Today's Liberal News

Nexstar and Sinclair Lost Their Game of Chicken

When ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air last week after his comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the obvious way to understand the story was that it was an attack on free speech. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr had, after all, publicly declared that ABC could do things “the easy way or the hard way” with regard to Kimmel, and then implied that local ABC affiliates might face “fines or license revocation” if nothing was done.

Charlie Kirk and the ‘Third Great Awakening’

In the two weeks since Charlie Kirk’s killing, Trump-administration officials and allies have not only promised a sweeping crackdown on liberal groups. They have marshaled the language of a rising charismatic Christian movement to describe their political agenda as a cosmic battle against the forces of evil.
At Kirk’s memorial service on Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the moment at hand as “not a political war” and “not even a cultural war—it’s a spiritual war.

RFK Jr.’s Obsession With the Past

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 ascent of MAHA—the Trump administration’s movement to “Make America Healthy Again”—is part of a broader health revolution in the United States, one that venerates the past in order to carve out a purportedly healthier future.

The Emptiness of Attacking Critics for Their Hypocrisy

The Trump administration’s systemic attack on free speech is hard to defend. The easier move for the president’s apologists is to attack critics for their hypocrisy.
“The left has amnesia when it comes to the cancel culture they perpetuated. It is a game they created with rules they made up. Now they hate that it’s being applied to them,” the USA Today columnist Nicole Russell writes.

Golf’s Very Loud Weekend

Give a guy from Bushwick several hours to day-drink and a chance to yell on Rory McIlroy’s backswing, and it’s going to happen. Garrulous and unseemly noises always seem to break out whenever golf and New Yorkers are adjacent. The organizers of the Ryder Cup have nevertheless brought the famously contentious event to Bethpage Black this weekend for the first time.

Why Is the Pentagon Afraid of the Press?

Sign up for National Security, a newsletter featuring coverage of rising authoritarianism, military intelligence, and geopolitical conflicts.
In the 18 years I have been reporting at the Pentagon, military leaders have rarely been delighted to see me. Over the years, I have had heated conversations with generals, spokespeople, and civilian leaders. I have reported news that the department officials didn’t want publicized, as well as information they were eager to share.

A Rupture in One’s Sense of Self

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books.
As Patricia Lockwood’s second novel, Will There Ever Be Another You, begins, the protagonist is visiting Scotland with her family. That will be her last moment of relative normalcy, because in the very next chapter, she catches COVID, which changes her dramatically. She has a fever that won’t go away, and struggles to recognize faces, write, and read.

“They’re Assassinating People for No Reason”: Cuban Minister Condemns U.S. Strikes in Caribbean

As the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign on Venezuela, we speak with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. In recent weeks, the U.S. has bombed multiple alleged Venezuelan “drug boats” at sea, killing at least 17 people without providing any clear evidence that they were involved in drug trafficking or linked to the government in Caracas. The U.S.

As Trump Vows War on Left, Ken Klippenstein Reveals Kirk & ICE Shooters Were Disengaged with Politics

President Donald Trump is escalating his attack on progressive groups following the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and a deadly shooting that targeted an immigration jail in Dallas. White House officials have repeatedly blamed Democrats and left-wing groups for contributing to political violence, but investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein says the motivations of people who commit such acts are often more complicated.