Radio Atlantic

In July, we published a series of stories about San Francisco’s attempt to address a crisis unfolding on the city’s streets. We followed Evan, who had been homeless for years, as he sought an escape from the addiction that was threatening his life. Four months later, we check in on how he’s doing.

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a great year for Warner Bros. Discovery: Two of its movies (One Battle After Another and Sinners) are front-runners for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and it had a string of critical hits and box-office successes with Superman, Weapons, and A Minecraft Movie. But despite those wins, the media conglomerate—which also owns HBO and CNN—found itself up for auction with two aggressive bidders: Paramount and Netflix.

The Atlantic movie critic David Sims explains why this deal could be bad for the movies. And our staff writer Frank Foer lays out why this deal could be bad for democracy—especially if President Donald Trump gets involved.

---

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More than a decade after its peak, the Islamic State has changed, but it isn’t defeated. This past weekend, the jihadist group reemerged in connection with two disparate acts of violence thousands of miles apart. 

Two U.S. soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in Syria by a man the Pentagon says is affiliated with ISIS. A day later, at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, two men opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration, killing 15 and wounding dozens. The men had homemade ISIS flags in their car, and had recently traveled to an area in the Philippines where ISIS-affiliated groups are known to still be active. Are these incidents connected? And do they point to a group that’s evolving?

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A young Chicago couple—one is an undocumented immigrant from Poland, and the other is a U.S. citizen—face a choice: stay in the place they’ve called home—or give up on the place that doesn’t seem to want them anymore.

---

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Australia is about to become the first country in the world to ban kids under 16 from having social-media accounts. Other countries have attempted partial restrictions, but Australia’s Online Safety Amendment is the first real ban, and it comes with heavy fines for social-media companies that fail to comply. In this episode, we hear from the woman in charge of enforcing the policy, the teens who will be affected by it starting next week, and a researcher who doesn’t think Australia’s plan is the right answer. 

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Alison Roman’s newest cookbook, “Something From Nothing,” her pantry is her primary inspiration. In this live conversation, we talk with Roman about her family Thanksgiving, why she makes her own baby food, and why simple really is better. We also discuss food trends, and what life is like for her as a solo creator. Then, we put the cookbook’s philosophy of simplicity to the test with an onstage game in which Alison must choose three pantry ingredients from a bag and come up with a delicious dinner. 

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/Listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the Trump administration promised a mass deportation campaign they initially relied on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Disappointed with ICE’s pace and tactics, the White House turned to the Border Patrol for more sweeping, military-style enforcement. Commander-at-large Gregory Bovino has brought his green-uniformed agents (and his film crew) to Los Angeles, Chicago, now North Carolina, and perhaps soon New York City.

Staff writer Nick Miroff on what happens when an agency trained for dangerous desert borders operates in crowded American cities.

—

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The money keeps coming. Global spending on artificial intelligence is projected to hit $375 billion this year. In 2026, the figure is supposed to approach half a trillion dollars.

The sums invested already are so staggering that the United States is beginning to look like an “Nvidia-state,” where the tech boom is fueling a great majority of economic growth. But lately, tech watchers have started to ask the obvious question: Is this boom in fact a bubble?

We talk to the Atlantic staff writer Charlie Warzel about what might happen—to companies, to the economy, to ordinary Americans—if one day that bubble were to burst.

Charlie covers tech and all the strange, unmooring things it does to culture. And he has a new Atlantic video podcast called Galaxy Brain launching this week.

---

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Go ahead, Democrats. Enjoy your victory parties. But after that, brace yourselves, because Republicans may not be playing by the same rules a year from now. Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term—indeed, since his loss in 2020—he has shown his willingness to subvert the rules of free and fair elections. In various ways, he’s used his power to intimidate potential opponents, Democratic donors, and even voters who might oppose him. We talk to the Atlantic staff writer David A. Graham about this week’s election as a test run for 2026, the gerrymandering arms race, and future possible scenarios of election meddling.

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So far, the U.S. has blown up 14 boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, killing at least 57 people. In the two months since the strikes began, the administration has consistently offered the same explanation: The U.S. has a fentanyl overdose problem, and these boats are a source of that drug. The federal government has stuck to that line despite the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security saying most of the fentanyl brought into this country comes from Mexico, not through the Caribbean.

Nancy Youssef covers national security for The Atlantic. She joins the show to discuss the strikes, the administration’s changes to the military, and the lack of transparency in the transformed Pentagon.

Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices