(Go: >> BACK << -|- >> HOME <<)
The Politics Issue: How political consulting does (or doesn’t) work, sizing up the debates, Trump’s punk-rock appeal, the female-leader backlash. Plus, museums learn to love selfies, the failure of poetry, Ta-Nehisi Coates on O. J. Simpson, and more.
The Atlantic: This Month
Share Newsletter
Facebook Twitter
October 2016
October 2016

The Politics Issue: How political consulting does (or doesn’t) work, sizing up the debates, Trump’s punk-rock appeal, the female-leader backlash. Plus, museums learn to love selfies, the failure of poetry, Ta-Nehisi Coates on O. J. Simpson, and more.

Cover Story
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump debating
When Donald Meets Hillary

Who will win the debates? Trump’s approach was an important part of his strength in the primaries. But will it work when he faces Clinton onstage?

James Fallows

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Features
‘There’s Nothing Better Than a Scared, Rich Candidate’

How political consulting works—or doesn’t

Molly Ball

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
What O. J. Simpson Means to Me

His great accomplishment was to be indicted for a crime and then receive the kind of treatment typically reserved for rich white guys.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Fiction: O

An exhibition of unintended consequences

Robert Boswell

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Illustration of three fallen soldiers, two soldiers running with guns, and one soldier firing a machine gun over a barricade.
The World Is a Thriving Slaughterhouse

Sifting through decades of testimony of people caught up in the horrors of violent zealotry, a writer grapples with what hasn’t changed in our new world of terror.

Roger Rosenblatt

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Dispatches
Fear of a Female President

Peter Beinart

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Sketch of a young, bearded man sitting cross legged, a pill in each hand and a glass of water at his feet.
The Brain Bro

Olga Khazan

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Do People Need Small Talk to Be Happy?

Stephanie Hayes

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Bill Clinton with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat at the White House in 1993.
Getting Bill Out of the House

Jeffrey Goldberg

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
America’s Monopoly Problem

Derek Thompson

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Big in Denmark: The U.S. Ambassador

Amy Weiss-Meyer

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Photo illustration of face-throwing-a-kiss emoji covering the Mona Lisa's face
Please Turn On Your Phone in the Museum

Sophie Gilbert

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
The Radical and the Racist

Ellen Fitzpatrick

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
The Culture File
Donald Trump, Sex Pistol

James Parker

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Sympathy for the Robot

Christopher Orr

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
A substitute teacher grimaces as students ignore him.
Pity the Substitute Teacher

Sara Mosle

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Haunted Womanhood

Heather Havrilesky

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Feathers lodged in a book with a target painted on the cover.
Why (Some) People Hate Poetry

Adam Kirsch

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
The Gangly Texan Pianist Who Wooed Soviets During the Cold War

Ann Hulbert

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Cover to 'The Art of Rivalry' by Sebastian Smee
The Fraught Friendships of Eight Great Artists

Ann Hulbert

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Departments
The Conversation

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
What Concept Most Needs a Word in the English Language?

/ Share 

FacebookTwitter
Most Popular on The Atlantic
  1. Corporate Executives Are Making Way More Money Than Anybody Reports
  2. What Is Donald Trump Jr. Talking About?
  3. The Perils of Writing a Provocative Email at Yale
  4. America's Cultural Civil War
  5. When Donald Meets Hillary
Sign Up for The Atlantic
Sign Up for Our Daily Newsletter

Want a daily jolt of interesting news? Sign up for The Atlantic Daily — stories, ideas, and images

  1. Subscribe to the Magazine
  2. Email Us
  1. Get The Atlantic's iOS App
  2. See All Newsletter Options

Follow Us

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn