Today's Liberal News

Studying Bats With ‘Virus Hunters’ in the Philippines

Eloisa Lopez, a staff photographer with Reuters, recently spent time with researchers who call themselves the “virus hunters,” as they caught and studied bats in the Philippines. They set up wide nets near roosts, then carefully untangle any trapped bats and measure and swab them, before returning them to the wild.

I Just Want to Date Like Every Other 20-Something

Two months into the pandemic, I gave in and tried Zoom dating. After a few days of chatting on OKCupid, I found myself across the screen from a perfectly nice match. It was one hour in hell: Trapped in a two-way-hostage video, I was hyperaware of everything that was missing—the smell of her perfume, how she moved through space, seeing the way she ordered a drink.If I was going to date, it had to be in person.

The Republican Electoral College Contradiction

A few months after losing the White House, Republicans across the country have had a revelation: The Electoral College could use some improvements. The problem is that they have contradictory proposals for how to fix it—and contradictory arguments for why those proposals would help Americans pick their president. In Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Hampshire, GOP lawmakers want to award Electoral College votes by congressional district, just like Nebraska and Maine currently do.

“Shameful”: Amid Border Emergency, Immigrant Rights Advocates Urge Biden to Stop Detaining Children

There are now over 15,000 unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. custody as the number of people seeking asylum at the southern border shows no sign of slowing down. The Biden administration has sharpened its rhetoric in recent weeks, insisting that the “border is closed” and pushing Mexico and Guatemala to stem the flow of migrants. The Biden administration has also maintained one of the most controversial Trump policies, which allows the U.S.

Homeroom: My Son Spends Hours Studying. Then He Forgets Everything.

Editor’s Note: Every Tuesday, Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer take questions from readers about their kids’ education. Have one? Email them at homeroom@theatlantic.com.Dear Abby and Brian,I don’t know if it has to do with remote learning or if this would have come up anyway, but my sixth grader, whom I’ll call “Tom,” immediately seems to forget everything he studies. He remembers non-school-related information fine.

“The Sum of Us”: Heather McGhee on How Racism Undercuts the American Dream for Everyone

Amid a national reckoning with structural racism and the dangers of white supremacy, author Heather McGhee’s new book details how racism in the United States hurts not just people of color but also white people. In “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together,” McGhee details how zero-sum thinking has worsened inequality and robbed people of all stripes of the public goods and support they need to thrive.

Israel’s ‘Totally Crooked’ Prime Minister

Today, Israel will hold its fourth election in two years. This is a sign not of democracy on steroids, but instead of acute dysfunction, a semipermanent paralysis brought about, strangely, by the extreme stability of Israeli voting patterns: Neither the incumbent, Benjamin Netanyahu, nor his various opponents have been able to change enough minds to build a durable parliamentary majority.

News Roundup: Sedition regains corporate sponsors; Rep. Tom Reed won’t run again

In today’s news, the House hears arguments for Washington, D.C., statehood, a House Republican announced he would no longer run for reelection after accusations of sexual assault, and some corporate promises to distance themselves from politicians who voted to overturn election results are turning out to have some big, big loopholes.