The Atlantic – September 2019

Dispatches

CONTENTS

Departments

6 SEPTEMBER 2019 THE ATLANTIC

On the Cover

VOL. 324–NO. 3

10 The Conversation

96 The Big Question

What is the greatest

movie quote of all time?

© John Francis Ficara,

all rights reserved

SKETCH

18 The Sex-
Scene Coach
BY KATE JULIAN
Onscreen intimacy is
endangered. Can
Alicia Rodis save it?

BUSINESS

22 Why Are

Washing Machines

Learning to

Play the Harp?

BY LAURA BLISS

Appliance makers believe

more and better chimes,

alerts, and jingles make

for happier customers.

Are they right?

STUDY OF STUDIES

24 Laws of

Attraction

BY BEN HEALY

Beards, scars, red clothes,

and other scientifically

proven sources of sex appeal

TECH

26 Games Boys Play

BY SPENCER A. KLAVAN

How Gears of War

helped me come out

BIG IN ... THE NETHERLANDS

21 The War

on Tourists

BY RENE CHUN

Outnumbered by drunk

and disorderly visitors,

the Dutch fight back.

14 SOCIETY

Meritocracy’s Miserable

Winners
BY DANIEL MARKOVITS
The system that’s widened the gap between the rich
and everyone else has also turned elite life into an endless,
terrible competition. Maybe there’s a way out.

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