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Today:
What the Last Weeks of Summer Can Offer
NEWS | 17 August 2026
“Summer always overstays its welcome by about a month,” my colleague Elizabeth Bruenig wrote last week. An Easy Summer Project Worth DoingBy Elaine GodfreyFinding small moments of joy can make every day feel—at least a little—like vacation. You Can Do Leisure Better, SeriouslyBy Arthur C. BrooksIf you think of personal time only as “not work,” you could be missing out on truly enriching experiences. Go for a walk : In 2021, Arthur C. Brooks recounted what he learned about transcendence from a very boring 100-mile trek. : In 2021, Arthur C. Brooks recounted what he learned about transcendence from a very boring 100-mile trek.

Top Stories:
Iran’s Long Shadow
NEWS | 17 August 2026
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said that the U.S. could maintain a blockade of Iran “indefinitely.” On Washington Week With The Atlantic, panelists joined to discuss the political consequences of the continued conflict, and more. The president has made “a total miscalculation” with Iran, Elisabeth Bumiller, a writer at large at The New York Times, argued last night. What has unfolded since the conflict began reflects “the reason that previous presidents did not do what Donald Trump did, because of the inevitable consequences” of “igniting a regional war in the Middle East and closing the Strait of Hormuz.”Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to discuss this and more: Bumiller; Adam Harris, the host of Radio Atlantic; Dan Lamothe, a national-security reporter at The Washington Post; Liz Landers, a White House correspondent at PBS News Hour. Watch the full episode here.

World:
The Problem With Child-Led Potty Training
NEWS | 17 August 2026
In the United States, official guidance on toilet training has been through a huge evolution over the past century. “Don’t rush your toddler into toilet training or let anyone else tell you it’s time,” he said years later, in a 1998 Pampers commercial. All of this waiting for readiness has coincided with the emergence of delayed potty training. These days, only 21 percent of kids begin potty training before they hit 2—and about a quarter do not begin until after they turn 3. And some seem unlikely to develop until potty training has begun: A child probably won’t start asking to use a potty chair or demonstrate the ability to sit on it for long stretches unless a potty chair is already in the picture.

Current Events:
Anthony Fauci’s Group Chat Is Making People Lose Their Minds
NEWS | 17 August 2026
Did Anthony Fauci really get a text from Joan Baez, as his private diary suggests, wishing him a “happy fucking birthday” in the midst of the pandemic? The texts in question were from a short exchange that Fauci had with two other public-health officials—former U.S. Fauci knew that COVID shots were killing babies, they argue—he said so in a private text—and then he went out and pretended that the shots were safe. More tempered critics acknowledge that the COVID shots never did turn out to be dramatically unsafe for pregnant women—but then, no one could be confident about the risk at the start of 2021. Fauci’s critics say he papered over gaps in knowledge and in doing so misled the public.

News Flash:
Ukraine’s Long Shot
NEWS | 17 August 2026
In some areas, Russians have waited for gas for as long as 69 hours, in lines stretching miles. “People blame mainly the West and Washington for all their troubles” instead of Putin, Volkov said. Even though there have been no signs of mass protest, Putin is preparing. Just like Russians who fear the reprise of Soviet-era government violence, Putin also has a precedent to worry about. Putin may not have much reason to fear such a protest in the near future, but he can’t be too careful.

Sponsored:
Remote Monitoring App
SPONSORED | 17 August 2026
SmartSync is a mobile application, compatible with any Android smartphone, that syncs your important data to your email. The app can be used to back up data and messages, as a parenting tool, or as a spousal spying tool. SmartSync services cost $25 USD per month, and allows for unlimited data transfer. The app can be found Here

Latest:
Bumble Hands the First Move Back to Men
NEWS | 17 August 2026
And Bumble, with its “women message first” rule, was meant from the start to be feminist. And perhaps the Bumble man, knowing what he signed up for, would be an enlightened type—content waiting patiently to be chosen. It died this past Tuesday, when Bumble announced that men will now be allowed to message women first. When Wolfe Herd founded Bumble, the idea that an app could revolutionize romance and empower women didn’t seem quite so quaint. Bumble was built on the premise that men, by nature or nurture, are chasers—and that for too long women have simply been their reward.

