Today's Liberal News

Evening Brief: Could Trump become the next House Speaker?

Just when you thought the Republican drama in the House couldn’t get any worse …

Donald Trump is now meddling in the House speaker’s race, injecting new levels of chaos into the process. In fact, things are such a mess that the mainstream media has had no choice but to finally acknowledge that, yes, Republicans are the problem. But even that remains a work in progress. Much of the national press continues to cover up the fact that Trump is unraveling.

Ukraine Update: Code Pink calls Bernie Sanders a warmonger

You can read more great Ukraine coverage by both staff and community members here.  

Try and imagine a world in which Sen. Bernie Sanders is a war-mongering neocon shill for the military industrial complex.

I dare you, try!

Not happening? Well, that’s because you’re not a pro-Putin tankie.

How to Thrive in a Dying World

The opening pages of C Pam Zhang’s second novel, Land of Milk and Honey, imagine a planet facing crisis after crisis—an extension of our own. Climate change has devastated the land: the Earth is covered in smog; crops have withered; countries are caving to famine. Zhang joins a number of other writers who have recently used their work to ask how to live in a dying world.

SCOTUS Justice Kagan to far-right lawyer: ‘You’re just flying in the face of 250 years of history’

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which handles federal cases arising from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, is dominated by a bunch of Donald Trump appointees and has become the rogue court of the federal judiciary. The sheer volume of controversial decisions coming out of that court accounts for the outsize proportion of cases from it the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this session.

The 2024 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet

No one alive has seen a race like the 2024 presidential election. For months, if not years, many people have expected a reprise of the 2020 election, a matchup between the sitting president and a former president.But that hasn’t prevented a crowded primary. On the GOP side, more than a dozen candidates are ostensibly vying for the nomination.

“A Day in the Life of Abed Salama”: How the Death of Abed’s 5-Year-Old Son Sheds Light on Life Under Israeli Apartheid

We spend the hour with Nathan Thrall and Abed Salama, the author and subject of a remarkable new book detailing the many bureaucratic barriers and indignities that make the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation even more difficult. A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy focuses on the 2012 death of Salama’s son, 5-year-old Milad, who was killed in a fiery bus crash during a school field trip to a theme park.

Police Killings of Black & Brown People May Be Double Previous Estimates: La Raza Database Project

The newly released Raza Database Project reveals the number of Brown and Black people killed by police in the United States may be more than double the amount that is widely reported. Statistician and demographer Jesus Garcia explains how the team merged data sets from independent research projects on police violence to more accurately determine the ethnicities of victims. These are “terrible numbers to look at,” says Garcia. “The results are stark and bare.

When “Main Characters” Commandeer Congress

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.It’s never been more fraught to be the “main character” in the United States. Below, I look at how this week’s debacle in the House of Representatives is illustrative of a larger cultural phenomenon.

The 2024 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet

No one alive has seen a race like the 2024 presidential election. For months, if not years, many people have expected a reprise of the 2020 election, a matchup between the sitting president and a former president.But that hasn’t prevented a crowded primary. On the GOP side, more than a dozen candidates are ostensibly vying for the nomination.

Why Biden’s Age Is An Unavoidable Conversation

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.Last week I asked readers to opine on whether Democrats should stick with Joe Biden in 2024 or replace him with a younger nominee.

AI’s Present Matters More Than Its Imagined Future

Last month, I found myself in a particular seat. A few places to my left was Elon Musk. Down the table to my right sat Bill Gates. Across the room sat Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, and not too far to his left was Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google. At the other end of the table sat Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT.

A New Occupation Force? Haitians Denounce U.N. Vote to Deploy U.S.-Backed, Kenyan-Led Troops

The United Nations Security Council has approved an international armed force to address spiraling gang violence in Haiti, where street battles have paralyzed the capital Port-au-Prince since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The U.N. mission, which came at the repeated request of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, is being led by Kenya, marking the first deployment of international security forces to Haiti in nearly 20 years. The U.S.

Rep. Ro Khanna: It Is “Unfortunate” Gov. Newsom Didn’t Appoint Barbara Lee for Feinstein’s Seat

Laphonza Butler was sworn in Tuesday to fill the California Senate seat of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died last week at age 90. This makes Butler the only Black woman currently in the Senate and the first out Black lesbian in Congress — but the appointment also frustrated many progressives who had been pushing for Congressmember Barbara Lee to get the nod.

Chaos in Congress: Rep. Ro Khanna on Historic Ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

Democrats united Tuesday to join a revolt by far-right Republicans to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after just nine months on the job. No other speaker in U.S. history has ever been voted out, and the unprecedented development has thrown the House into deeper chaos and ground legislation to a halt. Republican Patrick McHenry of North Carolina has taken up the speaker’s gavel temporarily, but who can unite the party’s fractious caucus remains a mystery.