Today's Liberal News

Ed Bisch Fights to Hold Sacklers Accountable for Opioid Epidemic 22 Years After Son Died of Overdose

The Sackler family, the billionaire owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, have secured immunity from all current and future civil litigation related to their role in fueling the opioid epidemic. The legal shield was granted last week by a federal appeals court in exchange for the family agreeing to pay up to $6 billion to thousands of plaintiffs in various lawsuits that are now suspended as part of the deal.

All Screens or No Screens?

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.Apple’s recently unveiled Vision Pro presents an all-screen future, but generative AI’s growth in recent months has also hinted at ways we might move toward the opposite experience.

The World’s Best Songwriters

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.Replies have been edited for length and clarity.Last week, I asked readers to make nominations to a hall of fame for song lyrics.

The Missing Piece of the Foraging Renaissance

Harvesting wild local produce in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park may not seem like the best idea. And yet, on a foraging tour of the lively public park last month, a straw-hatted forager named “Wildman” Steve Brill and his teenage daughter, Violet, led roughly 40 of us amateurs into the grassy areas beyond the park’s paved footpaths for a four-hour tromp.

The Age of Goggles Has Arrived

“Vision Pro feels familiar, yet it’s entirely new.” That’s how Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, introduced the company’s new computer goggles at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. The Vision Pro headset, which resembles a glass scuba mask with a fabric head strap, seamlessly blends the real and digital worlds, Cook said. But the product’s name, which could just as easily describe a brand of contact-lens solution, hints at a challenge.

The AI Mona Lisa Explains Everything

The Mona Lisa is small. Less than three feet tall and about two feet wide, it hangs tiny in the biggest exhibition room at France’s Louvre Museum. And in the past two or so weeks, some vigilante AI artists have decided that it should be bigger—much bigger. They’re making that happen using a beta tool in Adobe Photoshop called “generative fill.

Catastrophic Flooding Feared as Critical Ukrainian Dam Is Destroyed; Zaporizhzhia Nuke Plant at Risk

Evacuation efforts are underway in southern Ukraine, where floodwaters are rising after a dam on the Dnipro River was breached overnight in the Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka. The breach has created an additional humanitarian disaster in an area that’s seen heavy fighting since Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s government says floodwaters are threatening 80 towns and villages, as well as the city of Kherson, home to 300,000 people.

“Enough Is Enough”: Australian PM Throws Support Behind Movement to Free Julian Assange

A growing number of politicians, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, are calling on the United States to drop its case against WikiLeaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange, who has been locked up for four years in London’s Belmarsh prison awaiting possible extradition to face espionage and hacking charges for publishing leaked documents about U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cop City: Atlanta City Council OKs $67M for Facility Despite Mass Protests & Armed Raid on Bail Fund

Residents in Atlanta shattered the record for turnout at a city council meeting Monday, as thousands lined up to voice their opposition to the construction of a massive police training facility known as Cop City. Ultimately, the Atlanta City Council voted 11-4 to approve $30 million in additional funding for the project, bringing the total to $67 million — more than double the original estimate.

A Sweetheart Deal for the Sacklers: Billionaires Get Immunity from Civil Lawsuits over Opioid Crisis

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that members of the Sackler family can receive immunity from all current and future civil litigation related to their role in creating and fueling the opioid epidemic. The billionaire Sacklers own Purdue Pharma, maker of the highly addictive opioid OxyContin. The legal shield could lead to a settlement in the range of $6 billion for thousands of plaintiffs, including states, local governments and tribes.