Today's Liberal News

Freedom Struggle: Angela Davis on Calls to Defund Police, Racism & Capitalism, and the 2020 Election

In a Democracy Now! special, we revisit our June 2020 interview with the legendary activist and scholar Angela Davis about the uprising against police brutality and racism launched in May after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protests have helped dramatically shift public opinion on policing and systemic racism, as “defund the police” becomes a rallying cry of the movement. Davis is professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

I feel lucky to be literate, and I have my parents to thank

Growing up as a child in southeast Los Angeles, I don’t remember a single summer in which I wasn’t enrolled in the reading program at the Downey City Library. Multiple times a week, I would skip through the electronic doors holding my father’s hand, the air conditioning coaxing us into the entryway where we were greeted by a display case featuring the latest children’s books.

Advocates want Georgia election officials to ease barriers to voting

Georgia voters may have more time for their absentee ballots to be counted if a recent federal court decision stands. Earlier this week, U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor Ross ruled that absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within three days will count for the general election.

“There are a number of states that have a postmark by standard,” said Nse Ufot, New Georgia Project CEO.

The Atlantic Daily: A Q&A With Our Editor in Chief

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. .”Read. Elizabeth Bradfield’s “Touchy” is a perfect poem for social distancing. It begins:
we say, when someone’s
sensitive. So touchy. So
dangerous and delicate and
ready to tip. Touching,
though, is sweet.
Continue reading.Watch.

A Note on Ted Halstead

Everyone who knew him has been shocked by the news that Ted Halstead, a founder of New America and pioneer of many other causes and organizations, has died in the past few days in a hiking accident in Spain. He had recently turned 52.Accidental deaths are by definition shocking, but intensely so in Ted’s case, because he has seemed to personify youth and promise.

Why Americans Really Go to the Gym

On Wednesday, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela got in a line near her home in New York City’s West Village that snaked down the sidewalk and wrapped around the corner of the block. New Yorkers will queue up for virtually anything; I was once velvet-roped outside a budget pasta joint, among other indignities. But at 5:45 in the morning, Petrzela and her neighbors weren’t anticipating a sample sale or a particularly good bagel. They just wanted to work out.

How I Mastered the Art of Ventilating My Home

My obsession with ventilation began long before the pandemic. Five years ago, when I moved from central Tokyo to the coast of Japan, a blanket of humidity seemed to levitate out from the sea and the surrounding mountains, wrapping everything I owned in a moist haze. Combined with crushing summer heat, it cultivated a perfect recipe for mold.That first summer, my ventilation game was weak. The tatami mats—traditional Japanese straw flooring—sprouted dark clumps.

‘Aging, Loneliness, Losing Your Mind, and Falling Apart’

Charlie Kaufman’s first new movie in five years is a horror film. In some ways, the same could be said of every feature he’s made. Synecdoche, New York and Anomalisa were eerie tales of existential dread and loneliness. The earlier scripts that made his name as a writer—Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—all had touches of the macabre despite being ostensible comedies.