Caitlin Flanagan is a staff writer at the Atlantic where she has published her work for two decades. She is the author of the books To Hell with All That and Girl Land, and of the forthcoming collection On Thinking for Yourself. Her writing has been widely anthologized, including in in Best American Essays and Best American Magazine Writing. She has received a National Magazine Award and been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
The Atlantic Monthly was founded by a group of abolitionists in 1857. In its 168-year history, it endorsed only three presidential candidates, the first of whom was Abraham Lincoln. It has continuously sought to uphold its founders’ vision: “The Atlantic Monthly will be the organ of no party or clique but will honestly endeavor to be the exponent of what its conductors believe to be the American idea,” and it placed itself in league “with all people in favor of Freedom, National Progress and Honor.”