Today's Liberal News

The 2020 Olympics: 7 Sports We’re Watching

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.That legendary flame is lit. The 2020 Olympics opened a year late in Tokyo, kicking off with a somber and strange ceremony that spoke to this upsetting moment in history. Below, seven writers and editors catch you up on the sports they plan to watch in the coming weeks of competition.

The Books Briefing: The Dark Side of Athletic Perfection

Baseball, like many sports, sometimes seems as though it’s leaving the realm of human athleticism and instead marching toward an almost technical optimization. Steroids (illicitly taken) have made some players stronger than ever. Sabermetrics, which involves the detailed statistical analysis of baseball data, has turned the artistry of staffing a team into mere mathematics, a phenomenon that the author Michael Lewis writes about in Moneyball.

The Awful Coincidence of 2 Friends Who Got the Same Cancer

Each installment of “The Friendship Files” features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.This week she talks with two friends who were both diagnosed with the same cancer—acute myeloid leukemia—one right after the other.

Just Out of Jail, Winona LaDuke Decries Militarized Crackdown on Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Protests

Nearly 600 water protectors have been arrested during ongoing protests in Minnesota against the construction of the Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline at the Shell River, which the partially completed pipeline is set to cross in five places. On Monday, authorities arrested Indigenous leader Winona LaDuke and at least six others. She was just released from jail yesterday and joins us after three nights in jail.

“COVID Games” Begin in a Fearful Japan as Olympic Committee Prioritizes “Profits Over All Else”

As the Summer Olympics begin in Tokyo after the International Olympic Committee pushed forward during a pandemic despite widespread opposition in Japan, we speak with a protester outside the Olympic stadium and former Olympic athlete Jules Boykoff. “The people have been frustrated actually ever since the awarding of the Olympics in 2013,” says Satoko Itani, associate professor of sports, gender and sexuality at Kansai University.

Move to Berrien County, Michigan, for the Beaches—And the $15,000

Berrien County, Michigan, is not the kind of place you would expect to be losing residents. Perched on the coast of Lake Michigan, “the Hamptons of the Midwest” is widely known for its sandy beaches and vineyards, which draw plenty of tourists from nearby Chicago and Indianapolis. But the county hasn’t yet persuaded those tourists to stay, and its population has been declining since the 1970s.

“It Is Offensive”: Haitian Activist Says It’s Not Up to U.S. to Determine Haiti’s PM or Future

Two weeks after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, Ariel Henry has been sworn in as Haiti’s new prime minister, after acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph announced he was relinquishing power. Henry is a neurosurgeon who was appointed by President Jovenel Moïse shortly before he was assassinated, but not formally sworn in. Both Joseph and Henry had claimed power following Moïse’s death.

Delaware lawmaker apologizes for using slur against Asian women in email about sex work

Local GOP officials aren’t the only ones who seem to openly use racial slurs—some Democratic officials need to be held accountable too. A state lawmaker in Delaware apologized Tuesday after sending an email that used a racist, sexist slur against Asian women. The email about sex work was sent to an advocate working on decriminalizing prostitution by Democratic State Rep. Gerald Brady on June 27, NBC News reported.

House passes bill by 407-16 vote authorizing thousands more special visas for Afghan allies

The U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming vote of 407-16 passed bipartisan legislation that authorizes thousands more special visas for Afghan allies, and speeds up the application process. The ALLIES Act, introduced by the Honoring Our Promises Working Group last month, increases the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) cap by 8,000 visas, among a number of important provisions.