Michael Leibel
@michaelleibel.com
đ¤ 3769
đĽ 1137
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senior editor for
@theatlantic.com
| opinions are my own and bad | UNC 2014
There should be more horses involved in journalism
27 days ago
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They should allow Gary, Ron and Keith to drink in the booth
about 1 month ago
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Michael Leibel
Michael Scherer
about 1 month ago
A request for âbreaching equipmentâânormally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildingsâwas made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors, according to multiple people familiar with the request.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
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The FBI Director Is MIA
Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/?gift=nHf7iWmpOKBdlkwz68mfUBCQlKiO_gNiGKbiP2QM2lM
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Michael Leibel
Adrienne LaFrance
about 1 month ago
This is a big one. Stellar reporting from Sarah Fitzpatrick. To call it a must-read is an understatement:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
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Kash Patelâs Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job
The FBI director has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/
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Since hush puppies count as bread I have a vastly different (and under-researched) answer than
@caity.bsky.social
here
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I Found It: The Best Free Restaurant Bread in America
Thirteen thousand miles. Infinite contenders. One beautiful loaf.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/best-free-restaurant-bread-america/686582/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOIIo5Qr-BzNyXVzBUvjHBd4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
about 1 month ago
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Michael Leibel
Alexandra Petri
about 2 months ago
oh no heâs got Mr Marbury
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
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I Am Here to Watch the Birthright-Citizenship Arguments, but Not in a Threatening Way
Canât a president go watch his justices?
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/04/birthright-citizenship-scotus/686655/?gift=jQN1t1D1nkO2TQodBiz5KFF1WGv2tL2Zi3vccWyre4Q&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Michael Leibel
Sally Jenkins
about 2 months ago
Cash hasn't killed caring or quality in college ball. My latest after that stunner of a
@ncaa.bsky.social
Sweet 16, looking forward to
#FinalFour
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
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College Basketball Is Not Dead
Nostalgists worried that giving players more rights would ruin the game. This yearâs NCAA tournament is proving them wrong.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/04/ncaa-march-madness/686624/?gift=tMFAu_oVFnM6I54GAwyU0j8c_-iaF-djnAJ8hp4qphQ&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Michael Leibel
Adrienne LaFrance
about 2 months ago
I will read everything Cullen Murphy writes, obviously, and this one is particularly lovely. Not to be missed:
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
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What Tracy Kidder Stood For
His deep, immersive writing had moral stakes and changed peopleâs lives.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/04/tracy-kidder-writer-obituary-mountains-beyond-mountains/686651/
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"For all of the economic evolutions in the NCAA, the qualities of a championship team havenât changed,"
@sallyjenx.bsky.social
writes
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The Lesson of a Thrilling March Madness
Nostalgists worried that giving athletes more rights would ruin college sports. This yearâs NCAA basketball tournament is proving them wrong.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/04/ncaa-march-madness/686624/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOB1OV6t2n3nGWxUh_zNqYXE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
about 2 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Bloomberg News
about 2 months ago
Tottenham Hotspur owners Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis turned a mid-table football team into a European heavyweight. Now the partnership is collapsing spectacularly â just as the club faces being dumped from the Premier League. Read more:
bloom.bg/4bVPG5Z
đˇ: AMA/Corbis via Getty Images
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My favorite comment on Elizabeth Bruenig's latest Atlantic story:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
2 months ago
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MARCH
2 months ago
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The wisdom of the 5:30 am diaper package. Take note, UNC Athletics.
2 months ago
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After working at Bloomberg for eight years, it's been very difficult to adjust to a Terminal-less world. News alerts and stock-watching just feel different.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/bloo...
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Finance Bros to Tech Bros: Donât Mess With My Bloomberg Terminal
Some spend more time with the computer system than they do with their spouse. So when techies declared it âcooked,â it was war.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/bloomberg-terminal-perplexity-vibe-coding-e37a95f8?mod=hp_featst_pos5
2 months ago
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âThe pattern is everywhere: Condition people to rely on the system. Erode their vigilance. Then, when something breaks, point to the terms of service and blame them for not paying attention.â
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My Self-Driving Car Crash
The Tesla was driving perfectlyâuntil it wasnât.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/04/self-driving-car-technology-tesla-crash/686054/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOGGx7YYj_mRIcFQnT4QkA_I
2 months ago
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Michael Leibel
McKay Coppins
3 months ago
Last year, The Atlantic gave me $10,000 to gamble with. What started as a journalistic gimmick turned into something more... unnerving. My cover story on the online betting boom that's warping sports, culture, politics, and the psyches of millions of young men:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
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In which
@elcush.bsky.social
explains why scarcity is in demand for companies (and uses variations of the word âdropâ 23 times in doing so):
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The Highly Exclusive Way That Everybody Shops Now
When everythingâs a drop, whatâs the point of a drop?
