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Today:
War and Consequences
NEWS | 24 June 2026
The memorandum of understanding that the United States signed with Iran is, on first reading, a capitulation masquerading as an agreement. Brynn Tannehill: America’s big mistake in IranThat does not mean, however, that the recently—perhaps temporarily—concluded war has not had profound consequences and revealed important truths. The war was a demonstration of Iranian strength whose psychological consequences will be immense. The geopolitical consequences of this war will be immense. Arash Azizi: Iran got a great deal that it could still squanderMost of all, this war has demonstrated profound American weaknesses.

Top Stories:
The AI Super PACs Trying to Influence the Midterms
NEWS | 24 June 2026
No leading candidates are advocating for a ban. (The AI firm recently put out a statement distancing itself from the super PAC.) One of Public First Action’s co-founders described it as “the anti-super PAC super PAC”—purely a way to counter Leading the Future and its Donald Trump–aligned donors. If Leading the Future wins out and Bores loses, the super PAC could double down on its playbook in future races. One of his own campaign ads satirizes an “AI super PAC” with an evil-sounding robot voice that is trying to destroy him; the ad paints Bores as the level-headed alternative.

World:
Another Top General Is Out at the Pentagon
NEWS | 24 June 2026
Now Donahue has become the latest casualty in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s purge of the military’s senior ranks. His departure follows that of General Randy George, the Army chief of staff whom Hegseth forced out this spring. The departures in the most senior ranks have become so frequent—and sudden—that Senate Democrats added a line in the latest Pentagon budget proposal calling for congressional notification before officer promotions are delayed or withheld. Donahue’s deputy, Major General Christopher Norrie, will serve as acting commander when Donahue departs, people familiar with the matter told us. Lieutenant General Kevin Admiral, who is expected to be the administration’s candidate to replace Donahue, they said, has yet to be nominated.

Current Events:
America’s Greatest Food Export
NEWS | 24 June 2026
Coordinated international enthusiasm is hard to come by these days, after all; the only two things that reliably seem to bring it are food and sports. World War II–era technology had recently enabled the easy packaging and preserving of food; this was the era of the boxed cake mix too. By the early ’90s, ranch officially overtook Italian to become America’s best-selling salad dressing. (Per that same report, it is the only dressing that’s becoming more popular at restaurants every year.) Compared with European food, American food tends to be liked but not respected—and that’s only when it’s not being blamed for actively immiserating the world.

News Flash:
Is It Warm Out There?
NEWS | 24 June 2026
Yet America does not seem to be sweating climate change. Whatever you call it, America’s interest in talking about climate change is at an ebb. Certainly, the Trump administration has made a point of disregarding climate change. “But somehow they’re stuck.”The people still trying to make noise about climate worry that this phase of “climate hushing” doesn’t actually reflect what Americans want. Few places, her study found, face a greater threat from heat while residents worry about it less than a swath of rural counties in Oregon.

Sponsored:
SmartSync Data Sync App
SPONSORED | 24 June 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:
Americans Are in Denial About Elder Care
NEWS | 24 June 2026
Herein lies a lesson for Americans: Chances are, your elder care will not be outsourced, at least not entirely. One is that, in the postindustrial world, a ton of elder care is hired out to professionals. And the share of American elder care done on an unpaid basis is, if anything, growing over time. In fact, it’s perhaps best to think of formal and informal elder care as complements rather than as substitutes for each other. The two also know that their own elder care will have to look different—and they are making preparations accordingly.

Breaking:
A Fancy Name for Junk Food
NEWS | 24 June 2026
For those of us old enough to remember the 20th century, we didn’t use to call them “ultra-processed” foods, but simply “processed” foods or “junk” foods. According to Monteiro’s theory, this nutrition research and the arguments that it has engendered are secondary concerns. First there is the obvious: What, exactly, constitutes an ultra-processed food? Monteiro himself acknowledges the large overlap between UPFs and traditional concepts of sugar-rich junk food. Red meat is a minimally processed food, and so are full-fat milk and cream.

