Today's Liberal News

What the Hong Kong Protesters’ Trial Reveals About Beijing

The police report refers to it simply as “the Scheme.” It was, in law enforcement’s telling, a conspiracy aimed at overthrowing Hong Kong’s government. For seven months, an eclectic array of prodemocracy activists and political hopefuls held meetings, raised funds, and gave media interviews in preparation for an unofficial primary election. One of them, the police report states, went so far as to locate “appropriate venues for polling stations.

“We Are Here Because You Are There”: Viet Thanh Nguyen on How U.S. Foreign Policy Creates Refugees

Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnamese American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses why he chooses to use the term “refugee” in his books, and speaks about his own experience as a refugee. His new novel tells the story of a man who arrives in France as a refugee from Vietnam, and explores the main character’s questioning of ideology and different visions of liberation.

You Probably Don’t Remember the Internet

For many of us, for better or for worse, the internet is home. Our communities are here, because many of them could not exist any other way. Superfans, shitposters, amateur experts, wiki nerds, grizzled forum moderators, obsessive sneaker enthusiasts, and hobbyists who spend a substantial amount of their time photographing vintage Furbies in human clothes, for example—the cultural and creative output of these communities is enormous and ever growing.

“The Sum of Us”: Heather McGhee on How Racism Undercuts the American Dream for Everyone

Amid a national reckoning with structural racism and the dangers of white supremacy, author Heather McGhee’s new book details how racism in the United States hurts not just people of color but also white people. In “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together,” McGhee details how zero-sum thinking has worsened inequality and robbed people of all stripes of the public goods and support they need to thrive.

Burmese Protesters Continue to Demand Democracy as Authorities “Shoot to Kill” in Sweeping Crackdown

Martial law has been declared in more parts of Burma as the military junta intensifies its crackdown following the February 1 coup. At least 217 protesters have been killed and over 2,000 have been arrested or detained since the coup began, according to one Burmese group. Protests are continuing across the country amid a crackdown on communications, in which much of Burma is under an internet blackout and independent newspapers have stopped publishing.