"It’s just autumn: The perfect time to discuss approved subjects." Always read @petridishes.bsky.social, even when she's saying nothing, nothing at all... www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Worth listening to NYT's David Marchese's The Interview podcast w Cameron Crowe, just to hear Marchese float not one but three (!!!) theories directly to Crowe, on why his latest work just isn't as good. Riveting stuff.

A death in the MAGA Family. @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social + I on how Charlie Kirk became who he was, and how much he meant to the president and his inner circle. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Read the first excerpt of Kamala Harris's new book—"107 Days"—here in @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

6-yr-old, trying to ride an electric scooter, sans hands: “Isn’t it cool and impressive when I do this?” Me: “No! It’s unsafe is what it is.” 6-yr-old: “Is it unsafe and impressive then?”

The 6-yr-old, regaling me on the rules she broke at school today: “It was weird. It didn’t even feel like I was breaking rules. It just felt like I was… free.”

Defense Sec. Hegseth has repeatedly described his desire to create a U.S. military force focused on lethality. But the National Guard in D.C., w their wheelbarrows full of mulch, can feel more like a focus on "leafality," a former Obama/Biden aide joked. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

At 3 pm Wed., a woman was stabbed just off a busy intersection on H Street, NE. National Guard members were dining al fresco at a taqueria DIRECTLY across the street, yet the suspect got away. "So safe," a local texted us. Our postcard from an Occupied D.C.: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The sudden appearance of the National Guard in D.C. brings with it an absurdist sheen—their tasks quotidian (“beautification”), their backdrops farcical (a Dupont Circle Krispy Kreme), their very presence sitcom-esque (as if lifted from an episode of Veep). www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The National Guard in DC often feels more notional than national, with an absurdist sheen to their very presence. But that doesn't mean it's not complicated. A postcard from an occupied Washington, w @nancyayoussef.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Even the men and women of the National Guard seem flummoxed, at times, over what exactly they are supposed to be doing in the nation’s capital, @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @nancyayoussef.bsky.social write.

My 2-year-old is mainly an adorable dictator. But at least once a day, she leans close to me and whispers, "Mommy, you're funny." And I forgive everything.

Fun talking to Stinson Carter of Esquire (who I first met when he was bartending at the Chateau Marmont) about my now 10+ (!) years covering Donald Trump, in some capacity. www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a6...

Jasmine Crockett gets the @elainegodfrey.bsky.social treatment: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

My 6-year-old takes a school bus about an hour to camp each day. And I have just learned that a poor bus wrangler has an official Vomit Bucket to deal with all the inevitable puke each day. #hero 🤢

NEW: Tension at the NGA. Dem governors are frustrated w what they view as the group’s silence in the Trump era—and two governors (Walz and Kelly) are about to step back and stop paying dues. W @michaelscherer.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Scoop: Minnesota Gov Tim Walz and Kansas Gov Laura Kelly are dropping membership of National Governors Association over frustrations with how the group has responded to Trump, other concerns. W/ @ashleyrparker.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

My husband: “Stop squirming. Stop dancing. Sit on your bottom. Eat your dinner.” 6-year-old: “I get that compliment ALL the time!”

Dear Jeff Bezos …

As the Jeffrey Epstein story persists despite his efforts, Trump has felt deeply betrayed by his base and raged against MAGA influencers whom he believes have grown famous off their association with him, @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @jonlemire.bsky.social report:

If you've been wondering what the mood is like inside the White House right now, @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @jonlemire.bsky.social have you covered: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

OH on the monitor this morning, following indistinct shouting and crying: *The 6-year-old to the 2-year-old: "Alright! Let's make a deal! Do you want to do a deal?"

The incredibly long list of family members and, frankly, assorted other random adults that I just told a summer camp are authorized to pick up my 6-year-old... really underscores the It Takes A Village approach (and even then, it's still a house of cards).

As world leaders war-game and strategize over their meetings w Trump, even some foreign press corps are getting in on the fun. Young, female Norwegians reporters positioned themselves in Trump’s line of sight and got off an early flurry of questions. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Flattery, Firmness and Flourishes: World leaders trade tips on how to manage trip, from me + @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The 6-year-old (and middle child) went to her first Guardian's game, and in addition to requesting a sequined Guardians hat, she specifically wanted a Bo Naylor jersey "because he's a middle child."

