The Atlantic has long been known as an ideas-driven magazine. Now weβre bringing that same ethos to audio. Like the magazine, the show will βroad testβ the big ideas that both drive the news and shape our culture. Through conversationsβand sometimes sharp debatesβwith the most insightful thinkers and writers on topics of the day, Radio Atlantic will complicate overly simplistic views. It will cut through the noise with clarifying, personal narratives. It will, hopefully, help listeners make up their own mind about certain ideas.
The national conversation right now can be chaotic, reckless, and stuck. Radio Atlantic aims to bring some order to our thinkingβand encourage listeners to be purposeful about how they unstick their mind.
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βThe Canadians Have Had Enough of This Nonsenseβ
Episode 213
Monday, September 14, 2026 β’ Duration 26:01
President Trump insisted last week that Canada is βdying to make a dealβ on tariffs with the United States. But dealmaking hasnβt been working out well for him lately. And even though many of AIβs chief architects are warning that something needs to be done about the technology, Trump doesnβt seem concerned about making any sort of deal on that front, either.Β
Radio Atlantic host Adam Harris speaks with the Atlantic staff writers Ashley Parker and Tom Nichols about a secret Cabinet-official competition, whether we learned anything about Republicansβ strategy during their convention, and how hard it will be for Congress to act on technology it may not understand.
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Sarah Longwell's Playbook for Defeating MAGA
Episode 212
Thursday, September 10, 2026 β’ Duration 32:19
Despite his message at the first-ever Republican midterm convention this week, President Trumpβs brand is weak. His approval rating is hanging at about 35 percent, and even die-hard MAGA Republicans are frustrated by his war with Iran, gas prices, and tariffs.Β
Thereβs an opportunity here for Democrats. The question is whether theyβll be able to seize it. Sarah Longwell is the publisher of βThe Bulwark,β and she has some candid advice for Democrats in her new book, βHow to Eat an Elephant: One Voter at a Time.β Longwell joins the show to explain what sheβs learned from conducting hundreds of focus groups with voters and what it will take to beat MAGA.Β
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.
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How the Government Wastes Our Time
Episode 211
Monday, September 7, 2026 β’ Duration 30:13
Long DMV lines, endless tax forms, and paperwork-heavy safety-net programs arenβt just annoyancesβtheyβre βtime taxes,β the administrative burdens that waste peopleβs time and can keep eligible families from getting help.
On this episode of βRadio Atlantic,β Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowrey tells host Adam Harris that these burdens are often harsher for people with less social status and have long been used as tools of social control, such as Jim Crow voting rules and restrictive SNAP and TANF requirements designed to police behavior and deter use.
In her new book, βThe Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our TimeβAnd How to Fix It,β Lowrey says reforms are possible but require political will, clearer accountability, and a focus on making government services simpler and more user-friendly.
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.
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Creating the Perfect Female Monster
Episode 210
Thursday, September 3, 2026 β’ Duration 25:41
The breakout crime drama βFurious,β which had its series finale this week, centers around a female serial killer who is exacting revenge on the men who abused her. We talk with the Atlantic staff writer Sophie Gilbert about what the show reveals about society in the post-MeToo era, and with the showβs creator, Liz Meriwether, about what it means to humanize a psychopath.Β
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.
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Trumpβs Economy Goes to the Polls
Episode 209
Monday, August 31, 2026 β’ Duration 28:43
Midterm elections are almost always referendums on the policies of the party in power; President Trump is hoping that Republicans steer into the skid. Last week, my colleagues reported that the presidentβdogged by the war in Iran, the trade war with Canada, and an economy that has Americans dipping into their savings for groceries and daily expensesβhopes that Republicans seeking to win reelection or gain seats will use his time in office to sway voters.Β
But that strategy could play directly into the hands of Democrats hoping to take back both chambers of Congress. My colleagues the Atlantic staff writers Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker join me this week to discuss Congress, the economy, and the midterm elections.
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.
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Bill Gates on the Dangers of AI
Episode 208
Thursday, August 27, 2026 β’ Duration 35:02
Bill Gates has generally been an AI optimist. Three years ago, he wrote that AI had downsides, but the risks were βmanageable.β This week, Gates wrote a new memo, headlined: βThe Turbulent AI Era Is Here. The Choices We Make Now Are Critical.βΒ
He joins the show to raise the alarm about the dangers he sees in artificial intelligenceβeconomic upheaval, social unrest, cyberattacks, bioterrorismβand most crucial, what he sees as a failure of experts and governments to take these threats seriously enough.Β
βThe lack of dialogue with all parts of society is kind of deafening silence,β he tells Hanna Rosin. βAnyone who analogizes AI as a technology to other technologies is missing that this time is different. And saying something is different, thereβs a very high bar for that, but Iβm staking whatever reputation I have [on] saying this time is different.β
They have a wide-ranging conversationβalso available on videoβabout his evolving views on AI and what he misjudged in his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein.
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.
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Where Do Americaβs Colleges Go From Here?
Episode 207
Monday, August 24, 2026 β’ Duration 30:06
This back-to-school season, higher education finds itself at a crossroads. Amid rising costs, pressures from the Trump administration over admissions and ideological diversity, and AI, a debate is raging about what college is actually for.Β
Radio Atlantic host Adam Harris speaks with Jack Stripling of The Chronicle of Higher Education about new challenges that colleges and universities are facing from the Department of Education, and what purpose higher education serves in the Trump era.
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at theAtlantic.com/listener.
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Secrets of a Jeopardy Champion
Episode 206
Thursday, August 20, 2026 β’ Duration 24:53
What does it take to win Jeopardy?Β Drew Goinsβan Atlantic staff writer, a Jeopardy champion, and the creator of The Atlanticβs new trivia game, Rabbitholeβshares his secrets on winning at Jeopardy and cultivating a very particular brand of curiosity.
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.
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The Trump Administration Wanted Her Expertise, Just Not Her
Episode 205
Monday, August 17, 2026 β’ Duration 38:01
In 2013, Julia Curlee became the first CIA officer to transition openly and keep serving the agency.She felt more effective at her job living as the person she always believed she wasβand years ago she wrote about her experience under a pseudonym in The Atlantic. Her performance proved her effectiveness: She became the daily intelligence briefer for Vice President Pence during the first Trump administration and a director on the National Security Council in both the Biden administration and the second Trump term.
Less than 70 days after the president returned to office in 2025, Julia was fired from the White House without explanation. She returned to the CIA and, over time, began to feel a lack of support at the agency in an administration that was openly hostile to transgender people. Julia left her dream job with the federal government earlier this year. This week on Radio Atlantic, she is telling her full story for the first time.
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at theAtlantic.com/listener.
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Longing for a Time Before Smartphones
Episode 204
Thursday, August 13, 2026 β’ Duration 39:11
Gen Z has romanticized the technology of the β90sβor the eraβs lack of it. Young long for a time when people were looking at each other instead of their phones. But could that nostalgia for a smartphone-free society actually help guide the future?
Thatβs one of the driving questions from the latest season of How to Touch Grass, co-hosted by Julie Beck and Natalie Brennan. This week on Radio Atlantic, weβre sharing the first episode, with an introduction by Hanna Rosin.
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Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. Youβll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.
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