Today's Liberal News

Two Apricots

In Kadıköy market, their money already
mingled, someone fished for coins
and handed a small few to the grocer; the other
inspected the apricots and kept the one
less beautiful. Each revealed, at their fingertips,
a pink moon. The firmament tasted like
an insatiable kiss. They held each other’s hands—
dirty from money, sticky with juice.

“Origin”: Ava DuVernay’s New Film Dramatizes “Caste,” from U.S. Racism to India’s Dalits to Nazi Germany

We speak with award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay about her latest feature film, Origin, which explores discrimination in the United States and beyond through a dramatization of the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, whose process of writing the book is a central part of the film’s story.

Dearborn Mayor to Biden: “Lives of Palestinians Should Not Be Measured Simply in Poll Numbers”

President Biden faced protests in Michigan this week over his ongoing support for the Israeli assault on Gaza. Michigan is a crucial swing state that could prove decisive in this year’s presidential election and is also home to the largest percentage of Arab Americans in the United States. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who refused to meet with Biden’s campaign manager last week, says it’s inappropriate to consider electoral politics as U.S. policy supports an ongoing genocide.

“Legacy”: Dr. Uché Blackstock on How Racism Shapes Healthcare in America

On the first day of Black History Month, we take a look at how racism shapes healthcare in America. We speak with Dr. Uché Blackstock about her new book, Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine. The instant New York Times best-selling book tells her family’s story through multiple generations of Black women physicians while revealing the history of racism that created today’s disparities in medical training and treatment in America.

“Climate of Fear”: Inside UAE’s Use of U.S. Mercenaries to Carry Out Assassinations in Yemen

Democracy Now! speaks with filmmaker Nawal Al-Maghafi about her BBC investigative report which reveals new details about how the United Arab Emirates hired American mercenaries to carry out over 100 assassinations in southern Yemen, targeting politicians, imams and members of civil society. Al-Maghafi interviewed several mercenaries for the first time on camera about how they conducted the targeted killings and trained others to run similar operations.

The Apple Vision Pro Is Spectacular and Sad

Updated at 8:41 p.m. ET on February 3, 2024
“I am crying,” my editor said when I connected with her via FaceTime on my Apple Vision Pro. “You look like a computer man.”
What made her choke with laughter was my “persona,” the digital avatar that the device had generated when I had pointed its curved, glass front at my face during setup. I couldn’t see the me that she saw, but apparently it was uncanny. You look handsome and refined, she told me, but also fake.

What Does Iran Want?

Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here.  
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden told reporters that he had decided how the U.S. will respond to the Iran-backed militia drone attack that killed three American soldiers in Jordan on Sunday. The Biden administration has made it clear that the U.S.

How Relationships Grow, and How They Break

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
“The reason my marriage fell apart seems absurd when I describe it: My wife left me because sometimes I leave dishes by the sink,” Matthew Fray wrote in 2022. “It makes her seem ridiculous and makes me seem like a victim of unfair expectations.

Northern Alaska Is Running Out of Rocks

This article was originally published by High Country News.
Every year, millions of migratory birds flock to Alaska. Hundreds of thousands of caribou use the tundra, rich in plant life, as their calving grounds. Alaska’s North Slope is also rich in other natural resources: oil, gas, minerals. But one important thing is lacking: rocks.

17 Indie Films You Must See in 2024

Navigating the Sundance Film Festival can be a tricky endeavor. The stacked screening schedule is practically made to send cinephiles into a tailspin: If the line for the new Steven Soderbergh movie starts forming at 9 p.m.

“Legacy”: Dr. Uché Blackstock on How Racism Shapes Healthcare in America

On the first day of Black History Month, we take a look at how racism shapes healthcare in America. We speak with Dr. Uché Blackstock about her new book, Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine. The instant New York Times best-selling book tells her family’s story through multiple generations of Black women physicians while revealing the history of racism that created today’s disparities in medical training and treatment in America.

“Climate of Fear”: Inside UAE’s Use of U.S. Mercenaries to Carry Out Assassinations in Yemen

Democracy Now! speaks with filmmaker Nawal Al-Maghafi about her BBC investigative report which reveals new details about how the United Arab Emirates hired American mercenaries to carry out over 100 assassinations in southern Yemen, targeting politicians, imams and members of civil society. Al-Maghafi interviewed several mercenaries for the first time on camera about how they conducted the targeted killings and trained others to run similar operations.

Why the + Is Everywhere

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 plus sign is everywhere in the world of branding. It’s cool (sort of), capacious, and wholly unoriginal. At least it’s difficult to mock.