Today's Liberal News

The Many Lives of Adrienne Rich

Illustration by Celina Pereira; photographs by Bettmann; Richard Lautens / Toronto Star / GettyIn 1952, in her native Baltimore, Adrienne Rich delivered her first public lecture, “Some Influences of Poetry Upon the Course of History.” She was 23. Over the next 59 years, Rich (1929–2012) would herself alter both poetry and history. As an author, a teacher, and an editor, she helped define American feminism.

The Letters That Outgoing Presidents Wrote to Their Successors

One of the most crucial aspects of a functioning democracy is the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. Each of the following five letters, handwritten by an outgoing president and left in the Oval Office for the incoming president to find, reminds us of the sanctity of that fundamental practice. Reagan wrote to Bush. Bush wrote to Clinton. Clinton to Bush. Bush to Obama. And Obama to Trump. Regardless of party. Regardless of personal beliefs.

It’s Time to Hunker Down

Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. The end may be near for the pestilence that has haunted the world this year. Good news is arriving on almost every front: treatments, vaccines, and our understanding of this coronavirus.Pfizer and BioNTech have announced a stunning success rate in their early Phase 3 vaccine trials—if it holds up, it will be a game changer. Treatments have gotten better too.

The Role-Playing Game That Predicted the Future

Lauren TamakiAbout 30 years ago, in Santa Cruz, California, a man named Mike Pondsmith laid out a prophecy for the then-distant future—the year 2020.It was a future teeming with tech. He envisioned the dizzying data-winds of cyberspace, gigantic holographic video screens, bioengineered wheat-powered metro cars, and, everywhere you looked, the gleam of polychrome cyberoptic eyes.

Never Trump, Forever

If you ask her, President Donald Trump didn’t deserve any votes, let alone millions. And still, Mona Charen made it all the way to 11:09 on Election Night without swearing.The conservative columnist was perched on a dining-room chair, Zooming into an Election Night panel for /YouGov poll. However, some anti-Trump Republicans might no longer consider themselves Republican, which would mean the true number of Never Trumpers like Charen is actually higher.

“More of an Exorcism Than an Election”: Priya Gopal on What Biden Win Means for Britain & Ireland

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been one of President Trump’s closest international allies. How will he adapt to working with a Biden administration? Cambridge professor Priya Gopal says Johnson was clearly betting on a Trump reelection, especially amid Britain’s exit from the European Union. “I think they were certainly hoping that there would be a Trump victory,” says Gopal. “Brexit and Trump, as Trump quite correctly recognized, are very deeply in sync.

Trump Loss Decreases Chance of Iran War, But Many Iraqis Fear U.S. Policy Under Biden, Too

We look at how Joe Biden’s presidency will affect the U.S. footprint in the Middle East with Guardian correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, who says Biden’s win is being viewed with “anxiety” by many Iraqis who are eager to avoid war between the U.S. and Iran. “Any conflict will take place on Iraqi soil,” says Abdul-Ahad. “There is not much optimism. There is anxiety towards Biden and his team in the way they deal with Iraq.

Friday Night Owls: Police reform ballot measures did well. But activists say that’s just the start

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week

Rachel Ramirez at Vox writes—“A multi-year fight”: Activists say passing local ballot measures on policing is just the first step:

In the weeks after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, calls to defund the police could be seen on protesters’ signs, read in etchings on sidewalks, and heard in chants in America’s streets.

Biden improved in South Carolina’s suburbs, but not enough to save a vulnerable freshman Democrat

Our project to calculate the 2020 presidential results for all 435 congressional districts nationwide makes its second stop in South Carolina, where Team Red enjoyed a stronger-than-expected year. You can find our complete data set here, which we’re updating continuously as the precinct-level election returns we need for our calculations become available. You can also click here to learn more about why this data is so difficult to come by.

‘An awful lot of preventable deaths happening right now’ in the Upper Midwest

In North Dakota, COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen so far that the state will “allow” asymptomatic, COVID-19-positive healthcare workers to keep working, Gov. Doug Burgum announced this week. Allowed. The lucky ducks.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in South Dakota increased by 26.5% last week, but Gov. Kristi Noem is still rejecting a mask mandate, and her spokesman points to the fact that 34% of the state’s hospital beds remain vacant.