Today's Liberal News

“How We Do Freedom”: V (Eve Ensler) on Fighting Fascism Through Community

We speak with V, the playwright formerly known as Eve Ensler, about “How We Do Freedom: Rising Against Fascism,” a daylong educational event to be held at New York City’s Judson Memorial Church on Saturday. V is the founder of the global activist movements V-Day and One Billion Rising that is organizing the event. “The rise of fascism, from India to Italy, from Afghanistan to U.S., [is] the most pressing concern everywhere,” says V, who ties the crisis to growing loneliness and isolation.

Uhuru 3 Found Guilty of Conspiracy, Acquitted of Foreign Agents Charge in Landmark Trial

A federal jury in Florida has found members of the pan-Africanist group African People’s Socialist Party guilty of conspiring with the Russian government to “sow discord” and “interfere” in U.S. elections. They face up to five years in federal prison. In a major victory for the activists, however, the jury acquitted them of the more serious charge of acting as foreign agents.

Imprisoned for 50 Years: Amnesty Calls for Leonard Peltier’s Freedom as He Turns 80 Behind Bars

Supporters of Leonard Peltier are calling on President Biden to grant clemency to the Indigenous leader and activist, who marked his 80th birthday behind bars on Thursday after nearly a half-century in prison for a crime he says he did not commit. The ailing Peltier, who uses a walker and has serious health conditions, including diabetes, has always maintained his innocence over the 1975 killing of two FBI agents in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

War in Sudan: Both Sides Accused of Crimes Against Humanity as UAE, Russia, China, Serbia Send Arms

In Sudan, a recent United Nations fact-finding mission documented “harrowing” human rights violations committed by both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, schools, hospitals, water and power supplies. Civilians have also been subjected to torture, arbitrary detention and gruesome sexual violence. Over 20,000 people have been killed and 13 million displaced over the past 16 months.

The Best Part of the Emmys Was the End

As he accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series last night, Richard Gadd, the creator and star of Netflix’s Baby Reindeer, made a plea to the audience. “If Baby Reindeer has proved anything, it’s that there’s no set formula to this, that you don’t need big stars, proven IP, long-running series… to have a hit,” he said. “The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling, good storytelling that speaks to our times.

A Horrifying New Attempt on Trump’s Life

The best, and most disconcerting, proof of the increased threat environment this election season came today in the form of “what appears to be an attempted assassination,” according to the FBI, against former President Donald Trump. It is the second attempt on his life this year, following the July shooting in Pennsylvania when a bullet grazed his ear. There is little public information about the most recent shooter, who hid in bushes adjacent to Trump’s golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.

Poland’s Gift to the American Republic

What does it feel like to watch a republic die? And what does it take to revive one? Whether the American republic survives could be decided in the next few months. Decades or centuries hence, the signs will seem clear; today, we live through one of those moments when we feel the weight of our own decisions, even as the larger historical forces, powerful as they might be, remain elusive in our daily life.

A Fix for Antibiotic Resistance Could Be Hiding in The Past

This article was originally published by Knowable Magazine.
Peering through his microscope in 1910, the Franco-Canadian microbiologist Félix d’Hérelle noticed some “clear spots” in his bacterial cultures, an anomaly that turned out to be viruses preying on the bacteria. Years later, d’Hérelle would come to use these viruses, which he called bacteriophages, to treat patients plagued with dysentery after World War I.

Life in the Fever-Dream Business

A typical film by Savanah Moss runs about 30 seconds long and costs maybe $300 to make, and yet somehow each feels like a full-body plunge into a surreal alternate universe. Many of them end in the same place they begin, and so on TikTok, where she has 11.4 million followers, they loop around and around, like a fever dream. That’s what she calls them: fever dreams. And as in dreams, plot is mostly beside the point.