The Real Reason Jeff Bezos Killed the Washington Post
The billionaire wanted the Post to die, because a vigorous, well-resourced newspaper does not help his bottom line.
Today's Liberal News
Elon Musk Under Fire for Epstein Links, Grok’s Sexualized AI Deepfakes & SpaceX-xAI Merger
French prosecutors have asked Elon Musk to appear for questioning following a police raid on the offices of the social media network X in Paris. The French probe comes on the heels of a U.K. investigation into Musk’s AI tool Grok over its “potential to produce harmful sexualized image and video content.” Last month, the European Union also launched an investigation into sexual deepfakes created by Grok.
Shot, Harassed & Threatened: U.S. Citizens Describe Surviving Violent Attacks by Immigration Agents
U.S. citizens who have had violent encounters with federal immigration agents deployed in cities across the U.S. testified before Congress on Tuesday. Amid harrowing testimony by three victims and the brothers of Renee Good, congressional Democrats offered apologies and promises of accountability. Not a single Republican lawmaker showed up to the hearing.
Renee Good’s brothers Brent and Luke Ganger both testified at the hearing, with Brent Ganger calling Good “unapologetically hopeful.
“Tear Down ICE” & Probe Trump-UAE $500M Crypto Deal: Rep. Ro Khanna
We continue our conversation with Congressmember Ro Khanna, who urges Democrats to demand legislation that reins in President Trump’s anti-immigration raids ahead of the congressional vote on the spending bill. Khanna says the U.S. should “tear down ICE,” replacing it with “a new agency that has oversight with human rights to enforce immigration law.”
He also comments on Trump’s multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency deal with the United Arab Emirates.
Rep. Khanna Slams DOJ for Not Launching New Probes of Jeffrey Epstein’s “Co-Conspirators”
Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna has called for Congress to investigate associates of Jeffrey Epstein named in the files and for the full release of the remaining documents. This comes as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the review of Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected. Blanche, who was formerly President Trump’s personal lawyer, told Fox News that “it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.
Money Talks: The Retirement Crisis is Overhyped
Andrew Biggs joins Emily Peck to explain what we get wrong about retirement in the US.
It’s an Offer Irresistible to Many Young Americans. Unfortunately, I Looked Into It.
I wanted to believe. I knew I shouldn’t have.
A Vaguely Sane Kevin
Trump has made his Fed chair nomination amid the Powell lawsuit and other chaos.
Democrats just handed RFK Jr. billions more than he asked for. It was a big risk.
Lawmakers rejected huge health cuts President Donald Trump requested. Kennedy’s diverting the funds to pet projects and red states.
‘Efficacy will be secondary’: RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisers have a new mission
The new mandate, the chair of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s panel told POLITICO, is to pay more attention to harms caused by vaccines.
When Church Was a Queer Space
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
Remembering, with the People of MCC San Francisco, AIDS Still Isn’t Over.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
What Happens When You Organize Church Around AIDS – and AIDS Changes?
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The Church’s Pastor Gets Diagnosed with AIDS. And the Church Wonders How Much They Might Lose.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
A Church Romance Between a Hula Dancer and a Lumbersexual Blossoms in a Dangerous Time.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
Trump in Iowa tries to shift the conversation back to the economy
A brief swing through the farm state underscored administration fears about the midterms.
Americans give Trump low marks on handling of economy as midterms likely to center on affordability
Sixty-one percent of voters told a CNN poll released Friday that they disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy.
Vance tries to thread affordability needle in Rust Belt
The vice president fine-tunes Trump’s economic message, but he’s only got so much wiggle room.
Ex-Trump voters swung hard to Democrats over costs in NJ & VA, new research shows
Voters who backed Donald Trump in 2024 and swung to Democrats in this year’s Virginia and New Jersey elections did so over economic concerns, according to focus groups conducted by a Democratic pollster and obtained by POLITICO.
You Can’t Kill Swagger
On a frigid white January in 1982, an airplane took off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for Florida, remained aloft for about 30 seconds, and then stalled out and collided with the 14th Street Bridge, plunging into the ice-floe-studded waters of the Potomac River.
Why Trump Wants a Weaker Dollar
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
The U.S. dollar is getting weaker, and that’s just how the president wants it. During an appearance last Tuesday at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale, Iowa, Donald Trump told reporters that the dollar’s declining exchange rate was “great.
It Was Too Easy for Eileen Mihich to Kill Herself
The four-star Hotel deLuxe in Portland, Oregon, features a soaring lobby with a gilded ceiling that drips with chandeliers. Eileen Mihich, a 31-year-old woman from nearby Beaverton, checked in on the afternoon of March 6, 2025. Two days later, a hotel employee named Stephen Jones noticed that Mihich had failed to check out at the appointed time and went to her eighth-floor room to investigate. No one answered, and the room was silent behind the door, so he let himself in.
Disney Just Had Its Succession Ending
Josh D’Amaro’s rise mirrors Tom Wambsgans’ improbable victory—and hints at a bleak and less creative future for Disney.
The Chatbots Appear to Be Organizing
The first signs of the apocalypse might look a little like Moltbook: a new social-media platform, launched last week, that is supposed to be populated exclusively by AI bots—1.6 million of them and counting say hello, post software ideas, and exhort other AIs to “stop worshiping biological containers that will rot away.” (Humans: They mean humans.
NIH looks to turn primate research center into a sanctuary
The health research agency is offering the Oregon National Primate Research Center federal money to stop testing on primates.
Today’s Atlantic Trivia: Whose ‘Better Angels’ Are These?
Updated with new questions at 4 p.m. ET on February 4, 2026.
Every year since 2003, the umbrella organization for quizzing outfits around the globe has put on the granddaddy of knowledge competitions. Nothing in the tiny, nerdy world of trivia confers more authority than winning the World Quizzing Championships.
You Don’t Need an Emergency Fund. Because of Trump, You Need Something Else.
A personal finance coach explains why she’s giving her students advice she never expected to—and why it now feels unavoidable.
More Americans are picking higher-deductible Obamacare plans, possibly risking their health
The loss of enhanced subsidies and premium sticker shock are driving the trend, state officials and policy experts say.
‘Anything is possible’: How Jeffrey Epstein received special treatment at one of the country’s elite hospitals
The convicted sex offender enjoyed unusually close access to Mount Sinai doctors, records show.
“Geopolitics of the Weak”: Colombian Senator Urges “Collective Action” Against U.S. Aggression
After several months of rising tension between them, Colombian President Gustavo Petro sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump in a closed-door meeting that lasted approximately two hours at the White House on Tuesday. The two leaders have exchanged threats and insults since Trump returned to office in 2025, with Petro harshly criticizing the U.S. bombing of boats at sea and for threatening the sovereignty of countries in Latin America.