Today's Liberal News

“I Was Just So Disgusted”: Jewish Rep. Balint Walks Out of Hearing After Bondi Calls Her Antisemitic

As we continue to look at Wednesday’s contentious hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, we speak with Vermont Congressmember Becca Balint, who walked out after Attorney General Pam Bondi accused her of supporting antisemitism. Balint, who is Jewish and whose grandfather died in the Holocaust, had just asked Bondi to meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein — a demand that Bondi repeatedly ignored during the hearing.

Winter Olympics Photo of the Day: A Victory Leap

Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty
Brazil’s gold medalist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen jumps onto the podium, flanked by Switzerland’s silver medalist Marco Odermatt (left), and Switzerland’s bronze medalist Loïc Meillard, during the medal ceremony for the men’s giant slalom alpine skiing event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio, on February 14, 2026.

The Most Sought-After Head of Government in Europe

The coffee corner at Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich is so mobbed with diplomats and executives exchanging business cards and guzzling caffeine that it’s easy to miss even the most recognizable faces. And Jens-Frederik Nielsen is not one of those.

The Rise of Stephen Miller

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, watch full episodes here, or listen to the weekly podcast here.
Since Donald Trump’s first term, Stephen Miller has risen into an architect and enforcer of some of the president’s most controversial policies.

Trump Administration Announces That We Don’t Know Where the Sun Goes at Night

“President Trump on Thursday announced he was erasing the scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment, ending the federal government’s legal authority to control the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet.”  — The New York Times
A new ruling from the Trump administration says that when the sun disappears at night, we don’t know where it goes.

An Enduring Assumption About Love

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.
For as long as people have been looking for love, many have been convinced that they know exactly what it looks like. We might talk about having a “type”: someone with certain traits, habits, beliefs, or quirks that we assume will add up to a successful match.

“I Was Just So Disgusted”: Jewish Rep. Balint Walks Out of Hearing After Bondi Calls Her Antisemitic

As we continue to look at Wednesday’s contentious hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, we speak with Vermont Congressmember Becca Balint, who walked out after Attorney General Pam Bondi accused her of supporting antisemitism. Balint, who is Jewish and whose grandfather died in the Holocaust, had just asked Bondi to meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein — a demand that Bondi repeatedly ignored during the hearing.

Kristi Noem’s Audience of One

Since Alex Pretti’s killing three weeks ago, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been trying to distance herself from Minneapolis—politically and geographically. Last week, Noem went to southern Arizona to give a speech about border-wall construction. Yesterday, she was at a warehouse along the border in California, straining to tout the Trump administration’s drug-seizure data above the clamor of protesters outside.

Why Europe Is Talking About Nukes

After World War II, peace-loving Sweden began working on a nuclear bomb to stave off a feared Soviet invasion. But in the 1960s, the Scandinavian nation scrapped the program under pressure from the United States, whose nuclear arsenal has shielded Europe for about 80 years.
Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, reminded me of this history in an interview today.

Drink Whole Milk, Eat Red Meat, and Use ChatGPT

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an AI guy. Last week, during a stop in Nashville on his Take Back Your Health tour, the Health and Human Services secretary brought up the technology between condemning ultra-processed foods and urging Americans to eat protein. “My agency is now leading the federal government in driving AI into all of our activities,” he declared. An army of bots, Kennedy said, will transform medicine, eliminate fraud, and put a virtual doctor in everyone’s pocket.
RFK Jr.

Today’s Atlantic Trivia: Who Is Fighting Over Nagorno-Karabakh?

Updated with new questions at 4:20 p.m. ET on February 13, 2026.
You won’t find this in Cortina d’Ampezzo over the next few weeks, but for several decades of the Olympics’ history, the contest awarded medals not just for sport but for art too.
In the Summer Games from 1912 to 1948, musicians, painters, and plenty of other aesthetes went brain-to-brain in events such as lyric poetry and chamber music. “Town planning” was even contested one year under the umbrella of the architecture competition.