Today's Liberal News

“Journalism Deserves Better”: Ex-Washington Post Staffers Slam Billionaire Bezos for Gutting Paper

The Washington Post has laid off more than 300 journalists, dismantling its sports, local news and international coverage. “Everybody is grieving, and it’s a loss for our readers,” says Nilo Tabrizy, one of the paper’s recently laid-off staff, who describes a “robotic” meeting announcing the cuts. “They didn’t have the dignity to look us in the eye.

Winter Olympics Photo of the Day: Drone Chase

Christian Hartmann / Reuters
A camera drone follows close behind Barnabas Szollos of Team Israel, as he hurtles down the course during the men’s downhill at Stelvio Alpine Skiing Center in Bormio, Italy, on February 7, 2026, on day one of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Trump’s Election Fixation

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.
This week, Donald Trump called for Republicans to “nationalize” the upcoming elections—even though state and local officials are charged with this role. Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss this and more.

The Payoff of Deep Contemplation

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.
When Michael Pollan traveled to a cave in New Mexico to try to understand consciousness, he learned what good meditation is really made of.

Smart Homes Are Terrible

My folks are visiting me in Southern California for a couple of months, so I rented them a house down the street. The place is new construction, modern and sleek. Rentals tend to be shabby and worn-out, so choosing a home with the latest and greatest felt like a way to make the experience hassle-free.
All of the appliances and systems are brand-new: the HVAC, the lighting, the entertainment. Touch screens of various shapes and sizes control this, that, and the other.

Pete Davidson’s Charm Is Working Against Him

The first question to confront when considering The Pete Davidson Show, a new Netflix series that the streamer is calling a “video podcast,” is: What is a podcast? The term can be a little difficult to pin down; what initially referred to downloadable audio files you ported onto your iPod is today used for most online radio. Now the notion of a podcast is transforming again to include filmed entertainment.

A Very Retro Olympics Opening Ceremony

Every Olympics opening ceremony is an advertisement—for the host country, for the Olympics themselves, for the notion of a free-trading global order competing through sport, in the same place and on even ground. This year, the ceremony for the Winter Olympics, held in the Italian cities Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, was also an advertisement for the past.
This focus on the old is, well, new.

Why Trump Is Picking Fights With Big U.S. Banks

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.
For as long as the Trump family has been cashing in on crypto, Don Jr., Eric, and their affiliates have deployed a particular narrative about their reasons for investing in the industry.

Winter Olympics Photo of the Day: Dynamic Cauldrons

Lars Baron / Getty
The torchbearers Deborah Compagnoni and Alberto Tomba light one of two Olympic cauldrons during the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics at Piazza Dibona in Milan, Italy, today. The Olympic flame, carried through all 110 provinces in Italy over the past 63 days, has reached its final destinations: a pair of identical cauldrons in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The Real Winner of TrumpRx

Nothing about TrumpRx is subtle. When you open up the government’s new online drugstore, the first thing you see is a banner with giant text: “Find the world’s lowest prices on prescription drugs.” Launched last night, TrumpRx allows Americans to purchase certain medications at steep discounts—either by buying them directly from the drug company or by showing a coupon at the pharmacy. “Thanks to President Trump, the days of Big Pharma price-gouging are over,” the website says.