jenduende
@jenduende.bsky.social
Senior editor, The Atlantic. New York Times + Washington Post alum.
2012-13 Nieman fellow. Occasional writer, always a dancer.
2012-13 Nieman fellow. Occasional writer, always a dancer.
Pinned
jenduende
@jenduende.bsky.social
· Nov 17
A Classic Blockbuster for a Sunday Afternoon
Culture and entertainment musts from Jen Balderama
www.theatlantic.com
Doctor Zhivago, Pina, In the Mood for Love, @ellecordova.bsky.social, Lego Masters, Ada Limón—got to write about some of my favorite culture-y things for our Sunday newsletter @theatlantic.bsky.social.
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Bless @sophiegilbert.bsky.social @theatlantic.com: "The past decade has been a gloomy lesson in how limited a proportion of men actually see women as equal human beings...The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
The Pig Is in the White House
This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.
www.theatlantic.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Bless @sophiegilbert.bsky.social @theatlantic.com: "The past decade has been a gloomy lesson in how limited a proportion of men actually see women as equal human beings...The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
“The assumption behind Cluely is that letting an AI pull a Cyrano yields better interactions than relying on your own brain,” @julieebeck.bsky.social writes. Her verdict after testing it: It's horribly inefficient—and could in fact harm your relationships. www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
How to Cheat at Conversation
A new AI tool promises to improve social interactions but instead makes them worse.
www.theatlantic.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:25 PM
“The assumption behind Cluely is that letting an AI pull a Cyrano yields better interactions than relying on your own brain,” @julieebeck.bsky.social writes. Her verdict after testing it: It's horribly inefficient—and could in fact harm your relationships. www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
Now you, too, can count down to Christmas, @elcush.bsky.social writes, by unboxing: tea, designer lipstick, wine, weed, chili crisp, cheese, knives, crystals...toys for children, toys for cats, toys for dogs, toys for sex (or a daily thong). www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
Advent Calendars Are Totally Out of Control
What began as a form of religious expression has morphed into a brand-a-palooza.
www.theatlantic.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Now you, too, can count down to Christmas, @elcush.bsky.social writes, by unboxing: tea, designer lipstick, wine, weed, chili crisp, cheese, knives, crystals...toys for children, toys for cats, toys for dogs, toys for sex (or a daily thong). www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
“Without exposure to the normal variety of bodies, we may become less comfortable with our own.” A fun, fascinating @theatlantic.com piece by Jacob Beckert on the decline of mundane, everyday opportunities to get naked together:
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
The End of Naked Locker Rooms
What we lose when casual nudity disappears
www.theatlantic.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:47 PM
“Without exposure to the normal variety of bodies, we may become less comfortable with our own.” A fun, fascinating @theatlantic.com piece by Jacob Beckert on the decline of mundane, everyday opportunities to get naked together:
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
"The political reality in 2025 is that our government is as stereotypically masculine as a dick-measuring contest in a weight room": @sophiegilbert.bsky.social @theatlantic.com wades into the "great feminization" debate and it is 🔥🔥🔥: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
No, Women Aren’t the Problem
America is rapidly becoming the manosphere, but, sure, let’s go after the “feminization” of culture.
www.theatlantic.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:55 PM
"The political reality in 2025 is that our government is as stereotypically masculine as a dick-measuring contest in a weight room": @sophiegilbert.bsky.social @theatlantic.com wades into the "great feminization" debate and it is 🔥🔥🔥: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
Some beautiful advice from James Parker @theatlantic.com as he wraps up his “Dear James” column: “If we can stay connected to the miraculous and fleeting fact of being here at all, we’ll have at least a chance of being—eventually—okay.”
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
Dear James: So Long, Farewell
A reader keeps having to leave unsupportive support groups. And James Parker says goodbye to his column.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Some beautiful advice from James Parker @theatlantic.com as he wraps up his “Dear James” column: “If we can stay connected to the miraculous and fleeting fact of being here at all, we’ll have at least a chance of being—eventually—okay.”
