Today's Liberal News

Great Apes Know Just How Much to Annoy One Another

In the late aughts, while working on the island of Jersey, in the United Kingdom, Erica Cartmill found herself staring at a daughter giving her mother some grief.
The little one was waving a stick in her mother’s face and then yanking it back when her mother reached to snatch the object away—a performance so persistent, so targeted, Cartmill told me, that it was almost impossible for the grown-up to ignore.

Trump’s Contempt for Military Service

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The presumptive Republican nominee showed yet again this weekend how little he thinks of America’s men and women in uniform.

Biden’s Hidden Economic Success

President Joe Biden’s economic agenda is achieving one of his principal goals: channeling more private investment into small communities that have been losing ground for years.
That’s the conclusion of a new study released today, which found that economically strained counties are receiving an elevated share of the private investment in new manufacturing plants tied to three major bills that Biden passed early in his presidency.

A Hail Mary to Save The Daily Show

For me, the experience of watching The Daily Show belongs to a different, bygone era of TV. Either I flipped my cable box over to Comedy Central at 11 p.m. if I happened to be channel surfing that late or I caught up on my DVR the next day, eagerly fast-forwarding through the ads to get to Jon Stewart’s monologue.

The Climate Election: Mark Hertsgaard on Why 2024 Must Focus More on Climate Crisis

We speak with The Nation’s environment correspondent Mark Hertsgaard, executive director of Covering Climate Now, about how journalists under attack by climate deniers must not let fear of retaliation stop them from covering the subject, especially during an election year. “It’s not our job as journalists to censor ourselves because one party or one candidate decides that they’re going to deny climate science.

Climate Scientist Michael Mann Wins $1 Million Defamation Case Against Right-Wing Climate Deniers

We speak with world-renowned climate scientist Michael Mann, who was just awarded more than $1 million in a defamation lawsuit against two right-wing critics who smeared his work connecting fossil fuels to rising global temperatures. He joins us to discuss the importance of resisting climate denialism through free scientific inquiry and expression. “We all pay the price when scientists don’t feel empowered to speak out about the implications of their science,” says Mann.

Bombs, Disease, Starvation: Canadian Doctor Describes the Desperate Situation Inside Gaza

As Israel continues to threaten to invade Rafah, where over a million Palestinians have sought refuge, we speak to a surgeon who recently returned from a humanitarian mission at the European Hospital in Khan Younis in Gaza. “What I saw in Khan Younis were the most horrific scenes in my entire life,” says Canadian ophthalmologist Dr. Yasser Khan. He describes the dire conditions of injured civilians in Gaza, the majority of whom are children.

Could Indonesia Return to Military Rule? Allan Nairn on the “Massacre General” Running for President

Wednesday’s presidential election in Indonesia could see the ascendance of General Prabowo Subianto, who has tried for years to seize power after decades of involvement in mass killings, kidnapping and torture across Indonesia, in occupied East Timor and in independence-seeking Western New Guinea. Subianto is a longtime U.S. protégé and the son-in-law of former Indonesian dictator Suharto. He once mused about becoming “a fascist dictator” and has said the country is “not ready” for democracy.

What Was That Super Bowl Ad Even Selling?

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.
Celebrities were all over last night’s Super Bowl ads. Did the stars overpower the brands they were supposed to be selling?
First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
The good Republicans’ last stand
The presidency is not a math test.

Temu Is Speedrunning American Familiarity

Last night, the shopping app Temu, which is not quite a year and a half old, ran its second Super Bowl ad in as many years. It was hard to miss, because the same ad appeared several times, including following the game-winning touchdown. By most estimates, the three times the ad was featured in the middle of gameplay would have cost an eye-watering $21 million alone.

The Good Republicans’ Last Stand

After weeks of backroom maneuvering, the Republican split over foreign policy has burst into full view. The immediate stakes are the survival of Ukraine and the credibility of NATO. But behind the crisis of today is a larger crisis of tomorrow: U.S.-led defense of collective security, global trade, and the vitality of democracy as a force in the world.
That split in the GOP emerged over the weekend in two starkly contrasting stories, each pointing toward a very different American future.

The Presidency Is Not a Math Test

At the height of the Iran-Contra affair in 1986, Saturday Night Live featured a now-classic skit in which Ronald Reagan (played by Phil Hartman) doddered around the Oval Office whenever a journalist or tour group showed up, then snapped into evil-genius mode when they left the room. “Casey!” he barks at CIA Director William Casey. “The TOW missiles and grenade launchers will leave for South Africa at 0800 hours!” He performs lightning-quick mental arithmetic to improvise funding for a covert op.

A Climate Reckoning Is Coming for the Next President

If Donald Trump wins a second term, and his administration realizes conservative advocacy groups’ plans to dismantle environmental protections and drill, baby, drill, the United States is in for four years of relentless carbon pollution. In other words, another Trump presidency all but guarantees a complete abnegation of the country’s climate duties from 2025 to 2029.

Bishop William Barber on the “Moral Case for a Ceasefire” in Gaza

Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, talks about “the moral case for a ceasefire” in Gaza and why he joined a group of Christian leaders for a vigil outside the White House in November demanding action from President Biden. “We must speak as one voice — Christians, Muslims and Jews — to say the indiscriminate killing of women and children in this war is immoral,” Barber says.

Race, Gender, Class: Bishop Barber, Economist Michael Zweig on Poor & Low-Wage Voters in 2024 Election

As the 2024 election heats up, the Poor People’s Campaign has launched a 40-week effort aimed at mobilizing the voting power of some 15 million poor and low-wage voters across the United States ahead of the November election. The campaign’s first major coordinated actions are set to occur outside 30 statehouses on March 2, just days before Super Tuesday. “Statehouses are where the political insurrections are taking place,” says Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign.

“Our Children Deserve to Live”: Mother in Rafah Desperate to Escape as Israel Prepares Ground Invasion

As Palestinian health officials say overnight Israeli strikes killed dozens in Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge, we speak with a teacher trying to evacuate Rafah with her young children, who urges the U.S. government to stop the bloodshed. “My message to President Biden: We are innocent civilians, and we have no fault in what is happening,” says Duha Latif. “Our children deserve to live a normal life like the rest of the world’s children.