Today's Liberal News

Why Do We Keep Writing About Life After Death?

When the world is at war, and you’ve endured night after night of fires and bombs going off all around you, how do you make sense of your own survival? For the unnamed narrator of R. P. Lister’s short story “My Grandfather’s Ghost”—published in The Atlantic in 1960—the solution is to transform the experience into a sort of tall tale, playing up the comedic moments over the real fear, long after the danger has passed.

“American Democracy Hangs in the Balance”: Carol Anderson on Midterms, Georgia Races & Voting Rights

Former President Barack Obama is in Georgia Friday to campaign for Democrats in the closely watched Senate and gubernatorial races. This comes as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was caught on a hot mic Thursday saying the race between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Trump-backed anti-abortion Republican nominee Herschel Walker is “going downhill,” and recent polls show Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is trailing Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

The 1950s question that is a key predictor of Trump/GOP supporters

Imagine waking up every morning and thinking, “If only it were 1952, things would be swell.”

Welcome to the world view of some two-thirds of Republicans. A new Public Religion Research Institute poll released Thursday added a twist to the right track/wrong track question, asking respondents whether they agreed with a clarifying follow-up: “Since the 1950’s, American culture and way of life has mostly changed for the worse.

Ukraine update: The idea that Ukraine has no choice but to take Kherson in a ‘great battle’ is wrong

It may be the oldest story in warfare. It’s certainly among the oldest that anyone ever bothered to record in songs, poems, or prose. Someone holds control over a city. Someone else wants it. Now what?

For a few days last week, hope was so thick you could practically walk on it. When word came of evacuations in Kherson, it really did look as if Russia meant to not just move out its officials and quislings, but its military.

Merrick Garland announces most progressive Department of Justice policy in decades

On Wednesday, hidden under the fog of traditional media outlets worrying about Democratic candidate John Fetterman’s post-stroke recovery, while accepting Mehmet Oz’s career of quackery, President Biden’s Department of Justice made a very important announcement. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland formally codified the FBI policy banning the use of subpoenas, search warrants, and other legal measures against news journalists in most circumstances.

Judge asks DOJ whether she should reveal how Trump has been preventing testimony from former aides

The chief judge of the District Court in Washington, D.C., is considering making documents concerning Donald Trump’s connections to Jan. 6 open to the public. In this case, the documents relate to how Trump has attempted to prevent former advisors and staff members from testifying before a grand jury hearing evidence related to Jan. 6.

When it comes to Trump and court battles, it can be difficult to keep up.

Rubio to hold event with coup plotter Trump, and Republicans are tittering about who’s not invited

Donald Trump, a traitor, will be holding a Miami rally for Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio on Nov. 6, just two days before Election Day. You might think that the biggest news here is that Marco Rubio remains so eager to ally with the orchestrator of a violent attempted coup against our government, a coup that led to deaths and could well have led to the deaths of many of Rubio’s own supposed colleagues.

Don’t Blame a Man for Midnights

It’s her; she’s the problem, Taylor Swift confesses on her new hit “Anti-Hero.” Yet listeners who have issues with her tenth original studio album, Midnights, are blaming someone else: Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote 12 of its 13 songs and co-produced all of them.

How to Stay Healthy This Cold-and-Flu Season

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.Cold-and-flu season is upon us, and COVID-19 is still here too.

How Elon Musk Could Actually Kill Twitter

Updated at 9:35 p.m. ET on October 27, 2022Sign up for Charlie’s newsletter, Galaxy Brain, here.Journalists have been declaring Twitter dead for nearly a decade. Observers see flagging user numbers or feel an amorphous, grim vibe shift and pounce, often prematurely. But this week, everyone is fretting and monitoring. Tonight, Elon Musk reportedly took control of Twitter, firing CEO Parag Agrawal and other executives, including Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal, policy, and trust.

Children’s Hospitals See Surge in RSV as Experts Warn of Winter “Tripledemic” of Respiratory Illness

Public health experts in the United States are warning of a possible “tripledemic” of respiratory illness this winter: an increase in COVID cases, an early flu season and a surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Hospitals in some parts of the U.S. are already seeing a surge in cases of RSV, which usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can be very serious for infants.

Amid Ethiopia’s Growing Humanitarian Crisis, Peace Talks Begin Over Devastating Tigray Conflict

Peace talks between Ethiopia’s government and rebel forces in Tigray began Monday in South Africa, where the African Union is mediating the highest-level effort so far at ending the bloodshed. The war began in November 2020 when Ethiopian troops, backed by soldiers from neighboring Eritrea, launched an assault on the northern Tigray region against the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front.

Biden Hosts Israeli President But Says Nothing About Deadly Israeli Crackdown in Occupied West Bank

We speak with Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, about the growing crisis in the occupied West Bank as Israel escalates its daily military raids. At least 120 Palestinians have been killed so far this year, including dozens of children. U.S. President Joe Biden met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog Wednesday but neither mentioned Palestinians in public remarks. “There has to be a change to acknowledge that U.S.

Phyllis Bennis on Progressive Dems Retracting Letter Urging Diplomacy to End Ukraine War

A group of progressive Democrats in the House of Representatives this week sent, then retracted, a public letter urging the Biden Administration to engage in direct diplomacy with Russia to end the war in Ukraine while continuing to arm and support the government in Kyiv. The letter was signed by 30 lawmakers from the Congressional Progressive Caucus and saw an immediate and fierce backlash, as critics said it undermined Ukraine’s position and downplayed Russian atrocities.