Radio Atlantic
257 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 18 hours ago - ★★★★ - 1.8K ratingsThe Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Like the magazine, the show will “road test” the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversations—and sometimes sharp debates—with the most insightful thinkers and writers on topics of the day, Radio Atlantic will complicate overly simplistic views. It will cut through the noise with clarifying, personal narratives. It will, hopefully, help listeners make up their own mind about certain ideas.
The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. Radio Atlantic aims to bring some order to our thinking—and encourage listeners to be purposeful about how they unstick their mind.
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Episodes
The GOP Debate: Trumpiness Without Trump
August 24, 2023 23:36 - 34 minutesThe front-runner for the Republican nomination did not show up at the debate, but in the sharp exchanges between the leftovers, a lot was revealed about the future of the party. Atlantic staff writers McKay Coppins, reporting from the debate, and Elaine Godfrey talk about why newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy pops, why Ron DeSantis doesn’t, and why Nikki Haley, despite coming across as a reasonable truth-teller, doesn’t stand a chance. Also: If you have any comments or suggestions about the show, subm...
Megan Rapinoe Answers the Critics
August 22, 2023 21:00 - 31 minutesMegan Rapinoe speaks with Atlantic staff writer Frank Foer. The retiring soccer star discusses her detractors, the U.S. team’s role in the global game, and taking penalty kicks. Also: If you have any comments or suggestions about the show, submit feedback at theatlantic.com/listener-survey. We'd love to hear from you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fatigue Can Wreck You
August 17, 2023 10:00 - 27 minutesMany people, especially those dealing with long COVID, suffer from fatigue. But not common, everyday tiredness—it’s more like a total body crash that can be triggered by the smallest exertion, something as simple as taking a shower. It’s serious, and yet many doctors have a hard time taking it seriously. Ed Yong, a former staff writer at The Atlantic whose reporting on COVID won a Pulitzer Prize, explains how people with fatigue can feel, and what experts actually know about the condition and...
Lobotomy Day
August 10, 2023 09:00 - 34 minutesMichael spent years fighting isolation, depression, and despair. Then he met Sam. If you’re having thoughts of suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or the Crisis Text Line. For that, text TALK to 741741. This episode of Radio Atlantic was reported and produced by Ethan Brooks and edited by Theo Balcomb and Jocelyn Frank. It was mixed by Rob Smierciak and fact-checked by Yvonne Kim. The executive producer of Audio is Claudine Ebeid. The managing edito...
Why a U.S. Women’s Team Loss Could Actually Be A Good Thing
August 03, 2023 10:00 - 32 minutesThe U.S. women’s team has been the dominant force in soccer for a decade, although you wouldn't necessarily know it from their performance in the Women’s World Cup so far. As fans, we want them to win. But there’s no drama in dominance. For women's soccer to truly become a global sensation, the U.S. needs worthy rivals. In this episode we talk to Tobin Heath and Christen Press, both members of the most recent U.S. World Cup teams, about whether it would be better for global women’s soccer for...
‘Everyone Used to be Nicer,’ And Other Persistent Myths
July 27, 2023 10:00 - 28 minutesA lot of people are plagued by the feeling that society used to be better, that neighbors were more helpful, that strangers once talked to you. Some people channel that belief into political action, as in the Make America Great Again movement. A new study explains why the sense that people and the culture have gotten worse is a psychological illusion. This special episode features Julie Beck, the host of How to Talk to People. Subscribe and discover a full season of great episodes waiting fo...
Why Can’t We Quit Weddings?
July 20, 2023 10:00 - 30 minutesMarriages today are much more flexible than they used to be. Women’s roles have changed. Gay marriage is legal. More and more people aren’t choosing marriage at all. And yet the American wedding has hardly changed at all. If anything, it keeps getting more elaborate, more luxe, more wedding-like. In this episode, we talk to Xochitl Gonzalez, who wrote a confessional for The Atlantic about her years as a luxury wedding planner, about why we keep perfecting on what is essentially a nineteenth- ...
AI Won’t Really Kill Us All, Will It?
July 13, 2023 09:00 - 24 minutesFor months, more than a thousand researchers and technology experts involved in creating artificial intelligence have been warning us that they’ve created something that may be dangerous. Something that might eventually lead humanity to become extinct. In this Radio Atlantic episode, The Atlantic’s executive editor, Adrienne LaFrance, and staff writer Charlie Warzel talk about how seriously we should take these warnings, and what else we might consider worrying about. Learn more about your ad...
