The Counteroffensive
The future of the democratic world will be determined by whether the Ukrainian military can break a stalemate with Russia and drive the country backwards—perhaps even out of Crimea for good.
June 2023
In This Issue
The case for the total liberation of Ukraine, a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, how Tom Hanks became Tom Hanks, and a night at the Vatican. Plus Cleopatra’s daughter, the limits of assisted suicide, Steely Dan, Jenny Erpenbeck, survivalist TV, an ode to odes, and more.
Cover Story
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War and Consequences
The conflict in Ukraine is about much more than Ukraine.
Features
Maxime Mouysset The Billion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme That Hooked Warren Buffett and the U.S. Treasury
How a small-town auto mechanic peddling a green-energy breakthrough pulled off a massive scam
Erik Carter How Tom Hanks Became Tom Hanks
The actor—and now novelist—reflects on how he got here, and the other lives he might have lived instead.
Alex Majoli / Magnum / Vatican for The Atlantic My Night in the Sistine Chapel
After the tourists go home, a museum’s collection tells its own story.
Vartika Sharma The Outer Limits of Liberalism
What happens when a society takes individualism to its logical conclusion?
Dispatches
Illustration by Joanne Imperio Never Give Artificial Intelligence the Nuclear Codes
The temptation to automate command and control will be great. The danger is greater.
Culture & Critics
Illustration by Oliver Munday / The Atlantic. Sources: Mark Newman / Getty; Laflor / Getty. Call of the Wild
The enduring appeal of watching human beings attempt to master the Alaskan backcountry
Ángel Hernández Who Was Cleopatra’s Daughter?
The perils of searching for feminist heroes in antiquity
Nada Hayek Surrender to Steely Dan
How the insufferably perfectionist duo captured the hearts of a new generation of listeners
Illustration by Matthieu Bourel. Source: Katharina Behling. Writing in the Ruins
The German writer Jenny Erpenbeck cuts through dogma, fractures time, and preserves rubble.
Departments
The Atlantic The Commons: ‘Trumpism Is the Last Gasp of a Dying Culture of White Supremacy’
Readers respond to our April 2023 cover story and more.
Tim Lahan An Ode to Writing Odes
When the universe gives you a gift, send a thank-you note.
Poetry
Illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira / The Atlantic. Source: JHU Sheridan Libraries / Gado / Getty.
