178 Posts Found

For decades, American politics have relied on the same logic that polygraph machines do: that liars will feel some level of shame when they tell their lies, and that the shame will manifest—the quickened heartbeat, the pang of guilt—in the body. But the body politic is cheating the test with alarming ease. Some Americans believe the lies. Others refuse to. Some Americans recognize the lies’ … [ Read more ]

Author: Megan Garber | Source: The Atlantic (April 29, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

Philosophically speaking, the right has long been defined by its emphasis on the value of stability — as odd as it may seem in the era of Trump’s radically destabilizing administration.

Conservative theorists, most notably Edmund Burke, have long maintained that political flourishing depends on the existence of stable social rules developed gradually and from the bottom up over the course of generations. Those who seek … [ Read more ]

Author: Zack Beauchamp | Source: Vox (June 11, 2025) | Subjects: America, Articles & Links, Excerpts, International, Politics & Public Policy

The Republican Party stands for lower taxes, especially on the rich; lower spending on programs for the poor; and big spending on defense. That’s what Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, and other figures who defined the party have all stood for, for nearly half a century now… The essential Republican message may become blurred around the edges, the way that George W. Bush messed … [ Read more ]

Author: Dylan Matthews | Source: Vox (May 22, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

University of Chicago economists Kerwin Kofi Charles and Erik Hurst… along with Nikolai Roussanov of the University of Pennsylvania… found… insight into the economic differences between racial groups… [that] challenges common assumptions about luxury. Conspicuous consumption, this research suggests, is not an unambiguous signal of personal affluence. It’s a sign of belonging to a relatively poor group. Visible luxury thus serves less to establish … [ Read more ]

Author: Virginia Postrel | Source: The Atlantic (July2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Culture, Demographics, Economics | Economy, Excerpts

And that’s okay.

Author: Julie Beck | Source: The Atlantic (June 2, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Personal Improvement, Psychology | Behavior

Financial bubbles are like epidemics— and we should treat them both the same way.

Author: Robert J. Shiller | Source: The Atlantic (July2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Economics | Economy, Excerpts

Public anxiety over “excessive” consumer debt has a long, and misguided, history.

Author: Virginia Postrel | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Economics | Economy, Excerpts

What would you do if your son wanted to be a girl? Some doctors have a new and troubling answer.

Author: Hanna Rosin | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Ethics | Integrity | Morality, Excerpts, Health & Medicine, Individuality, Life & Society, Psychology | Behavior, Sociology | Anthropology

An evolving approach to the science of pleasure suggests that each of us contains multiple selves—all with different desires, and all fighting for control. If this is right, the pursuit of happiness becomes even trickier. Can one self bind” another self if the two want different things? Are you always better off when a Good Self wins? And should outsiders, such as employers and policy … [ Read more ]

Author: Paul Bloom | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Psychology | Behavior

Airport security in America is a sham—“security theater” designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items—as our correspondent did with ease.

Author: Jeffrey Goldberg | Source: The Atlantic (November2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy, Terrorism

Why asset bubbles are a part of the human condition that regulation can’t cure.

Author: Virginia Postrel | Source: The Atlantic (December2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Culture, Economics | Economy, Excerpts, Psychology | Behavior, Sociology | Anthropology

A series of vampire novels illuminates the complexities of female adolescent desire.

Author: Caitlin Flanagan | Source: The Atlantic (December2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Literature | Arts, Psychology | Behavior

There is more than one way to get a rogue state to change its ways.

Author: Robeert S. Litwak | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Foreign Policy

Many of our worst fears about America’s voters are true.

Author: Larry M. Bartels | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Culture, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

From afar, America’s presidential contests often look more like playground antics than a shining example of democracy. But looks can be deceiving.

Author: Denis MacShane | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, International, Politics & Public Policy

“Pollsters and pundits” has become a dismissive epithet in modern politics. Pollsters, at least, deserve much better.

Author: Scott Keeter | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Politics & Public Policy

Eating “green” is not so easy.

Authors: Christopher L. Weber, H. Scott Matthews | Source: The Wilson Quarterly (Autumn2008) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Environment | Sustainability, Excerpts, Food

Fact-checking was a theme of Donald Trump’s first presidency. Journalists kept count of those first-term fictions—30,573 in all, per one count—guided by the optimism that checking the president’s words might also serve as a check on his power. In late 2020, when Trump claimed victory in the presidential election he had lost, scholars saw in his declaration the kind of propaganda … [ Read more ]

Author: Megan Garber | Source: The Atlantic (April 29, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Concepts, Life & Society, News | Media | Publishing, Politics & Public Policy, Truth | Right | Wrong

A self-schema is the information and beliefs you hold about yourself. This cognitive framework influences how you feel, how you react, your actual behavior, and your perception of your place in the world.

How your self-schema influences your actions can be nuanced: For example, you may have internalized that you’re not athletic during childhood — and then, later in life, limit yourself when you want to … [ Read more ]

Author: Sarah Sloat | Source: Inverse (April 22, 2025) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Personal Improvement, Psychology | Behavior

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, it will set off tectonic shifts in the American political landscape not seen since the civil-rights movement—or perhaps even the Civil War.

Author: Jeffrey Rosen | Source: The Atlantic (June2006) | Subjects: Articles & Links, Excerpts, Law | Legal, Politics & Public Policy