Jill Lepore
Jill Lepore, a staff writer, has been contributing to The New Yorker since 2005. Her books include “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution,” which won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for history and was long-listed for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction; “The Name of War,” which won a Bancroft Prize; “New York Burning,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for history; “Book of Ages,” a finalist for the National Book Award; “The Secret History of Wonder Woman”; the international best-seller “These Truths: A History of the United States”; and “The Deadline,” which received a PEN America award for the art of the essay. She is the host of the podcast “The Last Archive” and of the BBC Radio 4 program “X-Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story.”
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What the Pope Said About A.I.
The Lede
What the Pope Said About A.I.
Leo XIV’s new encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” presents a remarkable case for placing moral concerns, and not profit, or competitive advantage, or efficiency, at the center of any discussion of artificial intelligence.
May 27, 2026
The Prehistory of A.I. Slop
A Critic at Large
The Prehistory of A.I. Slop
Before ChatGPT, there was the Plot Robot, Auto-Beatnik, and a century’s worth of schemes for automating authorship.
May 18, 2026
Writing the Trump Years Into History
The Daily
Writing the Trump Years Into History
From the daily newsletter: How do you bring an American-history textbook up to date when the country’s past has become a political battleground?
May 13, 2026
Writing the Trump Years Into History
American Chronicles
Writing the Trump Years Into History
How do you bring an American-history textbook up to date when the country’s past has become a political battleground?
May 12, 2026
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What “The Sheep Detectives” Doesn’t Understand About Sheep
The Current Cinema
What “The Sheep Detectives” Doesn’t Understand About Sheep
The new film, starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson, is based on a near-perfect “sheep crime novel”—but the adaptation shows disappointingly little interest in the animal mind.
May 9, 2026
Was the Declaration of Independence Better Before the Edits?
American Chronicles
Was the Declaration of Independence Better Before the Edits?
Amid contention, criticism, and compromise, a divided nation had to present a unified front. It came at a cost.
May 4, 2026
Does A.I. Need a Constitution?
Annals of Technology
Does A.I. Need a Constitution?
A new set of precepts is meant to make the chatbot Claude wise, decent, and safe. It also marks a striking transfer of public responsibility from constitutional government to private tech firms.
March 23, 2026
Do U.S. Presidents Have the Power to Declare War?
The Lede
Do U.S. Presidents Have the Power to Declare War?
On paper, declaring war is reserved for Congress. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution turned a constitutional requirement into a legislative habit of looking away.
March 3, 2026
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Scandal, Protest, Goofiness, and Grandeur at the U.S. Bicentennial
American Chronicles
Scandal, Protest, Goofiness, and Grandeur at the U.S. Bicentennial
This year marks the two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the nation’s founding. The two hundredth wasn’t exactly smooth sailing.
March 2, 2026
Living in Tracy Chapman’s House
Personal History
Living in Tracy Chapman’s House
Fresh out of college, we were a bunch of misfits, in a chaotic, run-down communal home, desperately trying to figure out who we were meant to be.
February 2, 2026
Revisiting Minnesota’s “Open House” Exhibition in the Age of ICE
Essay
Revisiting Minnesota’s “Open House” Exhibition in the Age of ICE
Long before the federal onslaught, a Twin Cities museum showed what it meant to find a home in America.
January 26, 2026
When Bernie Sanders Headed for the Hills
A Critic at Large
When Bernie Sanders Headed for the Hills
Early in his life, Sanders left the streets of Brooklyn for the woodlands of Vermont. What did the man bring to the state—and what did the state bring to the man?
January 19, 2026
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How Should We Celebrate America’s Birthday?
The Daily
How Should We Celebrate America’s Birthday?
From the daily newsletter: the conflicting approaches to honoring the nation’s semiquincentennial.
November 13, 2025
What Was the American Revolution For?
American Chronicles
What Was the American Revolution For?
Amid plans to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial, many are asking whether or not the people really do rule, and whether the law is still king.
November 10, 2025
Trump and the Presidency That Wouldn’t Shut Up
Reflections
Trump and the Presidency That Wouldn’t Shut Up
His posts and rants are omnipresent, ugly, and unhinged. Don’t look to history to make it make sense.
October 27, 2025
The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Reshape America’s Past
Comment
The Trump Administration’s Efforts to Reshape America’s Past
Ahead of next year’s two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the White House has issued a directive to the Smithsonian.
August 25, 2025
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“In case of emergency, break open a book.”
The Daily
“In case of emergency, break open a book.”
From the daily newsletter: looking for sense and solace in Trump 2.0. Plus: the bureaucratic nightmare of being trans right now; and “The Great Gatsby” turns one hundred.
