How Trump’s transition could end up hamstringing his agenda
The president-elect’s advisers haven’t yet begun meeting with federal agencies, despite signing an agreement late last month allowing them to do so.
Today's Liberal News
Dining Out Isn’t What It Used to Be
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If you live in a big city, the idea of heading to an area filled with restaurants, finding one you like, and proceeding to sit down with friends or family might seem quaint. Dining out has changed: In recent years, restaurants in major cities are getting harder and harder to book tables at.
Hunter Biden Was Unfairly Prosecuted
Critics have argued that President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter was political nepotism—bad for the country, selfish, the height of privilege. But the actual story is the very opposite of nepotism: Hunter Biden was treated worse than an ordinary citizen because of his family connections. It’s good for the country when the president acts against injustice; President Biden rightly condemned the injustice of his son’s prosecution.
It Was One of 2023’s Most Shocking Crimes. The Year That Followed Was Even Harder to Explain.
In a Maine town, one store was a lifeline—and right in the middle of the deadliest tragedy ever in state history.
What Corporate Baddies and Tradwives Actually Have in Common
These two diverging displays of womanhood online have a common source.
Gymnasts, Figure Skaters, and Other Artistic Athletes Are Up Against a New, Unlikely Foe
Athletes, coaches, and choreographers are facing the fact that they’ve been unintentionally breaking the law nearly every day.
Welcome to Checking Out, a Column About What We Buy, How We Buy It, and Why It Defines Us Now
How we shop has changed so much, thanks to influencers, the internet, the pandemic, and more. In Checking Out, we’ll talk about all of it.
UnitedHealthcare CEO shot and killed in New York City
Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside a Midtown hotel.
Supreme Court appears skeptical of vaping firm’s challenge to FDA
The agency denied Triton Distribution’s application to sell flavored e-liquids.
Trump’s health nominees want Covid vindication. Here’s how their critique has aged.
Trump’s picks to lead the NIH and FDA were critics of health officials and their pandemic policies.
Trump picks NIH critic Jay Bhattacharya to lead the agency
The Stanford University physician and economist, known for opposing Covid-19 lockdowns, has been tapped to lead the $47 billion biomedical research agency.
Trump picks Jim O’Neill for No. 2 spot at HHS
If his nomination is approved, the longtime associate of Peter Thiel will work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
Your Opinions on Her Wardrobe Are Probably Unwelcome
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
What Role Does HR Play in the #MeToo Era?
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Trump voters feel very differently about things now that he’s won, our new poll shows
A pair of POLITICO|Morning Consult polls, one conducted in the final days of the election and the other conducted after Trump won, show how public opinion has changed.
It’s still the economy: What TV ads tell us about each campaign’s closing message
The final paid messages: Economy, culture wars and character.
Harris is pounding Trump on fascism. Some Dems think that’s a mistake.
Harris has ratcheted up her warnings about the dangers of a second Trump term in recent weeks.
There’s a Reason Harris’ Campaign Is Locked in on Quick Fixes
The Democratic nominee isn’t campaigning much on the Biden administration’s bigger, slower-moving policies.
“Surveilled”: Ronan Farrow on the Spyware Technology the Trump Admin Could Use to Hack Your Phone
We discuss the new HBO Original film Surveilled and explore the film’s investigation of high-tech spyware firms with journalist Ronan Farrow and director Matthew O’Neill. We focus on the influence of the Israeli military in the development of some of the most widely used versions of these surveillance technologies, which in many cases are first tested on Palestinians and used to enforce Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and on the potential expansion of domestic U.S.
What Can DOGE Do?
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A Glimpse at a Post-GPT Future
This is Atlantic Intelligence, a newsletter in which our writers help you wrap your mind around artificial intelligence and a new machine age. Sign up here.
The GPT era may be coming to a close. OpenAI announced yesterday the full release of a new set of “reasoning” models called o1.
The GPT Era Is Already Ending
This week, OpenAI launched what its chief executive, Sam Altman, called “the smartest model in the world”—a generative-AI program whose capabilities are supposedly far greater, and more closely approximate how humans think, than those of any such software preceding it. The start-up has been building toward this moment since September 12, a day that, in OpenAI’s telling, set the world on a new path toward superintelligence.
A Galactic Collision
ESA / Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton / DOE / FNAL / DECam / CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA
Day 6 of the 2024 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: a galactic collision. This Hubble image features Arp 122, a galaxy that actually comprises two vast galaxies colliding with each other—NGC 6040, the tilted, warped spiral galaxy at left, and LEDA 59642, the round, face-on spiral galaxy at right.
The UnitedHealthcare Gunman Understands the Surveillance State
The masked killer who targeted UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of New York City on Wednesday is, after more than 48 hours, still on the run. This is remarkable because he is the focus of a very public manhunt.
Political Chaos in France: Macron Refuses to Resign After Hand-Picked PM Ousted by Lawmakers
France has been plunged into political chaos after lawmakers from across the political spectrum voted to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote Wednesday, a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron, who had hand-picked the conservative lawmaker to lead the National Assembly.