Today's Liberal News

The Double Standard in Trump-Biden Coverage

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.
After President Joe Biden’s disastrous recent public appearances, he and his supporters are attacking media outlets for a double standard in coverage of him and his opponent. They’re right, but that double standard is structural and, unfortunately, will not end during this campaign.

Why The Bear Is So Hard to Watch

For all the time The Bear spends gazing at its protagonist, Jeremy Allen White’s seraphic, tormented chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, I’m hard-pressed to say what its third season has imparted about him that we didn’t already know.

America Finally Has an Answer to the Biggest Problem With EVs

For more than 40 years in a row, Ford’s F-150 and its family of pickup trucks have been the best-selling vehicles in America. So when Ford released an electric version in 2022, the F-150 Lightning, it should have been a turning point for electric cars in the country—if not, that is, for the price tag.

The Climate Is Falling Apart. Prepare for the Push Alerts.

Last July, I was living in Montreal when an emergency push alert from Canada’s environmental agency popped up on my phone, accompanied by a loud alarm. It had been raining ferociously that afternoon, and the wind was picking up. The alert warned of something worse—a marine tornado, which “are often wrapped in rain and may not be visible”—and ordered, “Take cover immediately if threatening weather approaches.”
I looked outside. The wind was howling louder now, and the sky was a strange gray.

Iran’s New Reformist President Promises More Freedom, Better Relations with the West

Voters in Iran elected Masoud Pezeshkian as president Saturday. The heart surgeon and former health minister defeated hard-liner Saeed Jalili in a runoff vote held just weeks after President Ebrahim Raisi and other top officials died in a helicopter crash. Pezeshkian has criticized Iran’s mandatory hijab law for women and has promised to disband Iran’s morality police, as well as better relations with the United States and other Western countries in the hopes of lifting sanctions.

“The Whole Country of France Has Won”: Far Right Blocked from Power as Left Surges

A leftist coalition pulled off a surprise victory in the second round of parliamentary elections in France on Sunday, becoming the largest bloc in Parliament and successfully keeping the far-right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen out of government. The New Popular Front, which won 182 seats in the National Assembly, still fell short of the 289 seats required for an absolute majority.

“Wide But Thin Mandate”: Why U.K. Labour Party’s Landslide Is on Shaky Ground

Labour’s landslide victory in Thursday’s U.K. election gives the party a “wide but thin” mandate, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik, who says the new government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer has to work hard to solidify its gains “if it’s not going to be a temporary win.” She also discusses her new piece, “Pro-Palestine votes aren’t ‘sectarian’. Dismissing them would be a dangerous mistake for Labour.

As Labour Wins in U.K., Party’s Ex-Leader Jeremy Corbyn Wins as Independent in Revolt over Gaza Policy

As the British Labour Party won a landslide in Thursday’s election, ending 14 years of Conservative rule, we speak with former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was reelected as an independent. He discusses Keir Starmer’s plans as Britain’s new prime minister and says the party now needs to offer meaningful change to the public, including on demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

What the VW-Rivian Deal Means for Big Auto

Cars and trucks are the archetypal examples of industrial hardware. And automotive manufacturing historically has been all about finding ways to efficiently engineer and assemble metal, glass, and plastics into road-going vehicles with consumer appeal. But the big change in locomotion from the internal combustion engine to electric motors has shaken everything up.

Hope and Resistance: Voices of a People’s History of the United States in the 21st Century

In a special broadcast, we look at voices of a people’s history inspired by the late great historian Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking book, A People’s History of the United States, which helped reshape how history is taught in classrooms. Twenty years ago, Zinn and Anthony Arnove began organizing public readings of historical texts referenced in A People’s History of the United States.

“What to the Slave Is the 4th of July?”: James Earl Jones Reads Frederick Douglass’s Historic Speech

We begin our July Fourth special broadcast with the words of Frederick Douglass. Born into slavery around 1818, Douglass became a key leader of the abolitionist movement. On July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, Douglass gave one of his most famous speeches, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” He was addressing the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society.

How to Replace Biden & Beat Trump: Longtime DNC Member Jim Zogby Proposes Process to Pick New Nominee

As Democrats discuss whether President Joe Biden should stand down as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate following his disastrous debate performance, we speak with James Zogby, senior member of the Democratic National Committee, about his call for an open and transparent nomination process to select new candidates leading up to the Democratic National Convention next month, where the final nominee would be voted on.

Why That House of the Dragon Death Matters

This story includes spoilers through Season 2, Episode 4, of HBO’s House of the Dragon.
If only Princess Rhaenys had unleashed her dragon, Meleys, in the Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon. Back then, the Targaryen royal (played with a quiet gravitas by Eve Best) had the perfect opportunity to end a war before it began. But she left the throne’s usurpers unharmed, later explaining that such a conflict was not hers to start.
As it turns out, it was hers to lose.

Eight Books That Will Change Your Perspective

An epiphany isn’t always heralded by trumpets or bolts of lightning. I once had a flash of clarity while unlocking my bike: As if I had also unlocked my mind, I suddenly knew that I had to end the relationship I was in. It was one of those rare moments when you face a truth you’ve been avoiding or see life from a new perspective. The resulting vision isn’t always pretty (I started crying as soon as I got on my bike), but it sparkles with lucidity.

The Fifth Circuit Won by Losing

One of the surprising themes of the Supreme Court’s term that effectively ended this past Monday was how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit—the federal appeals court in New Orleans that hears cases from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—won even as it lost.

U.S. Allies Are Already Worried About Another Round of Trump

Most of America’s allies would like Joe Biden to win the U.S. presidential election in November. He has been a fine president. His foreign-policy team is first-class. But what if Donald Trump should win instead? In the aftermath of Biden’s poor debate performance, the anxieties in allied capitals are spiraling.
Allied leaders know that Trump views their countries not as friends but as freeloaders.

Eight Absorbing Reads for Independence Day Weekend

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.
Our editors compiled a list of eight absorbing reads for your Independence Day weekend. Spend time with stories about a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, the search for America’s Atlantis, why Americans can’t access some of the world’s best sunscreens, and more.