Jon Stewart Nails Arkansas AG On Ban Of Gender-Affirming Care For Trans Youth
The TV host asked Leslie Rutledge why she would take a doctor’s advice if her kid had cancer but ignore experts on treating gender dysphoria.
Today's Liberal News
Flynn, Gingrich Testimony Sought In Georgia 2020 Election Probe
Each of the petitions filed Friday seeks to have the potential witnesses appear in November after the election.
The President and the Bomb
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.President Biden has warned the Russians that the use of a nuclear weapon in Ukraine could lead to a wider nuclear conflict. He’s right to be worried—and he’s right to warn the Russians yet again not to take that fateful step.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
The Year I Tore Through Annie Ernaux’s Books
When I was living in Paris in 2018, a friend passed Annie Ernaux’s book Happening to me as if it were an envelope containing treasure. The memoir tells the story of the abortion Ernaux had in 1963, when the procedure was illegal in France, and, like nearly all of her books, it is an excavation of memory, of self, of the powers and the limits of writing.
The GIF Is on Its Deathbed
About 40 percent of my first full-time job was dedicated to making GIFs—a skill I had professed to have during the interview process, and that turned out to be much harder than I thought. It took trial and error to figure out how to make sure the colors weren’t too weird, the frame rate too fast, the file too big.This was 2015, and GIFs had to be smaller than 1 megabyte before you could upload them to most social platforms.
The Simple Pleasures of Baking
To me, the true sign of fall isn’t apple picking, fuzzy sweaters, or leaves turning new colors. It’s the sudden urge—which typically emerges on sleepy weekend afternoons—to dig up a cookbook and start measuring and mixing ingredients for sweet treats. The practice can be a salve for anxiety and provides comfort in stressful moments. It’s also just really cozy.
Decriminalize & Deschedule: Advocates Welcome Biden Pardons But Demand Deeper Reform of Cannabis Laws
President Joe Biden announced Thursday that he is pardoning everyone convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law, and said the classification of the drug would undergo review. The move will remove many legal barriers for thousands of people to gain jobs, housing, college admission and federal benefits, and fulfills a campaign pledge made by Biden.
In Rebuke to Putin, Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Human Rights Campaigners in Ukraine, Belarus & Russia
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to two human rights groups, the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine and Memorial in Russia, as well as imprisoned Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski. The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised their work criticizing power and protecting fundamental human rights in neighboring countries torn apart by war.
The Unexpected Power of Seeing Yourself as a Villain
Monsters in horror films aren’t just scary, or dangerous. They also “make one’s skin creep,” the philosopher Noël Carroll wrote: “Characters regard them not only with fear but with loathing, with a combination of terror and disgust.
Biden’s Operation Warp Speed revival stumbles out of the gate
The administration’s plans to create a new accelerator for Covid vaccines and treatments has hit a wall.
Biden admin allocates $6 million more for family planning clinics
The move comes as President Joe Biden meets with officials, doctors and advocates to mark 100 days since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Sheryl Sandberg gives ACLU $3M for abortion rights fight
It’s the biggest single donation to the ACLU’s political work on abortion rights in the group’s history.
Fed’s Powell ignores politics — and may pay a heavy price
It’s a rare moment for a Fed chair to toss aside all political considerations and ignore frantic investors.
The Fed’s Powell is squeezing the global economy
The Fed’s interest rate hikes have fueled market turmoil by boosting the value of the dollar and feeding higher borrowing costs.
The Fed is declaring war on inflation. It could lead straight to recession.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has pledged to do whatever it takes to curb inflation.
Kari Lake Busted For Using Russia Troops In ‘Secure Our Border’ Ad
The spot for the GOP nominee for Arizona governor promises to “secure our border” with video of Russian soldiers.
U.S. inflation falls for 2nd straight month on lower gas costs
Despite the signs of moderating price increases, inflation remains far higher than many Americans have ever experienced and is keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve.