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/03/shopping-drop-exclusive-selling-out/686308/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOBWm9k1zDfQz32Z9A3DjMkA&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
3 months ago
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Michael Leibel
The Atlantic
3 months ago
Exclusive: HSI, a branch of DHS that usually investigates drug cartels and human-trafficking networks, is probing the 2020 election results in Arizona, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Sarah Fitzpatrick, and Nick Miroff report.
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Arizona Is Now at the Center of Election Investigations
Both the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are probing the results of the 2020 election in Arizona.
https://bit.ly/4lpJEiy
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Michael Leibel
Charlie Warzel
3 months ago
Wrote about the central lie of prediction markets. How they are the perfect technology for a low-trust society, simultaneously exploiting and reifying an environment in which believing the motives behind any person or action becomes harder.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
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The Central Lie of Prediction Markets
Polymarket and Kalshi promise the wisdom of the crowds. They deliver something very different.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/central-lie-prediction-markets/686250/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZASgVPFhb6zjGY2Wcisb79vs&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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reposted by
Michael Leibel
Tim OâBrien
3 months ago
Trump is burning through missile stockpiles as if the inventories were endless. And they arenât. And China and Russia are watching.
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
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The US Has Enough Missiles for This War But Not the Next One
The decline of missile stockpiles, which spurred the Department of Defenseâs arm-twisting in January for Lockheed Martin Corp. and RTX Corp. to boost production, is worsening by the day.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-03-04/us-iran-war-america-has-enough-missiles-for-this-conflict-but-not-the-next-one
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Michael Leibel
ProPublica
3 months ago
While he was detained at Dilley for over four months, 13-year-old Gustavo Santiago said he felt as if he would ânever get out.â âI just ask that you donât forget about us,â he told ProPublica in a video call.
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The Kids Trump Sent to ICEâs Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
https://www.propublica.org/article/life-inside-ice-dilley-children?utm_campaign=propublica-sprout&utm_content=1771639206&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky
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This is actually a fun all-star game
3 months ago
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Normalize Heelys
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Testing something
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
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The Democrats Arenât Built for This
They say they want to save democracy. First theyâll need to get out of their own way.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/03/democratic-party-elections-future/685759/?commentID=6626846a-4309-42c5-bece-49a59fbb5fdf
4 months ago
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This
@tyrangiel.bsky.social
story has everything: the importance of the BLS, the one tech leader that worried CEOs will talk with candidly, and the deepest challenge AI poses outside of jobs
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America Isnât Ready for What AI Will Do to Jobs
Does anyone have a plan for what happens next?
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/03/ai-economy-labor-market-transformation/685731/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOMftuQAtPeteez-U8hWCfvY
4 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Adam Serwer
4 months ago
This is a great piece by my colleague spencer on the bad bunny helftimeshow but of course thereâs never been a more divisive idea in American history than all of us being American, we fought a civil war over it and Trump is nothing if not manifest opposition to it
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
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âTogether, We Are Americaâ
Bad Bunnyâs critics said his Super Bowl halftime show would be divisive. They were totally wrong.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/02/bad-bunny-super-bowl-halftime-show/685929/?gift=Je3D9AQS-C17lUTOnl2W8JG8dG8R8Vr4q1T9V6yy_lE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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The Bad Bunny halftime show immediately chased by the AI slop Svedka ad was incredible whiplash
4 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Jason Kirk
4 months ago
Only one who got the ball into the end zone was Bad Bunny
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Starting him young
4 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Adam Serwer
4 months ago
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significantâthough not finalâvictory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link)
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
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www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
4 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Nick Miroff
4 months ago
BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
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Gregory Bovino Gets Demoted
The Border Patrol chief was the public face of a traveling immigration crackdown on cities governed by Democrats.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/greg-bovino-demoted-minneapolis-border-patrol/685770/?gift=Tsjgy5hc-Y7tsZCY3EHYrYYPEwapWRKELmkhtUjTN38&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Hell yeah
4 months ago
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Incredible paragraph in Robert F. Worth's excellent reporting from Minneapolis:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
4 months ago
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Iâm at the hospital Iâm at the cafeteria Iâm at the combination hospital and cafeteria
4 months ago
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reposted by
Michael Leibel
CJ Fogler
4 months ago
We have a goalie fight! Sergei Bobrovsky skates all the way down to challenge Alex Nedeljkovic (h/t
@msmambo.bsky.social
)
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Michael Leibel
Clint Smith
4 months ago
In December, I traveled to Montgomery to visit the Legacy Museum, which traces the story of Black America from slavery to Jim Crow to mass incarceration. I wanted to understand how the museum & its affiliated sites were operating in a moment where so much of the history they present is under attack.