April 29, 2025
A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump
American Chronicles
A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump
Each morning, before the day’s decree, I turned to a slim book, hoping for sense, or solace.
April 28, 2025
How an American Radical Reinvented Back-Yard Gardening
American Chronicles
How an American Radical Reinvented Back-Yard Gardening
Ruth Stout didn’t plow, dig, water, or weed—and now her “no-work” method is everywhere. But her secrets went beyond the garden plot.
March 17, 2025
The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker
American Chronicles
The Editorial Battles That Made The New Yorker
The magazine has three golden rules: never write about writers, editors, or the magazine. On the occasion of our hundredth anniversary, we’re breaking them all.
February 10, 2025
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What You Can Do with an Electric Volkswagen Bus
The Lede
What You Can Do with an Electric Volkswagen Bus
I took the new VW ID. Buzz for a drive down memory lane. Things got bumpy.
December 1, 2024
Democrats Tried to Counter Donald Trump’s Viciousness Toward Women with Condescension
Dispatches
Democrats Tried to Counter Donald Trump’s Viciousness Toward Women with Condescension
The Harris campaign felt the need to remind women voters that they can vote for whomever they want. Women understood this. The campaign failed to.
November 10, 2024
The Artificial State
A Critic at Large
The Artificial State
As American civic life has become increasingly shaped by algorithms, trust in government has plummeted. Is there any turning back?
November 4, 2024
Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?
Onward and Upward with Technology
Is a Chat with a Bot a Conversation?
An artificial voice has long been a dream of tinkerers and technologists. Now that A.I. can talk, though, we may forget who we’re talking to.
September 30, 2024
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The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth Goes On
A Critic at Large
The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth Goes On
“Manhunt,” a new television miniseries, depicts the pursuit of Lincoln’s killer. But the public appetite for tales about the chase began even as it was happening.
March 11, 2024
Will the Supreme Court Now Review More Constitutional Amendments?
Comment
Will the Supreme Court Now Review More Constitutional Amendments?
After their ruling on a Fourteenth Amendment case, which keeps Donald Trump on the ballot, will the Justices be willing to revisit Dobbs, or Second Amendment cases?
March 10, 2024
The Architect of Our Divided Supreme Court
Books
The Architect of Our Divided Supreme Court
A hundred years ago, Chief Justice William Howard Taft made the Court more efficient and more powerful. His interventions marked a turning point whose effects are still being felt.
January 22, 2024
What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President
American Chronicles
What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President
After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, was to be tried for treason. Does the debacle hold lessons for the trials awaiting Donald Trump?
December 4, 2023
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The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather
Daily Comment
The World According to Elon Musk’s Grandfather
What happened to antisemitic rants before social media.
September 19, 2023
How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain
Books
How Elon Musk Went from Superhero to Supervillain
Walter Isaacson’s new biography depicts a man who wields more power than almost any other person on the planet but seems estranged from humanity itself.
September 11, 2023
Watching Childhood End in My Back Yard
The Weekend Essay
Watching Childhood End in My Back Yard
For seven years, I helped kids stage a series of silly, madcap musicals. I didn’t realize that it couldn’t last.
August 26, 2023
Elon Musk’s X Factor
Cultural Comment
Elon Musk’s X Factor
The surprising personal and cultural reasons for his “X” affection and rebranding of Twitter.
July 26, 2023
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The Bear in Your Back Yard
Books
The Bear in Your Back Yard
Throughout North America, they’re showing up in unexpected places. Can we coexist?
July 17, 2023
The View from Inside Beatlemania
The Weekend Essay
The View from Inside Beatlemania
In 1964, on the band’s first world tour, Paul McCartney took pictures that have only recently been discovered. What do they show us?
June 10, 2023
What We Owe Our Trees
The Control of Nature
What We Owe Our Trees
Forests fed us, housed us, and made our way of life possible. But they can’t save us if we can’t save them.
May 22, 2023
The Data Delusion
American Chronicles
The Data Delusion
We’ve uploaded everything anyone has ever known onto a worldwide network of machines. What if it doesn’t have all the answers?
March 27, 2023
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What We Learn from Leafing Through Seed Catalogues
Onward and Upward in the Garden
What We Learn from Leafing Through Seed Catalogues
They promise forty-pound beets, rhubarb that tastes like wine, tomatoes that look like stained-glass windows, and world salvation. It doesn’t hurt to dream.
March 13, 2023
What the January 6th Report Is Missing
A Critic at Large
What the January 6th Report Is Missing
The investigative committee singles out Trump for his role in the Capitol attack. As prosecution, the report is thorough. But as historical explanation it’s a mess.
