Today's Liberal News
The Great American Poet Who Was Named After a Slave Ship
A new biography of Phillis Wheatley places her in her era and shows the ways she used poetry to criticize the existence of slavery.
Chris Christie Doesn’t Want to Hear the Name Trump
My very strange and angry breakfast with the former governor
Elizabeth Warren: Fed chair has failed at both his jobs
Jerome Powell “stepped up and took a flamethrower to the regulations,” the senator said.
U.S. inflation eases but stays high, putting Fed in tough spot
The government said prices increased 0.4% last month, just below January’s 0.5% rise.
Biden on economy: ‘It’s understandable why people are just down’
“I can’t think of a time when there’s been greater uncertainty,” the president said.
Yemen: Deadly Stampede at Charity Event Illustrates Desperation in Nation Devastated by Years of War
In Yemen, at least 79 people were killed and over 300 injured in a stampede on Wednesday in the capital city of Sana’a. The crowd crush began after armed Houthis fired into the air to control the crowd, striking electrical equipment and causing it to explode. The tragic deaths come as Yemen continues to face one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises following years of fighting between U.S.-backed Saudi forces and the Houthi rebels.
“Colonizing Our Community”: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Rocket Explodes in Texas as Feds OK New LNG Projects
We get an update from South Texas, where Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket blew up four minutes after launch Friday and residents reported particulates or ash rained down on their neighborhoods near the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. We speak with Bekah Hinojosa of Another Gulf Is Possible, who has been targeted for participating in protests against SpaceX. She says, “We’re clearly being exploited by a billionaire and his pet project.
Gun Capitalism: How Lobbyists & GOP Fight Regulation & Push Gun Ownership Despite Deadly Shootings
We discuss the U.S. gun violence epidemic with historian Andrew McKevitt, who says, “We ought to conceive of our gun problem as a problem of gun capitalism.” He covers the history of the proliferation of individual gun ownership since World War II in his forthcoming book, Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture & Control in Cold War America.
Fox Pays Dominion $787.5 Million in Historic Settlement But Won’t Apologize for Election Lies
We look at the historic settlement reached this week in Dominion Voting Systems’s lawsuit against Fox News for promoting lies about voting machines being rigged against Trump in the 2020 election.
Trump Pans DeSantis At GOP Dinner And His Florida Audience Barely Makes A Peep
The former president touted his success in Florida over who he described as the state’s “successful” governor on Friday.
DeSantis Seeks Federal Aid In Wake Of Fort Lauderdale Flooding
The Florida governor’s request follows flooding that closed an airport for two days and slowed down gas deliveries last week.
Trump Defends Push To Restrict Abortion Rights After Rebuke
Donald Trump, stinging from a rebuke by a leading anti-abortion group, used a speech in Iowa to spotlight his actions as president to try to restrict abortion rights.
Minnesota Senate Passes Bill To Ban ‘Conversion Therapy’ For LGBTQ+ People
The state is a step closer to joining 20 others that have clamped down on the discredited practice.
A Starship Post-mortem: Why the giant rocket failed and why it’s Elon Musk’s fault
On Thursday, SpaceX launched its first full version of the “Starship” rocket from a pad on the coast near South Padre Island, Texas. Four minutes into the flight the rocket was deliberately destroyed at an altitude of about 35 km, with debris raining down about a dozen kilometers out into the Gulf.
In many ways, the flight was a triumph. It was the largest rocket ever constructed.
Jimmy Carter is a blessing. Here’s a collection of stories worth remembering
It has been said many times, but it’s important to remember that Jimmy Carter’s most important and impactful years as a leader in the United States came after he left the presidency in 1981.
Ukraine Update: Nine mechanized brigades are ‘trained, manned, and equipped’ for counteroffensive
For months now, the most prominent images put out daily by the Ukrainian military haven’t been scenes from the front, they’ve been images of Ukrainian troops training for the next phase of the war. Not only has Ukraine been getting additional troops ready to go to the front, many of those who had been fighting for weeks or months were pulled back to train on new systems and new tactics.
Peter Navarro Slams Sidney Powell’s ‘Far Out’ Election Denial Claims In Leaked Clip
In newly released audio from 2021, Navarro is heard criticizing Powell, a fellow ally of Donald Trump, for damaging the efforts to overturn the 2020 vote.
Kick Republicans while down and win big: Time to aim for 10-point Democratic victories
This year’s highest-profile electoral contest gave Democrats an undeniable shot in the arm. A liberal judge, running on abortion access and safeguarding democracy, trounced a conservative judge with polar opposite views, flipping a state Supreme Court majority from conservative to progressive.
Abortion pill maker sues FDA to preserve access
The lawsuit from GenBioPro, which makes the generic version of the drug, comes as SCOTUS action looms.
Anti-abortion group launches new pill challenge as SCOTUS mulls sweeping restrictions
Students for Life is leaning on endangered species laws to cut off access to abortion pills.
RJR uses California as test market for skirting upcoming national menthol cigarette ban
The tobacco giant launched “cool” and “crisp” cigarettes that use a synthetic coolant instead of menthol — and sales of the products are zooming in the Golden State.
‘The justices were kidding themselves’: Supreme Court takes up abortion after saying lawmakers should decide
The court is expected to rule by Wednesday on whether to allow an earlier decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to take effect, sharply limiting access to a commonly used abortion pill nationwide.
The End of an Internet Era
Life online is losing chaos, unpredictability, and delight—all of the things that made it fun.
How the Gender Debate Veered Offtrack
The debate unfolds between groups with different points of reference.
A Memoir About Friendship and Mental Illness
A Q&A with Jonathan Rosen, whose new book, The Best Minds, delves into a fraught friendship and the societal response to schizophrenia
Elon Musk Revealed What Twitter Always Was
Stripped down to its skeleton, Twitter is the definitive “shame network.
Elizabeth Warren: Fed chair has failed at both his jobs
Jerome Powell “stepped up and took a flamethrower to the regulations,” the senator said.