The Bari Weiss Era at CBS Is Already a Complete Embarrassment
The legendary newsroom has become a laughingstock under its new editor in chief.
Today's Liberal News
Today’s Atlantic Trivia: High-School-Bio Flashbacks
Updated with new questions at 5:25 p.m. ET on January 14, 2026.
Welcome back to Atlantic Trivia! Are you hungry for more?
I hope that while I’ve been away, you have been enjoying plenty of food for thought—literally. Research shows that berries help improve memory and that a walnut-heavy diet is associated with higher cognitive performance. Fatty fish and leafy greens are linked to slower cognitive decline. Caffeine is a brain boost too.
HHS terminates, then reinstates, thousands of grants for substance use, mental health
The Department of Health and Human Services told grantees their projects were no longer aligned with agency priorities, then backtracked under pressure.
Jeff Bezos Needs to Speak Up
When the government stomps on some once-inviolable right, it may be carrying out the next step in a concerted plan, or it may just be stumbling clumsily. The proper response in these moments is not to wax hysterical, but instead to draw clear moral lines. That is especially true for powerful people with the ability to make themselves heard.
National health spending soared for 2nd consecutive year in 2024
The 7.2 percent increase comes as Americans continue to seek out medical care at high levels.
Scott Adams’ Life and Death Is a Cautionary Tale for the MAGA Age
While generations of fans may have loved “Dilbert,” its creator devolved into something unrecognizable as he embraced the MAGA age.
Supreme Court Appears Poised to Uphold State Bans on Trans Student Athletes
When Becky Pepper-Jackson started middle school, she wanted to join her school’s track and field team. Like many girls her age, she was excited to make new friends and cultivate a passion for a sport. But unlike the other girls on her school’s track and field team, Pepper-Jackson is trans.
ICE Detention Expands Dramatically; 70,000 Immigrants Now Jailed, Deaths Increase
A new report finds the number of people in ICE detention has nearly doubled in Trump’s first year back in office, driven by indiscriminate arrest policies that have locked up more and more people without criminal records, “an unprecedented situation for immigration detention.” We break down the numbers with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, which published the report.
“ICE Is OK with Renee Good’s Killing”: Journalist Ken Klippenstein on ICE Tactics & Recruitment
Reporter Ken Klippenstein’s latest investigation into the inner workings of the Trump regime finds that immigration enforcement agencies ICE and Border Patrol have relaxed recruitment and deployment guidelines in an effort to fill the administration’s sweeping deportation goals.
Journalist Tests ICE Recruitment; Surprised to Find Herself Hired with No Background Check
“They didn’t ask very many questions.” Independent journalist and U.S. military veteran Laura Jedeed recounts how she was hired as a deportation officer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a six-minute interview at a job fair in Texas, despite never signing any paperwork, not having completed a background check, likely failing a drug test, and publicly sharing her opposition to the Trump administration and its anti-immigrant crackdown.
“Federal Invasion”: Minnesota Officials Condemn Violent ICE Raids, Arrests
Trump’s immigration enforcement surge continues to rock Minnesota, just a week after the ICE shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three and U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the number of federal agents now in Minneapolis and Saint Paul outstrips the 10 largest Twin Cities metro police departments combined. “We don’t want ICE in our neighborhoods.
Grok is Gross
Lizzie O’Leary joins to break down the story of the disturbing deepfakes being created by X’s AI chatbot.
The CBS Evening Debut of Tony Dokoupil Was Embarrassing in Ways I Didn’t Know Possible
At least the debut of the “America-loving” newscast was an apt metaphor for America right now.
Money Talks: The Agony and Ecstasy of Barbie
Barbieland author Tarpley Hitt tells us all about the checkered past of the world’s most famous doll.
So Was it a Good Year for US Markets or Nah?
2025 was an interesting year for US stock markets and global dealmaking.
RFK Jr.’s theories about vaccines are about to be tested
American kids are no longer routinely being recommended shots against hepatitis A, meningitis, rotavirus and the flu.
Parents on RFK Jr.’s advice on sweets: ‘Completely unrealistic’
The health secretary’s new dietary guidelines tell parents to cut the added sugar until their kids turn 11.
Trump’s plan to strong-arm insurers into lower prices is met with skepticism
There are reasons to be skeptical that voluntary cuts by insurance companies could bring significant, lasting health care savings for Americans.
The GOP’s Obamacare defectors were more numerous than expected
The group was led by members in swing seats and those who represent many constituents facing rising health insurance premiums.
When Church Was a Queer Space
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
Remembering, with the People of MCC San Francisco, AIDS Still Isn’t Over.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
What Happens When You Organize Church Around AIDS – and AIDS Changes?
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The Church’s Pastor Gets Diagnosed with AIDS. And the Church Wonders How Much They Might Lose.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
A Church Romance Between a Hula Dancer and a Lumbersexual Blossoms in a Dangerous Time.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
Vance tries to thread affordability needle in Rust Belt
The vice president fine-tunes Trump’s economic message, but he’s only got so much wiggle room.
Ex-Trump voters swung hard to Democrats over costs in NJ & VA, new research shows
Voters who backed Donald Trump in 2024 and swung to Democrats in this year’s Virginia and New Jersey elections did so over economic concerns, according to focus groups conducted by a Democratic pollster and obtained by POLITICO.
Democrats think they’ve found their 2026 message — and Miami just backed it up
In races across the country, Democrats focused on promises to make life more affordable — even as they offered contrasting approaches.
Voters sour on Trump’s handling of the economy in new poll
The White House plans to make affordability a key selling point for Republicans across the board as the 2026 midterm elections come into focus.
“All the Walls Came Down”: L.A. Fire Survivors Fight Foreclosure & Demand Justice in Altadena
We look at All the Walls Came Down, a new short documentary directed by filmmaker Ondi Timoner that looks back at the devastating 2025 fires in Los Angeles, which destroyed Timoner’s home and left the historically Black community of Altadena in ruins. The film, which has been shortlisted for an Academy Award, follows community organizer Heavenly Hughes as residents confront the aftermath of the fires and organize to rebuild their town.
Trump goons find new heinous way to attack Somali communities
The Trump administration’s all-out war on Somali people continues.
In the latest move, the brittle and ghoulish White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on X that President Donald Trump is ending Temporary Protected Status for Somalis.
“Somali migrants with TPS will be required to leave the country by March 17,” she wrote.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
The U.S.