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Evan McMurry

@evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com
22K followers 611 following 806 posts

Senior Editor, Audience - @theatlantic.com, things of that nature

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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 5h
New: John Fetterman has been working with GOP fundraising consultants—and paying a hefty commission, @michaelscherer.bsky.social and @mviser.bsky.social report.
theatlantic.com
Right-Wing Groups Are Making Money Off John Fetterman
After losing his Democratic fundraisers, the Pennsylvania senator found a new firm with MAGA-world ties.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 29/09/2026
Smart piece from @skornhaber.bsky.social asking whether Taylor Swift calibrated her music for the kiddult moment that was already flying by.
theatlantic.com
Taylor Swift’s Audience Is Growing Up. Her Music Is Devolving.
The singer’s music once put a clever twist on ideas about aging and adulthood. Now she just seems to be going backwards.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 29/09/2026
NEW: Donald Trump supports a new plan to offer Russia sanctions relief in exchange for the release of political prisoners—a move likely to outrage Ukraine, Europe, and even some of his allies in Congress, @shustry.bsky.social reports.
theatlantic.com
A Most Trumpian Plan to Make Nice With Russia
Trump’s envoy wants to trade Russian political prisoners for U.S. sanctions relief, creating a path to business deals before the war in Ukraine ends.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 25/09/2026
Taxpayers are funding a campaign-style ad for Donald Trump, @mviser.bsky.social reports. “If the use of taxpayer dollars seems odd—and it should—the explanation that the White House gave me is even more bizarre," he writes.
bit.ly
Trump’s Public Service Announcement: ‘Love Me’
Taxpayers are funding a campaign-style ad for the president.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 23/09/2026
“Ghostbusters is a movie about friendship and slime and the specific melting point of giant marshmallows—which makes it easy to forget that it’s also a movie about regulation.”
theatlantic.com
How to Regulate the Ghosts
You don’t have to know everything to do something.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 22/09/2026
Donald Trump Jr.’s luxurious, Russian-funded wedding celebration was a counterintelligence nightmare, @shaneharris.bsky.social reports:
bit.ly
The Wedding Trap
Donald Trump Jr.’s luxurious, Russian-funded wedding celebration was a counterintelligence nightmare.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 16/09/2026
As part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s program to shrink the federal work force, paid administrative leave costs rose by 435 percent:
nytimes.com
Federal Employees Were Paid $9.5 Billion Not to Work in 2025 Under DOGE Effort
As part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s program to shrink the federal work force, paid administrative leave costs rose by 435 percent.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 14/09/2026
A massive, important read from @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu:
theatlantic.com
Empire of Grift
Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 11/09/2026
Trump’s “enemies now control both of the two important straits in the Middle East, through which a combined total of about a third of the world’s oil shipments pass every day.”
theatlantic.com
Trump Loses the Other Strait
The Houthi advance is bad news for the U.S., and even worse news for Saudi Arabia.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 10/09/2026
New, via @nancyayoussef.bsky.social and @jonlemire.bsky.social: The military is doing long-term planning for its force in the Persian Gulf, risking further strain on the Navy.
theatlantic.com
Trump Is Preparing for a Long War
The military is doing long-term planning for its force in the Persian Gulf, risking further strain on the Navy.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 09/09/2026
New:
theatlantic.com
The Inside Story of What Happened at Stars and Stripes
For generations, the newspaper has served American military families without interference from the government. That work must continue. And it must remain editorially independent.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 08/09/2026
Breaking: Lonnie Bunch, the head of the Smithsonian Institution, is stepping down, @kelseyables.bsky.social reports. His departure comes amid months of clashes with the White House.
bit.ly
Lonnie Bunch Is Leaving the Smithsonian
After months of clashes with the White House, the historian and leader of the institution is retiring later this year.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
Adrienne LaFrance @adriennelaf.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
SCOOP www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
theatlantic.com
Lonnie Bunch Is Leaving the Smithsonian
After months of clashes with the White House, the historian and leader of the institution is retiring later this year.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 08/09/2026
“Really, Pokémon Go is a knockoff of birding.”
theatlantic.com
All the Cool Kids Are Birding
A younger crowd is flocking to a hobby once dominated by retirees—and transforming it along the way.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 04/09/2026
“The reality may be darker and more despairing: that something so dramatic and destructive could, in the end, mean nothing at all.”
theatlantic.com
The Meaning of the Lindsay Clancy Mistrial
Everyone has a theory. But what if this case means nothing at all?
