CDC advisers delay vote at chaotic vaccine meeting
After last-minute changes, members complained they didn’t fully understand what they were voting on.
Today's Liberal News
Today’s Atlantic Trivia: Might As Well Keep Going
Updated with new questions at 3:30 p.m. ET on December 4, 2025.
I have much extolled here the value of new knowledge. Let us now hear a counterargument: Some months after Yale gave Mark Twain an honorary degree in 1888, the writer’s schedule cleared up enough for him to pull together a speech advising that the good people of the college learn less.
“I found the astronomer of the university gadding around after comets and other such odds and ends,” he wrote.
RFK Jr. ally, anti-vaccine lawyer to brief CDC vaccine meeting
Senate Health Committee Chair Bill Cassidy criticized the decision to invite Aaron Siri, who worked with Kennedy on vaccine-related lawsuits, to present at the CDC meeting.
West African Asylum Seekers Find Safe Haven in NYC Volunteer-Run Kitchen
Amid escalating ICE raids in New York City, Democracy Now!’s Messiah Rhodes spoke to immigrants and advocates supporting newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers from West Africa with hot meals, legal advice and job training. “When I help the people here, the people will help me one day,” Guinean immigrant Abdul Karim, a cook at Cafewal weekday kitchen, told Rhodes.
“Making America White Again”: Trump Further Restricts Immigration, Ramps Up ICE Raids
Immigrant rights advocate Murad Awawdeh joins us to discuss Donald Trump’s nationwide anti-immigrant crackdown and how it’s manifested in Trump’s hometown of New York City, where hundreds of New Yorkers recently blocked a federal immigration raid targeting street vendors from West Africa before it even started. “This has never been about vetting. This has never been about security and safety. It’s about cruelty,” says Awawdeh about the Trump administration’s persecution of immigrants.
Can a Deal Be Reached to End Russia’s War in Ukraine? Matt Duss on Latest Diplomatic Efforts
Foreign policy analyst Matt Duss discusses the status of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks and new data on the extent of casualties from the now nearly four-year Russian invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. “For what did these people die? For what reason were they sent into this horrible meat grinder?” asks Duss.
Will Hegseth Go? Defense Secretary Faces Anger from Congress over Boat Strikes, Signal Chat
“Pete Hegseth, much like the president he serves, sees himself as, essentially, above the law, as unconstrained by legal procedure.” Foreign policy analyst Matt Duss discusses the brewing conflict within the Trump administration over the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, including his involvement in a leaked announcement of U.S. strikes on Yemen in March and the chain of command behind U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Money Talks: Hard Times for Fast Food
Heather Haddon joins Emily Peck to discuss the current challenges and trends she’s reported on in the fast food industry.
It’s Popular, Great for the Economy, and Surprisingly Good for You. Why Is Congress Trying to Ban It?
Lawmakers want to close a so-called hemp loophole. They might blow up a massive industry in the process.
This Major American Airport Is Getting a $1.7 Billion Facelift. Thank God.
After US Airways left Pittsburgh high and dry, yinzers finally built an airport on their own terms—and it’s incredible.
There Are Idiots, Look Around
Larry Summers’ appalling emails to Jeffrey Epstein aren’t the only reason not to like the guy.
Lobbyists are salivating for more of Trump’s drug price deals
Advocates for European drugmakers say other countries must follow the UK to the bargaining table to stave off tariffs and remain competitive.
The FDA’s top drug regulator submits his resignation to the agency
Food and Drug Administration chief Marty Makary convinced Rick Pazdur to take the role to help bring stability to the roiling agency.
Doctors call Ozempic a miracle drug. Medicaid officials aren’t so sure.
States are choosing not to cover the new weight-loss drugs, sacrificing a chance to stem cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
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.
A Sermon With “Old Fashioned Homosexual Values.”
A celebrity contracts HIV, the world finally pays attention to AIDS, and Jim Mitulski preaches to a community tired of people dying from it.
How Should Queer Christians Respond to Anti-Gay Violence, its Victims, and the People Who Perpetrate It?
When a lesbian minister is physically assaulted, the church is galvanized. When it happens again, the city is galvanized.
White House bullish on economic growth as Thanksgiving spending rises
Economic adviser Kevin Hassett dismissed economic bedwetters, saying strong spending bodes well for the economy.
Trump, stung by Republican losses, stands his ground on affordability
Democrats running on cost-of-living anxieties outperformed Republicans in Tuesday’s elections by greater-than-expected margins. The president chalked it up to partisan lies.
Voters on Tuesday rewarded Democrats who addressed economic costs. Hours later, Trump said he delivered an ‘economic miracle.’
A recent poll found a majority of Americans feel they’re spending more on groceries than they did a year ago.
Reaganomics in Jersey: Jack Ciattarelli has a supply-side dream if he’s elected governor this week
The Republican nominee has promised tax cuts and economic growth, but the numbers are fuzzy.
Trump’s Cuts to AIDS Prevention Are Devastating LGBTQ+ Communities Globally: Steven Thrasher
President Trump has gutted the U.S. government’s support for AIDS healthcare around the world while ordering an end to commemorations of World AIDS Day, observed annually on December 1. Cuts to U.S. foreign aid are having a disproportionate impact on LGBTQ+ communities in many countries, says journalist and scholar Steven Thrasher, speaking from Uganda. “There are people who’ve been harmed very immediately,” he says.
Republicans Are in Trouble, but Democrats Could Blow It
In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump carried Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District by 22 points. Last night, in a special election to represent the district, the Republican Matt Van Epps won by only nine points, defeating State Representative Aftyn Behn, a Democrat.
Trump celebrated the outcome on Truth Social as a “BIG Congressional WIN,” but the margin of victory in a deep-red district is ominous for Republicans.
Cattle Ranchers Are Beefing With Trump
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.
Think of the cattle auctioneer’s chant as a prayer. To the untrained ear, it’s nonsense, a stream of words compressed beyond recognition.
Why American Health Care Is Still a Mess
On this week’s episode of The David Frum Show, The Atlantic’s David Frum opens with his thoughts on the shocking alleged corruption that has informed President Donald Trump’s actions toward Ukraine and the scandal of the recently proposed “peace plan” by the United States. He goes on to discuss how the many scandals of the Trump presidency make it hard to focus on just one, as it is quickly replaced in the news cycle by another.
Obamacare fraud report has Republicans crying foul
The Government Accountability Office report is solidifying GOP opposition to extending expiring subsidies that help people pay for health insurance.
Today’s Atlantic Trivia: Ready for Your Close-Up?
Updated with new questions at 4 p.m. ET on December 3, 2025.
I have much extolled here the value of new knowledge. Let us now hear a counterargument: Some months after Yale gave Mark Twain an honorary degree in 1888, the writer’s schedule cleared up enough for him to pull together a speech advising that the good people of the college learn less.
“I found the astronomer of the university gadding around after comets and other such odds and ends,” he wrote.
Why Taylor Swift’s Accent Has Changed
The lore has by now been recounted many a time: In 2004, Scott and Andrea Swift moved from central Pennsylvania to Nashville so that their 14-year-old daughter, Taylor, could pursue a career in country music. They bought a house on a lake, and Taylor started heading to Music Row after school to work with songwriters.
As Swift’s star rose, something else shifted: her voice.