Abortion access to restart in Missouri, clinics say, following state court ruling
The court blocked a restriction that had prevented clinics from operating. But the fight over abortion is far from over.
Today's Liberal News
Trump’s Loyalties
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Donald Trump and Elon Musk continued their efforts to slash and overhaul the federal government this week.
Trump officials defend HHS cuts as more methodical than the slashing at other agencies
The administration’s Friday night message comes as a sharp departure from the approach that Trump and DOGE have taken to cuts in other federal departments and agencies.
The Many Sides of Love
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.
Flaco Lives
Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo in 2023, is still with us (even though he’s dead).
He spent about a year roaming New York City—hunting in the park, hooting from fire escapes—and in that time, he became a celebrity. Then he flew into a building while disoriented by rat poison and pigeon herpes. It has been a year since Flaco’s untimely death, and now the New York Historical is hosting an exhibition memorializing his life.
Government Workers Cannot Be Fired for Their Political Views
Just a few years ago, then-Senator J. D. Vance of Ohio said that if Donald Trump were reelected, he would advise the president to “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state” and “replace them with our people.
Influencers Taught Us How to Overconsume. Can They Also Help Us Break the Habit?
No matter how good their intentions, creators are still able to make money off of telling people to spend less.
Americans Are Actually in a Position to Make Elon Musk Feel Our Rage
His car company is in a precarious spot.
Trump Has Promised to Lower Prices. It Will be Impossible Without Private Equity Reform.
You can’t promise lower prices while backing away from regulations.
The Most Controversial Super Bowl Ad Was Also One of the Worst. The Best One Nobody Saw Coming.
Even Patrick Mahomes couldn’t outflop these ads.
You’re Not Going to Like What Happened to the Super Bowl Ad
Companies are so invested in making their Super Bowl ads a success that we’ve lost something in the process.
Trump’s Trade War Ends Before It Can Begin
The wildly high tariffs on Canada and Mexico have been called off.
Texas judge fines New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas
The ruling was handed down on the same day New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite the same doctor.
Judge blocks Trump order restricting gender-affirming care for trans youth
The nationwide restraining order seeks to restore access to health services for transgender patients 19 years and younger that had been disrupted by a Trump executive order.
US food and medical aid to the world’s poorest is still in limbo
The Trump administration exempted lifesaving assistance from its foreign aid freeze, but providers say it’s still not getting through.
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
Your Opinions on Her Wardrobe Are Probably Unwelcome
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
What Role Does HR Play in the #MeToo Era?
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Trump’s spending freeze spreads chaos across US
Supporters of climate, infrastructure, mortgage, tech, health, veterans’ and other projects expressed alarm as tens of thousands of programs appeared possibly at risk.
Lael Brainard’s ‘Crisis Management Agency’ — and Her Warning For Trump
Joe Biden’s top economic adviser opens up on harrowing moments from her time in the White House, and what makes her nervous about the Trump agenda.
Stephen Miran is Trump’s pick to lead Council of Economic Advisers
Miran has called for a sweeping overhaul of the Fed to ensure greater political control over the central bank, including giving the president the power to fire board members at will.
“The World After Gaza”: Author Pankaj Mishra on Gaza & the Return of 19th-C. “Rapacious Imperialism”
Pankaj Mishra’s new book, The World After Gaza: A History, was written as a response to the “vast panorama of violence, disorder and suffering that we’re seeing today,” says the author. In Part 1 of our interview with the award-winning Indian writer, Mishra shares why he “felt compelled” to respond to what he sees as a return to the 19th-century model of “rapacious imperialism” in the Western world, signified by global complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Democratic AGs win second court ruling against Trump’s order on gender-affirming care
“If the Order stands, transgender children will die,” the AGs warned in their lawsuit.
A Blatant Violation of Legal Ethics
A criminal case is not a chit. It’s not something you trade in exchange for political favors.
Perhaps the always-transactional President Donald Trump does not understand the importance of keeping the Department of Justice independent from partisan politics. But Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove should.
The Real Problem With DOGE’s AI Plans
This is Atlantic Intelligence, a newsletter in which our writers help you wrap your mind around artificial intelligence and a new machine age. Sign up here.
Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency appear to have wide-reaching plans to remake the government with AI. Thomas Shedd, a former Tesla engineer who is now the head of the Technology Transformation Services, a federal IT division, invoked an “AI-first strategy” at a recent staff meeting.
The Failed Promise of the New Captain America
This may sound like a hopelessly naive thought about a superhero movie, but Captain America: Brave New World presented an exciting opportunity. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, now on its 35th entry, has probably been exhausted at this point, yet the latest installment’s advertising was intriguing. It promised a thinky thriller in which the new, Black Captain America butts heads with a growly, militaristic president (played by Harrison Ford).
Growing Up Murdoch
James Murdoch was seated at a conference table in a Manhattan law office in March 2024 when he realized he was witnessing the final dissolution of his family.
Three months earlier, his father, Rupert, had told James and his sisters that he was rewriting the family trust to grant his elder son, Lachlan, full control of the Murdoch empire after his death, rather than splitting it equally among his four oldest children.