All posts tagged: here.Katherine Hu

The Dark Side of Christmas Music

The Dark Side of Christmas Music

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. The season of Christmas music––of Mariah Carey blasting in malls, carolers gracing street corners, and children singing about Rudolph—has once again arrived. Fans of festive cheer are rejoicing, and haters are rolling their eyes. I spoke with my colleague Spencer Kornhaber, who covers music for The Atlantic, about what makes holiday music sound distinct, how the genre relies on nostalgia, and why sleigh-bell-sprinkled tunes can be so polarizing. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: “It’s Nice Wallpaper” Lora Kelley: What makes a holiday song a holiday song? Spencer Kornhaber: A lot of holiday music is harmonically rather dark. But instrumentally and in the performances, it’s bright and cheerful. Minor chords paired with sleigh bells and a happy choir is a classic combination that unites many holiday songs across eras. Certain piano tones and lyrical topics—of festivity …

The Curtain Falls on George Santos

The Curtain Falls on George Santos

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. This morning, Republican Representative George Santos became the sixth House member in American history to be expelled from Congress. Though Santos managed to hang on to the support of the majority in his party, he was ousted in a 311–114 vote. I spoke with my colleague Russell Berman, who covers politics, about why some members voted not to expel Santos, and how much of an outlier he really is. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: Republicans Find Their Line Lora Kelley: How did we get to a place where Santos is being expelled, and how did he make it to Congress in the first place? Russell Berman: George Santos ran in what should have been a high-profile, competitive race last year in Long Island. He was in a swing district that was fiercely contested because control …

Nikki Haley’s Big Test – The Atlantic

Nikki Haley’s Big Test – The Atlantic

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. The race for second place in the Republican primaries has gotten closer. Nikki Haley has been rising surprisingly quickly in the polls in recent months, becoming a top rival to Ron DeSantis; both are still trailing Donald Trump. I called my colleague Elaine Godfrey, who covers politics for The Atlantic and attended a campaign event for Haley in New Hampshire last week, to talk about what Haley offers that DeSantis does not, and what her surge tells us about voters’ hunger for normalcy. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: New Scrutiny Lora Kelley: Why has support for Haley been rising lately? Elaine Godfrey: Her support has been ticking upward since August, when we had the first GOP debate. Supporters in New Hampshire told me that they saw her on the debate stage and really liked her. …

Overthrow the tyranny of morning people

Overthrow the tyranny of morning people

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. I’m a night person, and I say: The rest of the world needs to sleep later. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: Creatures of the Night This is the time of year when opponents of changing the clocks go on about why it’s unhealthy to fall out of sync with the sun, about why a practice first instituted more than a century ago is outdated, about how much human productivity is lost while we all run around changing the hands and digits on timepieces. Those are all great arguments, and I agree with them, but that’s not really why I hate letting go of daylight saving time. I hate it because, as a general rule, I cannot stand Morning People. I do not like to cede even one minute to those chipper and virtuous larks, the …

Charles C. Mann Q&A: What Do You Know About 1491?

Charles C. Mann Q&A: What Do You Know About 1491?

Published by skeptic

In elementary school, I learned a rhyme about Christopher Columbus sailing the ocean blue in 1492. High school expanded that understanding to a still-simple narrative: Very few people lived in the undeveloped Americas, and the invading Europeans brought a disease that wiped out the few who did. Then, in college, I read the science journalist Charles C. Mann’s March 2002 Atlantic cover story, “1491,” which lays out a systematic challenge to every aspect of the lesson that I, and so many other kids, were taught in school. Could the pre-16th-century population of the Americas have rivaled that of Europe? Had waves of lethal diseases wiped out far more people than was previously known? What if the people who lived in the Western Hemisphere were, as Mann writes, “so successful at imposing their will on the landscape that in 1492 Columbus set foot in a hemisphere thoroughly dominated by humankind?” Mann and I spoke ahead of today’s holiday. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Shan Wang: Take us back to when the …