Today's Liberal News

The Obama Meme on Trump’s Truth Social Was Exactly What It Looked Like

Donald Trump supercharged his political career by claiming that Barack Obama wasn’t American. Yesterday, 16 minutes before midnight, the president’s account on Truth Social posted a video that suggests Obama isn’t even human. It briefly shows the head of the first Black president and that of his wife superimposed onto the bodies of apes. They dance along to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The video, which Trump’s account shared twice, seems to be a screen recording.

Can U.S. & Iran Lower Tensions? Officials Begin New Talks Amid Trump Threats of Military Strikes

In the wake of deadly mass protests that have shaken the ruling Iranian government, and with U.S. leaders publicly weighing the idea of military intervention and potential regime change in Iran, American and Iranian officials are beginning renewed talks over Iran’s nuclear program today. We speak to two guests, reporter Nilo Tabrizy and scholar Arang Keshavarzian, about the “very strange and contradictory situation” facing the country.

“Journalism Deserves Better”: Ex-Washington Post Staffers Slam Billionaire Bezos for Gutting Paper

The Washington Post has laid off more than 300 journalists, dismantling its sports, local news and international coverage. “Everybody is grieving, and it’s a loss for our readers,” says Nilo Tabrizy, one of the paper’s recently laid-off staff, who describes a “robotic” meeting announcing the cuts. “They didn’t have the dignity to look us in the eye.

America Is Losing the Facts That Hold It Together

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
The CIA World Factbook occupies a special place in the memories of elder Millennials like me. It was an enormous compendium of essential facts about every country around the world, carefully collected from across the federal government.

Should You Buy a Newspaper or a Yacht?

CONFIDENTIAL: To a billionaire trying to determine what to do with $250 million in 2013,
That kind of pocket change can buy you a newspaper. And not just any newspaper, but a world-class paper with a wall full of Pulitzers (I remember emerging from the elevator and marveling at it as a summer intern) and decades of experience holding power to account.
Alternatively, $250 million can buy half a superyacht. A yacht is a very big boat.
That newspaper employs hundreds of journalists.

You’ve Never Seen Super Bowl Betting Like This Before

Nothing makes Americans want to gamble like the Super Bowl. Every year, the game is reliably the biggest day for sports betting: On platforms such as FanDuel and DraftKings, people are already putting money down on which team will win the opening coin toss, how long the national anthem will be, and what color of Gatorade will be used to douse the winning head coach.
Gambling on sports has become practically inescapable.

Ballet’s New Iron Curtain

This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
In July 2017, as the U.S. was racked by revelations that Russia had interfered in its presidential election, a group of envoys from both countries quietly brokered a peace accord in New York. They met at Lincoln Center.