How America Lost Its Mind
The nation’s current post-truth moment is the ultimate expression of mind-sets that have made America exceptional throughout its history.
September 2017
In This Issue
How America lost touch with reality, why some women bully each other at work, and why liberalism disappoints. Plus, the impact of the smartphone on post-Millennials, the rise of antifa, and more
Cover Story
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Why Do Women Bully Each Other at Work?
Research suggests that conditions in the workplace might be to blame.
Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?
More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.
Innocence Is Irrelevant
This is the age of the plea bargain—and millions of Americans are suffering the consequences.
Jane Austen Is Everything
As beloved as Shakespeare, she shaped a vision of personal flourishing that still feels thoroughly modern.
Dispatches
Edmon de Haro The Rise of the Violent Left
Antifa’s activists say they’re battling burgeoning authoritarianism on the American right. Are they fueling it instead?
John Cuneo Jeff Flake’s Gamble
The Arizona Republican is betting his Senate seat on the political appeal of decency—but can that pay off in Trump’s America?
Christopher DeLorenzo How to Cut in Line
A scientific approach
Doug Chayka Are Index Funds Evil?
A growing chorus of experts argue that they’re strangling the economy—and must be stopped.
Marco Goran Romano Big in Venezuela: Bitcoin Mining
Hyperinflation has driven thousands to seek out unorthodox currency.
James Gilleard When Silicon Valley Took Over Journalism
The pursuit of digital readership broke the New Republic—and an entire industry.
Joe McKendry Hitler’s Sweet Tooth
A very short book excerpt
The Culture File
André Carrilho The Whitest Music Ever
Prog rock was audacious, innovative—and awful.
Archive of Svetlana Alexievich: www.alexievich.info How Women Lived Under Soviet Rule
In collecting and sharing their testimonies, the Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich took on the role of “a witness to witnesses who usually go unheard.”
Owen Freeman John le Carré Goes Back Into the Cold
In the author’s latest, spies gain nobility.
Charlotte Delarue Why Liberalism Disappoints
Walter Lippmann, Randolph Bourne, and the enduring debate over the power of idealism
FSG The Identity Crisis of an American Abroad
Making sense of one’s home country from afar
Departments
The Conversation
Readers respond to our June 2017 cover story.
Graham Roumieu What Was the Most Important Letter in History?
A big question
Poetry
Earthworm
A poem
