The Atlantic Announces Amanda Mull, Annalisa Quinn, and Erik Slavin as Staff Writers

Amanda Mull is returning as a staff writer. Ever since that tragic day in 2024 when Amanda Mull left for her Bloombergian rumspringa, we've been on the hunt for someone who could replace her, someone with an acute eye, a gift for language, a deep feeling for humans and their foibles, a cockeyed sense of humor and that ineffable Mullish spark. We looked for someone who understood the weird ways of American consumerism, someone who would be willing to turn herself into a test rabbit for a set of absurd Goop products, a reporter who could explain why sweaters are bad now, why ballet flats have always been bad, why self-checkout is a failed experiment. A person who could explore obsessional behavior toward diamonds and Hermés, and who also knew which flour to use to make the best biscuits. What became known as the "Amanda Mull slot," we learned, was impossible to fill. No matter how hard we tried, no one quite fit the bill. Until now. We have finally discovered someone who could replace Amanda Mull, and that person is … Amanda Mull. We are thrilled to let you know that Amanda has rediscovered the One True Path, and will be joining us again at The Atlantic.

Annalisa Quinn is joining us as a staff writer. For the last several years, Annalisa has been writing and editing for The Boston Globe, where most recently she has served as deputy editor of the Globe's Sunday magazine. You are all no doubt familiar with her work, including "The Greatest Article That Has Ever Been Written" (per The Daily Beast), a mega-viral piece about the contretemps over the masking policy at a now-immortal lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts. But her name should have been familiar to you long before that, because she's been producing first-rate journalism and literary essays for years, at The Financial Times and as a Berlin-based freelancer for The New York Times, among other places. She also served for a decade as a literary critic for NPR. She has a capacious range, bringing empathy and intelligence to her writing about homelessness and addiction; Elvis impersonators; the researchers trying to piece together the Stasi archives; and, of course, books.

Erik Slavin is coming aboard as a staff writer, joining our stellar Pentagon team. Erik is one of the most experienced and gifted defense correspondents and editors in the country. As all of you know, the Defense Department fired Erik in August after he refused to bend to the department's censorship demands. As he wrote for us not long after, "I was fired after I said in an appearance on CBS News that my personal red line would be if the Pentagon ever instructed me not to publish a perfectly accurate story. It is telling that I am being fired for describing the most anodyne of journalistic ethics, a position that any self-respecting reporter in any free society would hold, and that the Pentagon interpreted as insubordination." I am very pleased that The Atlantic will provide a home for Erik's coverage of the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the armed services. Like Stars and Stripes itself, Erik is known for his deep and knowledgeable coverage of the lives of America's men and women in uniform. This is an important and generally under-covered subject. Erik joined Stars and Stripes in 2005, and has reported from Iraq, South Korea, and Japan, where he led coverage of the Great East Japan earthquake and nuclear disaster. From 2017 to 2025, he served as the newspaper's bureau chief for Europe and the Middle East, overseeing coverage of Afghanistan, NATO, and Ukraine. He moved to Washington to become the editor in chief of Stars and Stripes in 2025. Earlier in his career, he reported from Capitol Hill and worked as a reporter and editor in Florida.

Bill Tipper is coming onboard as a senior editor overseeing the creation and launch of The Atlantic Book Club. Building a truly original subscriber experience requires hiring a unicorn, and that's what Bill is. After getting his Ph.D. in English, Bill left academia for the wild world of the Books Internet. At BN.com, he helped launch the Barnes & Noble Review, an independent hub for some of the best online writing about books. Years ahead of most outlets, he saw the potential for new ways to connect with people who love literature, launching an author-interview podcast and an ambitious read-along series devoted to Stephen King's complete works. More recently, as an editor at The Wall Street Journal, he has produced a weekly newsletter and edited a wide variety of stories with exceptional rigor and foresight. Bill is widely known in the literary world for his intelligence, kindness, and energy, and we're delighted that he has agreed to take on a project that will enrich The Atlantic for years to come.