“Trump has many people to thank for his victory… especially young men with their AirPods in… public performances that boil down to four words: *Come at me, bro!*” John Hendrickson theatlantic.com/newsletters/ar…

Many Democrats assumed that Americans would ultimately not vote for Donald Trump. But this, Representative Ritchie Torres says, was pure delusion. Michael Powell on the Democratic congressman who wasn’t surprised by the results of the election: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Really an interesting look at how symbolic and impressionistic politics is in practice, and how people’s political views often don’t line up in a conventionally ordered way.

Trump has made clear his opposition to homeless encampments. He was also endorsed by Joe Lonsdale, whose institute is behind many of America's new camping bans, including in Kentucky. I spent time there to examine what these bans look like for the homeless bit.ly/4eyskmA

"The destruction of patience is one of the most dramatic cultural shifts we’ll probably experience of our lifetimes" mattdpearce.substack.com/p/journalisms-… via Matt Pearce 🦅🇺🇸

RIP Bill Husted. Truly one of a kind. He'd be your favorite character in any newsroom movie. When I was a Denver Post intern he nonchalantly said hello to me by name and it made me feel 10 feet tall

If you haven't read this yet, it will lift your spirits

The latest US literacy stats have just dropped and they are every bit as grim as you might imagine. "Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels"

Trump in 2016: “There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble.” politico.com/blogs/2016-gop…

New >> California and New York are projected to lose up to 8 electoral votes in 2030. Texas and Florida are projected to gain 8. If Kamala Harris had to compete with that map, even winning Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin wouldn’t have saved her.

“The stuff that they gave me? I don’t know what it is. It’s supposed to reorient your electric energy.” Thinking about this moment from John Hendrickson's great RFK profile

Link: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Doug Burgum likes to say that, as governor of North Dakota, nukes are in his backyard. But when I interviewed him, he repeatedly refused to tell me whether Trump could be trusted with the nuclear codes: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

RFK Jr with a McDonalds meal and a Coke.

Saw Nick Cave in Paris recently at the Accor Arena and I was really struck by that song Joy where he sings “We’ve all had too much sorrow, now it the time for joy.” I was thinking to myself, yeah that’s about right.

Wrote about Percival Everett's James this spring. It's the best novel I've read in a number of years and I'm stoked it won the National Book Award. Everett very much deserves it. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole profiling Oz Pearlman, a.k.a. Oz the Mentalist. Gift link! nytimes.com/2025/10/23/sty…

Over the moon to that my Oz the Mentalist profile is today's "Great Read" in The New York Times! Gift link: nytimes.com/2025/10/23/sty…

Average Larissa MacFarquhar experience

nytimes.com/2025/10/23/sty…