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 03/09/2026
Publicly, Gloria Steinem was a figurehead for second-wave feminism; privately, she was a workhorse who worried she’d come to her cause too late—and if these two sides sometimes conflicted, Steinem “simply pushed on,” Sophie Gilbert writes.
bit.ly
Gloria Steinem’s Feminism for All
The activist and writer, who died yesterday at the age of 92, steadfastly fought for her belief that women could change the world together.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 03/09/2026
”Clients often underestimate the time and skill involved, expecting cleanup to be quick and cheap when it can require as much work as creating something original, freelancers said.”
theguardian.com
Freelancers are getting buried with ‘soulless’ AI slop cleanup: ‘It’s a shame we need to do it’
As more companies turn to AI, they’re hiring freelancers to clean up its mistakes rather than create original work
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 03/09/2026
“Normally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would release recommendations on the new Covid shots. But it hasn’t done so and it’s not clear whether it will.”
nytimes.com
A Guide to Covid, Flu and R.S.V. Vaccines This Fall
Leading health organizations joined forces to issue the recommendations, citing a lack of strong guidance from the federal government.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 02/09/2026
MAGA’s hunt for a “censorship–industrial complex” has failed to yield any evidence, yet the conspiracy theory persists—with real-world consequences, @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu argues:
bit.ly
The MAGA Right Is Only Pretending to Be Censored
The conspiracy theory that persists even though no evidence supports it
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 02/09/2026
“At this point, it can feel like no individual person, organization, or government is really steering the technology’s development, not because machines have displaced humans but because so many humans have already chosen to step aside.”
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Wrote a big essay w/ @matteowong.bsky.social trying to put a finger on this moment in AI right now. The AI agent hacks, lack of control, the weirdening & slopping of culture. The feeling that the industry is speeding toward something it can’t even decide is good and lecturing that it is inevitable.
theatlantic.com
The Singularity Is Not What It Seems
Whatever the AI future is, we’re in it right now.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 01/09/2026
@radiofreetom.bsky.social: “Hegseth, more than ever, now owns every aspect of the Pentagon’s dysfunction.”
theatlantic.com
Hegseth’s Pentagon Lurches off the Rails
The resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is the latest sign of severe dysfunction in the Defense Department.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 01/09/2026
Exclusive: Prior to his resignation, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll took his concerns about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership directly to President Trump, Nancy A. Youssef, Missy Ryan, and Michael Scherer report:
bit.ly
Dan Driscoll’s Parting Shot
The Army secretary told Trump about problems in the Army and his friction with Hegseth, then resigned.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 31/08/2026
Hennepin Cty Atty to @qjurecic.bsky.social: “Somebody can commit a crime in one state and flee to another state, and depending on what the political views or whims are of the governor in that state, that person may not go back to face those charges. How can that be a standard that we can live with?”
theatlantic.com
The Fight Between Texas and Minnesota Should Never Have Got This Far
A legal battle over one ICE agent’s future is a sign of serious strain between red and blue America.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 31/08/2026
Exclusive: An infant's death became the center of a national fight over measles. Tom Bartlett spoke with the grieving family: theatln.tc/SGaYPbDD
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 31/08/2026
Exclusive: An infant's death became the center of a national fight over measles. @tombartlett.bsky.social spoke with the grieving family:
theatlantic.com
The Family at the Center of Pennsylvania’s Measles Controversy
Two Amish parents grieving the loss of their newborn child tell their story.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 30/08/2026
A lovely summer evening in Baltimore.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 28/08/2026
The year is 2027. Gas costs $83 a gallon. Every location on every map is now labeled “America.” And everything else is named Trump. @petridishes.bsky.social on “Lake America”:
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 28/08/2026
“Word count is itself a kind of literature now, according to the DOGE subcommittee I just invented at the newspaper that I would like to destroy.”
