The Atlantic

A generation ago, Britain was a global power. Today, the nation’s output is barely above that of America’s poorest state, Idrees Kahloon reports. https://lnkd.in/ekcdcNC3 “Before the global financial crisis, Britain was at its postimperial zenith,” Kahloon writes. Since then, wages have lagged well behind the U.S. and its European neighbors. The country’s celebrated National Health Service has a patient backlog of nearly one-tenth of the population. Dentistry has become so unaffordable or unobtainable that, according to a 2023 survey, one in 10 Brits reported resorting to their own dental work—in extreme examples “extracting their own teeth or gluing broken crowns back together,” Kahloon reports. “As Britain has become more and more aware of its diminishment, it has retreated ever more fully into a defensive crouch,” Kahloon writes. “Politics have become zero-sum, descending into fights over who has robbed whom. Suspicion has fallen, above all, on immigrants, whom both major parties have turned against.” A certain strain of British exceptionalism remains pervasive—in a quieter, more understated form than the American version—which suggests that by retreating inward, Britain can make itself great again. “Astonishingly, or perhaps predictably, it is growing stronger as the country’s problems get worse,” Kahloon writes. Read more at the link. 🎨: Joan Wong

“Data centers are allegedly an unmitigated disaster: They guzzle water, strain electric grids, and raise prices ... But the data-center panic is overblown,” Elias Wachtel argues. In some contexts they can bring real benefits, he reports.

Many people now fear that AI could make a huge number of careers obsolete—but whether it will actually replace a given profession is not so straightforward to predict, Rogé Karma writes. He explores three questions that can help you determine how endangered your job really is. https://lnkd.in/eGZqw7sn

One night, Chris Jones came home from a reporting assignment to find another man texting his wife a string of heart emoji. Nearly 10 years later, he reflects on how he rebuilt his life. https://lnkd.in/ee9pMmEr

If you’re looking for something to read that contains hundreds of pages of interesting material, Ellen Cushing recommends “Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics.” See the full list of summer reading recommendations: https://lnkd.in/erM5gWDQ

Louisiana's case against the FDA would affect access to the abortion drug mifepristone nationwide—and “whatever happens next, the legal battle reveals that the paradise of abortion federalism is a fraud,” Adam Serwer argues.

“How to End a Love Story,” “Inside of a Dog,” “Wicked Enchantment”: The Atlantic’s writers and editors recommend 25 books to read this summer:

Steven Spielberg’s captivating new film, “Disclosure Day,” updates one of his tried-and-true premises—the appearance of aliens on Earth—for an exploration of present-day American life, writes David Sims: https://lnkd.in/eC5kAkG2 📸: Universal Pictures

Rewatching "Search Party," replaying the funniest scenes from "Stath Lets Flats," starting a new round of online solitaire to avoid scrolling on her phone, and more culture and entertainment recommendations from Rosie Hughes in the Sunday Daily:

Who is the funniest writer in the English language? Atlantic staff writer Helen Lewis’s nomination is Terry Pratchett, the author of more than 40 satirical books. Through his work, Lewis says, “I’ve learned so much both about character writing” and “writing about social issues without beating people over their head.” Read more about Pratchett’s work—and why he’s in danger of being lost to history: https://lnkd.in/egTEtm3m