Adam Silver Goes to War
Silver is one of America’s most powerful men. Part businessman and part diplomat, he leads a multibillion-dollar international conglomerate and exercises soft power across continents. But on the day we met, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association appeared aimless, drifting awkwardly through the roped-off VIP area of a sports-business conference in Nashville. Silver had just […]
If Hungary Can Do It
The leader of a democracy overpowers many of the country’s institutions that could oppose him: the media, the universities, the courts. He encourages rich allies to buy big media companies and hobble independent journalism. In its place, he tells the population lies, about immigrants, the economy, and who their real enemies are. He does all […]
Is Marco Rubio the Happiest Cabinet Member?
a low bar, perhaps, but no one in the Trump administration seems to be having more fun at the moment than Marco Rubio. Last weekend, he was acting as a DJ at a family wedding, headphones to his ear with head and hand pumping to the beat. Midweek, the secretary of state was at the […]
Trump’s Struggle to Find an Off-Ramp From the Iran War
Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings, watch full episodes here, or listen to the weekly podcast here. Is the United States still at war with Iran? If the war is over, who won and who actually controls the Strait of […]
The Forgotten Radicalism of Mary Cassatt
Before she became Mother’s Day’s safest painter, she was an artistic visionary whose concerns were political.By Paris A. Spies-Gans n December 1, 1936, a group of artists stormed the New York City office of the Works Progress Administration. They were protesting budget cuts to the Federal Art Project, a New Deal program that employed artists to […]
The End of the World as He Knew It
Before Ted Turner created a world of endless news, he imagined how the news would end. In 1980, in the run-up to the launch of CNN—in the days when 24-hour news cycle was a pipe dream, and something of a joke—the future mogul commissioned a segment to be aired in the case of environmental disaster, nuclear holocaust, […]
Pope Leo’s Pro-Life Challenge to Conservative Catholics
Throughout year one of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has been especially vocal about two issues: immigration and war. The first American pope has spoken of the “inalienable rights” of migrants and lamented the growing, global “zeal for war.” He told a delegation of U.S. clergy last fall that “the Church cannot be silent” in a time of mass […]
Trump Is ‘Bored’ With the War He Started
resident Trump really, really wants the war with Iran to end. He has declared victory many times, including about three weeks ago, when Iran briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz. He has repeatedly extended his cease-fire deadlines instead of following through on his (sometimes-apocalyptic) threats to resume hostilities. This week, his administration abruptly abandoned an effort […]