McKay Coppins
@mckaycoppins.bsky.social
Staff Writer, The Atlantic. Author of NYT bestseller ROMNEY: A RECKONING.
Grateful to the Deseret News for this profile, which covers my greatest professional achievement: my stewardship of the student newspaper at my kids' elementary school, The Sunshine Times.
(There's some other stuff in the story, too.)
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
(There's some other stuff in the story, too.)
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
Meet McKay Coppins, the Trump-provoking journalist and podcaster whose observations are ‘minor’ no more
Known for his work at BuzzFeed and The Atlantic, Coppins will be part of the new “Deseret Voices” podcast.
www.deseret.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Grateful to the Deseret News for this profile, which covers my greatest professional achievement: my stewardship of the student newspaper at my kids' elementary school, The Sunshine Times.
(There's some other stuff in the story, too.)
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
(There's some other stuff in the story, too.)
www.deseret.com/politics/202...
Excited to share that I’ll be co-hosting a new interview podcast, Deseret Voices. I wrote on Substack about why I’m taking this on, and my goals for the show.
We’ve got some great guests lined up, but also taking suggestions—who should I interview?
mckaycoppins.substack.com/p/some-excit...
We’ve got some great guests lined up, but also taking suggestions—who should I interview?
mckaycoppins.substack.com/p/some-excit...
Some exciting news
A new podcast that brings together my reporting, my curiosity, and hope for better conversations.
mckaycoppins.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Excited to share that I’ll be co-hosting a new interview podcast, Deseret Voices. I wrote on Substack about why I’m taking this on, and my goals for the show.
We’ve got some great guests lined up, but also taking suggestions—who should I interview?
mckaycoppins.substack.com/p/some-excit...
We’ve got some great guests lined up, but also taking suggestions—who should I interview?
mckaycoppins.substack.com/p/some-excit...
I’ll have something cool to share soon. If you haven’t already, subscribe to my newsletter to get the announcement: mckaycoppins.substack.com/about
About - McKay’s Substack
My personal Substack. Click to read McKay’s Substack, by McKay Coppins, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
mckaycoppins.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I’ll have something cool to share soon. If you haven’t already, subscribe to my newsletter to get the announcement: mckaycoppins.substack.com/about
On the death of a prophet, a church shooting in Michigan, and what I learned from President Russell M. Nelson. This was a difficult piece to write. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Shooter and the Prophet
Russell M. Nelson, the Latter-day Saint prophet who preached the need for peacemakers in an angry world, died over the weekend. Then a gunman opened fire on a church in Michigan.
www.theatlantic.com
September 30, 2025 at 8:40 PM
On the death of a prophet, a church shooting in Michigan, and what I learned from President Russell M. Nelson. This was a difficult piece to write. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Shortly after Utah Governor Spencer Cox's news conference yesterday, he got a call from the president. "You know, the type of person who would do something like that to Charlie Kirk would love to do it to us," Cox says Trump told him. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump Has a Warning for Spencer Cox
Utah’s grieving governor opens up about his state, the country’s dangerous spiral, and a haunting conversation with the president.
www.theatlantic.com
September 13, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Shortly after Utah Governor Spencer Cox's news conference yesterday, he got a call from the president. "You know, the type of person who would do something like that to Charlie Kirk would love to do it to us," Cox says Trump told him. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by McKay Coppins
Today is a good day to read @mckaycoppins.bsky.social on the mind games, sibling rivalry, and war for power that culminated in Lachlan Murdoch winning his family’s succession fight:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Growing Up Murdoch
James Murdoch on mind games, sibling rivalry, and the war for the family media empire
www.theatlantic.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Today is a good day to read @mckaycoppins.bsky.social on the mind games, sibling rivalry, and war for power that culminated in Lachlan Murdoch winning his family’s succession fight:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Life is complicated, human experience is varied, some people shouldn't be parents, etc.—I understand the aversion to having kids. But it's kind of amazing that "parenthood is good and makes people happy" is considered such a counterintuitive take in 2025.
