Trump’s choice for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, is both terrifying and predictable, @davidfrum argues. : Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

The Atlantic

Being alive at all is the most extraordinary stroke of good luck any of us will ever experience, the physicist Alan Lightman writes: “The question is: What are we to make of the fantastically improbable fact of our existence, our moment of life?” : Will

The Atlantic

Answer today’s trivia, from Jake Lundberg’s article on the resurgence of a long-standing, politically dubious practice. Check your response and tackle two other questions:

The Atlantic

Joyce Beatty, the lawmaker fighting Donald Trump’s control of the Kennedy Center, says she feels vindicated with recent rulings in her favor—but saving the center legally may be easier than restoring it institutionally, @janaykingsberry reports: : Julia

The Atlantic

Hunter Biden’s return to public life has won him unexpected praise—but there’s a lesson he should learn from his father’s presidency, @GrahamDavidA argues:

The Atlantic

Republicans once sacrificed a Senate seat on the strategic calculation that they were better off without a disreputable colleague—a choice that Democrats now face, David Frum argues. : Jim Watson / AFP / Getty

The Atlantic

The real tradwives of America largely have one thing in common: They can’t afford child care, @fhill_official reports.

The Atlantic

Attacks on James Talarico show the GOP’s narrow, anxious definition of masculinity—and how difficult making a positive case for the party’s own candidate is, Helen Lewis argues: : Danielle Villasana / Getty

The Atlantic

The Republican Party’s refusal to accept the prospect of Spencer Pratt’s defeat in the L.A. mayor’s race is bizarre and revealing, @jonathanchait argues:

The Atlantic

Political candidates who can make content and are more native to social-media platforms may run more successful campaigns, Rob Flaherty, the deputy campaign manager for Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign, tells @cwarzel. Watch Galaxy Brain:

The Atlantic

lowa now joins a list of states that Democrats are desperate to flip—and those who plan to spend hundreds of millions in Texas might be considering spending a fraction of that money in Iowa for possibly better results, @elainejgodfrey wrote last week:

The Atlantic

Lawyers for the Kennedy Center have ordered staff to remove all references to Trump from the institution’s signs, documents, and more, according to a memo obtained by Janay Kingsberry.

The Atlantic

The 100-year-old D-Day veteran Joe Picard is one of few people left with a memory of the greatest military operation of the 20th century—and his stories are a marker against which to measure how much he, and the country, has changed, Kevin Maurer writes:

The Atlantic

At major tech companies, a growing rank of philosophers with Ph.D.s and flush compensation packages are helping shape the technology’s future, @LilaShroff reports.

The Atlantic

As the FIFA World Cup approaches, take a look at some of the world’s most unusual soccer fields throughout the 21st century via @TheAtlPhoto (from 2018):

The Atlantic

Brad Lander's challenge to incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10, one of the nation's most progressive congressional districts, has brought out the fractures of the Democratic Party's left wing, reports @russellberman.

The Atlantic

“Football unites the world,” Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, likes to say. But global tensions—and Infantino’s tendency to accommodate strongmen—have set the stage for a fraught World Cup instead, Chris Jones reports:

The Atlantic

AI-powered drone interceptors are part of a set of technological advances in Ukraine that “have changed the war with Russia, and maybe all wars, forever,” @anneapplebaum reports:

The Atlantic

Being alive at all is the most extraordinary stroke of good luck any of us will ever experience, the physicist Alan Lightman writes: “The question is: What are we to make of the fantastically improbable fact of our existence, our moment of life?”

The Atlantic

The white identitarians have more cultural and political power today than they did at any point in the past half century—and now that DEI and anti-racism are in retreat, they're moving on to a more ambitious goal, @thomaschattwill argues.

The Atlantic

As our nation turns 250, it’s worth asking what form patriotism should take, @GalBeckerman argues. A new book about American pride prompted him to ponder what it means to love an unfinished country: