Today's Liberal News

Rocking Out on the Campaign Trail

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.Politics is already a performance. Why also sing?First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic:
Is Mississippi really as poor as Britain?
Make the collabs stop.
Give invasive species a job.
A Risk to Their DignityLive music has the power to connect, to make people feel.

The Misguided Debate Over ‘Rich Men North of Richmond’

Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.Question of the WeekWhat do you think of the viral hit song “Rich Men North of Richmond”?Send your responses to conor@theatlantic.com or simply reply to this email.

This Week in Books: A Novel That Sees Through Self-Delusion

Updated at 2:36 p.m. ET on August 18, 2023.This is an edition of the revamped Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.Lydia Kiesling’s new novel, Mobility, is about a woman who spends her life trying not to see the harm her work is doing to the Earth. The main character, Bunny Glenn, has fallen almost unwittingly into a career in the oil industry.

Make the Collabs Stop

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here.Earlier this year, while waiting for the subway, I encountered one of the most revolting pairs of shoes I’ve ever seen on the feet of a fellow commuter. They were the unholy spawn of a Gucci loafer and an Adidas sneaker.

Inside the Smithsonian’s “Racial Brain Collection” & the Eugenics Project Behind It

The Smithsonian has formed a task force to address the massive collection of human remains held by its museums, which includes 255 human brains that were removed primarily from dead Black and Indigenous people, as well as other people of color, without the consent or knowledge of their families. The so-called racial brain collection was revealed by a Washington Post investigation.

Teach No Lies: Historian Marvin Dunn Takes on Ron DeSantis & Florida’s Attack on Black History

We speak with renowned Florida educator Marvin Dunn about the fight to protect the teaching of Black history in the face of racist curriculum changes in the state that justify slavery and downplay violence against African Americans. Ahead of the first day of school, Dunn helped lead a “Teach No Lies” march to the Miami-Dade County School Board Wednesday to protest the new education standards.

Legacy for You, but Not for Me

In the ’90s, being a low-income student of color in the Ivy League was hard. Our population was minuscule. We were inside a place of privilege, but not fully part of it. The institution wasn’t built for us, and we knew it. We weren’t like the wealthy white kids whose alumni parents came to visit their favorite haunts in their favorite old college sweatshirts. But we were, we believed, part of a different future.

“Watershed Moment”: Montana Rules Youth Have Constitutional Right to Healthy Climate

In a landmark climate case, a judge in Montana has ruled in favor of a group of young people who had sued the state for violating their constitutional rights as it pushed policies that encouraged the use of fossil fuels. In her decision, Montana Judge Kathy Seeley wrote, “Plaintiffs have a fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, which includes climate.