From a new survey of 3,000 American women ages 25 to 55, controlled for age, family income, and education:
"Married mothers are actually happier than unmarried women and married women without children."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
"Married mothers are actually happier than unmarried women and married women without children."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Marriage Effect
A common narrative has it that commitment and motherhood make women unhappy. New data suggest the opposite is true.
www.theatlantic.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Life is complicated, human experience is varied, some people shouldn't be parents, etc.—I understand the aversion to having kids. But it's kind of amazing that "parenthood is good and makes people happy" is considered such a counterintuitive take in 2025.
From a new survey of 3,000 American women ages 25 to 55, controlled for age, family income, and education:
"Married mothers are actually happier than unmarried women and married women without children."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
"Married mothers are actually happier than unmarried women and married women without children."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Marriage Effect
A common narrative has it that commitment and motherhood make women unhappy. New data suggest the opposite is true.
www.theatlantic.com
September 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
From a new survey of 3,000 American women ages 25 to 55, controlled for age, family income, and education:
"Married mothers are actually happier than unmarried women and married women without children."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
"Married mothers are actually happier than unmarried women and married women without children."
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Number of times I’ve heard a KPop Demon Hunters song in Mexico City this week: 3 (and counting)
August 28, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Number of times I’ve heard a KPop Demon Hunters song in Mexico City this week: 3 (and counting)
Photos: Starvation and Chaos in Gaza
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
Photos: Starvation and Chaos in Gaza
Israel’s blockade of most food and aid, along with distribution difficulties inside the Gaza Strip, have driven many of Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians to the brink of starvation.
www.theatlantic.com
July 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Photos: Starvation and Chaos in Gaza
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
www.theatlantic.com/photography/...
Something I think about often is when I asked Jason Chaffetz, then Oversight chairman, in March 2017 if he was worried about Trump profiting from his presidency.
“He’s already rich,” Chaffetz shrugged. “I don’t think that he ran for this office to line his pockets even more."
“He’s already rich,” Chaffetz shrugged. “I don’t think that he ran for this office to line his pockets even more."
Why is it acceptable for the president to use taxpayer money to fly overseas and cut a ribbon at his own golf course?
Don’t normalize this abuse of office. It’s blatant corruption.
Don’t normalize this abuse of office. It’s blatant corruption.
July 29, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Something I think about often is when I asked Jason Chaffetz, then Oversight chairman, in March 2017 if he was worried about Trump profiting from his presidency.
“He’s already rich,” Chaffetz shrugged. “I don’t think that he ran for this office to line his pockets even more."
“He’s already rich,” Chaffetz shrugged. “I don’t think that he ran for this office to line his pockets even more."
“They call Alden a vulture hedge fund, and I think that’s honestly a misnomer,” a former Chicago Tribune reporter told me in 2021. “A vulture doesn’t hold a wounded animal’s head underwater. This is predatory.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
July 25, 2025 at 1:24 PM
“They call Alden a vulture hedge fund, and I think that’s honestly a misnomer,” a former Chicago Tribune reporter told me in 2021. “A vulture doesn’t hold a wounded animal’s head underwater. This is predatory.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Some Pioneer Day reading
July 24, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Some Pioneer Day reading
"The network that once made Cronkite the most trusted man in America no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. CBS’s owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump..." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Is Colbert’s Ouster Really Just a ‘Financial Decision’?
CBS no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.
www.theatlantic.com
July 18, 2025 at 2:16 PM
"The network that once made Cronkite the most trusted man in America no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. CBS’s owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump..." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Mike Lee’s “based” online persona and Trump-era theatrics are a source of growing alarm among LDS church leaders, @sambbenson reports. “Mike Lee is far-right,” said one emeritus general authority. “The church is not far-right.” www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Mike Lee Can’t Stop Throwing Social Media Grenades. His Church Isn’t Happy.
The Utah senator’s online persona has further damaged his already frayed relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
www.politico.com
July 11, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Mike Lee’s “based” online persona and Trump-era theatrics are a source of growing alarm among LDS church leaders, @sambbenson reports. “Mike Lee is far-right,” said one emeritus general authority. “The church is not far-right.” www.politico.com/news/magazin...
