Theunis Bates

New York

Editor-in-Chief at The Week Magazine (US)

News Editor at LinkedIn. Does words for a living.

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Articles

The end of empathy

2 months ago | msn.com | Theunis Bates

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The end of empathy

2 months ago | theweek.com | Theunis Bates

Kindness is so over. Since Donald Trump re-entered the White House, it has become apparent that America is not simply moving past the excesses of progressivism — the compulsory stating of pronouns, the hawking of anti-racism books for babies, the pretending that "Emilia Pérez" is a good movie — but beyond the idea that it's good to care for others at all. On social media, people have rejoiced at the slashing of U.S. food aid and medicine for people suffering genocide and famine.
Big tech's big pivot

Jan 21, 2025 | theweek.com | Theunis Bates

Corporate America has a message for Donald Trump: We believe what you believe. In the months since the Republican's election victory, Big Business has been working frenetically to erase any evidence of "woke" or un-Trumpy tendencies. Diversity, equity, and inclusion departments have been axed; climate-change groups have been abandoned; and anything bearing a trans flag has been shredded. Executives who once spouted progressive pablum are now talking like MAGA true believers.
News overload

Dec 9, 2024 | theweek.com | Theunis Bates

All across America, people are turning off the news. Some of them are liberals still traumatized by the election, for whom the idea of hearing about President-elect Donald Trump's latest ALL-CAPS pronouncement is just too triggering. Some are right-leaning bros, who believe that traditional media outlets have become too "woke" and that only moon landing-skeptical podcasters can be trusted to tell it like it is.
Team of bitter rivals

Nov 12, 2024 | theweek.com | Theunis Bates

Donald Trump won the White House with perhaps the most unlikely coalition of supporters ever assembled in American politics. There was the usual male MAGA crowd, who lapped up his macho talk of taking back America from the feminized Left. But exit polls show he also won a higher share of women this year than in 2020 and lost voters who support abortion rights by a mere 4 percentage points — even though he nominated the three Supreme Court justices who were crucial to toppling Roe v. Wade.
Life in the post-truth era

Oct 31, 2024 | theweek.com | Theunis Bates

If Donald Trump wins on Nov. 5, it will be partly because the traditional press failed to present the former president as he truly is. That's the argument put forward by many media critics, who accuse The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, and other legacy outlets of "sanewashing" Trump: selectively quoting or editing his rambling, threat-filled, and profanity-laced rally speeches. This habit stems from mainstream news outlets wanting to appear "objective," the argument goes.
Life in the post-truth era

Oct 31, 2024 | yahoo.com | Theunis Bates

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty ImagesIf Donald Trump wins on Nov. 5, it will be partly because the traditional press failed to present the former president as he truly is.
Dignity in defeat

Oct 1, 2024 | theweek.com | Theunis Bates

Losing can be a beautiful thing. That's the message I took away from a New York Times report on the Chicago White Sox's historically bad season, which has seen the team match the 1962 Mets' record of 120 losses — a record they may have shattered by the time you're reading this.
Martian dreams

Aug 28, 2024 | theweek.com | Theunis Bates

My favorite book about Mars really isn't about Mars at all. A series of loosely linked short stories, Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" (1950) tells of the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet by humans who are fleeing a dying and war-ravaged Earth. It is not what genre obsessives call "hard sci-fi," with yawn-inducing disquisitions on the technicalities of space flight and the scientific challenges of terraforming an inhospitable landscape.
Martian dreams

Aug 28, 2024 | yahoo.com | Theunis Bates

Theunis BatesAugust 28, 2024 at 4:30 PM·2 min readWhen you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Getty ImagesMy favorite book about Mars really isn't about Mars at all. A series of loosely linked short stories, Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" (1950) tells of the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet by humans who are fleeing a dying and war-ravaged Earth.