1/ 55 years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis.

Writers and thinkers ever since have tried to understand King’s legacy, which has been complicated and confused over half a century: theatlantic.com/projects/king/ 2/ Seven days diverted the course of a social revolution and changed America forever.

Our new podcast “Holy Week” tells the story of the fiery, disruptive period following King’s assassination: theatlantic.com/podcasts/holy-…

People can achieve a singular satisfaction from middle age, writers in the @TheAtlantic have found. And they have some insights on how.
theatlantic.com/newsletters/ar… Writer Deborah Copaken reflects on lessons learned from her decade-long friendship with Nora Ephron, who “teaches me, by example, how to navigate the postreproductive half of my life.”

theatlantic.com/culture/archiv…

1/ The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The first Black person in Salem, Massachusetts, to formally teach white students. The longest-serving first lady.

To mark #WomensHistoryMonth, we’re sharing essays from women in history whose work appears in our pages: 2/ Charlotte Forten Grimké was an educator and abolitionist who wrote with forceful moral urgency. She was the first Black woman to appear in the pages of The Atlantic.

Read: “Life on the Sea Islands,” May 1864: on.theatln.tc/KN6Tdft

“For the past three years,” @AdrienneLaF writes, “I’ve been preoccupied with a question: How can America survive a period of mass delusion, deep division, and political violence without seeing the permanent dissolution of the ties that bind us?” on.theatln.tc/7ue6Tlk In recent years, Americans have contemplated whether we’re moving toward a second Civil War. But what the country is experiencing now—and may continue to experience for a generation or more—is something different: a new phase of domestic terror.

This Sunday, should you do ... nothing?

Lounging around can free up time for things beyond your to-do list, @IsabelFattal writes. Here’s a reading list about do-nothing time—why we need it, how much of it we need, and the possibilities it creates: on.theatln.tc/MgWZv0U @IsabelFattal Jason Heller and his wife have an agreement: One day a week, they do absolutely nothing.

In a society obsessed with productivity, this is harder than it should be—but it’s worth it: on.theatln.tc/AgE8VfK

As we mark the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, revisit George Packer’s October 2022 cover story. He traveled to Ukraine and spoke with people who had rallied to save their nation and defend the values Americans claim to hold. on.theatln.tc/CUB5r7V "Here, all the complex infighting and chronic disappointments and sheer lethargy of any democratic society ... dissolved, and the essential things—to be free and live with dignity—became clear," Packer writes. on.theatln.tc/CUB5r7V

How old are you? Now, how old do you feel?

Are these numbers the same? If not, do you feel younger or older? If you answered “feel younger” or “feel older,” you’re not alone. Many people think of themselves as a different age than they are, @JenSeniorNY reports. The concept is called “subjective age.” theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

What was once an experiment in Black liberation is now a luxury apartment building, @TrulyTafakari writes, of the residential complex at 700 Seward Avenue in Detroit, where she was born.⁠ on.theatln.tc/JtAjnzv @TrulyTafakari In the late ’70s, centers in Detroit, Atlanta, and Houston bore witness to the communal lives of hundreds of Black families. But building a nation within the nation of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church “required a confluence of vision, capital, and committed workers.”

1/ "Occasionally, a news item comes around that seems to perfectly exemplify the most knee-jerk tendencies of both of America’s two main political parties," @GrahamDavidA writes, and the gas-stove debate is one of them: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… 2/ In December, scientists published a study finding that ranges that burn natural gas account for almost 13 percent of childhood-asthma cases in the United States.

1/ The Atlantic has published a collection of key internal government documents related to the Trump administration’s family-separation policy. You can explore them here: theatlantic.com/politics/archi… 2/ These records, made public here for the first time, informed the reporting of @itscaitlinhd's investigation on how the policy came to be and who was responsible. The Atlantic was able to obtain some of the documents only through extensive litigation. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

2022 in Photos: How the First Months Unfolded—via @TheAtlPhoto: on.theatln.tc/9SsZHO0 JANUARY: A technician disinfects official balls before the Group F Africa Cup of Nations 2021 football match between Mauritania and Gambia at Limbe Omnisport Stadium in Limbe, Cameroon.

