Today's Liberal News

Biden’s task of rescuing USDA climate change research agencies is a massive one

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is as good an example of the depth and breadth of damage Donald Trump has done to the government as any. Under him, Secretary Sonny Perdue gutted the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture, splitting the agencies up and ripping hundreds of jobs out of Washington, D.C. and forcing employees to either relocate to Kansas City or quit.

The Atlantic Daily: Pandemic Year Two

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.Joan WongThis year, my colleague Ed Yong’s work proved unfortunately prescient. Starting in 2016, he warned that America wasn’t ready for a pandemic—and that such an outbreak under a Trump administration would play out poorly.

Joseph Stiglitz on the Pandemic Economy & Why He Backs Sanders’ Filibuster for $2000 Stimulus Checks

The House of Representatives has voted to approve a measure that would increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000, sending the bill to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has said he will filibuster to delay an override on President Trump’s veto of this year’s $740 billion defense spending bill unless the Senate also holds a vote on the $2,000 checks.

Where Year Two of the Pandemic Will Take Us

Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. The influenza pandemic that began in 1918 killed as many as 100 million people over two years. It was one of the deadliest disasters in history, and the one all subsequent pandemics are now compared with.At the time, The Atlantic did not cover it.

The Resistance’s Breakup With the Media Is at Hand

The day after the 2016 election, I got a phone call from an old friend. Neither of us had slept much, and we spent most of the conversation exchanging shell-shocked comments of the Can you believe this? variety. Before we hung up, his voice took on a trace of irony. “Well,” he said, “this is going to be great for your career.”I waved the remark away, but I knew he was probably right. My contentious relationship with Donald Trump was already paying professional dividends.

The Life in The Simpsons Is No Longer Attainable

The most famous dysfunctional family of 1990s television enjoyed, by today’s standards, an almost dreamily secure existence that now seems out of reach for all too many Americans. I refer, of course, to the Simpsons. Homer, a high-school graduate whose union job at the nuclear-power plant required little technical skill, supported a family of five.

The Deep Story of Trumpism

As a White House resident, President Donald Trump is a goner. But his stranglehold on the GOP seems as tight as ever: Three in four Republicans say they believe their man won the 2020 election. Can the GOP channel the energy of his most fervent supporters and advance a sort of Trumpism without Trump? The answer depends on what Trumpism is—a populist prototype, a personality cult, or something stranger.To some, Trumpism marks the beginning of a new Republican Party.