<em>The Atlantic Daily</em>: Trump’s Miserable Week

“Trump keeps losing not because of something obscure, but because of something fundamental: his abuse of the executive branch,” two legal experts argue.

Team Trump failed to block John Bolton’s book.

The former national security adviser’s memoir comes out tomorrow, despite allegations from Trump’s camp that it spills classified information.

Graeme Wood, our staff writer, read every word. “Close observers of Washington and geopolitics will find much in it to savor,” he writes, but the general reading public will be disappointed, “because it has little of the salacious backbiting” that defined other accounts of the Trump administration.

The abrupt dismissal of Geoffrey Berman on Friday is an ongoing scandal.

Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes parse three plausible—and troubling—reasons Attorney General William Barr would have tried to force out Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

One question, answered: Can colloidal silver be used to treat COVID-19?

“The pandemic has sparked an interest in dubious cures such as colloidal silver—and some are trying to capitalize on it,” Olga Khazan reports:

Though topical silver can be used in wound care, almost all mainstream scientists say colloidal silver doesn’t do much of anything—except, in extreme cases, turn a person’s skin blue. Most doctors would say these individuals’ positive experiences are most likely the result of a placebo effect, or of the disease resolving on its own. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, silver has “no known function or benefits in the body when taken by mouth.”

Nevertheless, people’s deep faith in colloidal silver speaks to how the uncertainty of COVID-19 has fueled a desire for alternative remedies.

What to read if … you want practical advice:

What to read if … you’re looking for an evening long read:

Thirty years ago, the world discovered Romania’s “child gulags,” where tens of thousands of abandoned children were raised. Their experience raises the question: Can an unloved child learn to love?

Dear Therapist

Every Monday, Lori Gottlieb answers questions from readers about their problems, big and small. This week, she advises a daughter concerned about her mother:

I do not believe that a day has gone by since I came home, more than two months ago, that my mom has not cried.  … How can I best suggest that she reach out to a therapist or other means of support without giving her the impression that I do not care and do not want to continue helping?

Read the rest, and Lori’s response. Have a question? Email her at dear.therapist@theatlantic.com.

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Caroline Mimbs Nyce is a senior associate editor at The Atlantic.