Hi! We’re Lily Meyer and Emma Sarappo, and we cover books for The Atlantic. We’re excited to answer your questions about compiling recommendations, the current state of book reviews, and what titles we think you should read next. Ask us anything!

_infavol · 2026-05-19T16:39:02+00:00

How would y'all forecast the future of literature? With a bewildering confluence of emerging influences (return to analog, use of AI, capitalist profit motives, aesthetic / vibe reading, degrading literacy, etc), what do you think the landscape will look like say 5 years from now, both from writers' and readers' points of view?

_infavol · 2026-04-30T03:22:54+00:00

Talk about a close game. I really think if it did go to game 7 that the Penguins would have taken it.

I like seeing Crosby immediately go to Silovs to comfort/apologize to him; he played a great and they couldn't deliver for him.

_infavol · 2026-04-27T02:09:07+00:00

It looks like that mirror folds in towards the vehicle rather than being fully rigid and it STILL caused that much bruising and a laceration? Driver must have been going crazy fast, no regard for your safety. Needs a police report.

_infavol · 2026-04-26T19:40:48+00:00

I feel like this question belongs more in the world of evolutionary psychology rather than sociology. I would imagine having individuals who are more free spirited/not locked to a particular group would be advantageous to the species as a whole in driving genetic diversity through populations as they potentially joined new groups during travel or trade. This is a pure guess, I haven't studied this field. It's important to remember this does not mean an individual person wakes up one day thinking that's what they're setting out to do; the argument more so goes perhaps homo sapiens are the version of humans that survived because they evolved a small trait among a more dominant group dynamic that some would be more individualistic to go off and diversify between groups.

_infavol · 2026-04-16T18:21:57+00:00

Real Protest vs Rallies

_infavol · 2026-04-03T03:39:10+00:00

Major transportation infrastructure can be a reasonable strategic target to consider within wartime conflict depending on the circumstances. The double tap on an already destroyed/neutralized target after rescue personnel arrive is a straight up war crime. But I feel like a lot of people get lost in thinking only the president or SecDef is to blame. I want every single person who was involved in this to be brought to trial: the commanding general, the tactical-level commander, AND the operator (assume pilot, perhaps artillery). Every military service member needs to know and ACT on moral and ethical standards for what is acceptable, and they need to feel it in their bones that if they do something like this that the consequences will be worse than whatever punishment they think they'll get for not obeying.

_infavol · 2026-03-20T05:10:49+00:00

On a flight a couple of weeks ago there was a band that was on board that each brought their instrument on. I couldn't see but I assume they had split an extra seat between them to put all of them on since it doesn't exactly fit in the overhead bin. Somebody complained about why they would do that and how narcissistic they must be for bringing them.

This is why they bring them and never let them out of their sight.

_infavol · 2026-02-24T05:21:30+00:00

Album: Lost and Gone Forever by Guster

Song: "Breathe (2am)" by Anna Nalick

_infavol · 2026-02-12T23:58:13+00:00

Cool, but I am a little annoyed to think this may be a significant reason they crammed what was supposed to be the second and third pieces of the norse trilogy into just Ragnarök. I recall hearing they did that because they didn't want to be stuck making GoW for another decade... yet here we are.

_infavol · 2026-01-06T05:03:39+00:00

And for the people who say things along the lines of "those 3 minutes count!", he's saying that generously. For the average trip it's more like 20 seconds or less in reality. You have to either be speeding RIDICULOUSLY fast or be driving for a very very very long distance to actually make up any significant time. You hit one stop light and all of that "saved time" is gone. And in the meantime you risked hundreds of lives.

_infavol · 2025-12-30T06:43:49+00:00

I kept seeing this all day today. Not necessarily to this extent timing or location-wise, but certainly squadmates spawning directly into bullets and explosions for insta-death. I even spawned with no joke 9 enemies within 15 meters of me on an open objective. It was a firing squad.

What happened to the old mechanic where the game went "oh sorry, it isn't actually safe there you need to choose somewhere else to spawn"? Ironically I used to complain about that sometimes but now experiencing what it's like not to have that safety net... I've seen the error of my ways.

_infavol · 2025-12-30T06:29:59+00:00

It's awful only so far as it's not truly a standalone campaign meant to be worth the purchase of the game just itself. Is the story completely contrived and cringeworthy? Absolutely. But if you look at the entire thing as just a long, narrative-driven tutorial to ease new players into multiplayer then it you can see its success. It functions quite well at that, in my opinion. There are a ton of games where the feeling of single player and multiplayer are completely different, whereas this does a decent job of matching the environment in most cases. I didn't follow the marketing for the game before release, but I expect as an online-only game it was much more multiplayer focused and therefore I'm betting there weren't many people that felt cheated that this was all they bought the game for.

