Today's Liberal News

A Plot Twist in the Milky Way

In the spring of 2020, a group of astronomers told the world a dramatic story: They had discovered a black hole just 1,000 light-years away from Earth, closer to us than any they’d found before. They’d detected it in a constellation called Telescopium, nestled alongside two stars that, on a clear night in the Southern Hemisphere, are visible to the naked eye.

Russian Environmentalist Speaks Out on Putin’s Attack on Antiwar Protesters & Independent Media

As the Russian military escalates its invasion in Ukraine, Russian police are cracking down on antiwar protesters at home, arresting more than 8,000 over the past eight days. Meanwhile, Russia’s lower house of parliament has passed a new law to criminalize the distribution of what the state considers to be “false news” about military operations, and remaining independent news outlets in the country are shutting down under pressure from the authorities.

Russia’s Unprecedented Shelling of Ukrainian Nuclear Plant Raises Fears of Another Chernobyl

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of “nuclear terror” after Russian forces shelled and subsequently set on fire the largest nuclear power plant in Europe on Friday morning. The fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant burned for hours but reportedly did not spread to any of the plant’s six reactors before the Russians ultimately seized the site. Ukraine heavily relies on nuclear power, with 15 active nuclear power reactors across the country.

Russia’s War in Ukraine Could Spark Nuclear Catastrophe; Calls for Global Disarmament Grow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that if a Third World War were to take place, it would be a nuclear war. His comments come just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert and after Russian nuclear submarines set sail for tests in waters near Norway. Meanwhile, voters in Belarus have approved a referendum opening the door for Russia to station nuclear weapons in Belarusian territory, and Russia has called on the U.S.

Ukraine update: Let’s talk about mud, the greatest friend Ukraine ever had

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Before the invasion, I posted a 7-day weather outlook for Ukraine and wrote, “Those are above-freezing temperatures, meaning that grounds are already thawing out, creating a soft mushy mess that would bog down any Russian incursion deep into Ukraine.” It wasn’t a particularly novel observation.

Democrats can’t be shy about rallying for democracy

This article, written by TNR deputy editor Jason Linkins, first appeared on newrepublic.com and in Power Mad, a weekly TNR newsletter. Sign up here.

President Joe Biden’s response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has thus far been a model in how to play a difficult hand well.

Manhattan REI workers and New York Times tech workers unionized this week

This week saw two winning union votes with big margins and special significance. Workers who’d been organizing at a Manhattan REI store voted to unionize by an 88 to 14 margin. REI has 170 stores, and as we watch Starbucks stores unionizing—with three out of four that have voted so far having voted yes, the most recent one by a big margin—you have to wonder what supposedly progressive retail or food service chain is next.

Connect! Unite! Act! Remembering 20 years

Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series that seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet regularly to socialize, get out the vote, support candidates, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers that be.

The Western Mythmaking of Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog

In the past 30 years, two Westerns have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards and both redefined that most American of genres. When Clint Eastwood’s brutally revisionist Unforgiven won in 1993, it marked a turning point for films that had long idealized frontier violence. The Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men then won in 2008, defining modern Westerns beyond the typical 19th-century setting.

Cutting My Hair Was My First Revolutionary Act

What seemed like an eternity ended at 13. I decided that was the appropriate age to swap my fat pigtails out for a fantastic, fluffy ’fro. In lieu of a debutante cotillion or other social ritual, the coming-out of my hair would mark my transition from girl to teenager. An afro, my afro, would also serve as a talisman of acceptance—indisputable evidence that, no matter my light-skinned flesh nor the thousand shades of blond in my thick hair, I was Black.

The Great Fracturing of American Attention

Last month, as Delta Flight 1580 made its way from Utah to Oregon, Michael Demarre approached one of the plane’s emergency-exit doors. He removed the door’s plastic covering, a federal report of the events alleges, and tugged at the handle that would release its hatch. A nearby flight attendant, realizing what he was doing, stopped him. Fellow passengers spent the rest of the flight watching him to ensure that he remained in his seat.

Why America Loves Love Is Blind

This article contains spoilers for Love Is Blind Season 2. If you’ve never seen an episode of Love Is Blind, the best way I can describe the viewing experience is this: It feels like a television producer read a Wikipedia description of the Stanford prison experiment and decided that all it needed was a little romance.

Drive My Car Pushes the Limit of Language

In recent years, the subject of language has been prominent on American movie-award stages. In 2020, Lee Isaac Chung’s gorgeous family drama Minari was controversially nominated for best foreign-language film at the Golden Globes despite being in both English and Korean and dealing with the very American experiences of isolation and immigration.