Scott Stossel

theatlantic.comAfter the ApocalypseAs Venezuela struggles to recover from political upheaval and calamitous earthquakes, the U.S. government is exploiting the country for oil and money.

"A coalition of two kleptocracies" www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comAfter the ApocalypseAs Venezuela struggles to recover from political upheaval and calamitous earthquakes, the U.S. government is exploiting the country for oil and money.

"If Venezuelans aren’t convinced that their country is making progress toward democracy, it’s also because the apparatus that carried out this wave of repression is still in place." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comAfter the ApocalypseAs Venezuela struggles to recover from political upheaval and calamitous earthquakes, the U.S. government is exploiting the country for oil and money.

"Trump’s 'biggest oil deal in world history' seems to have been designed to encourage American companies to start drilling faster and, more important for him, to distract from the oil crisis created by his war in Iran." But it may have had the opposite effect www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comTrump’s Budget FantasyPromises made, promises broken

"Trump's administration has managed to wreck the country’s finances worse than any government in U.S. history, without the excuse of an economic crisis or a successful major war." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comAll the President’s HottiesDonald Trump is 100 percent behind Jon Husted’s behind.

"Stephen Miller will not dare whisper to his boss: 'Sir, you know that we keep snidely implying that James Talarico is secretly gay? Your obvious love of buff soldiers is giving—mixed messages.'" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comThe Perfect LiberalNow that the triumphalism of the post–Cold War era is dying, what can replace it?

"Liberalism is rooted in a justified fear of the real world, where people with power often use it to oppress, torture, and kill...From the beginning, Trumpism's assault on liberal democracy has been about legitimizing cruelty." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comAmerica Is Now an Ally of RussiaDonald Trump has abandoned the Western order.

"If Stalin and his Cold War successors could see what Trump and Putin have created, and how the mighty United States has been humbled and humiliated, they might think that their evil hopes were not wrong, but only that they dreamed them too early." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comBad VibesEnough with the sex toys, already.

"We drove to Walmart but it didn’t have the Cadillac of vibrators. Aaron picked up an alternate model he declared the “Ford Taurus of vibrators.” The picture on the front resembled a plug-in hand mixer. Whatever, I’d come this far." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comBig Tech Oligarchs Have a Terrible Plan for HumanityA handful of multibillionaires hope to dictate our future.

"Humanity must not allow a handful of multibillionaires to recklessly attempt to replace us. We must place an immediate pause on advanced-AI development and ban artificial superintelligence"--Senator Bernie Sanders www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comHow Pete Hegseth’s Plan for a Reality-TV Execution ImplodedTrump is fine with a military execution by firing squad, just not with putting it on YouTube.

"Even a president who’d brought a bloody mixed-martial-arts fight to the White House lawn apparently didn’t relish the thought of an afternoon spent watching Army soldiers shoot bullets into a paraplegic." www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

theatlantic.comHitler Could Have Been StoppedTimothy W. Ryback explains the contemporary lessons of Hitler’s rise.

"Had the German people voted in March 1933 the way the Hungarians voted last spring, there would not have been a Third Reich. There would not have been a Holocaust. And Hitler would have been out of office within weeks." www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...

theatlantic.comTrump’s Affection for Russia Is No MysteryThe best explanation is the least complicated one.

"Explaining the depth of Trump’s identification with Putin may require looking at a possibility that conservatives have been dismissing out of hand for a decade: manipulation and corruption." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comTrump’s October SurpriseJust ahead of the midterm elections, the president again helps Russia.

"A U.S. president siding with the Kremlin is quite an October surprise. But in just the past few days, Trump appears to have fully turned against Ukraine." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

theatlantic.comTrump’s Message to Ukraine Is Now Crystal ClearThe president’s actions over the past 72 hours look like an effort to force Kyiv to surrender.

"In the past 72 hours, Donald Trump has dropped all pretense, torched a couple decades of American policy, and undermined 18 months of his own diplomacy." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comAdmiral McRaven: Public Execution Is Shameless and IgnobleA government livestream of Nidal Hasan’s killing would put America in extremely poor company.

"Our current leaders are shameless and ignoble. They have no sense of dignity or honor. They seem to believe that the performance of cruel power is what makes a nation great: the show, the crude theatrics of a tough guy. Nothing could be further from the truth." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comSix of the Best First Lines in Modern LiteratureIt is a truth universally acknowledged that every great book must be in want of a great first line.

My pick: "Maybe it was that Cyrus had done the wrong drugs in the right order, or the right drugs in the wrong order, but when God finally spoke back to him after twenty-seven years of silence, what Cyrus wanted more than anything else was a do-over.” www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

theatlantic.comTrump Is an Easy Mark for PutinThe president’s diesel deal sells out Ukraine, and does nothing for Americans.

