Today's Liberal News

“The Viral Underclass”: Steven Thrasher on Monkeypox, Biden Failures & How Class Impacts Viral Spread

As New York City declares monkeypox a public health emergency, and California and Illinois have also declared states of emergency over the rapid spread of monkeypox, we speak with LGBTQ+ scholar Steven Thrasher, author of the new book, “The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide,” which explores how social determinants impact the health outcomes of different communities.

News Roundup: Kansas voters crush anti-abortion amendment; Alex Jones lies in court, gets caught

Tuesday’s elections resulted in one big surprise, as Kansas voters overwhelmingly crushed an attempt by state Republicans to curtail abortion rights. Even in the hard-right state, voters weren’t having it, and that suggests Republicans aren’t going to be able to dodge their new anti-abortion bans in November’s elections either. But will it make Republican lawmakers back down from their efforts to criminalize abortion nationally? Don’t bet on it.

About that national abortion ban congressional Republicans have been planning …

Republicans greeted the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade with talk of going still further, not just allowing states to ban abortion but passing legislation in Congress to ban abortion nationwide. Can someone ask them about that again in the wake of the overwhelming Kansas vote to protect abortion rights?

House Republicans have been talking about a 15-week ban—and that isn’t all.

Alex Jones sideswiped by exposure of his own texts in Sandy Hook trial

Conspiracy theory peddler Alex Jones admitted in court Wednesday that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was real, citing his newfound belief after a day of brutal testimony offered in court by the parents of one of the children who was murdered. 

Jones is trying to fend off a $150 million defamation lawsuit from the parents of Jesse Lewis, a 6-year-old boy who was shot and killed in the 2012 attack at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.

We may not know Sen. Sinema’s vote on the Democrats’ new climate bill until it hits the floor

Based on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s past behavior (her infamous thumbs-down curtsy in the weary faces of America’s working poor immediately comes to mind), I’ve never been sold on the notion that she’ll allow any substantive portion of President Joe Biden’s progressive Build Back Better agenda to pass.

Well, we’re about to find out for sure. Since Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and climate action holdout Sen.

Having trouble keeping up with Florida Power & Light’s scandals? Here’s their latest misdeeds

Forgive me for being unserious at a time when companies like Florida Power & Light (FPL)—the nation’s largest utility—keep racking up scandals, but it’s kind of hard to keep track of the latest outrageous episode because the next one immediately overshadows it. Surely, FPL could take part of its 2022 Q2 net income of $989 million and just put out a greatest hits record of its standout incidents.

The Climate Bill Would Change the Course of the 2020s

First we got the bill. Now we have the numbers.
The Inflation Reduction Act, the surprise deal that Senator Joe Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer struck last week, would significantly reduce greenhouse-gas pollution from the American economy. If passed, the bill would cut annual emissions by as much as 44 percent by the end of this decade, according to a new set of analyses from three independent research firms.

Alex Jones Can’t Pretend His Way Out of This Reality

The only way to shut up Alex Jones, for a moment, at least, is to place him inside a courtroom. For the past few days, the Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist has been in and out of a Travis County courthouse as one of his numerous defamation trials continues. The trial will determine how much Jones and his company must pay Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, two parents from Newtown, Connecticut, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse, was killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012.

What Kansas Means for the Midterms

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.Last night, a primary election in Kansas marked “the first time that voters had a chance to weigh in directly on abortion since the Supreme Court scrapped Roe,” Russell Berman reported.

Seriously, What Are You Supposed to Do With Old Clothes?

In February, I ran out of hangers. The occasion was not exactly unforeseen—for at least a year, I had been rearranging the deck chairs on my personal-storage Titanic in an attempt to forestall the inevitable. I loaded two or three tank tops or summer dresses onto a single hanger. I carefully refolded everything in my dresser drawers to max out their capacity. I left the things I wore most frequently on a bedroom chair instead of wedging them into my closet.

Democrats Might Avoid a Midterm Wipeout

If Democrats avoid the worst outcome in November’s midterm elections, the principal reason will likely be the GOP’s failure to reverse its decline in white-collar suburbs during the Donald Trump era.That’s a clear message from yesterday’s crowded primary calendar, which showed the GOP mostly continuing to nominate Trump-style culture-war candidates around the country.

U.S.-China Tensions Rise as Pelosi Vows “Ironclad” Support for Taiwan During Controversial Trip

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan after a series of high-profile meetings with Taiwan’s pro-democracy president and other lawmakers. Pelosi’s visit made her the most senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan in 25 year and stoked tensions with China, prompting the nation to announce it would carry out new air and naval drills and long-range live-fire exercises in six areas around Taiwan beginning Thursday.