"Officers and agents described a workforce on edge, vilified by broad swaths of the public and bullied by Trump officials demanding more and more."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump Loves ICE. Its Workforce Has Never Been So Miserable.
A “mission impossible” deportation campaign has left many employees burned out and morally conflicted.
www.theatlantic.com
July 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
"Officers and agents described a workforce on edge, vilified by broad swaths of the public and bullied by Trump officials demanding more and more."
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
More and more people are saying this
July 8, 2025 at 12:46 AM
More and more people are saying this
Incredible. "Paramount said its payment includes Mr. Trump’s legal fees and costs and that the money, minus the legal fees, will be paid to Mr. Trump’s future presidential library."
Paramount agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris that Trump claimed “60 Minutes” deceptively edited to interfere with the election. Read more: https://trib.al/xDMS1Fl
July 2, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Incredible. "Paramount said its payment includes Mr. Trump’s legal fees and costs and that the money, minus the legal fees, will be paid to Mr. Trump’s future presidential library."
Idaho Attorney General: ‘Everyone is Welcome Here’ sign cannot be displayed in Idaho schools because they are “part of an ideological/social movement.”
www.idahoednews.org/top-news/att...
www.idahoednews.org/top-news/att...
Attorney general: ‘Everyone is Welcome Here’ sign cannot be displayed in Idaho schools
The sign violates a new law that prohibits the display of flags or banners have a political viewpoint, according to an Idaho attorney general’s office opinion obtained by EdNews through a pub…
www.idahoednews.org
July 2, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Idaho Attorney General: ‘Everyone is Welcome Here’ sign cannot be displayed in Idaho schools because they are “part of an ideological/social movement.”
www.idahoednews.org/top-news/att...
www.idahoednews.org/top-news/att...
Wrote this in April 2017
June 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Wrote this in April 2017
Deseret News on Mike Lee: “The tweets were unacceptable for anyone, let alone from a member of the Senate. It revealed a lack of compassion for both victims and their loved ones and cast a poor light on Utah.”
Editorial calls on Lee to apologize: www.deseret.com/opinion/2025...
Editorial calls on Lee to apologize: www.deseret.com/opinion/2025...
www.deseret.com
June 19, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Deseret News on Mike Lee: “The tweets were unacceptable for anyone, let alone from a member of the Senate. It revealed a lack of compassion for both victims and their loved ones and cast a poor light on Utah.”
Editorial calls on Lee to apologize: www.deseret.com/opinion/2025...
Editorial calls on Lee to apologize: www.deseret.com/opinion/2025...
When I profiled Stephen Miller in 2018 for The Atlantic, I spent lots of time talking to people he grew up with—Santa Monica High School classmates, students at Duke. Some found him amusing, others repulsive. Almost all of them described him as a troll. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump’s Right-Hand Troll
Stephen Miller once tormented liberals at Duke. Now the president’s speechwriter and immigration enforcer is deploying the art of provocation from the White House.
www.theatlantic.com
June 12, 2025 at 8:15 PM
When I profiled Stephen Miller in 2018 for The Atlantic, I spent lots of time talking to people he grew up with—Santa Monica High School classmates, students at Duke. Some found him amusing, others repulsive. Almost all of them described him as a troll. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Padilla’s office betting that a lot of people are going to find this treatment of a U.S. senator pretty shocking (and perhaps clarifying).
Senator Padilla’s office sends me this video of his take-down and detention at Sec. Noem’s press conference in L.A.
June 12, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Padilla’s office betting that a lot of people are going to find this treatment of a U.S. senator pretty shocking (and perhaps clarifying).
“It used to be that before we committed to a position on any significant matter, we would wait to see where the United States stood. Now? We really don’t care anymore," an ambassador from a U.S. ally told Jeff Flake www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
As America Steps Back, Others Step In
Our global leadership is at stake, and it’s not too late to act.
www.theatlantic.com
June 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
“It used to be that before we committed to a position on any significant matter, we would wait to see where the United States stood. Now? We really don’t care anymore," an ambassador from a U.S. ally told Jeff Flake www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
What does America owe this family? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
June 4, 2025 at 7:01 PM
What does America owe this family? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...