"For people trying to understand the Trump presidency, the diesel deal is further proof of the accusation that Nancy Pelosi flung in Trump’s face in 2019: 'With you, all roads lead to Putin.'" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comMegyn Kelly’s Extreme MakeoverDoes the TV host turned YouTube polemicist really believe what she’s saying?

"For a woman to have short hair on Fox News, where Kelly was a star anchor at the time, seemed as seditious to the network’s established order as reading Judith Butler or Karl Marx live on air." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

theatlantic.comHegseth’s One PercentA cult of military superiority over civilians is not only unwarranted, but actively dangerous.

"A Hegsethian cult of military superiority over civilians is not only unwarranted, but actively dangerous....It will resemble nothing so much as the Imperial German Army that led its country to disaster in World War I." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

theatlantic.comZombie OriginalismSamuel Alito’s efforts to revamp the conservative legal philosophy reveal that a new movement is ascendant.

"The style of judging Alito defends, which he has practiced for decades, has now acquired currency: It dovetails with a Trump-era New Right conception of law that is unshackled by restraint and focused solely on conservative victory." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comEric Schmitt’s Very Bad Day at WorkFor MAGA politicians, there’s no such thing as a gaffe.

"Luckily for Senator Eric Schmitt, though, he operates in a political environment that has selected for blowhards with bulletproof confidence and slavish devotion to Donald Trump." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comThe Great Data-Center RebellionCould a new populist movement help save American democracy?

The Great Data Center Rebellion of 2026 comes to Clinton, Iowa--and shows that "a democratic pulse "is still beating along the Mississippi River." Can this new populist movement help save American democracy? www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comTrump Should Stop Hosting SummitsHe’s turned them into a pointless ritual.

"In the Donald Trump White House, summits are hazardous excursions during which the interests of the United States are shoved aside by a president whose cringe-inducing admiration of dictators makes these meetings into rituals of American humiliation." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comHow to Destroy a Lesbian BarThe scourge of COVID led to drive-by whinings disguised as activism.

"The overall effect of this approach is like when a school bully slams someone into the lockers and then taunts them for crying. 'Oh, the widdle baby got hurt, did they?' This is sadism disguised as activism." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comThe Supporters Urging Trump to Declare Martial Law for the MidtermsTrump’s advisers have been working for months to move his focus away from baseless theories of election fraud. A group of outsiders is making that difficult.

"When we asked about the prospect of riots if Trump tries to overturn the election results, Ticktin said he was not concerned. 'Believe me, our armed forces are a lot bigger than they are,' he said." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

theatlantic.comThe Press Is Not the Root of Trump’s ProblemsHe’s in a predicament of his own creation.

21 Sept

"Trump’s true scourge is reality, not how the news is covering it." www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

theatlantic.comDon’t Ask How This War EndsIt is, unfortunately, the wrong question.

21 Sept

"Most wars are long wars, and most wars tend to escalate in the ways that Carl von Clausewitz predicted, as fear, hatred, and the effort to overcome their opponents will drive combatants to hurt one another more" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comIn Defense of Guilt by AssociationThe wisdom of judging politicians by the company they keep

21 Sept

JD Vance's friendship with Tucker Carlson "implies that Holocaust denial, claims of Jewish disloyalty to the United States, veneration of Putin, and a host of other poisonous ideas are welcome in the conservative movement" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Scott Stossel reposted

The Atlantic

@theatlantic.com

19 Sept

At The Atlantic Festival, the historian Timothy W. Ryback spoke with the Atlantic editor @stossel.bsky.social about contemporary lessons of Hitler’s rise. #TAF26

bit.lyHitler Could Have Been StoppedTimothy W. Ryback explains the contemporary lessons of Hitler’s rise.

Scott Stossel reposted

Sheila Scarborough

@theseafarer.bsky.social

18 Sept

theatlantic.comHitler Could Have Been StoppedTimothy W. Ryback explains the contemporary lessons of Hitler’s rise.

Scott Stossel reposted

The Atlantic

@theatlantic.com

18 Sept

At The Atlantic Festival, the historian Timothy W. Ryback spoke with the Atlantic editor @stossel.bsky.social about contemporary lessons of Hitler’s rise. #TAF26

bit.lyHitler Could Have Been StoppedTimothy W. Ryback explains the contemporary lessons of Hitler’s rise.

theatlantic.comHitler Could Have Been StoppedTimothy W. Ryback explains the contemporary lessons of Hitler’s rise.

18 Sept

"Was the Holocaust inevitable? Big question. Simple answer: no." www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...

theatlantic.comSons and MothersMy mother devoted her life to teaching writers. Becoming one meant escaping the story she had written for me.

15 Sept

"When I was 13, not long after my father had committed suicide, I asked my mother, 'What’s the Oedipus complex?' 'Why?' she replied at once. 'Are you afraid you’ve got it?'" www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comMAGA Is Making the World Safe for CorruptionFar-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.

