Today's Liberal News

Dear James: I Can’t Stop Thinking About Death

Editor’s Note: Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? Every Tuesday, James Parker tackles readers’ questions. Tell him about your lifelong or in-the-moment problems at dearjames@theatlantic.com.
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Dear James,
For all intents and purposes, at age 47, I’m in the best shape of my life. In June 2022, I entered into a wonderful relationship with my current partner.

“Black Americans Are Not Surprised”: Christina Greer on Trump’s Attacks on Students, DEI & History

“There has been a systemic erasure of Black history.” Professor Christina Greer discusses the Trump administration’s crackdown on free speech and efforts to whitewash American history. The erasure of the history of racism and resistance is not only intellectually dishonest, says Greer, but will also cause the U.S. economic and social harm. “We can’t move forward as a nation collectively … if we don’t understand our collective past,” she says.

“Detained Without Evidence”: Maryland Father Remains in El Salvador Prison After SCOTUS Ruling

The Supreme Court has paused a lower court order that instructed the Trump administration to immediately bring back a U.S. legal resident who was “mistakenly” sent to El Salvador, giving the court more time to deliberate on the case. Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was expelled from the U.S. on March 15 despite holding protected status, will continue to languish under dangerous conditions in a Salvadoran maximum-security prison.

“What About the Capitalists?”: Autoworkers in U.S., Mexico Call for Solidarity, Not Divisive Tariffs

As workers brace for uncertainty and fallout from Trump’s tariffs, we hear from two autoworkers, one in Mexico and one in the United States. Israel Cervantes, founder of the National Independent Union for Workers in the Automotive Industry in Mexico, calls for unions across North America to unite against the tariffs, which have already led to layoffs from auto manufacturers. In the U.S.

“Can’t Look Away”: New Documentary Examines How Social Media Addiction Can Harm — Even Kill — Kids

Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media is a new documentary that exposes the real-life consequences of the algorithms of Big Tech companies and their impact on children and teens. In 2022, social media companies made an estimated $11 billion advertising to minors in the U.S., where 95% of teenagers use social media. One in three teens uses social media almost constantly.

Trump Is Willing to Take the Pain

During Donald Trump’s first term, advisers who wanted to check his most dramatic impulses reliably turned to two places to act as guardrails: the stock market and cable news. If the markets reacted badly to something Trump did, they found, he would likely change course to match Wall Street’s moves.

Just Like the Old Trump

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Chaos is terrifying, which is perhaps why traders were so relieved this morning when Walter Bloomberg tweeted “HASSETT: TRUMP IS CONSIDERING A 90-DAY PAUSE IN TARIFFS FOR ALL COUNTRIES EXCEPT CHINA.

‘A Path of Perfect Lawlessness’

This article was updated on April 7, 2025, at 8:40 pm.
The Supreme Court is about to decide whether the Trump administration can exile Americans to a gulag overseas and then leave them there.
The Trump administration wants everyone to believe that the case challenging its deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s infamous Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, or CECOT, is about the government’s right to deport undocumented immigrants, or gang members, or terrorists.

The White Lotus Doesn’t Stick the Landing

This article contains spoilers through the Season 3 finale of  The White Lotus.
On The White Lotus, misdirection abounds. Each installment of the writer-director Mike White’s acerbic satire opens with a guest at the titular hotel chain stumbling upon a dead body, before rewinding a week to introduce a motley crew of patrons and staff who might each end up being the deceased.

The Late-Night Experiment That Puts Comedy First

On the first episode of Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney, Netflix’s new talk show, the comedian gathered a panel of 11 actors who have played Willy Loman, the tragic protagonist of the classic play Death of a Salesman. He lobbed queries at the group, which included recognizable stars (among them Christopher Lloyd) and fresh-faced students, asking them to answer in character—but not about their performances or the play itself.