Today's Liberal News
The Allure of Messy Reddit Stories
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.Good morning, and welcome back to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, in which one Atlantic writer reveals what’s keeping them entertained.
Abortion on the ballot? Not if these Republican lawmakers can help it.
Several bills would limit voters’ power to override abortion restrictions that Republicans imposed.
Conservative Texas judge weighs challenge to abortion pills
Lawyers for the FDA are expected to argue that pulling mifepristone would upend reproductive care for U.S. women and undermine the government’s scientific oversight of prescription drugs.
Congress sends bill requiring declassification of Covid-19 origin intel to Biden
The president hasn’t said if he will sign it, or issue his first veto.
Republicans take aim at Medicaid as budget talks heat up
Republican House and Senate leadership have been adamant that they will not cut Social Security and Medicare, but have said less about Medicaid.
Trump’s CDC director says Fauci shut down debate on Covid’s origin
In an interview with POLITICO, Fauci dismissed the charge.
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.
Biden’s 2022 State of the Union report card: Where he delivered — and fell flat
The president promised a lot last year. Here’s how we graded him on some of those pledges.
Biden on robust jobs numbers: The ‘critics and cynics are wrong’
Noting the 3.4 percent jobless rate, the lowest since May 1969, the president said “the Biden economic play is working.
Blood and Treasure: Documenting the Costs of Iraq War from Civilian Casualties to Trillions Spent
With the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq on March 20, we speak with Oxford University international relations professor Neta Crawford, who says the region is still reeling from the impact of the war. “The story continues. It’s not over,” she says. Crawford is co-director of the Costs of War Project at Brown University, where her latest report pegs the cost of U.S. wars in Iraq and Syria since 2003 at nearly $2.9 trillion. Since the U.S.
Julian Assange’s Father & Brother Speak Out on His Jailing, Press Freedom & New Documentary “Ithaka”
We continue our coverage of the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq by looking at the imprisonment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been jailed for exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. One video released by WikiLeaks showed a U.S. helicopter gunship in Baghdad slaughtering a dozen civilians, including a Reuters journalist. Assange has been held in London’s Belmarsh prison since 2019 as he fights the U.S.
Never Again: Human Rights Groups & Japanese Americans Warn Biden Against Jailing Migrant Families
This week nearly 400 human rights groups urged the Biden administration not to revive the controversial practice of migrant family detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Biden ended family detention when he took office two years ago but is now reportedly reconsidering it as part of a wider crackdown as his administration prepares to phase out the contested Trump-era Title 42 pandemic policy used to expel over 2 million migrants without due process at the southern border.
Death, Destruction & Resilience: Nadje Al-Ali on the 20th Anniversary of U.S. Invasion of Iraq
As the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq approaches next week, Democracy Now! begins our look at the Iraq War’s lasting after-effects on Iraqi society and the shape of global politics today. “The story of the past 20 years is a story of destruction, devastation, corruption, incompetence, but also a story of resilience,” says Nadje Al-Ali, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Brown University and author of several award-winning books on the U.S.
Maryland House Passes Bill Requiring Gender-Affirming Care Under Medicaid
The Trans Health Equity Act would ensure low-income transgender Maryland residents on Medicaid have access to gender-affirming procedures.
What Made Taylor Swift’s Concert Unbelievable
Breaking: Taylor Swift is not simply a voice in our ears or an abstract concept to argue over at parties, but a flesh-and-blood being with a taste for sparkling pajamas and the stamina of a ram. All concerts are conjurings, turning the audience’s idea of a performer into a real thing, but last night’s kickoff of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in Glendale, Arizona, heightened the amazement with Houdini-escapes-handcuffs physicality.
Trump Did It Again
Let us begin with the obvious thing that just happened: This morning, Donald Trump threatened to summon a mob—for the second time in two years—to his defense. The former president of the United States and a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for the White House in 2024, facing a possible indictment in New York, claimed to know the exact day on which he would be arrested and then called on his supporters to “protest.
Donald Trump Writes First Facebook Post Since Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
His message was brief and all-caps.
Wyoming governor signs measure prohibiting abortion pills
The pills are already banned in 13 states with blanket bans on all forms of abortion, and 15 states already have limited access to abortion pills.
Donald Trump Names Day He’ll Be Arrested In New Truth Social Screed
The former president demanded supporters “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK” after apparently learning when he’ll be indicted.
The Decline of Strict Etiquette
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.In a 1929 Atlantic article titled “Tragedies of Etiquette,” an anonymous writer details the many surprises contained in a book on women’s etiquette.
Election Conspiracy Movement Grinds On As 2024 Approaches
As the U.S. barrels toward the next presidential election, the movement that mushroomed after the last one shows no signs of slowing down.
What People Still Don’t Get About Bailouts
It doesn’t seem fair, does it? Just 15 years after our financial overlords went on a bailout binge, showering bankers with trillions of taxpayer dollars, they’re once again riding to the rescue of the rich while the public watches in horror. Did they learn none of the lessons from the 2008 meltdown?Actually, yes, they did.
Sometimes, Consensus Can Be Ruinous
The U.S. invasion of Iraq was the most consequential political event of the past two decades. But it doesn’t feel that way. It has the faint whiff of youthful indiscretion, an episode that many Americans would rather forget. I was 19. The tenor of that time in American life—after the September 11 attacks—seems ever more foreign to me.
The Air Force That Gina Ortiz Jones Is Leaving Behind
The recently departed under secretary pushed through some of the most significant diversity and equity efforts at the Defense Department.
Conservative Texas judge weighs challenge to abortion pills
Lawyers for the FDA are expected to argue that pulling mifepristone would upend reproductive care for U.S. women and undermine the government’s scientific oversight of prescription drugs.
Congress sends bill requiring declassification of Covid-19 origin intel to Biden
The president hasn’t said if he will sign it, or issue his first veto.
Republicans take aim at Medicaid as budget talks heat up
Republican House and Senate leadership have been adamant that they will not cut Social Security and Medicare, but have said less about Medicaid.
Trump’s CDC director says Fauci shut down debate on Covid’s origin
In an interview with POLITICO, Fauci dismissed the charge.