Today's Liberal News
Universal Tariffs Go from Bonkers to Blanket
The UK has struck a deal with the US to avoid bigger tariffs but keeps the 10% blanket tariff in place.
RFK Jr.’s big report is coming. The GOP’s farm and food allies are sweating.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again Commission will assess the causes of childhood disease on Thursday.
RFK Jr. calls for global health cooperation outside the World Health Organization
The health secretary also rejected a pandemic agreement member countries of the U.N. agency just adopted.
Biden diagnosed with aggressive form of prostate cancer
The disease included “metastasis to the bone,” according to a statement from his personal office.
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 chaotic economy is causing headaches for Democrats in New Jersey’s governor race
The crowded contest in the Garden State shows how hard it is to address pocketbook issues.
Warren Buffett shocks shareholders by announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year
Earlier, Buffett warned Saturday about the dire global consequences of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
‘Anything can happen’: Trump doesn’t seem fazed by recession worries
Trump has blamed shaky economic numbers on his predecessor.
Democrats look to Trump’s poor economic numbers with anxious optimism
Following its latest round of focus groups, Navigator Research is urging Democrats to proactively push their own economic policies.
Warning signs for Trump as pessimistic outlook on the economy grows among Americans
Trump’s winning issue is becoming one of his biggest liabilities as multiple polls this week reveal growing disapproval numbers on the economy.
In Defense of Academic Freedom
This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
Why defend academic freedom even when the ideas in question are wrongheaded or harmful? “It is precisely because any kind of purge opens the gate to all kinds of purge, that freedom of thought necessarily means the freedom to think bad thoughts as well as good.
A Dangerous Disguise for Anti-Semitism
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.
Updated at 5:44 p.m. ET on May 22, 2025.
When Hamas stormed across the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, it knew exactly what it was doing. The group had detailed maps of nearby Israeli military bases and forces, and quickly overran them. But the terrorist group did not stop there.
Time for Scary Movies to Make Us Laugh Again
Final Destination, as a horror franchise, is known for its reliable results. Each of its first five movies begins with someone having a premonition of a terrible disaster (a plane crash, a highway pileup, a roller-coaster accident), persuading a group to avoid it, and then spending the rest of the movie dodging the Grim Reaper, who seeks to collect the souls he lost. Death exists in these films as an amorphous concept; there’s no cloaked villain carrying a scythe.
Google’s New AI Puts Breasts on Minors—And J. D. Vance
Sorry to tell you this, but Google’s new AI shopping tool appears eager to give J. D. Vance breasts. Allow us to explain.
This week, at its annual software conference, Google released an AI tool called Try It On, which acts as a virtual dressing room: Upload images of yourself while shopping for clothes online, and Google will show you what you might look like in a selected garment.
RFK Jr. says food and pharma are poisoning Americans. His big report says a fix is coming.
The Make America Healthy Again Commission that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leads will release a strategy to combat chronic disease by summer’s end.
The Beauty That Moral Courage Creates
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Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest and Franciscan friar who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 for hiding Jews and publishing anti-Nazi tracts, then sent to Auschwitz. He might have survived the camp and the war had he looked out for himself. Instead, he volunteered to take the place of a man randomly selected to be starved to death in retribution for another prisoner’s escape.
Trump Repeats “White Genocide” Falsehoods in Meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
President Donald Trump staged an extraordinary confrontation in the Oval Office on Wednesday, repeating his false claims about a “white genocide” taking place in South Africa during a meeting with the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa. At one point, Trump had the lights dimmed and ordered video clips played showing people calling for violence against white farmers in South Africa.
U.K. MP Jeremy Corbyn & EU MP Lynn Boylan on Europe Pressuring Israel to Halt Atrocities in Gaza
International criticism of Israel continues to grow as the country’s military expands its assault on Gaza, killing scores of Palestinians on a daily basis while blocking food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from reaching the starving population. The U.K. Labour government announced this week it is suspending free trade talks with Israel and imposing sanctions on some Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. The European Union says it will also review its trade ties with Israel.
“The Worst It’s Ever Been”: U.K. Surgeon in Gaza Warns Kids Are Bearing Brunt as Israel Widens Assault
We speak with Dr. Victoria Rose, a British plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has been on three medical missions to Gaza since the start of Israel’s war on the territory. She joins us from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where she’s been treating patients for over a week, and describes horrific injuries amid Israel’s ongoing bombardment, limited medical supplies and widespread malnutrition making it harder for people to heal. “Children are particularly taking the brunt of this,” she says.
“Nothing Can Justify It”: Journalist Gideon Levy Reacts to Killing of Israeli Embassy Staffers in D.C.
We speak with Israeli journalist Gideon Levy after a young Israeli couple was shot dead in Washington, D.C. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim both worked at the Israeli Embassy and were killed by a gunman after leaving the Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday night. The couple were dating and about to get engaged, the embassy said. Police identified Elias Rodriguez of Chicago as the suspect in custody.
The Stock Market Wants to Make You Feel Stupid
One thing you can predict is that the stock market is unpredictable.
America’s Cities Are Finally Growing Again—but There’s a Big Catch
Doomers thought cities would collapse post-pandemic. The numbers tell a much different story.
Universal Tariffs Go from Bonkers to Blanket
The UK has struck a deal with the US to avoid bigger tariffs but keeps the 10% blanket tariff in place.