G-7 announces price cap deal on Russian oil in win for Yellen
The plan touted by the U.S. Treasury secretary aims to diminish the Kremlin’s revenue while preserving the global oil supply.
“There’s Going to Be a Fight”: Oath Keepers Trial Reveals Plan to Use Violence to Keep Trump in Office
The Oath Keepers trial, in which senior leaders of the right-wing extremist group are accused of plotting violence at the January 6 insurrection, began Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors played a secret audio recording Tuesday of a meeting held by the Oath Keepers after the 2020 election in which founder Stewart Rhodes discussed plans to bring weapons to the capital to help then-President Trump stay in office.
Haiti Update: Gangs Rule Much of Port-au-Prince Amid Protests over Fuel Costs, Calls for PM to Resign
Mass protests in Haiti are condemning rising fuel prices and demanding the resignation of the U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ariel Henry. For nearly two months, street protests likened to a civil war have rocked the island nation’s capital Port-au-Prince after the government announced it would raise heavily subsidized fuel prices. We speak to Haitian activist Vélina Élysée Charlier about rising gang violence and how criminal groups are supported by the government.
Justice Department Thinks Trump In Possession Of More Government Documents: Reports
Jay I. Bratt, head of DOJ counterintelligence operations, told Trump’s lawyers he has not yet returned all the documents that should go to the National Archives.
Ukraine update: Finger-pointing becomes Russia’s national sport as Kherson line collapses
On Wednesday, two men sailed into the port at Gambell, Alaska, on the tiny island of St. Lawrence. The population of Gambell is under 700, and over 95% of the people who live there are Native Americans of the Yupik peoples. As might be expected, it’s one of those everybody-knows-everybody places … but nobody knew these guys, because they were Russians.
Biden pardons all prior federal marijuana possession charges, begins process to decriminalize
This is a big fucking deal, folks. President Joe Biden is making critical moves to decriminalize cannabis, most significantly erasing federal prosecutions for simple possession.
As I’ve said before, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Today, I’m taking steps to end our failed approach. Allow me to lay them out.
Sedition trial Day 3 witness: Oath Keeper leader told me he was in touch with Secret Service
From the witness stand on Thursday, former Oath Keeper John Zimmerman of North Carolina recounted to jurors how in September 2020, he watched the extremist group’s founder, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, take a phone call from someone Rhodes claimed was an active-duty Secret Service agent.
Zimmerman admitted he didn’t hear the person on the other end of that call, but he assumed what Rhodes told him was true.
Ben Sasse will resign from Senate later this year to become president of the University of Florida
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse confirmed Thursday that he will resign to become president of the University of Florida, which has named the Republican as the sole finalist for the post. Multiple media outlets report that Sasse’s departure will occur before the end of the year, which would allow Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who will leave office in early 2023, to appoint a successor.
Herschel Walker tries denying he has a child with woman he admitted having a child with
So where were we? Oh, right. On Monday, The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger reported on super-born-again Christian and Republican Georgia Senate nominee Herschel Walker paying for a woman’s abortion back in 2009. This was problematic, as Walker has gone on the record saying he is against all abortions with no exceptions—including rape, incest, and health of the pregnant person.
Greg Gutfeld Complains College Students Aren’t Good-Looking Anymore
“College doesn’t look like it’s fun anymore,” the Fox News host also grumbled.
Biden: Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ Risk Highest Since ’62 Crisis
President Joe Biden says the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Americans Are Moving Into the Paths of Hurricanes
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.Vann R. Newkirk II, our senior editor and Floodlines podcast host, told me, “Some of the fastest-growing areas in the country have really intense flood and hurricane risks.” He explains why, and what this means for the future.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
U.S. will divert travelers who have been to Uganda to 5 airports as Ebola outbreak worsens
All passengers, including U.S. citizens and residents, who have been in Uganda in the last 21 days will be flown to airports in New York, Newark, Atlanta, Chicago or Washington.