If you’re heading out for a summer vacation, The Atlantic’s writers and editors have suggested some page-turners to bring along. Our staff writer @galbeckerman.bsky.social chose “The Silver Bone.” See more selections here: theatln.tc/eUSwrLje

A killer recommendation from @galbeckerman.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com Summer Reads special—the first of Andrey Kurkov’s Kyiv Mysteries. Samson Kolechko just unraveled his third case for @harpercollins.bsky.social and @quercusbooks.bsky.social, so you had better catch up!

In this week’s PEN Ten interview, we speak to @galbeckerman.bsky.social about How to Be a Dissident (Crown Publishing Group, 2026). The book teaches readers to fight back by adopting 10 qualities. Among them: Be funny. Be reckless. Be immortal. Check it out: pen.org/gal-beckerman-the-pen-ten

This is today! At noon! Click to watch live.

On May 13, join the Atlantic staff writer Gal Beckerman and podcast host Adam Harris to discuss Beckerman’s new book, “How to Be a Dissident,” which is part history and part manual for living with integrity in an age of conformity and authoritarian drift.

How to Be a Dissident • The Best Strategy? Be a Hopeful Pessimist ... A conversation with Gal Beckerman

The power of the “No Kings” Protests. Today’s “To the Contrary” podcast with Gal Beckerman.

Dissidents need to take the long view. Today’s ‘To the Contrary” Podcast w/ Gal Beckerman.

Dissidents need to cultivate a sense of humor. Today’s “To the Contrary” podcast with author Gal Beckerman.

An excellent podcast with @galbeckerman.bsky.social and @sykescharlie.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

@galbeckerman.bsky.social I recommend this book.

🧵Dissidents are the stubborn people who insist on creating the world they want to live in. This week on Gaslit Nation, @galbeckerman.bsky.social discusses his new book, How to Be a Dissident Listen to the conversation we all need right now: www.gaslitnationpod.com/episodes-tra...

Ibram X. Kendi’s new book, "Chain of Ideas," describes the "Great Replacement" theory as the product of a conspiracy—but he fails to explain why it appeals to people in the first place, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues:

@galbeckerman.bsky.social joins Gaslit Nation for How to Be a Dissident, on obedience amid rising autocracy. Trump, ICE, China, and Iran show why conscience matters more than comfort. Listen: https://loom.ly/cxVzJ2k #oligarchy #dictatorship #dictatortrump

Extremely grateful for this deeply engaged review of How to Be a Dissident in the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, which correctly diagnoses my state of mind: "He does not flinch from his own dilemmas...This is writing that trusts the reader to be in the same difficulty. It earns that trust."

“When others demand you close your eyes, you keep them open.” —Gal Beckerman, How To Be A Dissident

Extremely grateful for this deeply engaged review of How to Be a Dissident in the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, which correctly diagnoses my state of mind: "He does not flinch from his own dilemmas...This is writing that trusts the reader to be in the same difficulty. It earns that trust."

Ibram X. Kendi’s new book, "Chain of Ideas," describes the "Great Replacement" theory as the product of a conspiracy—but he fails to explain why it appeals to people in the first place, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues:

This is an excellent review of a book that looks terrible.

I wrote about Ibram X. Kendi's new book, which takes on the admirable task of cataloging the spread of the dangerous Great Replacement Theory, but ignores the actual reasons why its proven so appealing.

Read this book. An account of how to be a citizen in the face of authoritarianism

I loved this definition from *How to be a Dissident* by Gal Beckerman (as reported in The Contrarian, Jen Rubin):

Just finished this one and can not recommend it enough. Compulsively readable, easily accessible, truth telling history, empowering stories, well documented strategies for all of us. A good companion to Timothy Snyders on Tyranny.

Just trying to read. (Thanks for the book recommendation @jenrubin.bsky.social. Enjoying @galbeckerman.bsky.social, despite my pup’s intervention.)

This conversation with @galbeckerman.bsky.social is uplifting and a reminder to all citizen changemakers that we must keep speaking the truth.

