I was 8 when Patty Hearst was kidnapped. For several years, I was afraid to sit in a well-lit room after sundown, because I was next on the kidnappers’ list, and they were lurking in my backyard. I was sure of this.Was my fear justified? Of course not. Was it real? One hundred percent yes.Bill Clinton pardoned Hearst on his last day in office. When I heard the news, I cheered.
Editor’s Note: Read Elizabeth McCracken’s new short story, “The Irish Wedding.” “The Irish Wedding” is taken from Elizabeth McCracken’s forthcoming collection of stories, The Souvenir Museum (available on April 13). To mark the story’s publication in The Atlantic, McCracken and Ena Alvarado, a former assistant editor of the magazine, discussed the story over email. Their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Editor’s Note: Read an interview with Elizabeth McCracken about her writing process. Because Jack didn’t drive—not stick, not on the left side of the road, not at all, ever—Sadie piloted the rental car from the Dublin airport to the wedding, grinding gears and scraping along the greenery and—for a few miles—creeping behind a tractor on a winding road. It was 10 p.m. and raining. If Ireland were emerald, she couldn’t say. She would risk nothing.
As people try to find a safe way to gather and travel during the pandemic, there is growing interest in documenting who has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19. The World Health Organization has warned so-called vaccine passports may not be an effective way to reopen, and healthcare professionals argue vaccine certificates may further exacerbate vaccine inequality.
The Biden administration is facing criticism from human rights groups after it announced this week it will leave in place a Trump-era policy to allow military commanders to use landmines across the globe. A Pentagon spokesperson described landmines as a “vital tool in conventional warfare” and said restricting their use would put American lives at risk, despite Biden’s campaign promise to promptly roll back Trump’s policy.
The United States and Iran are holding more indirect talks as part of a push to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, after former President Donald Trump pulled out of the accord nearly three years ago. The two countries agreed to set up two expert-level working groups along with other signatories of the 2015 deal, which is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
My husband and I are baffled and more than a little uncomfortable.
It really bothers me that my son’s height is such a topic of conversation.
My 4-year-old is completely hung up on Gaston. And now I am, too.
New York and New Jersey want to help groups harmed by the war on drugs. Their plan isn’t good enough.
Get in, Jack—we’re transforming American infrastructure.
The opportunity for a competent administration to do something historic was helped by timing, weather, and, yes, Trump.
“We’ve already been f—ing smoking weed the whole time.
Activists fear the police-enforced closure will inspire similar actions across the city.
A new analysis raises questions about whether more could have been done to prevent a contamination that ruined more than 15 million vaccine doses.
The public health effort has been stymied by a shortage of disease trackers.
Gayle Smith, who led the agency under former President Barack Obama, will serve as coordinator of global Covid response and health security.
The Republican warned the measure amounted to government overreach, but Republican lawmakers are likely to override his veto.
I wasn’t really able to do anything but hold it there.
On Instagram, one travel industry refused to shut down.
The numbers signal the U.S. is well on its way toward a revival, one that’s widely expected to reach record levels of growth later this year.
The president’s team is preparing a $3 trillion spending proposal to power through Congress. They’re betting markets and the economy will cooperate long enough to pass it.
Structural inequities in the U.S. labor market that have affected Black and Hispanic workers’ ability to advance out of low-paying jobs, as well as discrimination in hiring practices, are also likely having an effect.
Central bank officials now expect the unemployment rate to drop to 4.5 percent by the end of 2021.
Janet Yellen said the greater risk was not strengthening the economy as it recovers from the impact of the pandemic.
We speak with economist Darrick Hamilton, founding director of the Institute on Race and Political Economy at The New School, about how U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is calling for a minimum global corporate income tax to help pay for President Joe Biden’s proposed $2.25 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan, aimed in part at combating the climate crisis and addressing racial inequities in housing and transportation.
In today’s news: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz may be denying allegations of sex trafficking (and a whole bunch else), but that didn’t stop him from pressing for a last-minute Trump pardon. Tucker Carlson continues to wave the flag of violent white nationalism. The filibuster fight takes a religious turn, as faith leaders press the Senate to stop hiding behind process to dodge issues of civil rights.
Greg Gutfeld has always been Fox News’ version of Greg Gutfeld. He has positioned himself as the funny person at Fox News, which is sort of like being the best-smelling dung beetle in a pile of manure. He has a new show on Fox, and boy is it a … hoot? Called Gutfeld!, Greg takes on Fox News’ versions of the day’s events and lampoons the Biden administration and the illiberal media.
There are a lot of people I’d like to keep home on Election Day—about 74 million, by last count. But they have every right to tick a sad little box for a bloviating mound of venal earwax, no matter what I think about it.
I’ve also known my share of ignorant college students.
The Senate voted against including a minimum wage increase in the American Rescue Plan in March, and as long as Republicans have the option of filibustering it, they will block any meaningful increase in what’s now a poverty-level federal minimum wage. But because $7.