Jenisha Watts

‼️This still feels surreal but I’m writing a book. Thank you to @TheAtlantic for giving me the space & time to write in first place. 🥹

The novel-to-screen adaptation process can take years. But lately, too many stories from Black authors aren't seeing the light of day at all. For @CapitalBNews, I interviewed Black novelists who share their experiences and help demystify what's happening: capitalbnews.org/black-book-ada…

🚨 new Elaine Godfrey story 🚨

BREAKING from the great Janay Kingsberry: Kennedy Center lawyers are ordering staff to remove Trump's name from email signatures, letterhead, website, brochures, promotional materials, press releases, signs, and more... theatlantic.com/culture/2026/0…

@JessMarinDavis On a practical level, the expectation that every interview will result in a quote just really limits our ability to gather the info that some stories require. Sometimes you have to talk to 3-4 people to really nail down what is just a few sentences in a long story.

Statement from The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg:

This morning: MS Now reports that @S_Fitzpatrick is the focus of an FBI investigation bc of her previous reporting in @theatlantic This afternoon: Fitzpatrick publishes another big story on the FBI. theatlantic.com/politics/2026/…

How Toni Morrison blurred the lines between being an editor and a writer | @danielleamir Two recent books about Morrison attempt to make sense of her legacy as a writer, editor and thinker on Black life theguardian.com/books/2026/apr…

What do a tiny lodge in the Tennessee backwoods, a three-Michelin-starred fine-dining destination in Las Vegas, and Red Lobster have in common? A claim on serving the best free bread in America, @caityweaver writes. But which one is actually the best? theatln.tc/oiteMucN

The Atlantic’s newest cover story, by the peerless @caityweaver, is unlike anything else. Just read it: theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/…

A decade before @AshleyRParker's father died, she lost him to dementia. She writes about the heartbreak of mourning someone before they’re gone: theatln.tc/w8HS8NMV 🎨: Vivian Dehning. Source: Ashley Parker.

"Many of us understand the desire to protect a movement that seeks justice. But protecting men who hurt women isn’t the way to do it." Always read @JenishaWatts, this time on Cesar Chavez: theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/…

“Many of us understand the desire to protect a movement that seeks justice,” @JenishaWatts writes of the recent revelations about Cesar Chavez. “But protecting men who hurt women isn’t the way to do it.” theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/…

“As a girl, I was taught that one always has to share. And I grew up into a people pleaser,” @JenishaWatts writes. “Silencing my own needs has always been easier for me than telling someone else no. Was I raising my son to be the exact same way?” theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/…

I’ve written about the backlash to Adult Braces: “I do feel great sympathy for Lindy West. How was she to know that the great omertà of Millennial Feminism—that we had to take whatever people said about their life stories at face value—had broken?”

“Is it possible to be emasculated by Nate Silver? Apparently, yes.” Brilliant piece, as ever, by @mckaycoppins

Last year, The Atlantic gave me $10K to gamble with. What started as a journalistic gimmick turned into something more... unnerving. My cover story on the online betting boom warping sports, culture, politics, and the psyches of millions of young men: theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/…

Super interesting chat w/The Atlantic’s @elainejgodfrey earlier. We covered the Texas primary, and recent reporting on MAGA women, culture wars, and the Democratic coalition. She told me how excited voters on the ground were to hear Talarico talking about education👇

“The hospital couldn’t deny her care, but we understood the tightrope you walk when you don’t have money. All she could afford to be was grateful.” @JenishaWatts on the predicament of the millions of Americans without health insurance—including her aunt: theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/…

The Impossible Predicament of the Uninsured | Jenisha Watts My aunt couldn’t afford to go to the hospital. She ended up there anyway. theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/…

The Cruz family spent years building a life in New York, Caitlin Dickerson writes. Then the risks of staying became too great. Why a mixed-status family chose to leave the United States behind rather than risk being separated by deportation: theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/…