theatlantic.com
Why I Am Right About AI
Human writers are expensive, and they eventually die. AI is cheaper, and will never join a union.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
Damon Beres @damonberes.com · 27/08/2026
Clarifying analysis on Meta's legal settlement, via @kait.bsky.social. The product adjustments are smaller than they appear (and might even be considered to violate the First Amendment) while Meta also maintains tremendous power over the social-media industry www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
This may seem like quite a lot of changes—especially considering that the case is not even the end of Meta’s legal problems. The company is still facing numerous lawsuits filed by individuals and school districts. “If Meta is going to resolve all its pending liabilities, this is only the first of several large checks it is going to have to write,” Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, told me. But today’s settlement shows that the tech company was able to “buy out one of the most serious legal threats” it faced, and it managed to do so without acquiescing to demands that might have been truly destructive to its business. Meta will have to give teen users the ability to opt in to a chronological, non-personalized feed, but the company does not have to pivot away from the default algorithmic recommendations that many critics characterize as addictive. It seems unlikely that many people will select a straightforward chronological feed; Meta has tested this change before and found that users did not like it.As for the one-hour limit, in an email, a Meta spokesperson told me that the average American teenager spends about 66 minutes a day on Instagram anyway, and that teen activity across platforms accounts for less than 1 percent of the company’s revenue. So perhaps these were battles that the company could afford to lose.The attorneys general “made a bunch of guesses” as to what kinds of changes might help kids, Goldman said, and have pulled off a major success in getting Meta to accept them. Many of these interventions might have suffered First Amendment challenges if they’d been pursued by other methods. (For instance, if the plaintiffs had actually won at trial.) Mark Bartholomew, a professor at the University at Buffalo School of Law, agreed, writing to me that “the state AGs got Meta to consent to dramatic limits on its own speech that Congress was unlikely to go for and the courts were unlikely to bless.”The company is now promoting the changes widely and calling on other social-media platforms to follow suit. It has also agreed to pay an additional $5.3 billion if TikTok and YouTube, which are also defendants in the ongoing litigation, implement restrictions and pay into the settlement. Although this is not the end of Meta’s legal battles—personal-injury lawsuits similar to the one it lost in March will likely keep coming—the company has won the opportunity to select its own restrictions, define its own limits, and discard its own deal-breakers, effectively setting a standard that the rest of the industry will be expected to abide by without having had any say in its creation.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 27/08/2026
“‘We’re just trying to hang on until the midterms,’ one Trump adviser told us.”
theatlantic.com
The Real Reason Trump Wants Economic Sanctions in Iran
The quieter, longer-term strategy could help push the conflict out of the minds of voters ahead of the midterms.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 26/08/2026
“The solution Trump settled on, according to three people familiar with the meeting, was to lean into the Democratic strategy of focusing on himself.”
theatlantic.com
Trump Plans to Buy Midterm Ads About His Own Record
Some Republicans welcome his involvement, but whether voters will is another question.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 26/08/2026
EXCLUSIVE: ICE has enacted a new rule keeping officers involved in deadly-force incidents off the streets until the completion of an investigation, @nickmiroff.bsky.social reports. Officers had previously been allowed to return to their job in as few as three days. theatln.tc/QACHhjbW
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 25/08/2026
“I count my blessings more than I count my money, but I need to count my money, too.” —Dolly RIP to the realest one.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 25/08/2026
It's not just you; nobody can log into anything. And it's gonna get worse! Via @willoremus.com:
theatlantic.com
Logging in Was Never Supposed to Be This Complicated
Please not another two-factor authentication code.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 23/08/2026
“Iran has, with American help, completely reconfigured the power structure of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. The dominant power in the region going forward will be Iran, not the U.S. or Israel.”
