Jerry Seinfeld’s Speech Was the Real News
Why did the media focus less on his words and more on the 30 protesters who didn’t hear them?
Conor Friedersdorf
Conor Friedersdorf is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Before joining The Atlantic in 2010, he was the features editor at Culture11 and a reporter for the Los Angeles News Group. He is the founding editor of The Best of Journalism, a newsletter devoted to exceptional nonfiction.
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Jared Lazarus / Duke University / AP The Wrong Way to Fight Anti-Semitism on Campus
A well-intentioned bill making its way through Congress could chill speech at colleges across the country.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Chris Pecoraro / Getty. Columbia University’s Impossible Position
What happens when protest culture and antidiscrimination law keep coming into conflict?
Michael Nagle / Redux Abolish DEI Statements
Assessing a debate about a controversial hiring practice
Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani The State That’s Trying to Rein in DEI Without Becoming Florida
How should public institutions in a diverse society treat identity?
Kim Raff / The New York Times / Redux What ‘Luxury Beliefs’ Reveal About the Ruling Class
An orphan’s unlikely journey from foster care to Yale, and its lessons for the upper crust
Illustration by The Atlantic: Sources: Getty. The Strongest Case Against Donald Trump
Trump brings out the worst in Americans. Nikki Haley wouldn’t.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Win McNamee / Getty. Apathy Loses
If reasonable people disengage from politics, the zealots win.
Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters A Farewell to Up for Debate
This newsletter is coming to an end, but my inbox stays open to all of you.
H. Armstrong Roberts / Retrofile / Getty Readers Share the State of Their Local Journalism
“It is painful to watch as our once-proud newspaper has become a shell nearly devoid of meaningful content,” one reader says.
Homer Sykes / Alamy ‘A Constant Drumbeat’ of Racial Essentialism
A lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in Penn State’s approach to DEI can go to trial, and could shape the future of diversity programs on campus.
Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani. Source: Getty. Why the Media Shouldn’t Write Nikki Haley Off
Plus: A revisionist history of Beavis and Butt-Head
Sam Wolfe / Bloomberg / Getty Readers on the Morality of Pornography
“I regard pornography as the fast food of sex: A little bit here and there won’t hurt anyone, but it’s not something to consume regularly,” one reader argues.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Millennium Images / Gallery Stock Is Pornography Immoral?
Plus: Malaise among Americans
Millennium Images / Gallery Stock Readers Share Their Most Misunderstood Views
Voting age, atheism, abortion, language education, and more
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Coneyl Jay / Getty Don’t Fire People for Making Pornography in Their Free Time
The counterintuitive case for ignoring a university chancellor’s X-rated flicks.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Ernst Haas / Hulton Archive / Getty. What Conversations About DEI Are Missing
Plus: Is declining fertility a failure of capitalism?
Coneyl Jay / Getty Readers’ Toughest Questions for University Presidents
Contending with higher education in America
Adam Glanzman / The New York Times / Redux The Debate That Claudine Gay Is Evading
Plus: An argument for life after death
Adam Glanzman / The New York Times / Redux How October 7 Changed America’s Free-Speech Culture
The identitarian left cannot go on as it did before the attacks.
Alex Kent / AFP / Getty How Teens Spend Their Free Time
“I’ll take my kid playing PlayStation all night over getting drunk and driving around, that’s for sure,” one reader says.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Archive Photos / Getty. Reader Views on Gender-Divided Social Spaces
“Gender defined every generation until Gen X,” one reader argues. “It has been both challenging and wonderful to see those barriers become more permeable.”
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Gallery Stock The Role of Gender Divides in Social Spaces
Plus: A theory of the baby bust
Julio Gamboa / Gallery Stock Why This Math Professor Objects to Diversity Statements
What happens when the noble goal of social justice is invoked in ways that corrupt rather than improve?
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; courtesy of Alexander Barvinok. Where Teens Used to Hang Out
Readers share stories of social life before technology took over.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: PYMCA / Avalon / Getty The Decline of Teen Hangouts
Plus: The case for making walls stone again
PYMCA / Avalon / Getty Readers on the Foreign-Policy Issues That Matter to Them
Countering “dangerous movements at home might be the most productive thing we can do to maintain a convincing voice abroad,” one reader argues.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty The Debate Over What Happens Next in the Middle East
Plus: What foreign-policy matters are most important to you and why?
Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty Has Alcohol Left Humanity Better or Worse Off?
“At this point in my life, the pros outweigh the cons,” one reader argued.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Tom Stoddart Archive / Getty. What Has Alcohol’s Existence Done to Humans?
Plus: extremism on both the left and the right
Tom Stoddart Archive / Getty An Unusually Tricky Campus Free-Speech Fight
Florida’s shutdown of pro-Palestinian student groups was wrong. But was it illegal?
Paul Hennesy / Anadolu / Getty How to Talk About the Middle East
“Rather than weakening us, doubt can provide strength and resilience,” one reader argues.
llustration by The Atlantic. Source: Ronen Tivony / NurPhoto / Getty. There’s No Third Rail Like the Middle East
How should citizens outside the region handle their differences of opinion?
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Michael Nigro / Getty; Ronen Tivony / NurPhoto / Getty. Two Diverging Approaches to Social Justice
“The problem with this dilemma you pose is that it takes a great deal of ‘wisdom’ to know when to apply either approach,” one reader argues.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Gert Kreutschmann / Getty The Israel-War Email That College Presidents Should’ve Sent
Plus: When should people try to better the world through their job?
Bettmann / Getty What Israel Can Learn From America’s 9/11 Response
“I hope Israel looks hard at what the U.S. does when provoked and does better,” one reader argues.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Stringer / Reuters. A Collection of Narratives on the Israel-Hamas War
Plus: What did you learn from the 9/11 attacks and America’s responses to them?
Marcus Yam / LA Times / Getty Students for Pogroms in Israel
By excusing murder and kidnapping, activist groups have already changed campus politics in America.
Jeenah Moon / Reuters A Uniquely Terrible New DEI Policy
At stake: the First Amendment rights and academic freedom of 61,000 professors who teach 1.9 million students
Illustration by Jared Bartman / The Atlantic. Sources: Klaus Vedfelt / Getty; Getty. What America Could Look Like in 2050
“I feel like it is a race, and I do not have the crystal ball to see the outcome,” one reader argues.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Emanuele Cremaschi / Getty
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