Olga Khazan

Someone Can Find You Cringey But Still Admire You A conversation with Leslie John about her new book, Revealing, and the power of oversharing

In which I confess to being a small-talk hater who nevertheless small talks constantly ... and what I'm going to do about it open.substack.com/pub/olgakhaz...

For a story, I'm looking to interview someone who has moved to the midwest at some point in the past couple years. The only requirement is that you moved from somewhere OTHER than the midwest. If this describes you, please DM me or email olga@theatlantic.com. Thank you!

American Kids Used to Eat Everything Children in the 19th century happily consumed wild plants and organ meats. What happened?

American kids used to be much more adventurous eaters. A young Edith Wharton liked turtle soup and oyster sauce. Mark Twain ate squirrels and rabbits.

Fascinating article from @olgakhazan.bsky.social on what changed.

In case anyone wants to feel better about their parenting, I just saw a Hasidic lady stop her toddler’s tantrum with a YouTube video 🙂

Most People Don’t Have a ‘Type’ Many daters have a list of traits they’re looking for in a partner—but can be perfectly happy with someone who has few of them.

Many daters look for a list of traits in a partner—but research suggests a better way to find long-term love, @olgakhazan.bsky.social reports:

ha, didn't think of that but maybe!

Why You Can Be Surrounded by Friends and Still Feel Lonely Sonja Lyubomirsky on her new book, "How to Feel Loved"

I spoke with the great Sonja Lyubomirsky about deep friendships, the roots of chemistry, and whether all Russians hate small talk: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Today my husband said possibly the most white-man thing ever: “why would anyone be mad at me?”

The Case for Seeing Friendship Like Exercise When trying to make yourself do something hard, don't think about the beginning. Think about the middle.

I have a hard time initiating friendships. Maybe you have a hard time initiating other things you generally enjoy? Here’s the case for focusing on how you’ll feel in the middle of things, not the start of things: olgakhazan.substack.com/p/the-case-f...

Uh oh: yoga teacher decided to play what can only be described as the Buddhist equivalent of Christian Rock

eventually all the daycare sicknesses just layer on top of each other and you die, right?

The toddler made the midwestern husband so mad today that he let out a “holy freaking fudge!”

Probably the one piece of pseudoscience I live by is “liquor before beer, you’re in the clear”

Every doctor's office:
"We actually have a patient portal called MyHealth. It only works on the 2003 version of Internet Explorer. The password can't contain any letters or numbers. If you message us on there, nothing will happen but it will give you the illusion of control."

I could have gone to medical school in the time that I've spent trying to log into patient portals

He Was Homeschooled for Years, and Fell So Far Behind A new memoir shows how a lack of accountability can hurt home-educated kids.

“In the years that Block was homeschooled, why was he never assessed, or even checked on? The answer is that homeschooling was wildly-regulated when Block was a boy—a situation that has not changed much since then.” @olgakhazan.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/family/2026/...

That's one way to make sure the US wins at soccer

He Was Homeschooled for Years, and Fell So Far Behind A new memoir shows how a lack of accountability can hurt home-educated kids.

I wrote about the great new memoir Homeschooled, and how unregulated homeschooling hurts vulnerable kids www.theatlantic.com/family/2026/...

- no, they only accept them via fax
- called my previous doctor to ask them to fax records (another 20 minute call that involves reading a fax number over the phone)
- now bracing myself to call back and wait on hold again 🙂

How does healthcare have the worst customer service of any industry?
Yesterday I called a doctor’s office:
- waited on hold 15 minutes, was hung up on
- called back and waited on hold 30 minutes
- they said they need medical records before making an appointment
- ok, can I just email you the records

How Much Are We Like Our Parents, Really? A conversation with psychologist Paige Harden about the genetic roots of behavior and personality

I talked with the great @kph3k.bsky.social about her fascinating new book, Original Sin, and whether we're doomed (or blessed!) to turn out just like our parents substack.com/home/post/p-...

Don’t check your 401k, lol, lmao

There is hilariously little hockey in HR

Ugh can they make something for the straight husbands to watch while we watch Heated Rivalry?

hot take: book promo is harder than book writing

American Police Are Inadequately Trained Officers in the United States don’t get as much instruction as police in other rich countries.

apropos of last night's news, it's worth noting that even American cops (and these weren't cops) are considered poorly trained by international standards. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

considering doing that designer-baby IVF thing but only so my baby can avoid having the cilantro soap gene

I didn't realize when I was doing this research that it would become so relevant today....thank you, @olgakhazan.bsky.social for sharing it.

AI can't destroy journalism because I'm not friendly enough to work at Trader Joe's

On top of the mental load of remembering to tell your husband to do stuff is the mental load of reminding him to do all that same stuff because he’ll “do it later”