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The Power of Private Museums
The Equal Justice Initiativeâs historical sites in Montgomery, Alabama, show whatâs possible when history isnât subject to federal funding cuts or executive orders.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/slavery-museums-black-history-lynching/685660/?gift=JORs3BlPb0E7W_6BAebCaJt-73-cw4IQS2yBcu6L7YI&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Caleb Williams makes a play that no one has ever seen before every two-three weeks
4 months ago
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Michael Leibel
CJ Fogler
4 months ago
They named him Owen because the Bears were 0-2 when he was born... WHAT đ
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@jonbois.bsky.social
you know what to do
4 months ago
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âIf audiences havenât been enjoying sex scenes, well, maybe thatâs because most sex scenes havenât been doing their job.â
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A Romance That Actually Takes Sex Seriously
Heated Rivalry understands how relationships develop through physicality.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/01/heated-rivalry-sex-scene/685596/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOAZvM_1AUTQn9DmaxcED5d4
5 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Federal Reserve
5 months ago
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
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Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckGHaBLSn4
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So proud of my Carolina Panthers
5 months ago
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The protein-maxxification of America has gone too far
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America Has Entered Late-Stage Protein
This has gone too far.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/01/late-stage-protein/685576/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOOXs289BYp1-Y7aQLQF21ug
5 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Ivan the K â˘
5 months ago
đ
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A story in which
@petridishes.bsky.social
navigates a hot-air balloon to predict the weather and lands in a random personâs backyard (who turns out to be an Atlantic subscriber)
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Iâm Not From the Government but Iâm Here to Help
The Trump administration is trying to eliminate federal services? Fine. Iâll do everything myself.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/02/individual-federal-services-replacement/685333/?gift=QF4h9v9WbNuG-A0MCoxzOAJ0b_a3W-RyZXNj3PnCj-E
5 months ago
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In Drew Goinsâ newsletter course for
@theatlantic.com
, youâll get eight weeks worth of advice on how to add a little joy to your life. The first step? Eat a chicken parm for breakfast
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
5 months ago
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reposted by
Michael Leibel
Anne Applebaum
5 months ago
Trump "could have tried to persuade Congress or the public to give him permission to use force. He didnât bother. He chose war despite polls that found a large majority of Americans opposed it." From Conor Friedersdorf
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
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Trumpâs Risky War in Venezuela
The president has violated the Constitution and is showing contempt for the will of the public.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/01/trumps-risky-war-in-venezuela/685485/?gift=hVZeG3M9DnxL4CekrWGK38Lpnx7tly6HHELfzqjUP5M&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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Incredible reporting. Stories from India, where the push for digital IDs has led to an increase in cybercrime, scams, and millions of rupees in lifesavings wiped out
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A $9.99 Scam Put a Billion People At Risk in Indiaâs Hyper-Digital Economy
Indiaâs push for digital IDs has sparked a bonanza for criminals.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-india-digital-scams/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NzE3MzY1MywiZXhwIjoxNzY3Nzc4NDUzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNlM1WFlLSVVQU04wMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIwMTEwMTAyNzBCMEY0QjI2OUM2MDlFREUwNERCMUY1RCJ9.EZEPZleIQgyYKPp2bVNpZlecAXD06rq9V-iKVITiyXo&leadSource=uverify%20wall
5 months ago
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Michael Leibel
Matteo Wong
5 months ago
The MetroCard became metonymic with NYC. At midnight today it will retire, and so in MetroCardâs honor I learned about how this under appreciated technological marvel came to be and saw how MetroCards are produced. A eulogy:
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A Symbol of New York Is Gone
The MetroCard never got its due.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/12/metrocard-farewell-new-york-subway/685276/?gift=9i9YvITFD4FquxfKS3JYHeQv0CQxnk_Bc5w6OzWp_kY
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