I never considered them as such. I had previously put their writing in the same realm as The New Yorker or Harpers, maybe not quite that good. McCleans or der Speigel from other regions.

The Atlantic is on the left, and has a good reputation for factual and thoughtful reporting. I’d call them classically liberal.

I see the bias as support of free speech, an ideal once strongly held by both the left and right but waning lately. Koch’s are at heart libertarians so their funding of it isn’t unusual.