Today's Liberal News

Report from Gaza: “Devastating” Israeli Raid to Free 4 Israeli Hostages Kills 270+ Palestinians

In one of the single bloodiest Israeli attacks in Gaza over the last eight months, at least 274 Palestinians were killed, including at least 64 children, and nearly 700 were wounded in a raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp on Saturday that freed four Israelis held hostage in Gaza since October 7. “Children were shot dead. Elderly people were shot dead. Women were shot dead,” says Gaza-based journalist Akram al-Satarri, who was at the Nuseirat refugee camp on Saturday.

“VOICES: A Sacred Sisterscape”: Poet aja monet & V on New Audio Play Centering Black Women’s Stories

Democracy Now! speaks with the creators of a new arts campaign grounded in Black women’s stories. VOICES: a sacred sisterscape is an audio play directed by award-winning poet aja monet weaving together Black feminist poems and perspectives. “Art is an invitation to expand our participation in the world and the ways that we see the world,” says monet, who hopes the project inspires action beyond aesthetics.

Deadly Heat: Record Scorching Temperatures Kill the Vulnerable, Worsen Inequality Across the Globe

As we enter the month of June, scorching temperatures are already making deadly heat waves around the world. Data confirmed last month was the hottest May on record, putting the Earth on a 12-month streak of record-breaking temperatures. On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization announced there is an 80% chance the average global temperature will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels for at least one of the next five years.

Cruise Ships Aren’t Ready for Instant Tsunamis

This article was originally published by Hakai Magazine.
In 2015, 76 million cubic meters of rock crashed from the rugged cliffs above a southeastern Alaska fjord and into the water below. The landslide sparked a nearly 200-meter-tall wave that roared down the narrow Taan Fiord and out into Icy Bay. No one witnessed the collapse, but a year later, the geologist Bretwood Higman was in the area taking detailed measurements of the tsunami’s effects.

Why Russia Is Happy at War

On June 12, Russia celebrates its Independence Day. The commemoration was instituted by President Boris Yeltsin in 1992 to a collective shrug—“Who did Russia declare independence from?” people asked. But in the early 2000s, President Vladimir Putin elevated the day to a major national celebration, accompanied by a cornucopia of flag-waving.

A Rare Take on Young 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.
Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, in which one Atlantic writer or editor reveals what’s keeping them entertained. Today’s special guest is Rina Li, a copy editor who works on this newsletter.
Rina has wide-ranging cultural tastes.

Why California Is Swinging Right on Crime

As Gavin Newsom rose from mayor of San Francisco to governor of California, he championed progressive efforts to reclassify various felonies as misdemeanors, to end the death penalty, and to legalize marijuana. After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, he signed laws barring cops from using a controversial chokehold and requiring independent probes in police shootings, bragging that “California has advanced a new conversation about broader criminal justice reform.

Mojave Ghost

Looking for their night roost, tiny
birds drop like stars into the darkened dead trees
around me. I thought
dreams were like water, that we
can’t smell anything there. And then you visited me,
your body whole again
but the must of extinction on your breath.
This poem was adapted from Forrest Gander’s forthcoming book, Mojave Ghost: A Novel Poem. It appeared in the July/August 2024 print edition.

“VOICES: A Sacred Sisterscape”: Poet aja monet & V on New Audio Play Centering Black Women’s Stories

Democracy Now! speaks with the creators of a new arts campaign grounded in Black women’s stories. VOICES: a sacred sisterscape is an audio play directed by award-winning poet aja monet weaving together Black feminist poems and perspectives. “Art is an invitation to expand our participation in the world and the ways that we see the world,” says monet, who hopes the project inspires action beyond aesthetics.

Deadly Heat: Record Scorching Temperatures Kill the Vulnerable, Worsen Inequality Across the Globe

As we enter the month of June, scorching temperatures are already making deadly heat waves around the world. Data confirmed last month was the hottest May on record, putting the Earth on a 12-month streak of record-breaking temperatures. On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization announced there is an 80% chance the average global temperature will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels for at least one of the next five years.