Sorry, Honey, It’s Too Hot for Camp
July 06, 2023 10:00 - 31 minutesA heat dome in Texas. Wildfire smoke polluting the air in the East and Midwest. The signs are everywhere that our children’s summers will look nothing like our own. In this episode we talk to the climate writer Emma Pattee about how hot is too hot to go outside, and what summer camps of the future will look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Power of a Failed Revolt
June 29, 2023 10:00 - 28 minutesYevgeny Prigozhin, who leads a private army called the Wagner Group, attempted what many have called a coup against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Technically, it failed. But the fact that he managed to challenge Putin and leave the leader shaken and panicky is profound. Atlantic staff writers Anne Applebaum and Tom Nichols explain this week’s wild turn of events in Russia and the door those events opened. Further Reading: Tom Nichols: The Coup Is Over, but Putin Is in Trouble Anne Apple...
Can Baseball Keep Up With Us?
June 22, 2023 09:00 - 26 minutesAre we just too impatient for America’s famously leisurely national pastime? Hanna Rosin asks staff writer Mark Leibovich whether the changes MLB is making to baseball this summer could help him, and the rest of us, fall in love with baseball all over again. Interested in the changes baseball’s making? Read Mark’s article on how Moneyball broke baseball—and how the same people who broke it are back, trying to save it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The End of Affirmative Action. For Real This Time.
June 15, 2023 22:41 - 33 minutesThe Supreme Court is about to issue a set of rulings on affirmative action in higher education. If it goes as expected, universities will no longer be allowed to consider race in admissions. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, host Hanna Rosin talks to Adam Harris, an Atlantic staff writer, who covers the issue and has written about the cases. They talk about how the backlash against affirmative action began almost as soon as the effort started. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...
The Rise and Fall of Chris Licht and CNN
June 08, 2023 09:00 - 34 minutesThe Atlantic’s Tim Alberta spent long stretches of the past year talking to CNN’s then-CEO Chris Licht about his grand experiment to reset the cable giant as a venue more welcoming to Republicans. In a major profile of Licht, Alberta documented the many disasters along the way, culminating in Licht’s ouster from the network this week. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, host Hanna Rosin talks to Alberta about the rise and fall of Licht, and what it means for the media. Learn more about your a...
The Problem With Comparing Social Media to Big Tobacco
June 01, 2023 10:00 - 39 minutesPoliticians, pundits, and even the surgeon general have been highlighting the risks that social media poses to young people’s mental health. The problem is real—but is it as serious as those caused by cigarettes or drunk driving, and what can be done about it? Host Hanna Rosin talks to the Atlantic tech reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany about what the research actually shows regarding teens and social media. “It creates this frustrating moment where legislators want to do something now. And I bet the...
The War Is Not Here to Entertain You
May 25, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutesHost Hanna Rosin talks to Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and staff writer Anne Applebaum about their trip to Ukraine, their interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, why continued American support is necessary, and why flagging attention doesn’t matter. Applebaum, who has covered the war from start, clarifies the confusing but potentially critical recent developments. Background: Read Goldberg and Applebaum's latest article The Counteroffensive and see the battlefield...
(Re)introducing Radio Atlantic
May 11, 2023 10:00 - 2 minutesThe Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now, we’re bringing that same ethos to audio. Today we’re introducing Radio Atlantic, The Atlantic’s flagship podcast, with a new host: senior editor Hanna Rosin. Like the magazine, the show will “road test” the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversations—and sometimes sharp debates—with the most insightful thinkers and writers on topics of the day, Radio Atlantic will complicate overly simplist...
How Germany Remembers the Holocaust
March 30, 2023 10:00 - 28 minutesWhat can memorials to tragedy in one country tell Americans about how to remember the legacy of slavery in the U.S.? Staff writer Clint Smith traveled to Germany to understand how Germany memorializes the Holocaust. He discusses what he saw and the perspectives he encountered with fellow staff writer Caitlin Dickerson, and explains why his experience of several German memorials makes the daunting task of memorializing slavery in the United States seem achievable. Learn more about your ad choi...
Holy Week — Part 1: Rupture
March 16, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutesThe first episode of a new podcast from The Atlantic about a revolution undone. Subscribe to Holy Week: theatlantic.com/holyweek Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify The story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how did this hero’s murder come to be the stitching used to tie together a narrative of victory? The week that followed his killing was one of the most fie...
