Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Question of the WeekWhat roles should “color-blindness” and race-consciousness play in personal interactions (as distinct from public policy)?Send your responses to conor@theatlantic.com or simply reply to this email.

My friend’s friends, his new line brothers,
are huddled in the kitchen, taking turns
burning an ancient alphabet into their biceps,
along their lower legs, into their chests.
They howl, licking their chops, relaying
a single bottle and a branding iron
like twin batons. Decoupled from livestock,
or the institution of slavery, it’s explained
to me as the ultimate act of devotion,
of fidelity, the best illustration of what
it looks like to love.

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, in which one Atlantic writer reveals what’s keeping them entertained.Today’s special guest is Shan Wang, The Atlantic’s programming director.

This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine.On an overcast spring morning in 2012, Federica Bertocchini was tending to her honeybees close to where she lived in Santander, on Spain’s picturesque northern coast. One of the honeycombs “was plagued with worms,” says the amateur apiarist, referring to the pesky larvae of wax moths,  which have a voracious—and destructive—appetite.

Millions of Americans are leaving church, never to return, and it would be easy to think that this will make the country more secular and possibly more liberal. After all, that is what happened in Northern and Western Europe in the 1960s: A younger generation quit going to Anglican, Lutheran, or Catholic churches and embraced a liberal, secular pluralism that shaped European politics for the rest of the 20th century and beyond.

Editor’s Note: Washington Week with The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here. Events this week delivered further proof that the 2024 presidential race could be one of the most unusual in U.S. history. On Monday, D.C. District Court judge Tanya S. Chutkan set former President Donald J.