Today's Liberal News

The Protein Madness Is Just Getting Started

In the early 1950s, “Hi-Proteen” powder, one of the first modern protein supplements, hit the market. Initially, it tasted awful. But after its creator, Bob Hoffman, added in Hershey’s chocolate, the flavor improved. (He used a canoe paddle to stir his mixture in a giant vat.) Protein products have come a long way since then. Perhaps, they have come too far: Last weekend, at the gym, I was offered a can of lemon-flavored “protein ice tea.

How a Book Can Change a Graduate’s Life

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.
For many people in their early 20s, graduating from college is both a significant milestone—perhaps the most important of their young life—and a rupture that leaves them utterly unmoored. (It has been this way for a long time; just ask Dustin Hoffman on that pool float.

Modern Dating, With a Lot of Talking, Talking, Talking

Modern dating, experts have lamented, has become a numbers game; the more matches you make, the more likely you are to land a mate. But in the new film Materialists, the only number that really matters is a suitor’s net worth. Take Harry (played by Pedro Pascal), for example: He’s a partner in a private-equity firm and the owner of a $12 million penthouse apartment in Manhattan.

The New Old Sound of Adult Anxiety

The often-cited statistic that 50 percent of American marriages end in divorce has long been overstated: The divorce rate started sliding from its historical peak way back in 1980. But the myth of the modern marriage being doomed to fail endures because it was seared into the cultural consciousness—like so much else—by Baby Boomers.

I Was Detained, Deported from L.A. Airport for My Reporting on Gaza Campus Protests: Australian Writer

A Columbia University graduate has been denied entry into the United States and deported following 12 hours of detention at the Los Angeles International Airport. Australian writer Alistair Kitchen says agents questioned him about his views on Israel and Palestine and downloaded the contents of his phone. “They were waiting for me when I got off the plane. I didn’t even make it into the queue for passport processing,” says Kitchen.

Another Iraq? Military Expert Warns U.S. Has No Real Plan If It joins Israel’s War on Iran

As Israeli warplanes continue to pummel Tehran and other parts of the country, President Trump has given mixed messages on whether the U.S. will join Israel’s war on Iran. Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a message on Thursday that Trump will decide on direct U.S. involvement in the next two weeks. Leavitt delivered the message shortly after Trump met with his former advisor Steve Bannon, who has publicly warned against war with Iran. The U.S.

“What Authoritarians Do”: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Speaks Out After ICE Arrests Him in Courthouse

New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested outside an immigration courtroom Tuesday. Lander has been volunteering as an observer and escort for people with immigration hearings in recent weeks. In this case, while accompanying a man named Edgardo, a group of ICE agents approached the two men, who were walking arm in arm. Lander asked repeatedly to see a judicial warrant before being handcuffed and detained.

Mosab Abu Toha: As Attention Shifts to Iran, Israel Ramps Up Killings, Starvation & Annexation in Gaza

As Israel’s attack on Iran overshadows Israel’s ongoing assault on the region, we speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha on the deepening crisis in his home of the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of starving, desperate civilians have been killed and wounded while attempting to access critical aid. Witnesses have described massacres committed by Israeli soldiers and U.S. security contractors at U.S.

Why America Needs More Public Pools

This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
My husband often hears me say that all I need to be happy is a sunny day and a pool. (He would argue that I don’t say this so much as I whine it.) No matter how bad a day I’m having, if I can squeeze in just 10 minutes coursing through the water, watching the dappled sun reflect off my arms, life feels bearable again.