Introducing Holy Week
March 09, 2023 11:00 - 12 minutesHoly Week: The story of a revolution undone. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, is often recounted as a conclusion to a powerful era of civil rights in America, but how did this hero’s murder come to be the stitching used to tie together a narrative of victory? The week that followed his killing was one of the most fiery, disruptive, and revolutionary, and is nearly forgotten. Over the course of eight episodes, Holy Week brings forward the stories of the activis...
What AI Means for Search
March 02, 2023 11:00 - 19 minutesWith Google and Microsoft releasing new AI tools, it feels like the future is now with artificial intelligence. But how transformative are products like ChatGPT? Should we be worried about their impact? Are they a new Skynet or just a new Clippy? Staff writers Charlie Warzel and Amanda Mull discuss. Charlie’s piece: Is This The Week AI Changed Everything? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
February 24, 2023 21:42 - 44 minutesThe Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg interviews Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of our live conversation series, The Big Story. A year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they discuss the Biden administration’s relationship with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, the nuances of comparing our current era with that of the Cold War, and diplomatic efforts to prevent the use of nuclear weapons.For more conversations like this one, visit theatlantic.com/live Learn more ...
This Is Not Your Parents' Cold War
February 17, 2023 19:48 - 26 minutesIt’s been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the war continues. Staff writer Tom Nichols, an expert on nuclear weapons and the Cold War, counsels Americans how to think about what comes next? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our Strange New Era of Space Travel
December 29, 2022 11:00 - 25 minutesHumans last set foot on the Moon 50 years ago. Now we’re going back, but the way we explore space—and our relationship to it—has gone through some big changes. “Space is a vacation now… a status symbol,” Marina Koren explains to Adam Harris. The two staff writers discuss this new age of commercial space flight and the changes it’s bringing to how we see our place in the universe. Today’s spaceflight has taken a wider variety of people, billionaires or not,beyond Earth’s gravity. As people wi...
The Republican Party Is in a Strange Place
December 15, 2022 11:00 - 30 minutesThe GOP is in a strange place. After falling short of expectations in the midterms, some Republicans blame Donald Trump, and some want to anoint a challenger for 2024. But with Trump already announced and a GOP-controlled House set to spend two years investigating Joe Biden, is the party at all likely to move on from Trump? The Atlantic staff writers Mark Leibovich and Elaina Plott consider that question, as well as the ascent of Marjorie Taylor Greene as Congress prepares for its 2023 sessio...
This COVID Winter Will Be Different
December 01, 2022 11:00 - 22 minutesDecember is here and with it comes the third winter of the pandemic. With the holiday travel and indoor family gatherings, the season has brought tragic spikes in COVID cases the last two years. Are we in for more of the same, or will this winter be different? Deputy editor Paul Bisceglio talks with staff writer Katherine Wu about what to expect. Will a new variant accelerate infections like Omicron did a year ago? What does a massive wave of other viruses mean for the season? And after years...
For Love of the Game
November 19, 2022 11:00 - 21 minutesPart of the appeal of the World Cup is watching a country’s finest soccer players represent their nations. For many fans, though, it doesn’t have to just be root-root-root for the home team. Atlantic staff writer Clint Smith will be cheering for the U.S., but he will also have his eye on Senegal. Smith’s attachment to the game is personal, stretching back to when he first started soccer playing as a little boy. In this episode of Radio Atlantic, Smith talks about the joy of soccer, the over...
A Short History of Brazilian Soccer
November 19, 2022 00:13 - 31 minutesThe Atlantic staff writers Franklin Foer and Clint Smith talk about who they're rooting for and why in World Cup 2022. And Franklin Foer takes us on a journey through the history the beautiful and ugly side of his beloved Brazilian team. Sign up for The Atlantic's World Cup newsletter "The Great Game" Tape in this episode comes from: FIFA, Banda Folia Brasileira, Le Huffington Post, KFC, and Neymar's TikTok (with music from DJ Dubay: Vota Vota E CONFIRMA 22 É BOLSONARO) Learn more about your ...
What’s at Stake for Election Workers
November 03, 2022 16:37 - 30 minutesMark Leibovich talks with Tim Alberta about the often-overlooked group of people crucial to American voting. With election denialism plaguing the process, poll workers have faced threats and harassment. What can we expect in the midterms next week? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Who Leaves, Who Stays
October 20, 2022 20:30 - 40 minutesWhen Taliban forces seized control of Kabul last year, many Afghans faced life-changing choices. One family's decision led to a harrowing journey for a young woman and her sister. Related Links Bushra Seddique wrote about her escape from the Taliban for the September 2022 issue And she's reported on "What Afghans Want the Rest of the World to Know" This episode was hosted by Claudine Ebeid and produced by Kevin Townsend with editing from Theo Balcomb. Art by Sally Deng. Fact check by Step...
