Low Stakes, High Drama

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Saturn is the best planet. Hard seltzer is an abomination. Milk chocolate is better than dark. The “fun fact” should die.

My colleagues at The Atlantic are skilled in the art of making a bold, well-researched argument. Those arguments are often about matters of societal importance, but they can also be about the less serious topics that make up our everyday lives. As my colleague Caroline Mimbs Nyce noted in 2017, the magazine has used “the case for” (or “the case against”) as a framing more than 200 times in its history, for arguments both serious and silly. (This neat interactive from 2017 allows you to browse the full collection up to that point.)

For today’s newsletter, I asked my colleagues to dig up some of their most entertaining—and most controversial—low-stakes opinions. Enjoy, and feel free to respond to this email with your own thoughts on any of these hot-button issues.

Low-Stakes Opinions

Hot People Are Stressful

By Amanda Mull

The brain appreciates beauty. But not always.

You Don’t Know How Bad the Pizza Box Is

By Saahil Desai

The delivery icon hasn’t changed in 60 years, and it’s making your food worse.

Adult Halloween Is Stupid, Embarrassing, and Very Important

By Faith Hill

The most inherently childish holiday might be the one grown-ups need the most.

Still Curious?

Other Diversions

P.S.

While chatting with my colleagues about their opinions for this newsletter, I was reminded about the great tennis-ball debate of 2018. That feels like a lifetime ago, but I still remember the fiery debates that ensued in The Atlantic’s Slack channels.

— Isabel