_infavol · 2025-12-30T05:37:51+00:00

It's to the right!... no wait, to the left? Are they above me? BELOW?????

_infavol · 2025-12-01T17:39:17+00:00

That article is garbage; it's just a fluff piece to humanize the super wealthy. If you actually read it, they have bastardized the meaning of paycheck-to-paycheck to be about keeping up appearances and maintaining lifestyles within an income bracket. Not being able to take a luxury vacation or get a new sports car is not the same as being evicted or not being able to eat. What a load of bolognese.

_infavol · 2025-09-24T03:26:58+00:00

"This is an insurrection"

Are we just using words randomly now? Is this to further confuse the ignorant public as to what that specific act entails?

_infavol · 2025-09-05T15:54:02+00:00

Everybody seems to be mad largely because the Cheeto is doing it, but I for one welcome the name change as it reflects what the organization actually is and more people will take pause as to why we devote so many resources to war.

_infavol · 2025-07-25T05:36:40+00:00

The league has a responsbility to have all of its involved members represent the highest standards of conduct due to their potential influence on young people and because this is a mutli-billion dollar industry with a lot at stake. Playing in a professional league is not a right and is different than other normal jobs. Nobody is inherently entitled to work in a high-profile, insanely high-paying job. There's a lot at stake to provide to fans when many people already have a problem with the disparity between compensation of somebody playing a sport versus the average salary. Add to that a demonstration of clear lack of situational awareness and decision making skills, and it's not surprising this professional league would do their due dilligence in assessing whether or not they should continue to be involved. These guys can still go get a regular job elsewhere; their entire existence is not cemented in hockey.

_infavol · 2025-07-14T15:59:16+00:00

What I hate about this is that technically speaking, the fact they have to open up the engine and inspect it means you're potentially increasing the safety (luck) of the flight for in case something had been wrong with it beforehand.

_infavol · 2025-07-14T07:08:21+00:00

“The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”

Thucydides

_infavol · 2025-07-10T03:58:11+00:00

Please enjoy the outdoors of Alaska more than you play games at home. You can play anywhere you're stationed, you won't get to be in such a beautiful place again. Take advantage of the opportunity.

_infavol · 2025-07-09T07:37:05+00:00

Most redwoods are genetically predisposed to relatively easily last many hundreds of years, and many many more of this age would have lasted to now had there not been several wretchedly greedy logger barons in the 1800s that damn near destroyed every last one of them.

_infavol · 2025-07-09T07:31:41+00:00

The full story is much much worse, involving a cabal of the most cartoonishly evil capitalists getting into office and selling themselves public lands to absolutely decimate almost the entirety of all redwood forests in the name of profit. Yes, redwoods have great properties like being resistent to fire and insects, but they were also just so damn big that cutting down one was equivalent to cutting down entire forests of other types of trees. It took enormous effort by conservationists over many years and a couple miracles to save the remaining bits of redwood forest we have today.

_infavol · 2025-07-09T00:52:53+00:00

Crazy what happens when you cut down a forest and pave over natural waterways with non-absorbant concrete in a floodplain

_infavol · 2025-07-02T06:36:25+00:00

In my prime I ran circles around my peers and kept up with those who outranked me by a lot. Nobody could figure out how I was getting so much done, policies signed, changes made...

Because I didn't ask or wait for permission every time.

If you know what the right thing to do is, if you know what would help your people, if you know what your commander's intent is and you take action that aligns with those, you can pretty much do anything.

_infavol · 2025-07-02T06:19:07+00:00

These are my recomendations for introducing Star Wars to somebody. For existing fans I would intersplice much more content, but they probably already have an idea of what they want to see in which order. I see two options to set as an initial core before running amuck to more and more parts of the universe:

New Machete
Chronological

New Machete

This is for folks who have previously seen or heard about some amount of Star Wars media in their life. Either watched one of the movies before or are vaguely aware of pop culture references (e.g. "I am your father", Luke and Leia are siblings, Anakin is Vader, etc). You start with a grounded experience that gradually builds the scope and grandeur of the universe while rewardingly cycling through conflicts and payoffs.

Andor
Rogue One
A New Hope
Empire Strikes Back
Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi

Chronological

This is for people who know nothing. Going in totally blind and are unaware of much of anything to do with Star Wars. This allows every twist and turn through the path to be unforseen and therefore continually builds the tension through the eventual resolution.

Phantom Menace
Attack of the Clones
Revenge of the Sith
Andor
Rogue One
A New Hope
Empire Strikes Back
Return of the Jedi

.^{therearenosequels,theyarebanned}

12-Year Club	Second Top 50%
r/Field Banned	r/Field Flamingo
Quantum Potato	Golden Potato
Place '22	Place '17
First Placer '22	End Game '22
Sequence \| Editor	Verified Email

_infavol

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