July 2025
Features
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Atlanta’s top doctors tell us about their inspirations, most memorable patients, and the greatest challenge they face in medicine
We asked nearly two dozen doctors to tell us about their professional lives: Their inspirations, their best advice, and their most memorable cases. One doctor told us about meeting her namesake, a 16-year-old girl she had delivered as a premature baby. Another doctor was climbing Machu Picchu when a patient’s wife messaged with gratitude, moving him to tears.
I’ve had enough. It’s time we talk about perimenopause.
Perimenopause marks the time when ovaries gradually stop working. The body releases eggs less regularly, estrogen levels dip, periods become irregular, and fertility decreases. Fifty percent of women experience perimenopause and menopause—why do we never talk about it?
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The Connector
I went for a Peachtree Road Race training run with Senator Raphael Warnock
“See, I was typecast by my family as bookish,” Senator Raphael Warnock says; it wasn’t until his late 20s that Warnock found the gym. Now he runs the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race annually, along with running the treadmill at the Senate and biking on the Silver Comet Trail. Our managing editor joined him for a spring training run on the Beltline.
After pulling out of Atlanta in 2021, the MLB All-Star Game is back
The MLB All-Star Game: a once meaningful, now aimless whirlwind, which cities nevertheless still clamor to host. The Midsummer Classic has been played in Atlanta three times. It was almost four: In 2021 the Georgia General Assembly passed the controversial Election Integrity Act that placed heavy restrictions on voting access. In protest, MLB moved that year’s edition to Denver. Four years later, the Election Integrity Act remains in place, but MLB has brought the All-Star Game back to Atlanta.
Can U.S. birthright citizenship be overturned? This GSU law professor unequivocally says: No.
Lately, Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis has become a go-to source on questions about President Donald Trump’s frenzied efforts to reshape the federal government—the main question usually being, “Can he do that?” When it comes to Trump’s executive order overturning the constitutional right of birthright citizenship, Kreis’s reply is unequivocal: No, he cannot.
A vanished landmark: Remembering the Forrest Arms hotel, Atlanta’s hub for Black musicians
If you walk east on Ralph McGill Boulevard from Piedmont Avenue in the Old Fourth Ward, you won’t see any evidence that the Forrest Arms Hotel ever existed. There’s no trace of the building that, between 1955 and 1965, hosted pretty much every prominent Black entertainer who passed through Atlanta — including Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Sam Cooke.
Molly Sanyour Ceramics Studio makes some “cheeky” pottery
Molly Sanyour’s now-famous butt mugs, the first of which she created in 2018 and gifted to singer-rapper Lizzo before her concert, turned into an internet sensation when her students spotted it in a Lizzo photo shoot for Vogue. Once the orders started pouring in, she created Molly Sanyour Ceramics Studio, located just off the Westside Beltline in Adair Park.
The Bite
Atlanta discovers that behind every good wine bar is a good . . . chef
“I think it’s very strange that the expectation is, if you are at a wine bar, you are going to get some flatbread—some, like, uninspired food,” says Madeira Park partner Tim Willard, a well-traveled sommelier who opened the Poncey-Highland spot with Miller Union’s Steven Satterfield and Neal McCarthy. “But you are there for wine, and the snacks are just to kind of keep you full or get your palate salted so the wine tastes better. We had no interest in that.”
Two new summer reads explore the food scene in Atlanta—the city their authors once called home
Two new books—one a memoir, the other a work of fiction—capture the glamor and grit of the restaurant world and the often-messy lives of the folks whisked up within it.
A taste of Naples in Sandy Springs: Nonna Dora’s honors Italian heritage with minimalist charm
A painted portrait of Nonna Dora looks down over everything. She is owner-chef Patrizio Alaia’s grandmother from his hometown of Naples, Italy—the one who instilled his love for cooking. If he looks familiar as he passes through the 20-seat dining area, it’s because he is the former general manager and pizzaiolo of Sotto Sotto and the former owner of Mozza Bella.
Review: Acclaimed chef Jason Liang’s new Taiwanese restaurant Lucky Star shines bright
After a string of accomplished Japanese restaurants, chef Jason Liang takes a sharp turn with his latest project, Lucky Star. Located on Howell Mill Road, the Michelin-starred chef trades in sushi for Taiwanese food, with all its bold, deeply comforting flavors.
The Goods
Atlanta teen actress Mila Harris is suddenly on all our screens
Atlanta-born and -based Mila Harris was eight years old when she appeared on Nickelodeon’s hit series Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan. That role proved to be an absolute career catapult for the actress, who is now 14. In the years since, she has appeared in nearly a dozen feature films, including the upcoming films World Breaker and Coyote.
Against all odds, Atlanta’s indie film theaters are thriving in the streaming age
Today, the fate of the silver screen is more imperiled than ever, but small cinemas like the Plaza seem to have found a formula for success. In fact, Atlanta’s independently owned theaters—which also include Tara Theatre, Starlight Drive-In, The Springs Cinema & Taphouse in Sandy Springs, and Aurora Cineplex in Roswell—are doing better than ever.
The rise of the “anti-lawn movement” has some Atlanta yards looking wild by design
The past few decades have seen a rise in the “anti-lawn movement,” which prioritizes native plants that welcome pollinators and work with, rather than against, the natural environment. This cultural shift comes as Atlanta grapples with increased climate challenges.
Miscellaneous
A love letter to Six Flags Over Georgia
Six Flags Over Georgia was the first place that felt to me as if I were walking into a world unlike my own. A place where I could get lost in a story—the closest I could get to a living, breathing, walking, talking real-life fantasy. Other kids had Renaissance fairs, comic festivals, or LARPing [live action role-play] events. For me, it was Six Flags.
Editor’s Journal: How I finally got the perfect guitar
I remember clearly the first time I cradled an Everett guitar in my hands. When I strummed the strings, I was instantly seduced by the sweetness of the sound. I owned a vintage Gibson acoustic and I’d played a Martin. But they didn’t play like this. Those were made by man with machine; an Everett was all handmade.