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
"College is, among other things, an exercise in independence": I recommend this piece to any parents of rising freshmen who might be experiencing "an inability to let go, to allow children the gift of separation," as Russell Shaw writes: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
When Helicopter Parents Touch Down—At College
Hovering moms and dads are following their kids all the way to campus.
www.theatlantic.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:02 PM
"College is, among other things, an exercise in independence": I recommend this piece to any parents of rising freshmen who might be experiencing "an inability to let go, to allow children the gift of separation," as Russell Shaw writes: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
Leni Riefenstahl’s 1938 film on the Berlin Olympics is dull in the way porn is, @sallyjenx.bsky.social writes: It has an obsession with "perfect" bodies; "monotony; repetitive floggings.” But a riveting new doc offers a better way to decipher her work—and Nazism: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
What Leni Riefenstahl’s Work Reveals About Fascism
The director’s collaborations with the Nazi government translated Hitler’s ideas to film, almost verbatim.
www.theatlantic.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Leni Riefenstahl’s 1938 film on the Berlin Olympics is dull in the way porn is, @sallyjenx.bsky.social writes: It has an obsession with "perfect" bodies; "monotony; repetitive floggings.” But a riveting new doc offers a better way to decipher her work—and Nazism: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
"Convenience is like sex: Once you’ve had it, it’s hard to forget how good it is to have it," @elcush.bsky.social writes. So it has gone with restaurants and delivery—and the results are...not great.
How Delivery Destroyed American Restaurants
We’ve become a nation of order-inners. Eating will never be the same.
www.theatlantic.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:35 PM
"Convenience is like sex: Once you’ve had it, it’s hard to forget how good it is to have it," @elcush.bsky.social writes. So it has gone with restaurants and delivery—and the results are...not great.
"How nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre"—especially when the article about that heist is by @caity.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Louvre Heist Is Terrific
Here was a dreamy little crime in which no one really got hurt.
www.theatlantic.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:07 PM
"How nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre"—especially when the article about that heist is by @caity.bsky.social: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Many people have claimed that wealthy moms are "the most miserable and stressed." But Stephanie H. Murray, after a deep dive into the research on parental well-being, finds that in many instances, the opposite is true: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
The Rich-Mom, Poor-Mom Happiness Fallacy
Where commentary on parental satisfaction goes wrong
www.theatlantic.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Many people have claimed that wealthy moms are "the most miserable and stressed." But Stephanie H. Murray, after a deep dive into the research on parental well-being, finds that in many instances, the opposite is true: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
Such a moving, powerful essay by Reem Kassis: "My grief from witnessing what has been done to my people is so vast, so relentless, that sadness over my grandmother’s death feels like something too indulgent. I am heartbroken, and I am ashamed of that heartbreak."
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
The Cruel Calculus of Palestinian Grief
In times of mass atrocity, processing personal sorrow becomes more complicated.
www.theatlantic.com
October 11, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Such a moving, powerful essay by Reem Kassis: "My grief from witnessing what has been done to my people is so vast, so relentless, that sadness over my grandmother’s death feels like something too indulgent. I am heartbroken, and I am ashamed of that heartbreak."
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
Where the grandparents are willing: Would you pay them for child care? Marina Lopes makes a persuasive case for doing just that: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
One Obvious, Underused Child-Care Solution
Pay grandparents.
www.theatlantic.com
October 6, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Where the grandparents are willing: Would you pay them for child care? Marina Lopes makes a persuasive case for doing just that: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
“I am absolutely terrified that they would take away what I do have…because they took away what I did have.” @nicolechung.bsky.social on birth mothers in open adoptions and what happens when their contact with their children is curtailed: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
When Adoption Promises Are Broken
Many birth mothers hope to maintain contact with their child. But their agreements with adoptive parents can be fragile.
www.theatlantic.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
“I am absolutely terrified that they would take away what I do have…because they took away what I did have.” @nicolechung.bsky.social on birth mothers in open adoptions and what happens when their contact with their children is curtailed: www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/...
Parents and educators, please share with your schools: @theatlantic.com is offering U.S. public high schools FREE IP-based access to our journalism—an excellent way to improve news literacy and inspire a new generation of independent thinkers. For info, visit theatlantic.com/hsaccess.
The Atlantic
theatlantic.com
September 17, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Parents and educators, please share with your schools: @theatlantic.com is offering U.S. public high schools FREE IP-based access to our journalism—an excellent way to improve news literacy and inspire a new generation of independent thinkers. For info, visit theatlantic.com/hsaccess.
As a person who doesn't get invitations to reunions (because: didn't do normal high school), I'm fascinated by other people's—and am loving this essay by Jordan Michelman (h/t my @theatlantic.com colleague Serena Dai for shepherding) www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
What’s the Point of a High-School Reunion?
Social media should have killed them. Instead, they’re popular again.
www.theatlantic.com
September 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
As a person who doesn't get invitations to reunions (because: didn't do normal high school), I'm fascinated by other people's—and am loving this essay by Jordan Michelman (h/t my @theatlantic.com colleague Serena Dai for shepherding) www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
The inimitable @petridishes.bsky.social, saying it all out loud. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Apologies: You Have Reached the End of Your Free-Trial Period of America!
