This story contains spoilers for Bridgerton and Dickinson.In the Netflix series Bridgerton, everyone reads the pamphlets written by the pseudonymous “Lady Whistledown,” Regency England’s answer to Gossip Girl. Each issue targets the wealthiest and most powerful residents of London in 1813, revealing something new about the city’s high-society ecosystem.
The critic Carlos Lozada read some 150 books about the Trump era before writing his book What Were We Thinking. In those volumes, he found a regime that was appalling in its lunacy and that would leave a long-lasting carnage.As Trump left office and Biden was sworn in this week, I found myself thinking about other presidential legacies and the books that reflect on them. Some, written years after a leader’s time in office, make the case for vindicating a complicated figure.
Each installment of The Friendship Files features a conversation between The Atlantic’s Julie Beck and two or more friends, exploring the history and significance of their relationship.This week she talks with Gabe and Andy, two friends who for more than six years have walked 30 minutes once a week to give each other a high five.
After President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, pressure is growing from Indigenous leaders and environmental groups for the new administration to do the same with the Dakota Access pipeline, the controversial project that sparked the historic Standing Rock uprising in 2016.
We look at the fight to save tribal elders and Native language speakers as the pandemic rips through Indian Country, with Indigenous communities facing woefully inadequate healthcare, lack of governmental support, and the living legacy of centuries of colonialism. Native Americans have died from COVID-19 at twice the rate of white people across the U.S. To combat this crisis, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has prioritized elders who speak the Dakota and Lakota languages to receive vaccines.
On his first full day in office, President Joe Biden unveiled a 198-page national plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as the U.S. death toll tops 410,000. He signed 10 executive orders to create a new national COVID-19 testing board, to help schools reopen, to mandate international travelers to quarantine upon arrival, and to require masks on many forms of interstate transportation.
Readers are tipsy with praise for the Cocktail Codex.
He can’t possibly expect the GOP to go along with this—but that might be a good thing.
Or his ability to help Americans will be doomed from the start.
What was the point of Fortress D.C.
This is why so many of us spent the late summer and fall screaming our heads off for Congress to pass some sort of new coronavirus relief bill.
The era of Scotch-taped ties and generally upsetting aesthetics is OVER.
Trump’s presidency may be best remembered for its cataclysmic end. But his four years as president also changed real American policy in lasting ways, just more quietly. We asked POLITICO’s best-in-class policy reporters to recap some of the ways Trump changed the country while in office, for better or worse.
At the same time, the unemployment rate stayed at 6.7%, the first time it hasn’t fallen since April.
The share of wealth controlled by the top 1 percent sits at levels not seen since the 1920s. Biden’s hopes for changing it rests on Senate control.
A government shutdown was averted after the president approved the Covid relief package and annual spending bill.
We look at the path forward for the Biden-Harris administration and the role of social movements with political strategist Waleed Shahid and author and analyst Michael Eric Dyson. Shahid, spokesperson for the progressive political action committee Justice Democrats, says Biden could be “one of the most transformative presidents” in U.S. history if he acts boldly.
Fashion Week in Berlin, the departure of former President Donald Trump, the swearing-in of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, COVID-19 burials in Turkey and Mexico, an earthquake in Indonesia, bull-taming in India, a snow-covered Great Wall in China, National Guard soldiers in the U.S. Capitol, diploma artwork in New York City, and much more.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
At The Nation, Rafael Khachaturian writes—Trump Has Left the Building, but the Foundations Are Still in Place. Attention has rightly been paid to his malign influence. But the shift to the right started before his presidency, and promises to continue after it:
It has been an ignominious close to a historical moment that will be measured by its impact for years to come.
On inauguration day, 2021, the internet was taken hold by viral content not seen in years. An image of Sen. Bernie Sanders, arms and legs crossed, mask-wearing, and wearing warm Vermont-made mittens, watching the inaugural proceedings, took off. Memes were created using Sen. Sanders.
A story written by me was placed here and enjoyed.
We have a new president!
But Republicans still run the show in most statehouses, and they’re not going to be shy about using their power to stymie the Biden agenda at every opportunity.
And then there’s the next round of redistricting, where GOP gerrymandering is likely to return the U.S. House to an artificial GOP majority after 2022.
Sorry, sunshine was for Inauguration Day.
Before leaving the White House in shame, Donald Trump used his power to ensure one last thing: that he and his family members would receive continued protection from the U.S. Secret Service for at least six months.
States are warning they’re running out of the vaccine, with little sense of when more will arrive.
Back when it was safe to fly, I always dreaded the landing. As a recovering Catholic, I still do the sign of the cross out of impulse, a long-lingering tic that convinces me I’m making myself safe.
Republicans keep complaining about the new metal detectors outside the House chamber. Now we know why.
The country’s top infectious diseases expert threw shade on the Trump administration in remarks at a White House briefing on Thursday.
The complaint filed by seven Democrats follows calls from their colleagues for their expulsion.
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.President Joe Biden delivered his inaugural address to a field of flags.
