Today's Liberal News

Trump’s Gamble to End the Iran War

President Trump has been hearing lately from two trusted confidants, each promising a quick path to ending the war in Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that Iran is on the brink of economic collapse and that a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, combined with sanctions, will force Tehran to capitulate at the negotiation table. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a series of calls with Trump, has offered a different route: one more round of devastating U.S.

When Rivers Run Low in the American West

This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
For William E. Smythe, the future of the West was clear. At the turn of the 20th century, long before low snowpacks and the climate crisis, before tens of millions of people moved westward, the New Englander turned western settler understood that water defined how life could be lived in the region.

The Myth of Safe AI

Three months prior to the launch of ChatGPT, OpenAI published what would prove to be a prescient blog outlining the firm’s approach to ensuring that its AI models would be safe and beneficent. This goal, known as “alignment”—as in, aligning AI with human values—is nebulous, grand, and perhaps the AI industry’s most foundational promise. The notion is right there in OpenAI’s mission statement to ensure AI “benefits all of humanity” and listed as one of Anthropic’s “primary” goals.

America Needs Its Indian Immigrants

Ask many successful Indian CEOs, entrepreneurs, or scientists how they rose to prominence in America, and they will tell you that, grit and talent aside, the key factor was the country itself: an economy and a culture that rewarded merit and drew ambitious, talented people from around the world.
Indian Americans are among the most affluent and best-educated groups in the country. What distinguishes them from other immigrant groups is that they have risen to the top in one generation.

“A Spark from the Cockroaches”: Arundhati Roy on India’s Youth Protests & Modi’s Crackdown

A court in India on Wednesday ordered the release of two leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, the youth-led movement that has led historic waves of protests in India since the summer. Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were detained amid massive protests last week after they scaled a barricade to enter a site popular for protest, unfurled the national flag and called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Should AIPAC Register as a Foreign Agent? Zeteo Examines Pro-Israel Lobby’s Influence on Elections

The growing controversy over AIPAC’s impact on U.S. politics is the subject of a new Zeteo documentary titled Night Flower: Inside AIPAC’s Fight for Influence. The film examines AIPAC’s history and its role in shaping U.S. policy toward Israel, and questions whether its activities warrant further scrutiny under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.

Mehdi Hasan on AIPAC’s Role in El-Sayed vs. Rogers Race in Michigan & Trump’s Targeting of Ilhan Omar

One of the most closely watched races in the midterm elections is in Michigan between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed is a former public health official who is campaigning on a platform of Medicare for All, ending military aid to Israel, and getting corporate money out of politics. Rogers is a former Republican congressman backed by President Trump.
If elected, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate.

A Wealth Tax on Billionaires? California Voters to Decide Prop 40

As voters across the United States cast ballots on November 3, Californians are weighing whether to approve a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of billionaires in the state. The tax would apply to roughly 250 Californians who now hold an estimated $2.3 trillion in wealth. Supporters say the wealth tax could raise up to $100 billion, with about 90% going toward healthcare. The remaining funds would support education and food assistance programs.

Nobel Peace Laureate Navi Pillay on ICC, Gaza, Rape as War Crime, Her South African Roots & Mandela

We speak with the acclaimed South African human rights lawyer and international jurist Navi Pillay, who was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Pillay has been the United Nations high commissioner for human rights and a judge at both the International Criminal Court and at an international tribunal investigating the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Most recently, she led the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.