staff writer @theatlantic // writing a book for @randomhouse // rep’d by @elysecheney // [email protected]
Washington, DC
Joined July 2008
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Ross Andersen retweeted
I shall celebrate Columbus Day by passing on this one-sentence novel excavated from Don DeLillo's Underworld:
Ross Andersen retweeted
If your kids are in school they’re constantly being prompted to “relate” to some text… listen to Anne
Ross Andersen retweeted
neutrino observatories must be one of the most eerily beautiful structures humans have ever built
ALT Super-Kamiokande
ALT IceCube Neutrino Observatory
ALT Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
ALT The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE)
Ross Andersen retweeted
I know, I know, we live in an age of over-certainty and extreme cynicism—but I still find it fascinating to watch people dismiss any criticism of AI companies, however nuanced, as outright "doomerism." I’m just as bewildered by those who still claim AI is just hype. 🧵
Ross Andersen retweeted
The best entry on Petrov is in encyclopedia Brittanica which says, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren and the entire human race.”
Ross Andersen retweeted
I never knew this! @andersen I presume
A wild detail from Superintelligence (2014):
Out of roughly 100 people Nick Bostrom thanks in the acknowledgements, the first two are @sama and @DarioAmodei.
OpenAI was founded 18 months later.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
In the original 2014 edition of Superintelligence, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei are not included in the acknowledgements; that list begins with Ross Andersen. archive.org/details/superi…
Ross Andersen retweeted
A novel legal strategy represents a new front for the climate-change movement—if it holds up in court, @andersen reports: theatln.tc/CiDELcfP
Ross Andersen retweeted
The history is telling here. The ways a democracy responds to a danger are three: legislation, regulation and litigation.
🧵
theatlantic.com/science/2026…
For the past few months, I’ve been working on a big story about climate attribution research.
This is the science that purports to link specific oil companies to extreme weather events.
It’s the research that states and counties and cities all over America are using in the lawsuits that they’ve filed against the fossil fuel industry.
The plaintiffs in these cases are asking for enormous damages—tens of billions of dollars, in many instances—and my story is about whether this (new-ish) field of research will be able to bear the scrutiny of that kind of high-stakes litigation.
You can read it here:
theatlantic.com/science/2026…
Ross Andersen retweeted
From Annie Dillard:
theatlantic.com/science/arch…
Ross Andersen retweeted
Bobby McIlvaine was 26 when he died in the September 11 attacks. In 2021, @JenSeniorNY wrote about grief, conspiracy theories, and one family’s search for meaning in the decades since 9/11. Revisit the Pulitzer Prize–winning story: theatlantic.com/magazine/arc…
Ross Andersen retweeted
This is a fascinating article from @andersen on the recent discovery of two new “ghost ancestors” in our genomes — and an excellent reminder of how little we know about early human history. theatlantic.com/science/2026…
Ross Andersen retweeted
The discoveries of “ghost” ancestors, ancient tools, and hidden earthworks are redefining the story of human origins, @andersen writes: theatlantic.com/science/2026…
Ross Andersen retweeted
"Nietzsche says somewhere that the illusion of willpower rests on our tendency to identify with the part of our soul that commands, not the part that obeys" harpers.org/archive/2026/07/… - from meghan ogieblyn's memoir
Ross Andersen retweeted
Peter Gray, one of your favorite pop scientist's favorite pop scientists, has a new book out soon in which he'll challenge his former friend Jonathan Haidt. I wrote about the never-ending fight over what ONE THING caused the youth mental health crisis
theatlantic.com/technology/2…
Ross Andersen retweeted
Tom Hanks admits he can travel so light emotionally that he's walked away from loving relationships without ever looking back
"I travel light. And I can travel light emotionally. There's stuff I cannot control"
"I have left many wonderful, loving, friendly atmospheres without ever looking back, without thinking, oh, things were really wonderful back then, I wish I was back there"
"I don't think I've ever thought that. Now is that great? Is it facile? Or is it so mercurial that maybe you shouldn't trust me"