Fun to share my culture picks w @theatlantic.com, including all-time favorite author @parnassusbooks.bsky.social and Tana French and @janecasey.bsky.social for literary mysteries. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Some of the last remaining Republican lawmakers to push back against Trump and his policies are all from the same state — a deep-red one (Kentucky) that the president won by 30.5 percentage points last year, @russellberman.bsky.social writes. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Trump’s One and Done Doctrine, at least when it comes to the use of force. My latest w Missy Ryan: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Some Trump allies privately wonder how much the ever-present risk of being killed at the behest of a foreign government is shaping the president’s thinking about the current conflict, @michaelscherer.bsky.social and @ashleyrparker.bsky.social write.

New: Hours before Trump launched the B-2s, Irans plans to assassinate him were on his mind. Aides say the concerns did not factor in the decision. W/ @ashleyrparker.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

I'm old enough to remember Mitt Romney's self-deportation debate stage suggestion. Now, @nickmiroff.bsky.social w a great story on the Self-Deportation Psyop (w v cool art): www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

My controversial opinion: I don’t mind/like this weather, and briefly wore a cardigan outside yesterday. Come @ me.

After another bike was stolen last night, my husband and I realized our life as DC homeowners by the numbers includes: 1 stolen car; 2 stolen scooters/Vespas; 3 stolen bikes; a partridge in a pear tree; etc.

Always—ALWAYS—read @petridishes.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

The (v good, imho) joke the 2-year-old perfected after a week in New Mexico: Knock knock! Who’s there? Santa! Santa who? Santa Fe! (Tho sometimes she bungles it w a “Santa Fe Claus!”)

So much to love in this story about a giant egg heist wapo.st/4n8GaBt

And on Day 3 of vacation-turned-family-trip, the 2-yr-old got hand, foot & mouth, and the 6-yr-old suddenly announced, “MY THROAT HURTS MY HEAD HURTS MY STOMACH HURTS IM SICK!” and promptly vomited everywhere. (The 14-yr-old briefly looked up from her phone). #Vignette

Me: “So what did you do at the birthday party?” 6-year-old: “We got… a little out of control.”

If you are Democrat upset about Harris’s defeat, you will be interested in this story of what might have been.

Donald Trump told @michaelscherer.bsky.social he was optimistic about ending foreign wars—then he ended the conversation to take a call from Putin.

Exclusive: This morning on a call with @michaelscherer.bsky.social, Trump claimed that Iran still wants “to make a deal”—then he ended the conversation to take a call from Putin.

What happens when people stop being polite, and start getting real: Candidate Super PAC Edition. (ie; @michaelscherer.bsky.social and I go inside the breakdown between Future Forward and the Biden-turned-Harris campaign). www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

NEW: Future Foward, the super PAC backing Kamala Harris, thought her campaign made strategic errors that may have cost her victory. Harris strategists felt the same about Future Forward. Inside the breakdown w/ @ashleyrparker.bsky.social GIFT LINK: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

"Everyone we spoke with for this story agreed on one thing," @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @michaelscherer.bsky.social write. "What the Democrats did in 2024—two competing camps deploying conflicting strategies—cannot happen again":

Par-tay, par-tay, par-tay! America's 250th birthday celebration...brought to you by MAGA. W @michaelscherer.bsky.social + Missy Ryan: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

How Democratic disagreement helped elect Donald Trump. @michaelscherer.bsky.social and I go in the tensions between the Biden-turned-Harris campaign and Future Future, which are still boiling... www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

🚨PSA—> This September in New York: Don’t miss @theatlantic.com Festival. I’ll be speaking, along w many far more spectacular guests and writers. theatlanticfestival.com

No more target lists. No need for warrants. The "do what you need to do" marching orders behind ICE's aggressive turn. https://on.wsj.com/3HyiXs5

Our 2-year-old, the youngest of three girls, has started calling herself the “tiny sister.” That is all.