Staff Writer @theatlantic. Author. Podcaster. Filmmaker. https://xitter.cf/t.co/MzUhRIy2uw Signal: shaneharris.64
Washington, DC
Joined July 2009
- Tweets22.4K
- Following5.2K
- Followers96.3K
- Likes7.6K
The Year AI Ate Math
“My field is as much an expression of the human spirit as music and literature. Is it for the machines now?”
By @stevenstrogatz
theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1…
Shane Harris retweeted
A State Department official confirmed that a statement posted by Kristi Noem to her official envoy account and personal X account was created using fabricated State Department letterhead and was not an official department press release; first reported by Politico
Reminder: cbsnews.com/news/cia-directo…
Shane Harris retweeted
A senior Ukrainian commander told me he lost more than $1 million in drones the first night StarShield went out. The next 3 days, speeds remained so unstable they canceled almost all ops striking RU logistics to protect Ukrainian infantry in the kill zone nytimes.com/2026/10/21/world…
New in @TheAtlantic, my profile of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, one of Trump's closest advisers, and the man in the middle of the president's deeply conflicted Ukraine policy.
theatlantic.com/national-sec…
Ratcliffe has made good on his promise to focus the agency on clandestine ops. Several people remarked, if you're working in the Special Activities Center, you're very happy these days! Ratcliffe has publicly lauded CIA's role in the Venezuela raid, Iran, and the rescue of a downed pilot.
But some of these covert missions have stirred anxiety inside the CIA. Recently retired officers told me that some of their colleagues have avoided taking jobs in the Americas and Counternarcotics Mission Center, because they want no part of the agency's reported role in potentially illegal boat strikes or other counternarcotics missions in the region. “There are people at the operational level who, when the Democrats take over the House, will be left holding the bag,” one former officer told me. “The agency is over its skis right now.”
But on the flip side, people told me, things could have been much worse. Some of those 60 probationary employees were already on performance-improvement plans, meaning they weren't working up to standards. And unlike Patel or Hegseth, Ratcliffe doesn't routinely vilify his own workforce or stoke culture wars in the ranks.
Shane Harris retweeted
Consider this a story in global affairs.
Early this year, there was an effort afoot to find Secretary Hegseth an iconic globe for his office suite.
Historians could make the move. But his team did not appear to want to wait.
washingtonpost.com/national-…
NEW: Trump’s mega Venezuelan oil deal, signed by Hegseth and Rubio, benefits an unknown group of investors and was intentionally crafted to keep the next U.S. president or future leaders of Venezuela from undoing it. @propublica saw the secret contract: propublica.org/article/trump…
Shane Harris retweeted
The @TheAtlantic goes boldly where no (strapping) man has gone before: theatlantic.com/politics/202…
The King of Queens
President Trump loves “handsome” men, especially the muscular ones.
theatlantic.com
Shane Harris retweeted
Here's the scene at Moscow airports yesterday as Ukraine steps up effort to close Russian air space. Almost 200 flights cancelled or delayed in one day.
As we reported yesterday @TheAtlantic, Ukraine spent months preparing this campaign. Now it's started
theatlantic.com/national-sec…
Обстановка в аэропортах Москвы и Петербурга. Задержаны или отменены почти 200 рейсов
С вечера 15 октября ограничения на прием и отправку рейсов вводились в московских аэропортах Шереметьево, Внуково, Домодедово и Жуковский, следует из сообщений Росавиации. Их сняли только рано утром 16 октября. Задержано или отменено почти 160 рейсов.
Закрывался также петербургский аэропорт Пулково. Ограничения в нем сняли только в 9 утра. Отменены или задержаны на вылет 37 рейсов, на посадку — девять, передает «Фонтанка».
Журналист The Atlantic Саймон Шустер со ссылкой на источники писал накануне, что кампания Украины, цель которой — парализовать работу аэропортов в РФ, «только начинается».