Today's Liberal News

Guess who’s suspended when ESPN host suggests Black peer hired because of race! Not the white woman

Rachel Nichols, a white ESPN host, is in damage control mode after suggesting Maria Taylor, a Black host of the network’s NBA Countdown, got the job because of mounting pressure on ESPN to diversify. “I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world—she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said during a recording of a more than 20-minute phone call The New York Times obtained.

Sinema cranks up the PR machine, oblivious to the role she’s playing as McConnell’s tool

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, normally relatively press-shy and preferring to handle her own image-making (for better or much, much worse), has apparently decided she needs to bolster her reputation as a serious lawmaker. She also wants to make explicit the narrative she’s been anxious to set about herself as the inheritor of John McCain’s legacy. She, or her PR flack, got the Associated Press’ Lisa Mascaro and Nicholas Riccardi to bite.

A Beetle’s Genitals Just Complicated a Classic Evolutionary Story

The story of seed-beetle sex has often been told in a very particular way, with the male in the evolutionary driver’s seat, his hapless mate taken along for a grudging ride. A quick glance at the insect’s penis makes it easy to see why: The appendage is tipped with hundreds of sharp, hard spines that give it the appearance of an elaborate mace.

The Energy Revolution Is Tweaking OPEC Out

Yesterday, the oil-producers cartel OPEC—which is now somewhat cheekily called “OPEC+,” because Russia joined in 2016—failed to reach an agreement on increasing oil production. Stick with me for a second, because this may not seem like it has much to do with climate change, but in fact it reveals how decarbonization is already shifting how money is spent and how geopolitical power is exercised.

The 2 Ways to Raise a Country’s Birth Rate

Americans aren’t making as many babies as they used to. Last year, 3.6 million were born—the lowest count since 1979. The pandemic “baby bust” could push 2021’s tally down even further; researchers have estimated that the coronavirus and its economic impact could lead to about 300,000 fewer births in the United States this year.News of declining birth rates is not always a bad thing.

The Pop Music You Listen to Really Does Matter

Eras of music are commonly defined by particular sounds. The ’80s had gated reverb, the aughts had Timbaland’s beats, and the early 2020s have had the froggy, rasping splendor of Doja Cat’s voice. On a slew of recent hits and on her new, third album, Planet Her, the 25-year-old rapper and singer continues to prove she has an extremely now sensibility: steeped in online humor, thrilled by physical pleasure, and adaptable to whatever sound or situation gets thrown at her.

Glimmer of Hope in Honduras: Ex-Dam CEO & West Point Grad Convicted in Murder of Berta Cáceres

A former U.S.-trained Honduran military officer and businessman has been found guilty of plotting the assassination of Berta Cáceres, the award-winning Lenca land and water defender killed in 2016. The Honduran Supreme Court ruled unanimously that David Castillo, the former president of the hydroelectric corporation DESA, was a co-perpetrator in Cáceres’s murder.