This article was originally published by Hakai Magazine.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer of 2023 was the hottest on record. In the Caribbean, coral reefs sat in sweltering water for months—stewing in a dangerous marine heat wave that started earlier, lasted longer, and climbed to higher temperatures than ever recorded in some locations. In some places, the water was more than 32 degrees Celsius—as toasty as a hot tub.
For the venerable American Civil Liberties Union, Donald Trump’s four years in the White House had the intensity of life during wartime.
The group filed its first lawsuit against the Trump administration on January 28, 2017, just eight days after Trump took office and one day after he promulgated his first attempt at banning the entry into the U.S. of travelers from several Muslim-majority nations.
The pace of the organization’s legal combat against Trump never let up.
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Welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, in which one Atlantic writer or editor reveals what’s keeping them entertained. Today’s special guest is Charlie Warzel, a staff writer and the author of the Galaxy Brain newsletter.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul unfurled a subway “safety” plan last week. It included assigning 750 National Guard and 250 state police and Metropolitan Transit Authority officers to the subway—in addition to the 1,000 NYPD officers the mayor added in February—to check riders’ bags. The governor insisted that her plan is designed to protect New Yorkers and keep them riding the trains. “My No. 1 priority is the safety of all New Yorkers,” she said.
America’s most radical experiment with drug decriminalization has ended, after more than three years of painful results. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has pledged to sign legislation repealing the principal elements of the ballot initiative known as Measure 110: Possessing hard drugs is again a crime in Oregon, and courts will return to mandating treatment for offenders.
The visit comes as part of Harris’ nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
Biden administration officials, lawmakers and policy experts addressed the health policy issues shaping this year’s elections.
The HHS chief also spoke about reproductive health care, saying he doubts Alabama will be the last state to grapple with how to address IVF.
The former Trump adviser wants the GOP to stop claiming Democrats support abortion “up until the moment of birth.
At POLITICO’s Health Care Summit, the West Virginia Democrat took aim at the president on fentanyl overdoses and border enforcement.
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.
It’s Friday, and we’ve probably all had enough of political news, so instead I’m going to gripe about the decline of my favorite kind of television: “mystery box” shows that center on a secret or a conspiracy. The conceit has gotten out of control.
Last month’s job growth was up from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January.
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.
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.
“You can’t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he’s not responsible if things are going right.
The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%, just above a half-century low.
Israeli scholar Maya Wind’s new book, Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom, documents how Israeli universities directly constrain Palestinian rights by supporting and even developing the policies of occupation and apartheid used by the Israeli state. “In the West, Israeli universities are considered bastions of pluralism and democracy.
Hebrew University in Jerusalem has suspended an internationally renowned Palestinian professor for saying that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian is a feminist scholar whose work focuses on the impacts of militarization, surveillance and violence on the lives of Palestinian women and children. She made the remarks in an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 on Monday, where she also said it was time to “abolish Zionism.
In what is believed to be the first time a president or vice president has publicly toured an abortion clinic, Vice President Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood location in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday. The visit was the latest in a nationwide tour by Harris to highlight reproductive rights.
In a rare bipartisan effort, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday requiring TikTok to be sold by its China-based owner, ByteDance, or face a ban throughout the United States. Backers claim the popular social media app could give the Chinese government access to U.S. residents’ personal data and potentially affect the 2024 elections.
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This week, The Atlantic published its list of the 136 most significant American novels of the past century.
My daughter Maggie gave birth to Ellie, my granddaughter, by C‑section on a Saturday afternoon in November of 2014. That evening, my son‑in‑law, Aaron, came over for a warm hug and a celebratory shot of bourbon. I listened to Aaron’s play‑by‑play of the events, and after a decent pause, I asked the question that I had wanted to ask all along:
“Did you check the box?”
Without missing a beat, my good son‑in‑law responded, “Yes, sir. I did.”
“Very good,” I responded, as I poured a second shot.
Not even the most passionate supporters of Vladimir Putin are pretending that the results of this weekend’s election are in doubt: Putin, Russia’s longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin, is about to embark on his sixth term.
The first dinner I ever hosted in the United States was the spontaneous act of a homesick college freshman. I had nowhere to go during spring break, so I cooked maqlubeh (spiced rice, eggplant, and chicken) and, true to my culture, made enough to feed any student left behind in the dorm.
The visit comes as part of Harris’ nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour.
Biden administration officials, lawmakers and policy experts addressed the health policy issues shaping this year’s elections.
The HHS chief also spoke about reproductive health care, saying he doubts Alabama will be the last state to grapple with how to address IVF.
The former Trump adviser wants the GOP to stop claiming Democrats support abortion “up until the moment of birth.
At POLITICO’s Health Care Summit, the West Virginia Democrat took aim at the president on fentanyl overdoses and border enforcement.
Last month’s job growth was up from a revised gain of 229,000 jobs in January.