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 21/08/2026
“Let’s just say this is the scenario we’re currently not ready for.”
theatlantic.com
NATO’s Nightmare
The U.S. and Europe have no clear plan for a joint attack from Russia and China.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 21/08/2026
If the White House’s goal was to shut down talk about the Donald Trump aide Natalie Harp, it backfired spectacularly, @jonlemire.bsky.social argues:
bit.ly
Now Everyone Knows Natalie Harp
The West Wing’s explosive response to a fleeting jab didn’t kill the story. It enabled days of coverage.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 20/08/2026
"Reacher" is settling into an "odd-numbered seasons good, even-numbered seasons bad" rhythm. It only works when he's a fish out of water being underestimated, otherwise he's just kind of a big jerk.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 19/08/2026
Introducing Rabbithole: The Atlantic’s new game that invites you down a tunnel of trivia where each answer turns into the next question. The deeper you go, the harder the questions get. Can you make it to the bottom with a perfect score? theatln.tc/obop6ch0
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 19/08/2026
Finally saw Nolan's Odyssey and my main take is this is still the reigning adapation. It's bona fide!
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 18/08/2026
Alan Dershowitz on Larry David, and Larry David on Alan Dershowitz, via @markleibovich.bsky.social:
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 18/08/2026
Donald Trump has been putting his name on buildings since before most Americans were born—but by doing it as president, he has created something entirely new in the nation’s history, @rosesheinerman.bsky.social reports.
theatlantic.com
Trump Is Putting His Face on Everything
The more you look, the more you see.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 17/08/2026
The latest “Spider-Man” sequel has broken nearly every box-office record imaginable. David Sims on why the masked web-slinger’s popularity endures as support for other superhero movies wanes:
bit.ly
Hollywood’s Most Indestructible Superhero
Spider-Man has always found success, no matter how moviegoers feel about his cape-wearing peers.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 17/08/2026
“Trump officials had known I was trans,” Julia Curlee writes of her time as an intelligence official staffed to the White House. “This hadn’t been an issue until it was public—and then nothing else I’d done mattered.”
bit.ly
The Wrong Kind of American
The Trump White House needed me—until the fact that I am trans became public.
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Reposted by Evan McMurry
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 16/08/2026
Flying was once a rare, bounded period of time untethered from the world below—but good plane Wi-Fi is taking that luxury away, @nancywalecki.bsky.social writes.
bit.ly
Airplane Wi-Fi Is Great Now!
Oh no.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 06/08/2026
@engber.bsky.social: “When you keep succeeding against insurmountable odds, the facts of your surmounting will be bound to get a second look.”
theatlantic.com
Icarus in the Faculty Lounge
The Cambridge professor Jason Arday’s unlikely ascent has come to a tragic end.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 06/08/2026
“Parents form WhatsApp groups for their children’s bunks within hours of drop-off. Some send their children to camp with two phones: one to surrender at check-in, the other hidden, for calling home.”
theatlantic.com
The New Parent Trap
At summer camp, the kids may be far from home, but technology is keeping many moms and dads tethered to them—and anxious.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 06/08/2026
@nancyayoussef.bsky.social and @jonlemire.bsky.social: “Even when troops see Iranian missiles approaching, they are forced to decide in a matter of seconds whether to expend a limited number of interceptors or hope for the best, the defense officials told us.”
theatlantic.com
A Shortage of Weapons Is Shaping the War With Iran
Trump fumed at subordinates who showed him the perils of escalation.
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Evan McMurry @evanmcmurry.theatlantic.com · 03/08/2026
New polls show Trump losing support among the groups at the heart of his supposed 2024 political realignment, @dgraham.bsky.social argues:
theatlantic.com
Americans Are Turning on Trump
The president’s big gains with Black, Hispanic, and young voters in 2024 suggested a major shift. Less than two years later, he has lost those new supporters.
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