Alexa, Should We Trust You?
The voice revolution has only just begun. Today, Alexa is a humble servant. Very soon, she could be much more—a teacher, a therapist, a confidant, an informant.
November 2018
In This Issue
The Tech Issue: The Pentagon aims to weaponize the brain, a generation of kids raised on YouTube, and Alexa’s most dangerous feature. Plus how Newt Gingrich broke politics, Pope Francis and Óscar Romero, the case for liberal Republicanism, Knausgaard devours himself, the personal cost of black success, and more.
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The Man Who Broke Politics
Newt Gingrich turned partisan battles into bloodsport, wrecked Congress, and paved the way for Trump’s rise. Now he’s reveling in his achievements.
What Óscar Romero’s Canonization Says About Pope Francis
Reassessing the Catholic Church’s dubious history in Latin America
Raised by YouTube
The platform’s entertainment for children is weirder—and more globalized—than adults could have expected.
The Pentagon’s Push to Program Soldiers’ Brains
The military wants future super-soldiers to control robots with their thoughts.
How Writing ‘My Struggle’ Undid Knausgaard
The iconoclastic author, whose six-volume autobiographical novel is now complete in English, has lost his faith in radical self-exposure. What happened?
Dispatches
Edmon De Haro The Republican Party Needs to Embrace Liberalism
Classical liberal values have disappeared from the right and are now disappearing from the left. Someone needs to adopt them. Why not the GOP?
Andy Friedman The Strange Allure of Pioneer Living
How Shaye Elliott became the Gwyneth Paltrow of America’s growing homesteading movement
Esther Aarts Puppy Cuteness Is Perfectly Timed to Manipulate Humans
Dogs become most irresistible to people just when they need us most.
Illustration by Paul Spella; Paul Liebhardt / Corbis; 'National Enquirer' / Getty; Associated Press Was Gary Hart Set Up?
What are we to make of the deathbed confession of the political operative Lee Atwater, newly revealed, that he staged the events that brought down the Democratic candidate in 1987?
Rami Niemi How Much Would You Pay for a Prayer?
In India, thousands are embracing apps that allow them to pay for a ritual to be performed on their behalf.
Tyler Comrie The Death of the IPO
The number of IPOs is declining, and that could mean that small investors are getting shut out of the most lucrative deals.
Christopher DeLorenzo Are Siblings More Important Than Parents?
How brothers and sisters shape who we are
Joe McKendry When Milk Was Full of Calf Brains
A very short book excerpt
The Culture File
Cathal Duane Paul McCartney Can’t Stop Making People Happy
Now 76, with a new album, the pop legend continues to delight and comfort the world with his music.
Alvaro Dominguez Barbara Kingsolver’s Superficial View of the American Family in the Trump Era
The first U.S. novel to treat the 2016 election at length aims for timeliness rather than genuine insight into a dramatic political moment.
Xia Gordon The Personal Cost of Black Success
Two new memoirs trace their authors’ rise into the meritocratic elite, confronting pernicious myths and brutal realities along the way.
Beth Hoeckel Women Are Furious. Now What?
In her new book, Rebecca Traister invokes rage to unify women in a battle against men. But being mad can prove divisive, too.
Catapult A Literary Companion for Insomniacs
Marina Benjamin’s new memoir aims to soothe the sleepless.
Departments
The Conversation: May It Please the Court
Readers respond to September-issue stories and more.
Graham Roumieu What Was the Most Significant Breakup in History?
A big question
Poetry
Melinda Josie
