Scott Stossel
@stossel.bsky.social
National Editor, The Atlantic. Author of My Age of Anxiety and Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver. Bostonian in DC.
Reposted by Scott Stossel
An important and instructive article by Jeffrey Goldberg. Read it to recall how you felt watching the January 6th assault on the Capitol, and to rise up from the stupor of the shock-overload we've all been living with this past year, beginning with Trump's pardoning of all the convicted rioters.
"Even when weighed against this stunning record of degeneracy, the pardoning by Trump of his cop-beating foot soldiers represents the lowest moment of this presidency so far, because it was an act not only of naked despotism but also of outlandish hypocrisy."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
MAGA’s Foundational Lie
The movement claims to stand with the police. Trump’s decision to pardon the cop-beaters of January 6 exposed his movement for what it is.
www.theatlantic.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:44 PM
An important and instructive article by Jeffrey Goldberg. Read it to recall how you felt watching the January 6th assault on the Capitol, and to rise up from the stupor of the shock-overload we've all been living with this past year, beginning with Trump's pardoning of all the convicted rioters.
"Even when weighed against this stunning record of degeneracy, the pardoning by Trump of his cop-beating foot soldiers represents the lowest moment of this presidency so far, because it was an act not only of naked despotism but also of outlandish hypocrisy."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
MAGA’s Foundational Lie
The movement claims to stand with the police. Trump’s decision to pardon the cop-beaters of January 6 exposed his movement for what it is.
www.theatlantic.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:45 PM
"Even when weighed against this stunning record of degeneracy, the pardoning by Trump of his cop-beating foot soldiers represents the lowest moment of this presidency so far, because it was an act not only of naked despotism but also of outlandish hypocrisy."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"Newsom has thought deeply about the history and future of the Democratic Party. He has referred to himself as a 'Sargent Shriver Democrat,' after the architect of the War on Poverty and the founding director of the Peace Corps."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
The Front-Runner
California’s Gavin Newsom would rather be wrong than weak.
www.theatlantic.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:35 PM
"Newsom has thought deeply about the history and future of the Democratic Party. He has referred to himself as a 'Sargent Shriver Democrat,' after the architect of the War on Poverty and the founding director of the Peace Corps."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
Donald Trump Wants You to Forget This Happened
January 6, five years later
www.theatlantic.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
“'We do need Greenland, absolutely'”--Donald Trump to @michaelscherer.bsky.social this morning, before the president's morning round of golf.
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Trump Threatens Venezuela’s New Leader With a Fate Worse Than Maduro’s
The president told The Atlantic that Delcy Rodríguez needs to comply with U.S. wishes—or else.
www.theatlantic.com
January 4, 2026 at 6:30 PM
“'We do need Greenland, absolutely'”--Donald Trump to @michaelscherer.bsky.social this morning, before the president's morning round of golf.
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
"Over Trump’s first year in power, the price of cocaine in the United States has dropped steeply, the one price Trump has reduced."
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Trump’s Critics Are Falling Into an Obvious Trap
The capture of Nicolás Maduro is a show of ambition that calls for an effective response.
www.theatlantic.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:55 PM
"Over Trump’s first year in power, the price of cocaine in the United States has dropped steeply, the one price Trump has reduced."
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
"A platitude is a placebo for the mind; an aphorism is a wake-up call."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Aphoristic Intelligence Beats Artificial Intelligence
It’s not just okay for some things in life to be hard—it’s essential.
www.theatlantic.com
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 AM
"A platitude is a placebo for the mind; an aphorism is a wake-up call."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"Literature doesn’t make you a better citizen or a more successful person. A passion for reading can even make life more difficult."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reading Is a Vice
Being a reader means cultivating a relationship with the world that, by most standards, can seem pointless and counterproductive.
www.theatlantic.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:57 PM
"Literature doesn’t make you a better citizen or a more successful person. A passion for reading can even make life more difficult."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
"The veneer of civilization is always thin, even at Costco, as one is reminded before major holidays, or in the vicinity of the samples."
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
The Cult of Costco
Its consistency is its superpower.
www.theatlantic.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:53 PM
"The veneer of civilization is always thin, even at Costco, as one is reminded before major holidays, or in the vicinity of the samples."
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
"On Sunday, J. D. Vance was presented with the simplest moral test: denounce commentators who traffic in medieval blood libels, who deny the Holocaust, and who endlessly harp on evil Jewish cabals." He failed.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
J. D. Vance Fails a Simple Moral Test
The vice president welcomes anti-Semites into the Republican coalition.
www.theatlantic.com
December 23, 2025 at 11:57 PM
"On Sunday, J. D. Vance was presented with the simplest moral test: denounce commentators who traffic in medieval blood libels, who deny the Holocaust, and who endlessly harp on evil Jewish cabals." He failed.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"Donald Trump’s appetite for flattery appears as insatiable as the supply of bootlickers among his followers appears inexhaustible."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Pitiful Childishness of Donald Trump
The president’s appetite for plastering his name on every available surface appears insatiable.
