Tag: things
The Lost Boys of Big Tech
The original “Burn Book” from Mean Girls was used to spread rumors and gossip about other girls (and some boys) at North Shore High School. Kara Swisher’s new memoir, Burn Book, tells true stories about men (and some women) who ruled Silicon Valley. In the 1990s, Swisher was a political reporter in Washington, but tuned into the dot-com revolution early and moved to California to cover it. As a handful of tech titans grew in fame and power, so
Nikki Haley Could Surprise Us
On Monday, Iowa voters will choose their Republican nominee for president while the rest of us wait. Repeated polls have shown that Donald Trump has an “overwhelming lead” in the Iowa caucus, despite the fact that he will be in and out of court facing various civil and criminal charges in the weeks leading up to the vote. But he is not the sure winner. Between Iowa and the following handful of primaries, there is still a narrow window to
Greta Gerwig’s Lessons From Barbie Land
This article contains spoilers for the film Barbie.
As soon as I asked a question about Ken, my call with Greta Gerwig dropped. When the writer-director of Barbie returned, she had no idea what happened. I suggested that of course merely mentioning Ken—the pining and overlooked doll played by Ryan Gosling—would cause a failure of some sort. Gerwig agreed. “The world was like, I don’t care,” she joked.
But the world cares very much about the movie he’s
Care in the Age of Individualism
The values of individualism that encourage us to go it alone are in constant tension with the desire for community that many people crave. But when attempting to do things on our own, we may miss out on the joys of coming together.
This season’s finale conversation features writer Mia Birdsong, who highlights the cultural and philosophical roots of Americans’ struggle to build community. In a culture pushing us to put our own oxygen mask on first, Mia argues for
The Crafty Logic That Accompanies Dementia
Elizabeth often met her husband, Mitch, after work at the same restaurant in Lower Manhattan. Mitch was usually there by the time she arrived, swirling his drink and joking with a waiter. Elizabeth and Mitch had been friends before becoming romantically involved and bantered back and forth without missing a beat. Anyone looking at their table might well have envied them, never suspecting that Elizabeth dreaded these pleasant get-togethers.
Elizabeth, a tall, elegant woman, told me about those evenings in
The Republican Party Is in a Strange Place
The GOP is in a strange place. After falling short of expectations in the midterms, some Republicans blame Donald Trump, and some want to anoint a challenger for 2024. But with Trump already announced and a GOP-controlled House set to spend two years investigating Joe Biden, is the party at all likely to move on from Trump?
The Atlantic staff writers Mark Leibovich and Elaina Plott consider that question, as well as the ascent of Marjorie Taylor Greene as Congress
Sam Bankman-Fried Isn’t Putting His Money Where His Mouth Is
Sam Bankman-Fried, a 30-year-old co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is a $15 billion enigma. As one of the richest and most powerful men in crypto, “SBF” is already a political megadonor in the vein of Peter Thiel and George Soros: He spent millions in support of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, and was one of the biggest Democratic donors in the country in the lead-up to this year’s midterm elections. Among his PAC’s expenditures was a whopping $10
How Wellness Became a Grind
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and transport yourself mentally back in time to the year 2013. The actor and wellness entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow is making an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show to promote some “all-natural tricks to revitalizing your body from the inside out.” Paltrow has four things to recommend: daikon radish (“it’s got really high enzyme content”), oil of oregano (for colds), magnesium supplements (“they say it really calms the nervous system”), and colloidal silver, a
Why People Sacrifice Happiness for Addiction
When the behaviors we thought would make us happy don’t, we’re forced to bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to be. But our happiness goals are often stifled by the disease of addiction—and its complex neurochemical influence on our desires.
A conversation with psychiatrist Anna Lembke helps us understand the gap between the cravings that drive us and the happiness we seek.
This episode was produced by Rebecca Rashid and is hosted by Arthur Brooks.
How to Make and Keep Friends as an Adult
In the post-social-distancing era, some of us can’t remember how to make a new friend. But for many, making friends has always been a challenge—left as an unfulfilled desire without any clear course of action.
In this episode of How to Start Over, we explore the barriers to friendship formation in adulthood, how to navigate conflict, and why starting over as a better friend begins with getting out of our own heads.
This episode was produced by Rebecca Rashid and