Today's Liberal News
An Unsettling Anti-Slavery Memorial
This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
The closest thing the United States has to a national monument to the end of slavery is in a park in the capital, a little more than half a mile from the National Mall. It depicts two figures: Abraham Lincoln, tall and stately, holding out his left arm and looking down at a barely clothed Black man with broken shackles kneeling at his feet.
Israel Could Have What It Most Wants in Lebanon
Parallel to the shaky truce between the United States and Iran, a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah has temporarily stopped the fighting in Lebanon, but without settling any of the important questions behind it. That’s a shame, because prospects for a lasting resolution in Lebanon are better than ever—if only Israel would embrace the Lebanese government as the indispensable partner it could be.
The Kash Patel Fallout
Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts
In a recent story, the Atlantic staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick writes about how FBI Director Kash Patel’s colleagues are alarmed by what they describe as erratic behavior and excessive drinking. Sources told Fitzpatrick that, on multiple occasions, members of his security detail had trouble waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.
Betting on War: Mysterious Traders Make Millions on Well-Timed Bets Tied to Trump’s War on Iran
The rise of online prediction markets has allowed people to bet on virtually any news event. For a small group of traders, the war with Iran has been a windfall. A number of lucrative, well-timed bets related to the war totaling over $1 billion have raised alarm over people connected to the Trump administration possibly using inside information to profit.
The Looming Food Crisis: Why the Strait of Hormuz Is Disrupting Global Agriculture
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have raised fuel costs and caused shortages of key fertilizers around the world, wreaking havoc on the agricultural industry. Adam Hanieh, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute at the University of London, says the effects could be felt for a long time, particularly in the Global South.
How Hawkish Democrats, from Schumer to Harris, Paved the Way for War with Iran: Stephen Zunes
The Senate on Wednesday rejected another bid to rein in President Donald Trump’s ability to use further military force against Iran, marking the fifth failed attempt by Democrats to curb Trump’s war powers since the start of the conflict in late February. The resolution was defeated in a vote of 46 to 51, with Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Rand Paul the sole dissenters in each caucus.
It Was a Bold, Multimillion-Dollar Experiment. They Wanted to Change Cable News Forever. What They Actually Did Was Far More Revealing.
NewsNation promised “news for all Americans.” Its struggles show why neutrality may be impossible in modern media.
It Was on Your Table Every Morning Growing Up. It’s Dying Before Our Eyes. No One Wants to Face It.
The powerhouse of American citrus is suffering a brutal decline. Everyone has a theory about why.
It Could Lead to Tens of Thousands of Deaths. In the Meantime, It’s Wreaking Havoc on Americans’ Sanity.
Imagine not being able to feed your kid because of a mistake on a piece of paperwork.
Is the Allbirds A.I. Pivot Really That Crazy?
The sneaker company’s hilariously dystopian foray into A.I. infrastructure makes more sense than you’d think.
Trump’s surgeon general pick faces mounting GOP opposition
Add abortion and psychedelics to the list of reasons many Republicans oppose Casey Means.
RFK Jr.’s followers will help the GOP in midterms, Kennedy adviser tells POLITICO’s Health Summit
Calley Means said the health secretary and Trump are working in “lockstep.
Mark Cuban is moving on from Kamala Harris
The billionaire investor who supported the former vice president in 2024 isn’t planning to in 2028.
Top drug lobbyist calls Trump’s efforts to codify his drug pricing deals ‘the wrong policy prescription’
PhRMA CEO Stephen Ubl applauded the Trump administration for pressuring other countries to pay more, is against efforts to make its “most-favored-nation” agreements permanent
When Church Was a Queer Space
Outward’s hosts sit down with the host and co-creator of When We All Get to Heaven.
Remembering, with the People of MCC San Francisco, AIDS Still Isn’t Over.
The neighborhood changes, the church moves, people forget and remember “the AIDS years,” but AIDS isn’t over.
What Happens When You Organize Church Around AIDS – and AIDS Changes?
The AIDS cocktail opens new possibilities. And MCC San Francisco tries to use the experience of AIDS to make bigger social change.
The Church’s Pastor Gets Diagnosed with AIDS. And the Church Wonders How Much They Might Lose.
The church’s minister gets sick and everyone knows it.
A Church Romance Between a Hula Dancer and a Lumbersexual Blossoms in a Dangerous Time.
The church’s “it couple” faces AIDS, caregiving, and loss as part of a pair, part of families, and part of a community.
Canada’s prime minister says economic ties with US are a weakness that must be corrected
“We have to take care of ourselves because we can’t rely on one foreign partner,” Mark Carney said in a video address. “We can’t control the disruption coming from our neighbors.
Trump Keeps Gambling With the Economy — And Getting Away With It
President Donald Trump has taken one risk after another that could have destabilized the American economy. Iran is the latest crisis to test U.S. economic resilience.
GOP health care policies have set the swamp on fire
New disclosures show health industry firms and trade groups are spending more than ever to influence Washington.
So, Are We All Going to Get Refunded for Those Illegal Trump Tariffs?
On average, American families have each spent about $1,744.75 on tariffs.
Photos: Reclaimed by Nature
VCG via Getty
Abandoned oil tanks are covered by flourishing ivy plants in Huai an, Jiangsu province, China, seen on May 9, 2023.Artem Priakhin / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty
A discarded sneaker, covered in thick layers of green moss, rests on a fallen tree branch in a public park on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 8, 2026.
Greenpeace Sends Ship to Support Global Sumud Flotilla’s Attempt to Break Israel’s Blockade of Gaza
More than 70 vessels and over 1,000 participants from all over the world have joined a second Global Sumud Flotilla en route to Gaza in order to challenge Israel’s ongoing maritime blockade of aid. We speak to two participants aboard the Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, which is providing technical support and accompanying the flotilla for part of the voyage in a show of solidarity.
Transportation Secretary Seeks $10 Billion For Air Traffic Control Overhaul
Congress last year awarded $12.5 billion towards modernizing the aging ATC system. More is needed for software updates, said Secretary Sean Duffy.
“Data Colonialism”: Native Communities Fight AI Data Centers on Indigenous Land
The artificial intelligence industry’s data center boom is the latest chapter in a long history of environmental racism and resource exploitation in vulnerable Native communities, says Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne activist Krystal Two Bulls, the executive director of Honor the Earth, an Indigenous-led environmental justice organization that is tracking over 100 proposed data center projects on tribal and rural lands.
“Colossus Failure”: Elon Musk’s Data Centers Face Lawsuit for Polluting Black Neighborhoods in Memphis
As tech companies scramble to build massive new data centers to power artificial intelligence, marginalized communities are bearing the brunt of the environmental harms. In Memphis, Tennessee, Elon Musk’s xAI operates over two dozen methane gas-burning turbines without legal permits to power its data centers, Colossus 1 and Colossus 2, polluting the nation’s largest majority-Black city with toxic emissions. The NAACP is suing xAI for violating the Clean Air Act.
AI Data Center Resistance: Maine Passes Nation’s First Statewide Moratorium — Will Gov. Mills Sign It?
Communities across the United States are pushing back against resource-draining data centers being built to fuel artificial intelligence and crypto ventures. In Maine, state legislators recently passed a first-in-the-country statewide moratorium on large data centers.