The Ones We Sent Away
I thought my mother was an only child. I was wrong.
September 2023
In This Issue
The disabled children we sent away, Sam Altman’s AI revolution, Bronze Age Pervert, and how America got mean. Plus new fiction by Dave Eggers, trigger warnings, Edvard Munch, owl intelligence, August Wilson, when violence goes viral, and more.
Cover Story
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Does Sam Altman Know What He’s Creating?
The OpenAI CEO’s ambitious, ingenious, terrifying quest to create a new form of intelligence
How Bronze Age Pervert Charmed the Far Right
An internet personality who espouses fascism, racism, and bodybuilding has won influential converts.
How America Got Mean
In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.
Fiction
Illustration by Lili Wood The Comebacker
A short story
Dispatches
Illustration by Danielle del Plato I Was Wrong About Trigger Warnings
Has the national obsession with trauma done real damage to teen girls?
Illustration by Erik Carter Killer Apps
Is social media making America’s murder surge worse?
Robert Smithson. Spiral Jetty, 1970. (Photograph: Robert Smithson, 1970 / © Holt / Smithson Foundation. Artwork: © Holt / Smithson Foundation; Dia Art Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York.) Robert Smithson’s Monument to Contingency
Spiral Jetty never stops changing.
Culture & Critics
Munchmuseet Edvard Munch Lightens Up
A new exhibition offers a counterpoint to The Scream.
Illustration by Michael Kennedy Lost Histories of Coexistence
James McBride’s new novel tells a story of solidarity between Black and Jewish communities.
Illustration by Rop Van Mierlo The Owls Are Not What They Seem
The birds possess even uncannier powers than we’ve imagined.
Associated Press The Man Who Transformed American Theater
How August Wilson became one of the country’s most influential playwrights
Departments
The Atlantic The Commons: ‘Sick People Don’t Exist to Show Healthy People What’s Important’
Readers respond to our June 2023 issue.
The Atlantic Caleb's Inferno: September 2023
A devilish crossword puzzle
Poetry
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty.