What Puerto Rico Needs Most
October 06, 2022 20:42 - 26 minutesCan an island that keeps getting pummeled by hurricanes ever be free? Executive Producer Claudine Ebeid speaks with Atlantic contributors Jaquira Díaz and Robinson Meyer about what the island's status as a commonwealth means for recovery and modernizing its power grid. Background Reading Why Jaquira Díaz believes “Puerto Rico Needs Independence, Not Statehood.” Imani Perry on natural disasters and colonialism Why Puerto Rico's problems go beyond its debt crisis This episode was hosted by...
The New Kabul
September 23, 2022 21:58 - 30 minutesAtlantic fellow Bushra Seddique tells the story of the moment everything changed for her in Kabul, and The Atlantic's Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg talks to retired General David Petraeus about the war in Afghanistan and the mistakes made both during his time in command and as the U.S. military withdrew. Background reading: Here is how Bushra Seddique escaped Aghanistan. David Petraeus believes there was another path the U.S. could have taken. A marine and an army veteran make a case th...
Zelensky is Everywhere
September 08, 2022 10:00 - 21 minutesThe Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg and staff writer Anne Applebaum traveled to Kyiv in April to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Their wide-ranging conversation with Zelensky is a window into how he is living, what shapes his thinking, and what it looks like when an unlikely political figure like Zelensky goes from “Larry David to Winston Churchill overnight,” as Goldberg put it. Also: The October 2022 issue of The Atlantic magazine focuses on Ukraine. Read Anne Apple...
Caitlin Dickerson on family separation
August 22, 2022 17:03 - 40 minutesThe Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg talks with staff writer Caitlin Dickerson about her recent piece, "An American Catastrophe," a comprehensive investigation of the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their families. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Laws and Rights After Roe
June 30, 2022 22:37 - 28 minutesThe Atlantic's Executive Editor Adrienne LaFrance discusses a post-Roe America with two contributing writers. Legal historian Mary Ziegler and constitutional law scholar David French answer questions about what happens now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. How will abortion bans be enforced? What will come of the legal and legislative battle moving to the states? And what other rights could the Court revoke? This conversation was recorded as part of an Atlantic live event. Learn more abou...
The Future of Roe
May 07, 2022 10:00 - 50 minutesThis week, Politico published a leaked draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Claudine Ebeid, Executive Producer of podcasts at The Atlantic, discusses the reactions of three Atlantic contributors. Molly Jong-Fast’s most recent article is “My Mother Was Wrong About Roe v. Wade.” She also writes the newsletter Wait, What? Mary Ziegler’s is “The Conservatives Aren’t Just Ending Roe, They’re Delighting In It” and she has a for...
Barack Obama on Disinformation and The Future of Democracy
April 07, 2022 10:00 - 1 hourDisinformation is the story of our age. We see it used as a tactic of war and to further embolden autocrats.. The very tools that once helped pro-democracy movements are now being used to disseminate falsehoods—misleading the public and threatening the strength of democracies around the globe. Former President Barack Obama and editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg talk about disinformation—how to define it, how to combat it, why it threatens democratic stability around the world, and how future g...
Russia's War
March 01, 2022 00:19 - 44 minutesAfter years of threats, Russian forces invaded Ukraine—culminating in the largest attack against one European state by another since the Second World War. Global leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, widely condemned Russia’s actions and announced unprecedented sanctions aimed at a number of the country’s financial institutions and the Russian elite. What happens now? Join staff writer Anne Applebaum and contributing writer Tom Nichols in conversation with editor in chief Jeffrey Goldb...
Presenting: The Review, a new podcast from The Atlantic
October 22, 2021 21:30 - 2 minutesOn The Review, The Atlantic's writers and guests discuss how we entertain ourselves and how that shapes the way we understand the world. Subscribe and enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How To Build A Happy Life: A new podcast from The Atlantic
October 14, 2021 15:39 - 2 minutesHello Ticket listeners. We'd like to introduce you to a new show, How to Build a Happy Life. In this series, host Arthur Brooks digs into research and offers tools to help you live more joyfully. Join us for deep conversations with psychologists, experts, and friends of The Atlantic's Chief Happiness Correspondent. For more info, visit www.theatlantic.com/happy, or search for How to Build a Happy Life on your podcast app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Introducing: The Experiment
February 05, 2021 20:20 - 34 minutesA new podcast from The Atlantic and WNYC Studios, The Experiment, tells stories from our unfinished country. On the first episode, host Julia Longoria tells the story of the “zone of death,” where a legal glitch could short-circuit the Constitution—a place where, technically, you could get away with murder. At a time when we’re surrounded by preventable deaths, we document one journey to avert disaster. Listen and subscribe to The Experiment: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podc...
