Yoni Appelbaum

1. I’ve spent the past several years trying to solve a riddle: Why has America ceased to be a land of opportunity for so many of its people? The answer, I’ve come to believe, is that we’re STUCK: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/700580/s…

Last year, Cambridge adopted a zoning overhaul, legalizing four-story multifamilies throughout the city. Neighbors looking to block development have turned to a new tool—lodging 340 inquiries with the Cambridge Historical Commission, a 5x increase: cambridgeday.com/2026/07/27/cam…?

As Iran finds itself at war, the regime is waging war on its own people. I wrote about it.

RETVRN

"Trump is receiving conflicting guidance from his advisers—escalate, some urge, as others tell him to cut and run—and has become just the latest U.S. president to be humiliated by hard-liners in Tehran" theatlantic.com/politics/2026/…

Ripped through this prismatic profile of Maryland’s governor by @JenishaWatts even before getting out of bed this morning. Simultaneously damning and suffused with grace. Great, twisty read: theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

Texas’s decision to start teaching Bible stories is meant to send a political message—“but regardless of your political or religious beliefs, there are good reasons to agree that the Bible should be part of young people’s education,” Adam Kirsch argues. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

"He was the guardian of Israel’s standing in America, a task he never delegated, since he believed that nobody understood it better than he did. And it is a task at which Netanyahu, as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has failed abjectly." -- @FranklinFoer: theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

NEW: Blocking the expansion of ICE detention centers has long been an effective way to limit arrests and deportations in blue states. But ICE now has all the $$$ it needs to ship detainees to Tex, LA etc, where there’s less legal support and tougher immigration courts.

The latest in @TheAtlantic series on Dem presidential contenders is @JenishaWatts on Maryland governor Wes Moore, who has megawatt stage charisma but a faintly whiffy CV. She gets to the essential question: is that a real problem, or Birtherism 2.0? theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

"I have seen conservatives accuse liberals of dismissing the classics as the province of 'dead white men,' but that was not what I was taught in the 1990s by Black teachers, in a Black school, in what was then a mostly Black city." theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

@EymanHenry @OKnox Perhaps so. But we already spend more on military bands than on the combined budgets of the NEH and NEA—and that doesn't count the lifetime cost of the veteran's benefits for the musicians.

@YAppelbaum @OKnox Yeah, but the bugle is an easy instrument and we don’t need a bunch of classically trained virtuosos. We start teaching band instruments to kids in the fifth grade. Plus, the military is able to just order people to do things.

errrrr, wut?

Shutting down ICE operations in blue states was a strategy crafted for an era of limited resources—and may be backfiring today, reports @NickMiroff theatlantic.com/politics/2026/…

@dylanmatt Really interesting stuff. Predictably, I suppose, I'm drawn to the role of migration. The Rusts assumed workers would stay were they were; the workers did not.

More here asteriskmag.com/issues/15/rust…

I'm always astonished by how fast cotton-picking was automated. In 1948, ~100% of the Mississippi Delta cotton harvest was by hand. In 1972, not even a quarter-century later, ~100% was by machine

NEW: The Trump administration’s recent targeting of Mexican officials is a high-risk escalation in the president’s fight against narco corruption—and possibly also a pretext for a unilateral attack. You'll want to read @ksieff's debut in @TheAtlantic. theatlantic.com/national-secur…

An important message from three student journalists: theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

One morning in Maine, Sal woke up. The bright sunlight made her blink, and she was just about to go back to sleep, when she remembered, "Today is the day I'm going to the Democratic caucus!" theatlantic.com/politics/2026/…

best politician profile i've read in a while

NEW: our deep dive @TheAtlantic on Markwayne Mullin’s improbable journey from rural Cherokee Country to the top of MAGA world and Trump’s mass deportation campaign theatlantic.com/politics/2026/…

Full story: theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/…

From @AnnieLowrey