Want rule of law? That’s premium.
www.theatlantic.com
September 2, 2025 at 3:07 PM
The inimitable @petridishes.bsky.social, saying it all out loud. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Loving this advice from James Parker to a 19-year-old pining for romantic attention: “You do not need to be thinner, smarter, or better. I don’t mean to be glib about the effects of generations of patriarchal damage and...consumerism, but—you’ve got to get that stuff out of your head. It’s poison.”
Dear James: I’ve Got a Bad Case of Unrequited Love
I’m 19, and I’ve fallen deeply for a colleague. But he’ll never feel the same.
www.theatlantic.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Loving this advice from James Parker to a 19-year-old pining for romantic attention: “You do not need to be thinner, smarter, or better. I don’t mean to be glib about the effects of generations of patriarchal damage and...consumerism, but—you’ve got to get that stuff out of your head. It’s poison.”
A case against phones at school: Besides distracting kids from learning, phones are "a digital umbilical cord tethering students to their parents,” @gailcornwall.com writes—diminishing kids’ autonomy and setting an expectation that parents must always be on duty.
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
What Many Parents Miss About the Phones-in-Schools Debate
Some focus on reaching their children in an emergency—and overlook the devices’ everyday threats.
www.theatlantic.com
August 25, 2025 at 1:28 PM
A case against phones at school: Besides distracting kids from learning, phones are "a digital umbilical cord tethering students to their parents,” @gailcornwall.com writes—diminishing kids’ autonomy and setting an expectation that parents must always be on duty.
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
ICYMI: Fascinating piece by @faith-hill.bsky.social sky.social @theatlantic.com on single men choosing to become dads, and how this plays out in their personal relationships + affects their sense of self. A nuanced look at tangly territory:
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
The Growing Cohort of Single Dads by Choice
For some men, fatherhood is an answer to questions about modern masculinity.
www.theatlantic.com
August 21, 2025 at 5:15 PM
ICYMI: Fascinating piece by @faith-hill.bsky.social sky.social @theatlantic.com on single men choosing to become dads, and how this plays out in their personal relationships + affects their sense of self. A nuanced look at tangly territory:
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
“When women realized they couldn’t rely on the men in their life, they tried instead to rely on other women,” @faith-hill.bsky.social @theatlantic.com writes. “In the end, misogyny got in the way of that too.” www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
First Came Tea. Then Came the Male Rage.
The app was meant to make dating safer for women. Data breaches exposing its users show why it was so popular in the first place.
www.theatlantic.com
July 30, 2025 at 8:32 PM
“When women realized they couldn’t rely on the men in their life, they tried instead to rely on other women,” @faith-hill.bsky.social @theatlantic.com writes. “In the end, misogyny got in the way of that too.” www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
“I’ve experienced too many moments,” @jessicaslice.bsky.social writes @theatlantic.com, “trapped upstairs while my family laughs, argues, sings, or cries, just out of reach.” A beautiful, harrowing essay shepherded by @katecray.bsky.social. www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
Homes Still Aren’t Designed for a Body Like Mine
Why is it so hard for disabled people to find safe, accessible places to live?
www.theatlantic.com
July 28, 2025 at 8:35 PM
“I’ve experienced too many moments,” @jessicaslice.bsky.social writes @theatlantic.com, “trapped upstairs while my family laughs, argues, sings, or cries, just out of reach.” A beautiful, harrowing essay shepherded by @katecray.bsky.social. www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
A moving essay by Julie Kim, whose daughter is one of millions of students “at risk of losing access to the crucial support systems that enable them to participate in American classrooms and ordinary life." www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
The Work of Caring for My Daughter Will Never Be ‘Efficient’
A constellation of people are essential to my disabled child’s life. Trump’s cuts to education and Medicaid threaten to steal them away.
www.theatlantic.com
July 9, 2025 at 5:58 PM
A moving essay by Julie Kim, whose daughter is one of millions of students “at risk of losing access to the crucial support systems that enable them to participate in American classrooms and ordinary life." www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
“More than one in five Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ,” @emmasarappo.bsky.social writes. This generation is often described as "entitled." But "personal liberty *is* an American entitlement, and these young people will not readily give it up." www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
This Pride Month, the Backlash Has Officially Arrived
Young LGBTQ people are facing the prospect of losing rights they thought they’d never have to worry about.
www.theatlantic.com
June 25, 2025 at 1:35 PM
“More than one in five Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ,” @emmasarappo.bsky.social writes. This generation is often described as "entitled." But "personal liberty *is* an American entitlement, and these young people will not readily give it up." www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...