Biden: The Candidate for the Trump Moment
January 22, 2021 00:37 - 37 minutesIsaac Dovere reflects on the inauguration of President Joe Biden, the path through an election year like no other, and what the momentous changes of 2020 mean for our politics. You’ll also notice a change in this podcast feed. With the 2020 campaign closing on Inauguration Day, The Ticket will, for now, be ending. We’re working on new podcasts here at The Atlantic though and on February 4th, we launch our new show The Experiment, examining the contradictions and ideals at the heart of the Am...
John Bresnahan Helps Us Understand What The Hell Just Happened
January 08, 2021 03:28 - 25 minutesJohn Bresnahan has covered Congress for decades, recently as Politico’s Capitol Hill bureau chief and now as co-founder of Punchbowl News. He describes what he saw from inside the building as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol this week — and what implications the searing event could have going forward. Support this show and all of The Atlantic's journalism by subscribing at: theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jim Clyburn
December 17, 2020 19:52 - 20 minutesThe House majority whip from South Carolina gave Joe Biden the key endorsement of his candidacy. What does the civil rights veteran want to see from his party — and the President-elect — in 2021? How will Democrats bridge the divide between progressives advocating for change and Biden preaching a ‘return to normalcy?’ And with Clyburn chairing the new president’s inauguration committee, what does he expect from a very unusual transfer of power? This interview was recorded as part of an Atlan...
Gabe Sterling
December 04, 2020 18:29 - 25 minutesAs conspiracy theories about the Georgia vote count have escalated into threats, a state election official rebuked President Trump and blamed him for the environment voting administrators now face. Despite being a lifelong Republican, Gabe Sterling worries about where he finds his party. The president and Georgia’s elected Republicans seem to be in open war with one another. How far could the dangerous rhetoric take things? And what does it mean for Georgia's run-off elections in January to...
Ed Yong
November 20, 2020 01:46 - 33 minutesA quarter-million Americans have now died of COVID-19. The spread of the virus is as bad as it’s ever been. And it’s almost certainly going to get much worse. But with the president abdicating responsibility and refusing to begin a transition, it feels as if we’re headed into unthinkable danger without any sense of who’s in charge. Staff writer Ed Yong wrote about America’s unpreparedness for a pandemic in 2018 and his reporting has led the conversation about the coronavirus for months now. ...
Abigail Spanberger
November 13, 2020 03:08 - 36 minutesThe Virginia Congresswoman shares her concerns over President Trump’s post-election actions and what she considers the lessons of 2020 for her fellow Democrats. Before coming to Congress as part of the Democratic wave in 2018, Spanberger spent her career as an undercover operative in the CIA. She talks about what it was like going from a false alias to a congressional seat, why she ran in the first place, and what she thinks when people compare her group of friends in Congress to the ‘Squad....
Brian Stelter
October 29, 2020 23:30 - 28 minutesBetween the pandemic and President Trump, election night this year will be unlike any other. As usual, television news networks are the narrators of our democracy, but what will they do if the president claims an unconfirmed victory? With the stakes so high, will they apply the lessons they learned these past four years? CNN’s Brian Stelter shares his thoughts on broadcasting the president’s words live, how important the Fox News alternate universe will be, and what television news’s future ...
Tony Schwartz
October 23, 2020 20:01 - 31 minutesThe man who wrote The Art of the Deal reflects on Donald Trump, his presidency, and what the coming weeks could bring. Schwartz says Trump’s “primary motivation is dominance” and “there is nothing Trump fears more than failure.” And with the election little more than a week away, Schwartz thinks Trump believes he’s going to lose, “probably even more than he did four years ago.” Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn ...
Hillary Clinton
October 09, 2020 08:50 - 40 minutesThe former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee discusses President Trump, the pandemic, and election disinformation. Support this show and all of The Atlantic’s journalism by becoming a subscriber at theatlantic.com/supportus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Barton Gellman
September 30, 2020 18:17 - 24 minutesWith the election only weeks away, President Trump is down in the polls, sowing doubt about the integrity of the vote, and refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. When he accepted his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention on August 24th, Trump summarized his position: “The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.” What happens if a president loses reelection, but won’t accept the outcome? Staff writer Barton Gellman trie...