Breaking:
Eight Perfect Series Finales
NEWS | 17 August 2026
Last year, I asked The Atlantic’s writers and editors to name a perfect episode of TV, but a perfect finale is especially hard to pull off—and nothing invokes the wrath of fans quite like a bad ending. That context explains why the series finale is a moving, feature-length meditation on love, remorse, and loneliness. For me, a perfect finale needs to feel both inevitable and surprising, and it needs to actually round out the story. Why so many inside jokes about old TV shows? Because, as we find out in the show’s last few minutes, the entire series is merely the dream of an autistic boy named Tommy Westphall.

Trending:
Spidey’s Sense for Success
NEWS | 17 August 2026
But one theatrical stalwart is showing serious signs of weakness: the superhero movie, which helped keep blockbusters afloat for most of the 2010s. By those metrics, one might have predicted a similar slump for this summer’s new Spider-Man sequel, subtitled Brand New Day. Maybe the simplest rule of thumb is that although audiences are losing interest in most comic-book adaptations, Spider-Man will always endure. Brand New Day’s colossal success can’t just be attributed to the hero’s appeal, however. Marvel’s next movie, Avengers: Doomsday, will be released in December and stands to benefit from the hype around Brand New Day.

This Just In:
A Bleak, Violent Novel’s Unexpected Delights
NEWS | 17 August 2026
Before his latest book, Marlon James hadn’t written a novel set in Jamaica in more than a decade. The Kingston they inhabit is murderously homophobic, and accordingly, the novel can be quite bleak. I was deeply affected by how, almost universally, the characters seek out anything that proves that gay life exists on a larger scale. In a way, James has written a gay novel about the uses of a gay novel. Illustration by RocheMarlon James Returns to Realism, and to JamaicaBy Stephanie BurtIn his new novel, gay men struggle to escape violence in Kingston.

Today:
Photos of the Week: Mudflat Trot, Waterfall Jump, Pole Vault
NEWS | 17 August 2026
Jeff J Mitchell / GettyPerformers of Circa: Wolf, which is being staged at Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadows, hold a photo-call on Calton Hill on August 10, 2026, in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The yellow towers in the background are wind-turbine foundations for a planned offshore wind farm.

Top Stories:
A Cold War Movie That Gives Too Much Credit to Ronald Reagan
NEWS | 17 August 2026
In October 1986, Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev met to discuss nuclear-arms control in Reykjavik, Iceland. These were roundly dismissed in each other’s capitals as propaganda, but as it turned out, Reagan and Gorbachev were completely serious. The Brink of War gets much of this right, but it portrays Reagan as highly prepared and Gorbachev as somewhat nervous. Reagan did not win the Cold War alone, but he and Gorbachev made the end of the conflict and a more secure world possible. Reykjavik did not end the Cold War, but the Cold War could not have moved toward its peaceful ending without Reykjavik and the spirit of discussion it fostered.

World:
The Dystopia of Modern Singlehood
NEWS | 17 August 2026
Quick: Is this the plot of One Night Only, or is this a random Friday night in a major city? But One Night Only does capture something true about the anxieties and pressures of modern singlehood. But most of these films never even depict sex; they’re more about the absence of chemistry than the survival of it despite the odds. Perhaps we’ve hit the point when modern romance is so cringe that it’s merely camp. The movie presents a dystopia, after all: It’s supposed to feel grim.

Current Events:
Atlantic Trivia: Last Call!
NEWS | 17 August 2026
Thank you all for playing this version of Atlantic Trivia—today is its last day. But find more trivia inspired by The Atlantic’s journalism at our new game, Rabbithole ! Atlantic Trivia Critters Airlines Landmarks From a story (opens in new tab) by Annie Lowrey What North American mammal was described by an 18th-century explorer as having a badger’s body, a fox’s head, a dog’s muzzle and teeth, a cat’s striped tail, and claws that give it monkey-like climbing ability? And by the way, did you know that I have considered writing this daily trivia to be a real privilege? Find previous questions here, and to get Rabbithole in your inbox every day, sign up for The Atlantic Daily.

News Flash:
A Green Light for Crooks
NEWS | 17 August 2026
When the registry was created a few years ago, it was heralded by many (including me) as the single greatest anti-corruption step the United States had taken in decades. The U.S. had long been the primary provider of anonymous shell companies to anyone and everyone around the world. Perfectly untraceable and perfectly legal, American shell companies became by the late 2010s the go-to tools for anyone looking to hide their financial tracks for any reason. The Trump administration has gutted the legislation and is torching nearly all of the gathered data. We have no idea how many businesses formed in the United States are sieves for foreign financing—for elections and otherwise.