Today's Liberal News

Floods, Fires & Heat Waves: Michael Mann on “The New Climate War” & the Fight to Take Back the Planet

We speak with leading climate scientist Michael Mann about the catastrophic impact of the climate crisis around the world. He says he and other scientists predicted the extreme weather events now wreaking havoc. “We said that if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels and elevating the levels of carbon pollution in the atmosphere and we continue to warm up the planet, we will see unprecedented heat waves and wildfires and floods and droughts and superstorms,” says Mann.

News Roundup: Being a rich Republican is gravy; Biden wants path to citizenship; COVID-19 is bad

In the news today: Senate Republicans really, really don’t think anyone who can afford to pay lawyers and accountants to help them avoid paying taxes shouldn’t have to pay taxes and people who can’t afford to pay them are having a harder and harder time affording a home. Being a fat cat can save you from justice even when you’re one of Trump’s biggest corrupt grifters. Sen. Ted Cruz remains a racist asshole.

Another protest at Wi Spa turns violent, and people are questioning if it started with a hoax

Earlier in July, Daily Kos covered a violent mob of far-right protesters descending upon Wi Spa in Los Angeles, California. Why the mob? A customer of the spa shared a video to Instagram in which she alleged she saw a trans woman in the women’s section of the spa. In the video, customers confront spa staff and question the spa’s trans-inclusive policies, asserting that trans women aren’t actually women.

Eight-year-old Nationals fan reacts to shooting: ‘It was my 2nd shooting, so I was kind of prepared’

Gun violence doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it should; This year alone there have been almost 300 mass shootings in the country, according to Gun Violence Archive. In the most recent incident of gun violence reported nationally, a shooting occurred outside Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on Saturday during a game between the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals. Echoes of the gunfire could be heard inside the stadium and caused fans to seek safety.

Undocumented workers in the South are exercising their right to organize

This story was originally published at Prism.

Watching Alabama workers mount one of the “largest and most aggressive efforts to unionize Amazon” was the first time many Americans saw the powerful labor organizing that is happening in the South, a region of the country that is home to anti-worker laws rooted in racism. But Juan Miranda says the movement in Alabama was just a snapshot.

Jeff Bezos Is Ready to Cross a Cosmically Controversial Line

Days after Richard Branson flew to space and back, Jeff Bezos is preparing for his turn.The dueling space billionaires share a lifelong fascination with space travel and aspire to sell customers a few glorious minutes of weightlessness, high above Earth. But on one very basic point they disagree: Where does space begin?Bezos’s Blue Origin is designed to take passengers to a higher altitude than Branson’s Virgin Galactic.

Come In

Photo illustrations by Miki LoweRobert Frost is commonly thought of as a “nature poet”—a simple chronicler of stoic New England beauty. Quotes from “Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “The Road Not Taken” are plastered on mugs, plaques, and a host of other mundane products, their out-of-context words used as inspirational mantras and pleasant home decor. But Frost rejected the nature-poet label, and his poems were actually quite dark.

After 140 Years, Native Youth Lead Return of 10 Children’s Remains from Carlisle Indian School in PA

The remains of nine Indigenous children were buried by the Rosebud Sioux in South Dakota after being transferred back from the former Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, where the children were forcibly sent over 140 years ago. Carlisle was the first government boarding school off reservation land, and it set the standard for other schools with its motto, “Kill the Indian, Save the Man.

Perfectionism Can Become a Vicious Cycle in Families

Roshni Ray Ricchetti was 16 years old when she arrived at MIT with perfect SAT scores and “lots and lots” of AP credits. She said her parents pushed her to make the absolute most of her talents. “I was a very, very high-performing student who, frankly, crashed and burned. I dropped out of MIT. And I’ve ended up okay in spite of that,” the Illinois-based science editor told me.

The Marriage Plot for the Age of Workism

A scene midway through Hacks finds the show’s protagonists, Deborah and Ava, in bed together—but not in bed together. The two comedians, one in her 70s and the other in her 20s, are chatting on the phone late one evening, Ava from her Las Vegas hotel room and Deborah from her Vegas mansion. Both are watching Law & Order: Criminal Intent. “I think I could play a dead body,” Ava muses. “Well, you certainly have the complexion,” Deborah murmurs in reply.