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com Gal Beckerman @galbeckerman.bsky.social

When you hear the word “dissident,” you might be thinking of some wild protest with barricades and shoving, but it’s deeper than that. Resistance belongs to all of us. And this week, @galbeckerman.bsky.social lays out a path for change we should all consider. (2/3)

TOMORROW: @galbeckerman.bsky.social joins us to discuss the radical idea that dissidence belongs to all of us. Living with truth is the starting point to being a citizen changemaker and to taking impactful civic action. Tune in TOMORROW wherever you get your podcasts! 🎙️

Very pleased to see The Milk Tea Alliance as a phenomenon & Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal as an individual make cameos in the just published book How To Be a Dissident by @galbeckerman.bsky.social www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/816867...

🙌🏼

Today’s the pub date for this little rocket of a book that was no more than some jotted down notes a year ago. I hope you get a chance to check it out, and I hope it feels meaningful and helpful!

Happy publication day to @galbeckerman.bsky.social whose important and engaging new book How to Be a Dissident is out today www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/816867... (a strong short follow up yo his impressive last book on the history of social & intellectual movements The Quiet Before)

A sharp, urgent review of a sharp, urgent book. A lesson worth remembering—now, and always.

"How to Be a Dissident" is out tomorrow...But you can NOW read @astra.bsky.social's review in the @nytimes.com of a book she calls "one man’s reckoning with the existential questions posed by the rising tide of authoritarianism."

I reviewed @galbeckerman.bsky.social's rousing manual How to Be a Dissident. It's a timely provocative book that grapples with the existential questions posed by rising authoritarianism, and it challenges us to wrestle with what kind of dissident we'd like to be. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/b...

After writing this piece, I’m wondering where our American islands might be…

Among the many reasons for Viktor Orbán’s defeat were the rural clubs where citizens relearned democratic habits. @galbeckerman.bsky.social on the role of the "Tisza Islands" in the Hungary election:

I love this @galbeckerman.bsky.social celebration of Henry David Thoreau as a dissident. The problem with our ideas of Thoreau (as I've said before) is not that we mis-read him, but that we mis-remember him (since most of us read him in high school) www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...

"For Thoreau, the system was held up by individuals, and individuals had the wherewithal to undo it. If everyone who thought slavery was wrong refused to pay their taxes and went to jail, then slavery would end."

Among the many reasons for Viktor Orbán’s defeat were the rural clubs where citizens relearned democratic habits. @galbeckerman.bsky.social on the role of the "Tisza Islands" in the Hungary election:

If you want a better world, act like you live in it... Here's an excerpt from my new book, How to Be a Dissident, out next week, which features Thoreau, but also Joseph Brodsky and Ernst Bloch...masters all of presumptuousness.

We've had Henry David Thoreau the environmentalist, the libertarian, the life coach—but to understand his influence, think of him first as a dissident, @galbeckerman.bsky.social argues.

We often disparage dissidents as self-righteous, but if you look at Thoreau, and what it took to oppose slavery in his time, maybe acting out of conviction does take a certain presumptuousness. An excerpt in @theatlantic.com from "How to Be a Dissident." www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...

"This is why radical universalism is hard: It often demands that you go against your own immediate interests." For Gal Beckerman, reading Omri Boehm's "cogent, succinct book [Radical Universalism] felt like such a cold plunge, painful but reinvigorating." Universal rights are politics.

Pictures of the Earth from the Artemis II mission offer a sense that humans are united. If only Donald Trump could see what the astronauts do, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes.

Pictures of the Earth from the Artemis II mission offer a sense that humans are united. If only Donald Trump could see what the astronauts do, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes.

If Trump went to space, would the Overview Effect have an effect on him...I suspended gravity and disbelief, and tried to think this through.

The festooning of the president’s name and likeness across Washington, D.C., is consistent with authoritarian tendencies, @galbeckerman.bsky.social writes: “Authoritarian leaders want their face in your face.”

@galbeckerman.bsky.social: “Authoritarian leaders want their face in your face. Their ubiquitous images personalize the state, making it synonymous with one man’s power. And they turn the citizen’s relationship with that leader into an emotional one.”

“He could be scowling, or maybe slyly smiling. His glowering eyes are less enigmatic; they seem to follow the pedestrians scurrying around the city from above… “Authoritarian leaders want their face in your face” @galbeckerman.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...