theatlantic

Verified

The Atlantic

Exploring the American Idea since 1857. How Will History Remember Your Lifetime? ⬇️ theatln.tc/2mnpPhg
  • 610 posts
  • 16.8k followers
  • 177 following
In ​"​We Sell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live​," Megan Garber writes about ​Joan Didion’s "South and West: From a Notebook," a 1970s-era artifact that has found its proper home in the anxious world of 2017. 🎨: Neville Elder / Ted Streshinsky Photographic Archive / Getty / Paul Spella / The Atlantic #joandidion #writing #storytelling
Jessica Chou (@choutoo) photographed "Millennials in the Gig Economy" for her contribution to our #AmericansatWork project. In Chou's words: "A full-time job with one employer has been the norm for decades, but in recent years, the gig economy has steadily grown. A study by Intuit predicts that by 2020, 40 percent of the American workforce will be independent contractors. This project explores the everyday lives of young people in Los Angeles working in short-term, temporary positions as freelancers. To explore the motivations and better understand the circumstances, I photographed people in their 20s and 30s from different cultural and educational backgrounds working on-demand. While individual paths to the gig economy are as unique as the people themselves, the decisions are typically driven by a two factors — the chance to pursue one’s passion or the necessity to make ends meet. In some cases, it can be a combination of both. I’ve found that once they have found this autonomy, the 9- to-5 work life seems less and less attractive. The gig economy offers a unique opportunity for people looking for purpose in their work. There is the freedom to manage one’s own time, room to explore different work methods to better suit one’s personality, and the ability to provide meaningful contributions to one’s community. There is also the satisfaction through the ownership of the work — the process of investing time and effort results in the building of one’s own business. On the downside, workers who are full-time independent contractors have little to no social safety nets. Independent contractors assume all risks, so getting sick means losing income. Additionally, all the responsibilities of running a business, like branding, marketing and bookkeeping, are now the sole responsibility of the individual. And with little financial stability, making decisions about the future becomes more difficult. The gig economy seems to reflect people’s changing values and ideas about priorities in life and work. While greater personal freedom can result in income instability, it also provides an opportunity to shape one’s life in a more profound way."
Video
Its faith-based 12-step program dominates treatment in the United States. But researchers have debunked central tenets of AA doctrine and found dozens of other treatments more effective.​ "The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous," by Gabrielle Glaser, from our April 2015 issue. 📷: Dan Saelinger
Post
Sage, Ink: The Health of an Administration 🎨: @sagestossel
Grand Rapids, Mich.—It would be easy enough to drive past Calvin College without giving Betsy DeVos’s alma mater a second thought. Six miles southeast of downtown, the school is a sprawling cluster of nondescript buildings and winding pathways in a quiet suburb. But to bypass Calvin would be to ignore an institution whose approach to education offers clues about how the recently appointed U.S. education secretary might pursue her new job, and about the tug religious institutions feel between maintaining tradition and remaining relevant in a rapidly diversifying world. ​Emily DeRuy reports on the college, its students, and how it has changed since Betsy DeVos was a student there, in "Betsy DeVos's Misunderstood Alma Mater," online now. 📷: @emilyjan / The Atlantic ​
Post
From the archives, our April 1973 issue cover story, "The President and the Press:" "The First Amendment clearly protects the printed press. But the Founding Fathers, after all, did not foresee the advent of television, and the degree to which broadcasting is protected by the First Amendment has been subject to shifting interpretation. Technology has outpaced the Constitution, and the result is a major paradox: television news, which has the greatest impact on the public, is the most vulnerable and the least protected news medium." #atlanticarchives #tbt #journalism
In her new book, the author Lauren Elkin discusses the forgotten history of women artists who wandered the city and fought back against the masculine notion of the drifter. ​"​The Case for the Flâneuse​" by ​Arnav Adhikari 🎨: I Pilon / Shutterstock / Francisco Moreno / Katie Martin / The Atlantic
In 1935, Roy Stryker became the head of the Information Division of the U.S. government’s Farm Security Administration (FSA), documenting work done by the government to help poor farmers and their families during the Great Depression. Over the course of a decade, the scope of the FSA’s photographic subjects broadened, then transitioned to a war footing in the 1940s, becoming part of the Office of War Information. The resulting collection of more than 175,000 images remains a national treasure—a snapshot of American life during a difficult time. In the early years, Stryker himself reviewed and edited photographs mailed in by FSA photographers, and would often “kill” a photo he disapproved of (remove it from consideration for publishing) by punching a hole right through the negative. The photographers were unhappy with this destructive hole-punch method, and frequently let Stryker know, but he didn’t stop until about 1939. Recent digitization efforts have made nearly all of the FSA/OWI photos available to the public, showing defects, hole-punches, and all. Some of the punched images were duplicates, but many were unique, and are now lost. View excerpts from the collection, curated by Alan Taylor, in our Photo section. 📷: Library of Congress #fsa #photography #libraryofcongress
Post
The Bureau has long defended “Judeo-Christianity.” Minority groups have not fared as well.​ Emma Green on "How the FBI Is Hobbled by Religious Illiteracy." 🎨: Getty / Chip Somodevilla / Zak Bickel / The Atlantic
Nadine Ajaka on "The Casualties of Women's War on Body Hair." Emily Epstein on "My Lifelong Frizz-Ease Addiction." Joseph Frankel on "Protein Powder and the Promise of Tranformation." Vann Newkirk on "When Picture-Day Combs Don't Actually Comb." Don't miss "Rituals and Potions," our special project on beauty routines, and when they fail. 📷: Katie Martin / Emily Jan / The Atlantic
Post
Bill Nye, of the popular former PBS show Bill Nye the Science Guy, had an untraditional path to stardom. He quit his engineering job in 1986 and started working for a television show. When a guest cancelled, Nye filled in doing “science stuff” under the moniker Bill Nye the Science Guy—which led to over five seasons of his own show. “In general, people regret what they don't do. They don't regret too much what they do do,” he says in this animated interview. “So I don't regret having quit my job, having taken these chances. I don't regret that for sure.” ​Watch the full video, "Bill Nye on the Nature of Regret," part of our Bold Questions series​, online. 🎥: Jackie Lay
Video
How will history remember your lifetime? Introducing: The Life Timeline, an interactive project by The Atlantic that shows you how historical events are playing out against the backdrop of your life so far. Check it out at the link in our bio. 🎨: Carmen Taylor / Andoni Lubaki / Lionel Cironneau / AP / Doug Mills, The New York Times / AP / NASA / Thomas Kelley / Katie Martin / The Atlantic #lifetimeline
Load more