Radio Atlantic

The front-runner for the Republican nomination did not show up at the debate, but in the sharp exchanges between the leftovers, a lot was revealed about the future of the party. Atlantic staff writers McKay Coppins, reporting from the debate, and Elaine Godfrey talk about why newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy pops, why Ron DeSantis doesn’t, and why Nikki Haley, despite coming across as a reasonable truth-t...

Megan Rapinoe speaks with Atlantic staff writer Frank Foer. The retiring soccer star discusses her detractors, the U.S. team’s role in the global game, and taking penalty kicks. Also: If you have any comments or suggestions about the show, submit feedback at theatlantic.com/listener-survey. We'd love to hear from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many people, especially those dealing with long COVID, suffer from fatigue. But not common, everyday tiredness—it’s more like a total body crash that can be triggered by the smallest exertion, something as simple as taking a shower. It’s serious, and yet many doctors have a hard time taking it seriously. Ed Yong, a former staff writer at The Atlantic whose reporting on COVID won a Pulitzer Prize,...

Michael spent years fighting isolation, depression, and despair. Then he met Sam.  If you’re having thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or the Crisis Text Line. For that, text TALK to 741741. This episode of Radio Atlantic was reported and produced by Ethan Brooks and edited by Theo Balcomb and Jocelyn Frank. It was mixed by Rob Smierciak and fa...

The U.S. women’s team has been the dominant force in soccer for a decade, although you wouldn't necessarily know it from their performance in the Women’s World Cup so far. As fans, we want them to win. But there’s no drama in dominance. For women's soccer to truly become a global sensation, the U.S. needs worthy rivals. In this episode we talk to Tobin Heath and Christen Press, both members of the...

A lot of people are plagued by the feeling that society used to be better, that neighbors were more helpful, that strangers once talked to you. Some people channel that belief into political action, as in the Make America Great Again movement. A new study explains why the sense that people and the culture have gotten worse is a psychological illusion. This special episode features Julie Beck, the...

Marriages today are much more flexible than they used to be. Women’s roles have changed. Gay marriage is legal. More and more people aren’t choosing marriage at all. And yet the American wedding has hardly changed at all. If anything, it keeps getting more elaborate, more luxe, more wedding-like. In this episode, we talk to Xochitl Gonzalez, who wrote a confessional for The Atlantic about her year...

For months, more than a thousand researchers and technology experts involved in creating artificial intelligence have been warning us that they’ve created something that may be dangerous. Something that might eventually lead humanity to become extinct. In this Radio Atlantic episode, The Atlantic’s executive editor, Adrienne LaFrance, and staff writer Charlie Warzel talk about how seriously we sho...

A heat dome in Texas. Wildfire smoke polluting the air in the East and Midwest. The signs are everywhere that our children’s summers will look nothing like our own. In this episode we talk to the climate writer Emma Pattee about how hot is too hot to go outside, and what summer camps of the future will look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who leads a private army called the Wagner Group, attempted what many have called a coup against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Technically, it failed. But the fact that he managed to challenge Putin and leave the leader shaken and panicky is profound. Atlantic staff writers Anne Applebaum and Tom Nichols explain this week’s wild turn of events in Russia and the door those ev...

Are we just too impatient for America’s famously leisurely national pastime? Hanna Rosin asks staff writer Mark Leibovich whether the changes MLB is making to baseball this summer could help him, and the rest of us, fall in love with baseball all over again. Interested in the changes baseball’s making? Read Mark’s article on how Moneyball broke baseball—and how the same people who broke it are bac...

The Supreme Court is about to issue a set of rulings on affirmative action in higher education. If it goes as expected, universities will no longer be allowed to consider race in admissions. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, host Hanna Rosin talks to Adam Harris, an Atlantic staff writer, who covers the issue and has written about the cases. They talk about how the backlash against affirmative ac...

The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta spent long stretches of the past year talking to CNN’s then-CEO Chris Licht about his grand experiment to reset the cable giant as a venue more welcoming to Republicans. In a major profile of Licht, Alberta documented the many disasters along the way, culminating in Licht’s ouster from the network this week.  In this episode of Radio Atlantic, host Hanna Rosin talks to A...

Politicians, pundits, and even the surgeon general have been highlighting the risks that social media poses to young people’s mental health. The problem is real—but is it as serious as those caused by cigarettes or drunk driving, and what can be done about it? Host Hanna Rosin talks to the Atlantic tech reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany about what the research actually shows regarding teens and social medi...

Host Hanna Rosin talks to Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and staff writer Anne Applebaum about their trip to Ukraine, their interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, why continued American support is necessary, and why flagging attention doesn’t matter.  Applebaum, who has covered the war from start, clarifies the confusing but potentially critical recent developments. Back...

The Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now, we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Today we’re introducing Radio Atlantic, The Atlantic’s flagship podcast, with a new host: senior editor Hanna Rosin.  Like the magazine, the show will “road test” the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversations—and sometimes sharp debates—with the most ins...

What can memorials to tragedy in one country tell Americans about how to remember the legacy of slavery in the U.S.? Staff writer Clint Smith traveled to Germany to understand how Germany memorializes the Holocaust. He discusses what he saw and the perspectives he encountered with fellow staff writer Caitlin Dickerson, and explains why his experience of several German memorials makes the daunting...

The first episode of a new podcast from The Atlantic about a revolution undone. Subscribe to Holy Week: theatlantic.com/holyweek Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify The story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how did this hero’s murder come to be the stitching used t...

Holy Week: The story of a revolution undone. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how did this hero’s murder come to be the stitching used to tie together a narrative of victory? The week that followed his killing was one of the most fiery, disruptive, and revolutionary, and is nearly...

With Google and Microsoft releasing new AI tools, it feels like the future is now with artificial intelligence. But how transformative are products like ChatGPT? Should we be worried about their impact? Are they a new Skynet or just a new Clippy? Staff writers Charlie Warzel and Amanda Mull discuss. Charlie’s piece: Is This The Week AI Changed Everything? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...

The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg interviews Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of our live conversation series, The Big Story. A year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they discuss the Biden administration’s relationship with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, the nuances of comparing our current era with that of the Cold War, and diplomatic efforts to prevent the us...

It’s been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the war continues. Staff writer Tom Nichols, an expert on nuclear weapons and the Cold War, counsels Americans how to think about what comes next? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humans last set foot on the Moon 50 years ago. Now we’re going back, but the way we explore space—and our relationship to it—has gone through some big changes. “Space is a vacation now… a status symbol,” Marina Koren explains to Adam Harris. The two staff writers discuss this new age of commercial space flight and the changes it’s bringing to how we see our place in the universe.  Today’s spacefli...

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 q...

December is here and with it comes the third winter of the pandemic. With the holiday travel and indoor family gatherings, the season has brought tragic spikes in COVID cases the last two years. Are we in for more of the same, or will this winter be different? Deputy editor Paul Bisceglio talks with staff writer Katherine Wu about what to expect. Will a new variant accelerate infections like Omicr...