Today's Liberal News
Former Trump statistics chief slams Friday firing of Erika McEntarfer
Bill Beach said the president’s suggestions that the jobs report was rigged betrayed a misunderstanding in how those numbers are assembled.
Trump fires statistics chief after soft jobs report
The monthly jobs report showed just 73,000 jobs in July, with big reductions to May’s and June’s numbers
Indonesia Protests: At Least 10 Killed, Thousands Arrested Amid Police Crackdown
Authorities in Indonesia have launched a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests, sparked by outrage over generous housing allowances and other perks for politicians amid a deepening cost-of-living crisis. The protests were further inflamed after video showed a police vehicle running over a motorcycle taxi gig worker, who later died from his injuries. Security forces have detained more than 3,000 people since late August.
Deadly U.S. Strike on Venezuelan Boat Raises Fears of Wider War: Greg Grandin
Acclaimed historian Greg Grandin joins Democracy Now! to discuss the Trump administration’s attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in international waters, which killed 11 people earlier this week. President Trump and other senior officials have claimed without evidence that the boat was carrying narcotics from Venezuela to the United States and was operated by the gang Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization. “It was pure murder,” says Grandin.
“How Can You Be So Ignorant?”: GOP & Dem. Senators Slam RFK Jr. for Attacks on Vaccines & Science
Both Democratic and Republican senators grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday in a contentious hearing on his policies and anti-vaccine misinformation. RFK fired the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week, causing turmoil at the agency, and this week 1,000 current and former HHS employees sent a letter to Congress demanding his resignation. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Uniting for Peace”: How U.N. Could Override U.S. Veto, Send Peacekeepers to Gaza, Block Arms & More
The Trump administration is facing growing criticism for suspending visas for Palestinian passport holders, including for Palestinian officials set to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly this month. When the U.S. denied a visa to Yasser Arafat to address the U.N. in 1988, the General Assembly was moved to Geneva — the U.N. faces similar calls now. The move by the U.S. is “an indication of the unprecedented degree to which the U.S.
Trump’s Crypto Dealings Now Have the Perfect Cover
The Trumps have never been known for their subtlety: They like to do things fast, big, and loud. This is especially so in the context of cryptocurrency, a noisy and chaotic industry by nature. Remember our president’s collection of NFTs? Among the depictions on these digital trading cards is a portrait of Donald Trump in an Iron Man–inspired suit, accompanied by the caption “SUPERTRUMP.
U.S. Adversaries Strengthen Their Bond
Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings, watch full episodes here, or listen to the weekly podcast here.
The leaders of Russia, China, and North Korea gathered in Beijing this week in a show of force that highlighted their strengthening alliance. On Washington Week With The Atlantic, panelists joined to discuss this and more.
The Power of Not Caring
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
For Melani Sanders, a mother and wife, it started after a grocery run. She got in her car, pulled out her phone, and declared that she didn’t care—about shaving her legs, about wearing a “real bra,” or about keeping her house tidy.
What Lisette Model Saw in Jazz
Photographs by Lisette Model
“I was absolutely overwhelmed by jazz because I knew that was America,” the photographer Lisette Model once said. America is many things—joy and pain, freedom and repression—and Model’s photos of jazz musicians and their audiences captured the full range. Model, a Viennese Jewish émigré, is best known today for her street photography, but in the early 1950s, she set out to create a book of jazz pictures, with an accompanying essay to be written by Langston Hughes.
The First Millennial Saint
Visit the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Italian town of Assisi, and you’ll encounter the life-size cutout of a teen boy: the soon-to-be Saint Carlo Acutis. His real body, encased in wax, lies nearby in a brightly tiled coffin with a glass panel in the center. He’s dressed as you might expect a kid his age would be, in jeans, a zip-up jacket, and Nikes. Stone panels behind the coffin depict scenes from his life with some symbolic flourishes.
What Do You Pay the Man Who Has Everything?
A trillion dollars will come in handy if you want to colonize Mars.
What Ron DeSantis’ Latest Crusade Is Really About
Despite what Gov. Ron DeSantis says, his fight against street art has little to do with public safety.
Trump’s Tariffs Are Destroying Something You’d Never Expect
Not even your favorite sweater is safe from the trade war.
Money Talks: The Paradoxes of Patagonia
David Gelles joins Felix Salmon to discuss his new book Dirtbag Billionaire.
Alabama Is Trying to Create Its Own Boulder, Colorado. Guess Who Is Standing in the Way.
If only it can get past this one obstacle.
Your Own Personal Cult Leader
Kashmir Hill shares her reporting on the disturbing trend of AI chatbot relationships gone awry.
What RFK Jr. got wrong about vaccines during Senate hearing
The health secretary’s statements came amid heated exchanges with some senators.
House Republicans launch bill to extend health subsidies past midterms
It’s the latest sign the GOP sees political peril in letting enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the year’s end.
Kennedy prepares to name new vaccine panel members
The list of names includes at least three people who have questioned the safety of messenger RNA shots against Covid.
Pushback to Trump’s foreign aid cuts is coming from a surprising corner
The National Association of Evangelicals is headed to Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers to keep feeding the world’s hungry.
Is Aziz Ansari Sorry?
The Waves also discusses the Riverside Church controversy and the case of Sarah Milov.
Your Opinions on Her Wardrobe Are Probably Unwelcome
What we say matters, especially depending on whom we say it to.
What Role Does HR Play in the #MeToo Era?
The Waves also discusses the case against Jeffrey Epstein and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble.
Former Trump statistics chief slams Friday firing of Erika McEntarfer
Bill Beach said the president’s suggestions that the jobs report was rigged betrayed a misunderstanding in how those numbers are assembled.
Trump fires statistics chief after soft jobs report
The monthly jobs report showed just 73,000 jobs in July, with big reductions to May’s and June’s numbers
“Uniting for Peace”: How U.N. Could Override U.S. Veto, Send Peacekeepers to Gaza, Block Arms & More
The Trump administration is facing growing criticism for suspending visas for Palestinian passport holders, including for Palestinian officials set to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly this month. When the U.S. denied a visa to Yasser Arafat to address the U.N. in 1988, the General Assembly was moved to Geneva — the U.N. faces similar calls now. The move by the U.S. is “an indication of the unprecedented degree to which the U.S.



























