Wiki News Live
Today:
Iran’s Long Shadow
NEWS | 16 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.

Top Stories:
‘Just Sit Them on the Potty’
NEWS | 16 August 2026
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. Some, such as the ability to stably sit on a potty, tend to emerge very young. 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. “You just sit them on the potty,” she said, “and because they can’t walk, they just sit there, they do their thing, and then everybody moves on with their lives.”By contrast, the current U.S. norm of waiting until kids are at least 2 means that potty training is aligned with a child’s “peak defiance,” Talalay said.

World:
Anthony Fauci’s Group Chat Is Making People Lose Their Minds
NEWS | 16 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.

Current Events:
Ukraine’s Long Shot
NEWS | 16 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.

News Flash:
A Democrat in Name Only
NEWS | 16 August 2026
Sand is something rarely found in nature: a successful Iowa Democrat. Sand’s party has struggled to gain purchase in Iowa since the dawn of the Trump era, and a Democrat hasn’t been elected governor since 2006. I’d explained that, like any good red-state Democrat, Sand loves to hunt and spends Sunday morning in church—and that his wife’s brothers called him “Baby Jesus” for his tendency toward self-righteousness. Some were disgusted, for example, that the Democrat did not release a statement denouncing ICE after Good’s and Pretti’s deaths. But Lahn’s main project ahead of November will be to remind Iowans that Sand, regardless of his rhetoric, is running as a Democrat.

Sponsored:
Remote Monitoring App
SPONSORED | 16 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:
Eight Perfect Series Finales
NEWS | 16 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.

Breaking:
Spidey’s Sense for Success
NEWS | 16 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.

Trending:
A Bleak, Violent Novel’s Unexpected Delights
NEWS | 16 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.

This Just In:
Photos of the Week: Mudflat Trot, Waterfall Jump, Pole Vault
NEWS | 16 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.

Today:
A Cold War Movie That Gives Too Much Credit to Ronald Reagan
NEWS | 16 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.

Top Stories:
The Dystopia of Modern Singlehood
NEWS | 16 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.

World:
Atlantic Trivia: Last Call!
NEWS | 16 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.

Current Events:
A Green Light for Crooks
NEWS | 16 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.

News Flash:
Are the Patriot Games Great? No. Are They Fun to Watch?
NEWS | 16 August 2026
How to describe President Trump’s Freedom 250 Patriot Games? Welcome to SPIRE Academy, in Geneva, Ohio, where 120 competitors, one boy and one girl from each of the 50 states and … some territories, gathered for the Patriot Games. They have not been watching the Patriot Games like I have. Some elements of the Patriot Games make a minimal amount of sense. The last thing they need is the Patriot Games too.