In the space of a single week, two parties that for the past few years have been defined by two old men dramatically mapped out two very different futures for themselves. In pressuring Joe Biden to step aside so that Kamala Harris could take his place at the top of the ticket, the Democrats are on track to have a Black woman presidential nominee for the first time ever — a prospect that is as worrisome as it is thrilling, as Rebecca Traister writes in this essay marveling at the party’s sudden break with the past. And by nominating aspiring populist J.D. Vance to be his running mate, Donald Trump has pushed the GOP a step closer to becoming an actual party of the people, as Simon van Zuylen-Wood notes in his story plumbing Vance’s ideological evolution and warning Democrats to take heed of the Republicans’ inroads with working-class voters. Sometimes it can feel like nothing ever changes in American politics, and then there are weeks like this when the world just opens up.

—Ryu Spaeth, features editor, New York