Today's Liberal News

Ukraine update: Good news, unbelievable news, and puzzling news from Svatove

Overnight, the news out of the area around Svatove was decidedly … weird. While Russian sources appeared in a near panic about new Ukrainian advances and seemed ready to write off the whole area, one of the most trusted Ukrainian sources was reporting an advance by Russian forces that caused Ukrainian troops to withdraw from two key towns. All of that might have been easier to sort out if the reports had not been for the exact same area.

In other weird news: Julia Roberts is oddly connected to Martin Luther King Jr. and his family

Of all the people Academy Award-winning actor Julia Roberts might be connected to, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would not be one you’d expect. But it’s true: The famed civil rights leader and the Pretty Woman star shared a unique connection.

In a bizarre turn of events, on Oct. 28, Roberts’ birthday, a fan shared a video compilation that prompted a comment stating that Martin Luther King Jr.

President Obama stumping in Nevada is something worth watching

As we approach the Nov. 8 midterm elections, races across the country seem to be heating up. Whether they’re truly heating up or the traditional media is making it sound like things are heating up is debatable. However, like most elections, the No. 1 thing either political party can do at this point is convince its registered members to vote. That’s the whole game, in a nutshell.

The Little-Known Roots of ‘Black Power’

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.A new documentary, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, looks at a pivotal chapter of the civil-rights movement that shaped how we think and talk about race in America to this day. The film, inspired by the work of the Atlantic senior editor Vann R.

Taylor Swift’s Best New Songs Aren’t Technically on Midnights

In the final track of Midnights, Taylor Swift confesses to being a “mastermind” who plans so carefully that she can’t possibly lose. The song is addressed to her lover, but she might as well be singing about the meticulous rollout of her new album. Over the course of nearly two months, she posted cryptic videos teasing the music without allowing anyone to hear a single note. She put together a “manifest” that looked like something out of the metaverse.

Now Do Amazon

One of the great literary hoaxes of our time is the book spine. A staggering number of logos stare out from dust jackets, celebrating names including Crown, Vintage, Ballantine, Knopf, and Dial. But the pluralism implied by this diversity of monikers is a sham. In the U.S., nearly 100 of them belong to a single company: Penguin Random House. The rest are owned by a small handful of competitors, one of which is Simon & Schuster.

“Working People Everywhere Have Had It”: SEIU Pres. Mary Kay Henry on Unions Mobilizing for Midterms

We look at the high stakes of the midterm elections for workers, including in key battleground states. Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, says they are campaigning to empower working people, especially infrequent voters of color and new immigrants, to vote in their best interests. “We have got to make our votes a demand, and not a show of support for candidates that are with us one day and against us the next,” says Henry.

How to End the War in Ukraine: Matt Duss and Ray McGovern Debate U.S. Policy on Russia, NATO & More

As the U.S. pours billions in military aid into Ukraine, we host a debate on the Biden administration’s response to the war and U.S. policy toward Russia amid increasing calls among progressives for a diplomatic end to the conflict. We speak to former Bernie Sanders foreign policy adviser Matt Duss, now a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst who specialized in the Soviet Union.

Rep. Ro Khanna: U.S. Should Halt Arms to Saudis over Yemen War & Oil Production Cuts

Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna says Saudi Arabia should face consequences for its decision to cut oil output by 2 million barrels a day as part of the OPEC+ cartel, raising gas prices in the United States just before the midterm elections where cost-of-living issues are expected to be a major factor. He also discusses the Saudi-led war in Yemen, describing it as “one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world” that must be brought to an end.