Work in Progress Newsletter

Short articles about important concepts. Our writer Derek Thompson breaks down current news and future trends in areas like work, technology, and culture—using simple and clear language.

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Why So Many People Still Assume That Mom Knows Best

16 hours ago | theatlantic.com | Olga Khazan

When Austin Estes took his sick infant son to urgent care, he struggled to change his diaper in an exam room not equipped with a changing table. “Oh, if only Mom was here,” the nurse said. Estes, an education-policy consultant in Washington, D.C., wondered why she’d think his wife would better handle an impossible diaper change. Justin Rauzon, a project director in Los Angeles, told me he listed himself as the primary contact on the intake paperwork at his child’s pediatrician’s office.
Germany Can’t Ban Its Way to Democracy

1 day ago | theatlantic.com | Graeme Wood

In the year leading up to Germany’s February elections, the far-right party Alternative for Germany was rising fast in the polls. It would ultimately increase its seats in the Bundestag from 76 to 152. But when I talked with supporters, I found that they were cynical. One of the most consistent messages I heard when I visited Germany was that the government had rigged the game against them.
There’s No Such Thing as a Free Plane

2 days ago | theatlantic.com | David A. Graham

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Donald Trump is in talks to accept a $400 million gift from a foreign government.
Trump Sides With the Israeli People Against Netanyahu

2 days ago | theatlantic.com | Yair Rosenberg

Today, Hamas freed Edan Alexander, its sole remaining living American hostage. The release was the result of a back-channel dialogue between the United States and the terrorist group ahead of Donald Trump’s arrival in the region this week.
The Trump Trade-War Scam

2 days ago | theatlantic.com | David Frum

If you’ve ever watched a game of three-card monte, you’ve noticed that the dealer talks nonstop. The chatter serves two functions. First, it distracts the victims. Second, and maybe more important, the dealer is deceiving his victims about what’s befalling them. The spiel invites them to imagine they’re playing a game in which they stand a fair chance. In reality, they are being swindled.
Who Counts as Christian?

2 days ago | theatlantic.com | Elizabeth Bruenig

During his campaign, Donald Trump told Christian supporters that if he became president, they would never have to vote again, because “we’ll have it fixed so good.” Now he’s trying to follow through on his promise by establishing a task force charged with “eradicating anti-Christian bias.” But Christians shouldn’t conclude that this new commission will necessarily defend their interests, let alone fix it “so good.” Eliminating anti-Christian bias will require the task force (and thereby the...
The Democrats Waging War on Their Gerontocracy

2 days ago | theatlantic.com | Russell Berman

Earlier this year, Gary Peters made a decision that’s utterly ordinary for most 66-year-olds: He was going to retire. Except Peters happens to be a United States senator, so his announcement that he would not seek a third term next year came as a shock. “Oh, but you’re so young!” constituents told him, the Michigan Democrat recalled. Two weeks later, Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota said that she, too, would forgo a reelection bid next year, when she’ll be 68. She got the same reaction.
How to Age Up on a Warming Planet

2 days ago | theatlantic.com | Natalie Brennan |Yasmin Tayag

Listen1.0x0:0038:48Listen and subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket CastsHow should we think about aging when the impacts of climate change can make the future feel so uncertain? That’s a question Sarah Ray, professor and chair of environmental studies at Cal Poly Humboldt, has been helping her students consider. Though climate anxiety can cause some to feel overwhelmed, Ray has tips for how to minimize doom loops and inaction.
‘SNL’ Isn’t Really Hot for Your Mom

3 days ago | theatlantic.com | Julie Beck

You know that moment when a man who wants something thinks he sees an opportunity to charm an easy mark? A common version is specific to mothers, and it goes like this: A mom and her kid are out somewhere together, and they meet a guy. It doesn’t really matter who. He may be a service worker looking for tips, an acquaintance of the child looking to get in good with the mom, or a garden-variety slimeball. What matters is that he’s meeting this woman for the first time.
How to Say I Love You

3 days ago | theatlantic.com | Elizabeth Bruenig

The kids’ folders come home from school fat with dead-stock papers: permission slips, notices, idle doodles, art projects, completed packets of classwork. I sort through it all, checking their work before depositing it into the recycling bin. On my eldest daughter’s first day of kindergarten, I told myself I would keep scads of her schoolwork as mementos in boxes in the attic, but I underestimated how much there would be.