Why Portland failed where Portugal succeeded in decriminalizing drugs
Oregon lawmakers gave it three years. Portugal’s program took longer to show results.
Today's Liberal News
Supreme Court to anti-abortion activists: You can’t just challenge every policy you don’t like
Roughly 90 minutes of grappling over the abortion drug mifepristone produced some unusual and noteworthy moments.
Justices appear skeptical of call to restrict abortion pill
A decision, likely to come in June, would be a major victory for the FDA’s authority to regulate prescription drugs and for abortion-rights advocates who have sought to protect access to mifepristone.
Supreme Court hears its biggest abortion case since the fall of Roe
This is the first major reproductive-rights case to come before the court since the 2022 Dobbs ruling, which ended the federal right to abortion.
US employers add a surprisingly strong 275,000 jobs in sign of continued economic strength
Last month’s job growth was up from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January.
The toughest pain points awaiting Biden at the State of the Union
The president’s team thinks it’s had a historically successful first term, delivering victories on the economy, climate, drug pricing and more. But many Americans aren’t feeling it.
Liberals Dreamed of This Economy For Decades. What If Voters Don’t Like It?
Policymakers were determined to avoid the mistakes of the Great Recession — and they succeeded. But now they are in a mood of “fear and introspection.
Biden’s economy keeps messing up Trump’s message
“You can’t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he’s not responsible if things are going right.
US employers added surprisingly robust 353,000 jobs in January in further sign of economic strength
The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, just above a half-century low.
Daniel Kahneman Wanted You to Realize How Wrong You Are
I first met Daniel Kahneman about 25 years ago. I’d applied to graduate school in neuroscience at Princeton University, where he was on the faculty, and I was sitting in his office for an interview. Kahneman, who died today at the age of 90, must not have thought too highly of the occasion. “Conducting an interview is likely to diminish the accuracy of a selection procedure,” he’d later note in his best-selling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow.
How Climate Change Is Making Allergy Season Worse
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.
Rising temperatures are leading to what my colleague Yasmin Tayag has called an “allergy apocalypse.
Where RFK Jr. Goes From Here
Wasn’t Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supposed to have flamed out by now? At a rally yesterday in Oakland, California, Kennedy—a lifelong Democrat turned independent—unveiled his 2024 running mate, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan. Kennedy selected Shanahan from a motley crew of reported vice-presidential contenders: Aaron Rodgers, Jesse Ventura, Mike Rowe, Tulsi Gabbard, and the rapper Killer Mike, to name a few.
Shanahan is by no means a household name.
A Bad Gamble
This week, the pro baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani addressed the media for the first time since his name surfaced in an investigation of an alleged illegal gambling ring. He told reporters that the $4.5 million in wire transfers from his account had been sent without his knowledge by his friend and interpreter, and that he had “never bet on baseball or any other sports.”
Opening Day is this week, and Major League Baseball can’t be happy about this cloud over its biggest star.
Family Ties
Photographs by LaToya Ruby Frazier
The steel industry was already collapsing by the time the photographer and visual artist LaToya Ruby Frazier was born, in 1982. Like many Rust Belt communities, her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania, has suffered both economic and environmental distress: Thousands of manufacturing jobs have vanished, but chemicals from the steel plants still pollute Braddock’s skies.
U.S.S.
“We Don’t Need More Detention Centers, More Border Patrol”: Fernando García on SB4 & New Spending Law
An immigration battle continues on the border between Texas and Mexico, as Texas’s state government increases its militarization of the region, deploying hundreds of National Guard troops and constructing new infrastructure on the border.
Baltimore Key Bridge Collapses, Killing Six Immigrant Workers Who Had No Access to Emergency Warnings
Six people are missing and presumed dead after a 984-foot cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing the bridge’s collapse early Tuesday morning. All six have been identified as immigrant construction workers originally hailing from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Meet Eva Burch, Arizona State Senator Fighting Abortion Bans by Sharing Her Plan to Have an Abortion
Democratic Arizona state Senator Eva Burch made headlines last week after speaking on the floor of the state Senate about her plans to obtain an abortion after receiving news that her pregnancy was nonviable. Arizona has banned all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Supreme Court Seems Set to Preserve Access to Mifepristone in Likely Defeat for Abortion Foes
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday on the abortion pill mifepristone, which is available by mail and can be taken at home, even in states that have severely limited or banned abortions. The case was brought by a group of anti-choice medical associations that have sought to overturn moves by the Food and Drug Administration to increase access to the drug, which is used for roughly two-thirds of all U.S. abortions.
Justices were skeptical of abortion pills arguments. Anti-abortion groups have backup plans.
Supreme Court case is one of many tools elected officials and activists are using to try to cut off access to the drugs.
US employers add a surprisingly strong 275,000 jobs in sign of continued economic strength
Last month’s job growth was up from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January.
The toughest pain points awaiting Biden at the State of the Union
The president’s team thinks it’s had a historically successful first term, delivering victories on the economy, climate, drug pricing and more. But many Americans aren’t feeling it.
Liberals Dreamed of This Economy For Decades. What If Voters Don’t Like It?
Policymakers were determined to avoid the mistakes of the Great Recession — and they succeeded. But now they are in a mood of “fear and introspection.
Biden’s economy keeps messing up Trump’s message
“You can’t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he’s not responsible if things are going right.
US employers added surprisingly robust 353,000 jobs in January in further sign of economic strength
The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, just above a half-century low.
Trump’s Lucky Break
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.
Donald Trump has built up his reputation as a rich guy. When he ended up unable to cover a massive bond, the courts threw him a lifeline, but just for now.
First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
The aftermath of the Baltimore bridge collapse
The Supreme Court is shaming itself.
Supreme Court to anti-abortion activists: You can’t just challenge every policy you don’t like
Roughly 90 minutes of grappling over the abortion drug mifepristone produced some unusual and noteworthy moments.
Baltimore Lost More Than a Bridge
You could see the Francis Scott Key Bridge from Fort McHenry, the pentagon-shaped keep that inspired the bridge’s namesake to write the verses that became our national anthem. You could see it from the pagoda in Patterson Park, another strangely geometric landmark from which I’ve cheered on teams at Baltimore’s annual kinetic-sculpture race. You could see it from the top of Johns Hopkins Hospital, the city’s biggest employer.
Justices appear skeptical of call to restrict abortion pill
A decision, likely to come in June, would be a major victory for the FDA’s authority to regulate prescription drugs and for abortion-rights advocates who have sought to protect access to mifepristone.
The Aftermath of the Baltimore Bridge Collapse
The rapid collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early this morning touched off a frantic search for survivors—and gave Americans a frightening reminder of the fragility of the many systems that allow us to go about our lives.
The End of Foreign-Language Education
A few days ago, I watched a video of myself talking in perfect Chinese. I’ve been studying the language on and off for only a few years, and I’m far from fluent. But there I was, pronouncing each character flawlessly in the correct tone, just as a native speaker would. Gone were my grammar mistakes and awkward pauses, replaced by a smooth and slightly alien-sounding voice. “My favorite food is sushi,” I said—wo zui xihuan de shiwu shi shousi—with no hint of excitement or joy.