January 9, 2023
Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?
Life and Letters
Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?
In his “Slough House” thrillers, the screwups save the day—and there’s a very fine line between comedy and catastrophe.
November 28, 2022
The Return of the Wild Turkey
Comment
The Return of the Wild Turkey
In New England, the birds were once hunted nearly to extinction; now they’re swarming the streets like they own the place. Sometimes turnabout is fowl play.
November 20, 2022
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The Case Against the Twitter Apology
American Chronicles
The Case Against the Twitter Apology
Our twenty-first-century culture of performed remorse has become a sorry spectacle.
November 7, 2022
The United States’ Unamendable Constitution
Annals of Inquiry
The United States’ Unamendable Constitution
How our inability to change America’s most important document is deforming our politics and government.
October 26, 2022
Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth
Comment
Bringing Back the Woolly Mammoth
Americans have long understood the species’ extinction as a warning. But is trying to “de-extinct” it really a good idea?
August 7, 2022
The VW Bus Took the Sixties on the Road. Now It’s Getting a Twenty-first-Century Makeover
Dept. of Transportation
The VW Bus Took the Sixties on the Road. Now It’s Getting a Twenty-first-Century Makeover
Once, it sparked dreams of community and counterculture. What’s gained—and lost—when flower power is electrified?
July 18, 2022
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The Rescued Portrait of My Italian Grandmother
Dept. of Heirlooms
The Rescued Portrait of My Italian Grandmother
How a matriarch’s image was lost and found.
July 12, 2022
The Supreme Court’s Selective Memory
Daily Comment
The Supreme Court’s Selective Memory
The Court’s originalist justification for striking down a New York gun law is more than capricious—it relies on a fundamentally anti-democratic historical record that deliberately excludes women and people of color.
June 24, 2022
Bicycles Have Evolved. Have We?
Books
Bicycles Have Evolved. Have We?
From the velocipede to the ten-speed, biking innovations brought riders freedom. But in a world built for cars, life behind handlebars is both charmed and dangerous.
May 23, 2022
After the Failed Senate Bill on Abortion
Comment
After the Failed Senate Bill on Abortion
If the Democratic response to Justice Alito’s draft opinion was largely rhetorical, was it also a missed opportunity?
May 15, 2022
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Of Course the Constitution Has Nothing to Say About Abortion
Daily Comment
Of Course the Constitution Has Nothing to Say About Abortion
There is no mention of the procedure in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito.
May 4, 2022
Why the School Wars Still Rage
American Chronicles
Why the School Wars Still Rage
From evolution to anti-racism, parents and progressives have clashed for a century over who gets to tell our origin stories.
March 14, 2022
The Lessons of “The Lorax”
Comment
The Lessons of “The Lorax”
The battle over what we read isn’t about to end anytime soon.
November 28, 2021
How the Week Organizes and Tyrannizes Our Lives
Books
How the Week Organizes and Tyrannizes Our Lives
From work schedules to TV seasons to baseball games, the seven-day cycle has long ordered American society. Will we ever get rid of it?
November 15, 2021
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When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?
American Chronicles
When Black History Is Unearthed, Who Gets to Speak for the Dead?
Efforts to rescue African American burial grounds and remains have exposed deep conflicts over inheritance and representation.
September 27, 2021
Facebook’s Broken Vows
A Critic at Large
Facebook’s Broken Vows
How the company’s pledge to bring the world together wound up pulling us apart.
July 26, 2021
Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?
American Chronicles
Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?
As a diagnosis, it’s too vague to be helpful—but its rise tells us a lot about the way we work.
May 17, 2021
How Do Plague Stories End?
Page-Turner
How Do Plague Stories End?
In the literature of contagion, when society is finally free of disease, it’s up to humanity to decide how to begin again.
March 24, 2021
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When Constitutions Took Over the World
A Critic at Large
When Constitutions Took Over the World
Starting in the eighteenth century, citizens were promised their rights in print. Was this new age spurred by the ideals of the Enlightenment or by the imperatives of global warfare?
March 22, 2021
The Next Cyberattack Is Already Under Way
Books
The Next Cyberattack Is Already Under Way
Amid a global gold rush for digital weapons, the infrastructure of our daily lives has never been more vulnerable.
February 1, 2021
What’s Wrong with the Way We Work
A Critic at Large
What’s Wrong with the Way We Work
Americans are told to give their all—time, labor, and passion—to their jobs. But do their jobs give enough back?
January 11, 2021
What Should We Call the Sixth of January?
Daily Comment
What Should We Call the Sixth of January?
What began as a protest, rally, and march ended as something altogether different—a day of anarchy that challenges the terminology of history.
January 8, 2021
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