"These people do not talk about spreading democracy. They don’t care about America’s reputation. They are deploying the tools of American diplomacy & government to promote their own business interests or their own ideological goals" www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

"What are 'American priorities' if the American government is run by people who use its instruments not on behalf of its citizens, but on behalf of themselves?" www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comMAGA Is Making the World Safe for CorruptionFar-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.

theatlantic.comMAGA Is Making the World Safe for CorruptionFar-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.

"For decades, we have told ourselves that our country represents democracy, freedom, and free trade... We thought we opposed dictators and kleptocrats, the leaders who steal from their own people. What happens when we realize that we no longer do?" www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comMAGA Is Making the World Safe for CorruptionFar-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.

theatlantic.comMAGA Is Making the World Safe for CorruptionFar-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.

"The clan of predators currently in charge of the U.S. federal government... believe they represent something much greater: the vanguard of a movement that will alter not just America, but the world" www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comMAGA Is Making the World Safe for CorruptionFar-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.

"That a dedicated group of Americans has a plan to dismantle Canada, or that businessmen with opaque links to the U.S. government might want to create political conditions for a U.S. takeover of Greenland, may surprise Americans. It shouldn’t." www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.comWhat Makes Tennis One of the Greatest GamesIt wasn’t always regarded as the intensely athletic sport that it is.

10 Sept

"Tennis offered another way to make men of strength and vigor while allowing them to remain gentlemen with their bodies intact. Its ample physical demands—the game is 'ardent, not phlegmatic'—were matched by an intellectual and psychological challenge." www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

theatlantic.comWhat Makes Tennis One of the Greatest GamesIt wasn’t always regarded as the intensely athletic sport that it is.

10 Sept

"The purpose of tennis was to develop attributes of peace rather than war: A 'steadfastness of aim and purpose, a better temper, and a kinder heart; here, through striving with your fellow man, you may learn to love him.'" www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

theatlantic.comSarah Longwell’s Playbook for Defeating MAGAThe Bulwark publisher and author of How to Eat an Elephant on what voters want to hear

10 Sept

"I’ve never seen in my lifetime, and it’s hard to find characters in American history who ascended to the presidency caring so little about America and her people. And I think he has made us all worse. Everything he has done has made America a less good country." www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...

theatlantic.comThe Hasan Piker QuestionMany Democrats would like him to go away.

4 Sept

"Like late-summer humidity, Hasan Piker hangs heavy over the discourse." www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

theatlantic.comWhen Meditation Makes You Feel WorseA prominent psychologist and meditation teacher set out to research the benefits of the practice. What she found alarmed her.

4 Sept

"Britton has found that about 1 in 10 people who have meditated, even once, had an adverse effect that lasted more than a month—a rate that, were meditation a drug, would qualify as “very common” under the standard classification used for adverse drug reactions." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comWhen Meditation Makes You Feel WorseA prominent psychologist and meditation teacher set out to research the benefits of the practice. What she found alarmed her.

4 Sept

"One day, someone came in from a meditation-retreat center in a state of florid psychosis. Three months later, another psychotic meditator came in, from the same retreat center. That’s weird, Britton thought. Do they know each other? They did not." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comHegseth’s Pentagon Lurches off the RailsThe resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is the latest sign of severe dysfunction in the Defense Department.

1 Sept

"Pete Hegseth has failed in every mission except one: keeping his job." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comWhat Might Happen to Trump’s Ill-Gotten GainsLessons from fallen autocrats

30 Aug

"Money is power in politics, and dirty money needs power to protect itself from the law... This makes recovering the Trumps’ wrongfully obtained wealth not only a matter of justice but also a matter of democratic survival." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Scott Stossel reposted

McKay Coppins

@mckaycoppins.bsky.social

27 Aug

Replying to @mckaycoppins.bsky.social

In his new book, Spencer Cox writes about trying to convince Joe Biden in 2023 to pardon Donald Trump. He argued that prosecuting an ex-president would deepen America's political crisis. Biden was seriously considering it, according to Cox. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Scott Stossel reposted

McKay Coppins

@mckaycoppins.bsky.social

27 Aug

Spencer Cox tried to heal American politics. It almost broke him. I visited the Utah governor's hometown to interview him about the Charlie Kirk assassination, the backlash to his Trump endorsement, his new book, and his dark night of the soul. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.comA Republican Governor Tried to Heal American Politics. It Almost Broke Him.Spencer Cox’s very hopeful, very quixotic crusade

theatlantic.comA Republican Governor Tried to Heal American Politics. It Almost Broke Him.Spencer Cox’s very hopeful, very quixotic crusade

27 Aug

“I know this might sound crazy,” Cox said, “but I think you should pardon Donald Trump.” “You know, I’ve actually considered this for a while,” Biden said. “In fact, just this week as we were lying in bed, Jill and I had a long conversation about it.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...