Monuments to the Unthinkable
America still can’t figure out how to memorialize the sins of our history. What can we learn from Germany?
December 2022
In This Issue
How Germany remembers the Holocaust, Taylor Sheridan’s TV empire, Taiwan prepares, and Haruki Murakami on choosing his characters. Plus the costs of saving a pet’s life, Bono, the petulant King Charles III, J. Edgar Hoover, why Putin must lose, pull-ups, and more.
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Taiwan Prepares to Be Invaded
If China wants to do something drastic, President Tsai Ing-wen told me, “Xi has to weigh the costs. He has to think twice.”
The Too-Muchness of Bono
In Dublin with the irrepressible U2 front man
How Much Would You Pay to Save Your Cat’s Life?
For $15,000, you can get your pet a new kidney.
How Taylor Sheridan Created America’s Most Popular TV Show
Inside Paramount’s Yellowstone juggernaut
Where My Characters Come From
I don’t choose them; they choose me.
Dispatches
Danielle Del Plato The Russian Empire Must Die
A better future requires Putin’s defeat—and the end to imperial aspirations.
Illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira. Sources: Hugo Burnand / Anwar Hussein Collection / Getty The Petulant King
Charles III can’t keep the myth of monarchy alive.
Culture & Critics
Illustration by Paul Spella. Sources: Getty; L. Cohen / Getty; Rick Stewart / Getty; Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE / Getty; Gregory Bojorquez / Getty; Jeff Kravitz / Getty. The Year Virginia Rewrote the Rules of Popular Culture
Missy Elliott. Timbaland. Allen Iverson. What was it about the Tidewater region in 2002?
Alberto Miranda A New Theory of American Power
The United States can—and must—wield its power for good.
Illustration by Ernesto Artillo. Sources: Bettmann / Getty; Popperfoto / Getty. How J. Edgar Hoover Went From Hero to Villain
Before his abuses of power were exposed, he was celebrated as a scourge of Nazis, Communists, and subversives.
Tejumola Butler Adenuga The Grimke Sisters and the Indelible Stain of Slavery
The abolitionists have long been portrayed as heroes. A new book views them, and their family, in a different light.
Departments
Katie Martin / The Atlantic The Commons: Why Shouldn’t Girls Outdo Boys in School?
Readers respond to an argument in our October issue.
Tim Lahan An Ode to Pull-Ups
It’s you versus you.
Poetry
Getty; Gabriela Pesqueira / The Atlantic