📷: Issouf Sanogo / AFP / Getty

This week, we’re launching The Great Game, a pop-up newsletter about the 2022 World Cup and how soccer explains the world. on.theatln.tc/OtBu33D A few times a week, staff writers @FranklinFoer, @AdamSerwer, @AdamHSays, and @ClintSmithIII—as well as other contributors—will serve up analysis and big ideas as the competition unfolds.

1/ Why did John Fetterman’s team agree to last night’s debate? Because declining it likely seemed a worse option, @JohnGHendy writes. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… 2/ “Fetterman used to talk one way, he had a stroke, and now he talks another way,” @JohnGHendy writes. “The hour-long exchange was, in some ways, a Rorschach test of comfort with disability.”

1/6 The Michigan real-estate broker Viktor Gjonaj thought he had cracked the lottery by predicting winning numbers, and for years, his belief paid off with millions, @jeffmaysh reports. But Gjonaj’s “system” would eventually test his luck: theatlantic.com/culture/archiv… 2/6 By playing regularly, Gjonaj had begun to see patterns in winning numbers, which he thought could tell him when one was “due”—defying the statistical law that lottery numbers are independent.

1/ Tomorrow the Nobel Prize in Literature will be awarded to one author. Predicting a winner is a fool’s errand, @alex_shephard writes. These five writers have never won, and they probably won’t win this year. But their names keep coming up for a reason: theatlantic.com/books/archive/… @alex_shephard 2/ “Dreamlike” is a word often applied to Jon Fosse, a Norwegian novelist, and in “Aliss at the Fire” he is at his most surreal and circuitous. Unfolding in what basically amounts to one long, swirling sentence, the novel is a classic Scandinavian story. theatlantic.com/books/archive/…

1/ “Fossora,” Björk’s tenth solo album, certainly takes some getting used to, writes @skornhaber.

That’s not just because it features clarinets, brass, and strings juxtaposed with the stormy electronic dance style known as gabber. on.theatln.tc/wTEXs2p 2/ Björk’s defining instrument, her voice, remains a challenge—and a wonder.

1/ It’s Banned Books Week.

Books have been the targets of bans in America for more than a century, most often for doing what literature is supposed to do: opening our minds to the world.

In February, @emmasarappo compiled a list of banned books worth adding to your shelf: 2/ “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood: This title’s sexual violence and criticism of religion have made it ripe for challenges in schools.

1/ Based on the original project from @theatlantic comes Shadowland, a 6-part series revealing how conspiracy theories can disrupt family, friends, and a nation. Premiering at #TAF22.

Go behind-the-scenes with stories from staffers featured in the series ⬇️ 2/ Rumors of child sex trafficking shot across the internet during the months when pandemic shutdown measures were first implemented. But the truth is complicated, @kait_tiffany writes: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

1/ Tomorrow we're kicking off #TAF22 at @TheWharfDC! There's still time to grab your virtual pass to watch livestreamed conversations. Here’s a preview of what to expect from our in-person and virtual lineups: TheAtlanticFestival.com 2/ On Wednesday, @andersen will speak with Dr. Anthony Fauci to discuss his life, legacy, and what's next after government service. Tune in: on.theatln.tc/BYlLEtW

1/ In 1897, British soldiers looted what is now some of the most famous African art in the world. Many people argue that it should be returned to its rightful stewards—but who are they? The answer, @davidfrum argues, is more complicated than it may seem:
theatlantic.com/magazine/archi… 2/ In a horrific act of colonial violence, the British forces deployed machine guns and mobile artillery against the defenders of Benin, who were armed with swords and muskets. The kingdom’s monarch, the oba, was driven into exile; its treasures taken away.

Today marks the beginning of Banned Books week, an event that celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books. For our daily book recommendations this week, we’ll be suggesting titles that have been challenged or outright banned. Art Spiegelman’s graphic memoir “Maus,” which details cruelties witnessed during the Holocaust, was banned in a Tennessee county by a unanimous vote in January. The book, @emmasarappo writes, is essential to rendering the effects of war. on.theatln.tc/OY5abhF