Ellen Cushing

New York

Staff Writer at The Atlantic

I write about food and other stuff for @theatlantic and my email address is [email protected] 🌞

Articles

No One Is Better at Being Looked at Than Kim Kardashian

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

Kim Kardashian always knows what people want to see. In the early 2010s, what people wanted was Kim, and Kim obliged. She was everywhere: on her show, Keeping Up With the Kardashians; on other people’s shows; on magazine covers; and, mostly, on the internet. There, she built an apparatus of self-surveillance out of newly available technology and newly acquired cultural hunger for unfiltered celebrity.
The Golden Age of the Fried-Chicken Sandwich

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

Listen1.0x0:008:43Listen to more stories on harkYou would have been forgiven, in 2019, for thinking that America could not possibly get more fanatical about fried-chicken sandwiches. This was the year Popeyes—a fast-food company previously known for bone-in chicken—lost the bones, added a bun (and some pickles and mayo), and set off a complete frenzy.
The Absurdity-And Genius-of the Mother’s Day Opt-Out Email

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

Cameo is a platform that allows everyday people to commission B-to-Z-list celebrities to record personalized videograms for any occasion. Some time ago, when my friend Caroline was in the hospital, I used it to buy, for $12.59, a 2-minute, 14-second pep talk for her, delivered by a man who is famous online for dressing like a dog. More than two years later, Cameo wants me to know that if I would like to not receive Mother’s Day–related promotional emails, I can opt out.
The End of the ‘Generic’ Grocery-Store Brand

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

Inflation was high, economic growth was stagnant, and food prices were soaring: It was the 1970s, and everyone needed to eat to stay alive, but no one had any money. So a few enterprising grocery stores had an idea—they began purchasing their own food straight from the manufacturer, putting it in ostentatiously no-frills packaging, and selling it for significantly less than the name-brand stuff.
The Perfect Logic of Katy Perry in Space

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

Katy Perry climbed aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocketship with a smile on her face. She held a daisy, in tribute to her daughter, Daisy.
The Perfect Pop Star for a Dumb Stunt

2 months ago | ca.news.yahoo.com | Ellen Cushing

Katy Perry climbed aboard Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocketship with a smile on her face. She held a daisy, in tribute to her daughter, Daisy.
The Absolutely, Positively Correct Way to Load Your Dishwasher

2 months ago | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

When the couples therapist inevitably asks, I’ll have an answer ready: The trouble began in August 2017, when my boyfriend and I moved in together, and I quickly revealed myself to be an absolute ding-dong at loading the dishwasher. I am not what you would call “precise” or “tactical” in really any aspect of my life, but certainly not in front of an open dishwasher. I lack the structural engineer’s mind for space optimization, or maybe I lack the functional adult’s patience to figure it out.
Americans Will Never Quit Soda

Mar 27, 2025 | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

A young woman is at a diner with friends, being stared down by a waitress with frosted lipstick and no time to waste. What she wants is a soda—but for whatever reason, she can’t bring herself to have one. Same with the girl at the pool party, and the one at the drive-through, and the one sitting in what looks like a sorority house, and the guy at the convenience store.
Kosher Salt Is Actually Just Big Salt

Mar 8, 2025 | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

Listen1.0x0:009:17Listen to more stories on harkWhen I was a child, in the 1990s, there was only one kind of salt; we called it “salt.” It came in a blue cylindrical container—you probably know the one—and we dumped it into pasta water and decanted it into shakers. I didn’t know that any other kind existed, and the women who taught me to cook didn’t seem to, either: Joy of Cooking, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Moosewood Cookbook all call, simply, for “salt” in their recipes.
The Failed Utopia of the Starbucks Bathroom

Jan 25, 2025 | theatlantic.com | Ellen Cushing

In Blaine, Washington, there is a very special Starbucks. Like every Starbucks, this one has tables and chairs and coffee and pastries and a pacifying sort of vibe. Also like (most) Starbucks, it has a bathroom, open to anyone who walks in. The bathroom is important because this Starbucks is located about three-quarters of a mile past Peace Arch, the busiest border crossing west of Detroit, and a wretched, wretched place where you can sometimes get stuck in a car for several hours without warning.