www.theatlantic.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"Donald Trump’s appetite for flattery appears as insatiable as the supply of bootlickers among his followers appears inexhaustible."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
For 20 minutes, Americans watched Donald Trump address the nation, “drenched in pure panic as he tried to bully an entire nation into admitting he’s doing a great job,” @radiofreetom.bsky.social argues: theatln.tc/Du4KkLTo
December 20, 2025 at 5:00 PM
For 20 minutes, Americans watched Donald Trump address the nation, “drenched in pure panic as he tried to bully an entire nation into admitting he’s doing a great job,” @radiofreetom.bsky.social argues: theatln.tc/Du4KkLTo
"One of the minor annoyances of being an incorrigible pervert is that you risk having your own bookshelf testify against you."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
What Jeffrey Epstein Didn’t Understand About Lolita
Everything.
www.theatlantic.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"One of the minor annoyances of being an incorrigible pervert is that you risk having your own bookshelf testify against you."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
"I can only imagine America’s enemies in Moscow and Beijing and Tehran smiling with pleasure as they watched a president losing his bearings, berating his own people, and demanding that they absolve him of any blame when things get worse."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
This Is What Presidential Panic Looks Like
Donald Trump delivered a fear-drenched rant live from the White House.
www.theatlantic.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
"I can only imagine America’s enemies in Moscow and Beijing and Tehran smiling with pleasure as they watched a president losing his bearings, berating his own people, and demanding that they absolve him of any blame when things get worse."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"Trump’s malignant narcissism is the most essential thing to understand about him. Heraclitus taught that character is destiny. In Trump’s case, his sociopathy is destiny."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Trump’s Inferno of Hate Is Intensifying
When a man with the president’s personality feels besieged and abandoned, he becomes more desperate and more dangerous.
www.theatlantic.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:37 PM
"Trump’s malignant narcissism is the most essential thing to understand about him. Heraclitus taught that character is destiny. In Trump’s case, his sociopathy is destiny."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Grade inflation and the rise of AI are making it impossible for employers to evaluate recent graduates.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Entry-Level Hiring Process Is Breaking Down
Grade inflation and the rise of AI are making it impossible for employers to evaluate recent graduates.
www.theatlantic.com
December 16, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Grade inflation and the rise of AI are making it impossible for employers to evaluate recent graduates.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"In moments when the country looks up for orientation, Trump does not steady the room. He destabilizes it. He does not merely break norms; he erodes the conditions that make shared meaning possible. "
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Widens the Breach
The country mourned a beloved filmmaker. Trump’s first instinct was to desecrate.
www.theatlantic.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:10 PM
"In moments when the country looks up for orientation, Trump does not steady the room. He destabilizes it. He does not merely break norms; he erodes the conditions that make shared meaning possible. "
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"This National Security Strategy is not really a strategy document. It is a suicide note. If the ideas within it are really used to shape policy, then U.S. influence in the world will rapidly disappear, and America’s ability to defend itself will diminish."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Longest Suicide Note in American History
The Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy targets liberal democracy itself.
www.theatlantic.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:09 PM
"This National Security Strategy is not really a strategy document. It is a suicide note. If the ideas within it are really used to shape policy, then U.S. influence in the world will rapidly disappear, and America’s ability to defend itself will diminish."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"If 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' is the tendency to become irrationally obsessed with Donald Trump and project that obsession onto everyone else, then somebody is indeed deranged, and it wasn’t Rob Reiner."
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Trump Blames Rob Reiner for His Own Murder
This morning’s Truth Social post was nauseating even by the president’s standards.
www.theatlantic.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
"If 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' is the tendency to become irrationally obsessed with Donald Trump and project that obsession onto everyone else, then somebody is indeed deranged, and it wasn’t Rob Reiner."
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Lessons on happiness from a saint who advocated executing heretics by burning them alive.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
How to Be Happy Like Thomas Aquinas
Modern social science finds that the 13th-century theologian’s recipe for “imperfect happiness” turns out to be perfect.
www.theatlantic.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Lessons on happiness from a saint who advocated executing heretics by burning them alive.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
"Why does a night that should be Donald Trump’s greatest triumph feel so much like he revived the Honors from the Pet Sematary?"
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Trump’s Very Weird Night at the Kennedy Center Honors
The president and I both got our heart’s desire. But something felt wrong.
www.theatlantic.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:07 PM
"Why does a night that should be Donald Trump’s greatest triumph feel so much like he revived the Honors from the Pet Sematary?"
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
"The Pentagon’s top watchdog has concluded that the information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared in the chat could have put the mission, U.S. personnel, and national security at risk had it fallen into the wrong hands."
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Hegseth Risked Endangering Troops With Signal Messages
An inspector-general report finds that the defense secretary violated his department’s policies.
www.theatlantic.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
"The Pentagon’s top watchdog has concluded that the information Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared in the chat could have put the mission, U.S. personnel, and national security at risk had it fallen into the wrong hands."
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
"Formal power and personal incompetence." I'd like to write as pointedly well as Tom Nichols. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Pete Hegseth Needs to Go—Now
A man with such contempt for the military should not run the Pentagon.
www.theatlantic.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:23 PM
"Formal power and personal incompetence." I'd like to write as pointedly well as Tom Nichols. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Scott Stossel
Early-career journalists: @theatlantic.com's amazing fellowship program will be back starting in 2026! Apply now!! www.theatlantic.com/careers#open...
The Atlantic: Careers
Inform, Challenge, Elevate.
www.theatlantic.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Early-career journalists: @theatlantic.com's amazing fellowship program will be back starting in 2026! Apply now!! www.theatlantic.com/careers#open...