February 4, 2022
A syringe in the shape of a cross
Getty / The Atlantic

The Religious Leaders Caught in the Vaccine Wars

People seeking to obtain an exemption from the shot have found that some clergy see no theological foundation for an excusal.

  • Mansee Khurana
January 28, 2022
A multi-colored rendering of a January 2022 calendar.
Getty / The Atlantic

The Year of Practical Thinking

After so much uncertainty and loss, many Americans are abandoning the unbridled optimism of a new year and adopting a more pragmatic outlook.

  • Maggie Mertens
January 15, 2022
A woman carrying a huge box
Getty / The Atlantic

The Beloved Filipino Tradition That Started as a Government Policy

How sending 100-pound care packages to family in the Philippines became a cherished diasporic practice

  • Sara Tardiff
December 24, 2021
A rendering of a group of tears in the form of a Christmas tree
Adam Maida / The Atlantic

Grief Is Evidence of Love

Yes, mourning is an acknowledgment of loss. But the late scholar bell hooks argued that it is also a way of honoring our commitment to those who have died.

  • Kellie Carter Jackson
December 20, 2021
Two people stand on stage acting with script text superimposed over the scene.
Express / Stringer / Getty; The Atlantic

The People Using Role-Play to Prepare for the Future

In theater groups around the country, physical performance is revealing better ways to handle life’s unknowns.

  • Kathryn Hymes
December 15, 2021
A game between Florida’s A&M Rattlers and Bethune Cookman’s Wildcats in Orlando, Florida.
Julien James

The Football Game That Transcends Tradition

The historic rivalry between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University goes beyond sports.

  • Syreeta McFadden
November 23, 2021
Two people work at laptops on a cluttered table.
Brian Finke / Gallery Stock

Loving Your Job Is a Capitalist Trap

Doing work that is fulfilling has become ubiquitous career advice, but no one should depend on a single social institution to define their sense of self.

  • Erin A. Cech
November 12, 2021
Three rows of chairs sit facing the head of a room in a funeral home. On one chair is a box of tissues.
Rachel Cox

The American Workplace Isn’t Prepared for This Much Grief

The pandemic has highlighted the fact that without a federal bereavement policy, many people are subject to the whims of state legislatures and individual companies.

  • Chad Broughton
November 2, 2021
An image of a soccer ball as the filling of a Nabisco Oreo cookie
Getty; The Atlantic

The Most Famous Low-Wage Workers in the Country

Players in the National Women’s Soccer League are speaking up about the abusive work environments that can develop when women are underpaid.

  • Maggie Mertens
October 19, 2021
A famile prepares dinner in their front yard after Hurricane Ida.
Sean Rayford / Getty

When the Place You Live Becomes Unlivable

After Hurricane Ida, New Orleanians are weighing the emotional, cultural, and financial costs of leaving the place they call home.

  • Anya Groner
October 13, 2021
A man admiring art in a gallery
Avi Kaye

The Unorthodox Art of an Ultra-Orthodox Community

For a particular group of Jews, art is typically a form of decor, not commentary. But a new generation of artists is trying to make nonconformist pieces while remaining observant.

  • Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt
September 24, 2021
A basket that includes Shrek, an onion, a VHS tape, flowers and a waffle.
Getty / The Atlantic

How Shrek Is Connecting People During the Pandemic

In lieu of face-to-face interactions, some communities have turned to anonymous gift-giving to feel connected.

  • Allie Volpe
August 30, 2021
our brains have changed after so many months of dealing with what often felt like—and sometimes were—life-and-death decisions.
Adam Maida / The Atlantic

This Summer Was Destined for Failure

It’s not just Delta whiplash that’s getting people down. Even when the pandemic ends, post-vaccine life is going to be awkward.

  • Maggie Mertens
August 16, 2021
A Black mother holding her newborn
Bethany Mollenkof

The Persistent Joy of Black Mothers

Characterized throughout American history as symbols of crisis, trauma, and grief, these women consistently reject those narratives through world-making of their own.

  • Leah Wright Rigueur
August 11, 2021
A collage of images related to online hookup culture during the pandemic
Pedro Nekoi

The Surprising Innovations of Pandemic-Era Sex

Many queer people are reimagining their own boundaries and thinking of this reentry period as a time for sexual self-discovery.

  • Madison Moore
July 26, 2021
Several orange people lounge and play in a landscape littered with money. One individual sits on an oil drum spilling liquid gold; one sits in a Jacuzzi, holding a gold laptop; two others bump chests in the background between two stock-market arrows pointing upward.
Lyne Lucien

America’s Investing Boom Goes Far Beyond Reddit Bros

Robinhood traders have earned the most attention, but they’re only part of a larger story about class stagnation and distrust.

  • Talmon Joseph Smith
July 26, 2021
A black-and-white photo of a group standing in a church, listening to someone at the front playing a guitar
Photograph by Arlene Mejorado for The Atlantic

The Fastest-Growing Group of American Evangelicals

A new generation of Latino Protestants is poised to transform our religious and political landscapes.

  • Meaghan Winter
July 26, 2021
A graphic of three different versions of the Pride flag flying together against a light-blue backdrop
Getty / The Atlantic

The Pride Flag Has a Representation Problem

Since its debut, the symbol has had several redesigns in the name of inclusion. But some fear that the changes are merely for the sake of branding, absent material steps toward real equality.

  • Alex V. Green
June 23, 2021
Joe Biden signs Juneteenth bill.
Carlos Barria / Reuters

What the Push to Celebrate Juneteenth Conceals

The recent effort to make the anniversary a federal holiday is undermined by the simultaneous attack on critical race theory and curricula focused on the enduring legacy of slavery.

  • Kellie Carter Jackson
June 18, 2021
An illustration of hands with string
Adam Maida / The Atlantic

The Americans Who Knitted Their Own Safety Net

Mutual-aid groups are helping Americans envision communities that meet everyone’s needs.

  • Annie Lowrey
March 24, 2021
A family wearing masks takes a selfie in front of the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse at Disney World.
Kent Phillips / Walt Disney World Resort / Getty

Why Is Anyone Going to Disney World Right Now?

Superfans know the Florida theme park is a dangerous destination during the pandemic. But to them, a visit means more than a vacation.

  • Shirley Li
August 3, 2020
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