Trending:
SpaceX Just Needs the Money
NEWS | 24 June 2026
Although the number of new businesses in the United States has surged in recent years, the number of public companies is down by almost 40 percent from its 1990s peak. The answer is simple: because they need to raise staggering amounts of money to cover the enormous cost of competing in the AI race. James Surowiecki: SpaceX is basically a huge meme stockMany tech giants of recent decades—think Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb—went public less to raise money than to give their early investors and employees a chance to cash out by selling stock. At the same time, a boom in venture capital and private-investment funds allowed founders to raise money without subjecting themselves to the regulatory and reporting requirements of public companies. Charlie Warzel: The myth of SpaceXSince 2003, companies have returned more money to shareholders than they have raised in the stock market.

This Just In:
America’s Big Mistake in Iran
NEWS | 24 June 2026
When the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran in February, their plan was simple: bomb Iran until either the Iranian public rose up and overthrew the government, or the existing government capitulated to American demands. So it seems U.S. planners made an obvious, if common, mistake: They assumed that a war could be won via aerial bombing alone. Read: The price of defeat in IranWhen these theories of total war through bombing were put to the test in World War II and beyond, however, they failed miserably. In that war, the U.S. dropped approximately 7.6 million tons of bombs, compared with the roughly 2.7 million tons dropped by the U.S. military across the European and Pacific theaters in World War II. Karim Sadjadpour: Trump’s second gamble on IranUnlike Serbia or Afghanistan, Iran had the ability to fight back and inflict significant pain on the United States.

Today:
Atlantic Trivia: Pizza
NEWS | 24 June 2026
You know what goes well with pasta ? Sink your teeth into today’s Knowledge Lovers’ Supreme. Atlantic Trivia Flavor Structure Ingredients From a story (opens in new tab) by Katie Parla Traditionally, a rosso pizza is finished only with what single topping? Show Hint That’s Italian for “red.”

Top Stories:
Trump Can’t Spin His Way Out of His Two Latest Crises
NEWS | 24 June 2026
The Iran war and the Reflecting Pool, though very different in scale and importance, share some illuminating parallels. What sets Iran and the Reflecting Pool apart from some previous cases is that he has been unable to deny reality. But no one can deny that the Reflecting Pool is, in fact, currently green. The Trump administration temporarily eased decades-long oil sanctions against Iran, as the U.S. and Iran continue to hold peace talks in Switzerland. A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from using Social Security data to flag noncitizens for expulsion from voter rolls, ruling that the administration had violated federal protections.

World:
First the Kennedy Center, Now the Smithsonian
NEWS | 24 June 2026
(The account of this lunch is based on conversations with White House and Smithsonian officials as well as people in close contact with Smithsonian leadership.) Bunch will admit that there are exhibits within Smithsonian museums that need updating and texts that should be revised. But that is not unique to the Smithsonian; every museum reassesses its work based on new research and new scholarship. During his time at the National Museum of American History, he said, he realized that “no one building can tell the story of America. “If the Smithsonian becomes a state-sanctioned place—of state-sanctioned history, art, and culture—then you might as well close the Smithsonian.”

Current Events:
California, Seen Through the Lens of George Rose
NEWS | 24 June 2026
George Rose / GettyThe Sierra Nevada Mountains, viewed from the scenic Alabama Hills at sunrise on April 6, 2017, near Lone Pine. Owens Valley is an arid valley in eastern California, to the east of the Sierra Nevadas and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin.

News Flash:
The Man Who Couldn’t Do It
NEWS | 24 June 2026
ET on June 22, 2026In the past decade, Britain has churned through leaders faster than the average fringe revolutionary sect. Burnham had framed the election as a verdict on Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party and the country, and he won even more votes than pollsters expected. The generally agreed explanation is that Mandelson was friends with Morgan McSweeney, the strategist behind Labour’s 2024 election victory, who later became Starmer’s chief of staff. This is a man who started out with a huge majority but had to abandon his proposed welfare cuts because of a triple-digit backbench rebellion. That deprives Labour members, and British voters, of a chance to argue about what direction the country should take.