Today's Liberal News
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
Your Opinions on Her Wardrobe Are Probably Unwelcome
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
What Role Does HR Play in the #MeToo Era?
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Trump is under water on some of his top issues — including immigration, poll shows
The president’s approval rating had been ticking upward since its biggest drop in April.
Trump’s contract-cutting blitz rattles a once-flourishing DC industry
The General Services Administration, which oversees government contracting, is leading a review of more than 20,000 consulting agreements for what is “non-essential.
U.N. Human Rights Chief Slams Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Policies, “Militarized Response” to Protests
Democracy Now! recently interviewed U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in Geneva, Switzerland. The wide-ranging conversation touched on immigration policy in the United States, climate change around the world, the global fight to preserve human rights and more.
See Part 1 of our conversation with Türk, including his response to Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.
Judge Blocks Trump Birthright Citizenship Order; DOJ Caught Lying About Men Sent to El Salvador
A federal judge in New Hampshire has issued a nationwide injunction against President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born in the United States since February 20. In a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of immigrant parents, the ACLU argued that the order would leave children born to undocumented parents “effectively stateless.
Ex-NOAA Official on TX Flood: Trump Breaking “Disaster Response Chain” as Climate Crisis Escalates
Rescue teams in central Texas are still searching for about 160 people who went missing in the catastrophic flash floods on July 4. The official death toll has climbed to at least 121 victims. State policymakers are now in the spotlight, as questions swirl around Texas’s lack of emergency precautions and the climate denialism of Republican political leaders.
“Economy of Genocide”: U.S. Sanctions U.N. Expert Who Reports on Corporate Profits from Israel’s Gaza War
We speak with United Nations expert Francesca Albanese, one day after the Trump administration announced it is imposing sanctions on her over her advocacy for Palestinian rights. Albanese has served as the U.N. special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 2022. She recently released a report highlighting dozens of companies aiding Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and fueling its genocidal war machine in Gaza, including U.S. tech giants.
Another Moderate Republican Opts Out
Ideally, this interview would have been over breakfast at a diner in Omaha, and the local congressman, Don Bacon, would have ordered his namesake. He says he eats bacon two or three times a week when he’s in Nebraska; he likes it extra crispy and, if possible, prepared at home. “If you ask me for my favorite bacon, it’s Angie Bacon,” he told me this week, referring to his wife of 41 years. (Sadly, the congressman and I were speaking not over breakfast but by phone.
Pamela Anderson Forever
Pamela Anderson wore a structured Tory Burch gown to the Met Gala this year, its bell-shaped skirt, rounded neckline, and long sleeves hiding every part of her except her hands and her face, which was mostly free of makeup, her preference for the past few years; her blond hair was newly cut into a bob. It was the fashion of subtraction, only her face identifying her as the famous star.
If she had wanted something like invisibility, however, she missed the mark.
Buying Shrimp at Bennetts Point
My father says to pick a beer.
Outside, two men in yellow coats
hose mud from a reef of oysters
to be priced and sold by the bucketful.
The owner’s a fellow named Tadpole.
Lives up Mosquito Creek
and raises labradors, without which
the basin’s fallen mallards
would vanish to the marsh
and the mouths of its gators,
which wear feathers in their teeth.
Write that down, says my father,
who knows a beautiful thing
when it slithers over his path.
I’ve seen him point a pistol
at a coiled cottonmouth.
Six Weekend Stories
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.
Spend time with stories about the bizarre relationship of a “work wife” and a “work husband,” the great cousin decline, and more.
The Great Cousin Decline
Families are shrinking. But the weirdest family role is a vital one.
It Was One of the Worst Parts About Air Travel for 19 Years. It’s Finally Gone.
The shoeless shuffle through security lines is finally over.
Zohran Mamdani Has Some Good Ideas for NYC Transit. His Biggest Promise Isn’t One of Them.
Riders don’t want buses to be free. They want something else.
Money Talks: The Hidden Homeless
Brian Goldstone on the unrecognized population of full-time workers in America without stable housing.
The Bull is Back
After the tariff turmoil of months ago, what do we make of the big upswings we’re seeing in the markets?
Dentists are struggling to counter RFK Jr. on fluoride
Red states are banning the tooth-protecting mineral, while blue state skeptics aren’t budging.
Supreme Court disabuses federal workers who thought their jobs were safe
Civil servants told POLITICO they’re anxious and exhausted, but holding out hope their lawyers can still save their jobs.
The 2025 measles outbreak is largest in 3 decades
The CDC says cases have reached nearly 1,300, the most since 1992.
Trump admin asks staff to report cases of bias due to DEI directives
It seeks information on employees who quit or faced discipline during the Biden administration for refusing to execute DEI orders, according to an email obtained by POLITICO.
Doctors’ groups sue Kennedy over Covid shot changes for kids, pregnant people
They say the decision “erodes trust” by pitting providers against federal recommendations that aren’t grounded in evidence.
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
Your Opinions on Her Wardrobe Are Probably Unwelcome
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
What Role Does HR Play in the #MeToo Era?
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Trump is under water on some of his top issues — including immigration, poll shows
The president’s approval rating had been ticking upward since its biggest drop in April.