The American Crisis
Amid assaults against the press and the rise of technology, democracy is in a fragile state. Can it overcome the challenges it faces?
October 2018
In This Issue
The crisis in democracy: articles by Anne Applebaum, Stephen Breyer, Jeff Rosen, David Frum, Amy Chua, and others. Plus the price of sports protests, what getting shot taught Elaina Plott about American politics, the brutal truth about climate change, why #brands are not our friends, James Parker on ‘Rick and Morty,’ and more.
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Illustration: Mike McQuade; Janek Skarzynski / AFP / Getty; Kacper Pempel / Reuters A Warning From Europe: The Worst Is Yet to Come
Polarization. Conspiracy theories. Attacks on the free press. An obsession with loyalty. Recent events in the United States follow a pattern Europeans know all too well.
Yoshi Sodeoka Why Technology Favors Tyranny
Artificial intelligence could erase many practical advantages of democracy, and erode the ideals of liberty and equality. It will further concentrate power among a small elite if we don’t take steps to stop it.
The Heads of State Americans Aren’t Practicing Democracy Anymore
As participation in civic life has dwindled, so has public faith in the country’s system of government.
Oliver Munday The Threat of Tribalism
The Constitution once united a diverse country under a banner of ideas. But partisanship has turned Americans against one another—and against the principles enshrined in our founding document.
Titus Kaphar A House Still Divided
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln warned that America could not remain “half slave and half free.” Today, the country remains divided by racism—and the threat is as existential as it was before the Civil War.
Zohar Lazar America Is Living James Madison’s Nightmare
The Founders designed a government that would resist mob rule. They didn’t anticipate how strong the mob could become.
Greg Kahn Where America’s Civic Reawakening Is Happening
Political enthusiasms are running high around the country.
New Studio America’s Courts Can’t Ignore the World
The laws of other countries have a bearing on America’s own, writes Stephen Breyer—and the highest court in the land needs to take heed.
Lisk Feng The Bullet in My Arm
I grew up in a gun-loving town in Alabama. My grandfather’s store sells firearms. But only after I was shot did I begin to understand America’s complicated relationship with guns.
Dispatches
Tyler Comrie America’s Slide Toward Autocracy
Democracy has taken a beating under President Trump. Will the midterms make a difference?
Andy Friedman The Tiny Blond Bible Teacher Taking On the Evangelical Political Machine
Beth Moore grew her flock by teaching scripture to women—and being deferential to men. Now her outspokenness on sexism could cost her everything.
Esther Aarts When Animals Take the Night Shift
They’d rather eat in the dark than risk coming across one of us.
James Graham The Man Who Raised a Fist, 50 Years Later
Former Olympic sprinter Tommie Smith reflects on his legacy and the resurgence of activism in sports.
Rami Niemi South Koreans Love Their ‘Stress Cafés’
New places of respite are popping up in one of the world’s most overworked, underslept cities.
Laurent Hrybyk Brands Are Not Our Friends
Comcast sent me 10 pizzas. This isn’t nice; it’s manipulative.
James Graham A Shocking Number of Killers Murder Their Co-workers
Homicide is the third-most-prevalent cause of workplace death.
Joe McKendry A Letter From Winston Churchill’s Disappointed Mother
A very short book excerpt
The Culture File
Katie Martin; Adult Swim The Cartoon That Captures the Damaged American Male
Rick and Morty is a dialectic of masculinity unmoored.
Michał Klimczak The Most Honest Book About Climate Change Yet
William T. Vollmann’s latest opus is brilliant, but it offers no comfort to its readers.
Lucille Clerc The Brilliant, Playful, Bloodthirsty Raven
A new book from Christopher Skaife is a beguiling, fascinating, and highly amusing account of the strangely magical birds.
Jake Foreman How to Live Better, According to Nietzsche
John Kaag’s fascinating new book about the German thinker seeks to tether philosophy back to the mess of daily experience.
The Gradual Disappearance of Jane Ashland Casts an Unlikely Spell
Nicolai Houm’s third novel unspools the mystery of a writer who abandons fiction and winds up alone on the top of a mountain in Norway.
Departments
The Conversation: The Dangers of Distracted Parenting
Readers respond to our June and July/August 2018 stories and more.
Graham Roumieu
Poetry
Melinda Josie
