Today's Liberal News

Trump Doubles Down

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.
Over the past few days, the president has continued his crusade against one of the supposed vandals of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool.

Shopping Is Impossible

For several months, I had been on the hunt for new T-shirts. I vaguely had a vision of what they should look like: not so different from my current T-shirts, except in some way elevated and, more urgent, free of stains or holes. Perhaps they could come in interesting colors? Ideally, they would not be made in sweatshops. There were many, many shirts that seemed to meet these criteria—and with a few clicks, they could be delivered to my doorstep, maybe even by tomorrow.

What Do Sex and Gender Even Mean Now?

In her first argument as a lawyer before the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously quoted the abolitionist Sarah Grimké, who said, “I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” At some point, however, Ginsburg was encouraged to use an alternative to the term sex.
“I’m typing all these briefs and articles for you and the word sex, sex, sex is on every page,” her secretary at Columbia Law School told her.

The Atlantic Festival announces interview with Colin Kaepernick and exclusive preview of Netflix’s East of Eden, with Florence Pugh, Zoe Kazan, and Bela Bajaria

The Atlantic Festival, back for the second year in New York City from September 17 to 19, is announcing new speakers including the legendary quarterback, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Colin Kaepernick, who will be interviewed by contributing writer Jemele Hill about his forthcoming memoir, The Perilous Fight.

Bryan Stevenson on the “Enduring Evil of Slavery” and Trump’s Attempt to Rewrite History

We spend the hour with civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. In 2018, the organization opened the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, to tell the history of millions of enslaved Africans who were abducted and trafficked across the Atlantic to the Americas by European powers, and to chronicle the legacy of slavery, racism, lynchings and segregation in the United States.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on Historic Michigan Win: “People Are Sick and Tired of This Politics of Hatred”

We speak with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed after his victory in Michigan’s primary race for U.S. Senate sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party. El-Sayed, a former public health official, ran a progressive campaign focused on affordability, Medicare for All, getting money out of politics, and opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He defeated Congressmember Haley Stevens, who was backed by tens of millions in outside spending including by AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobby group.

Photos: European Rivers Fall to Record Lows

Michael Probst / AP
The Pfalzgrafenstein toll castle sits in the middle of the Rhine River, seen at a very low water level, in Kaub, Germany, on August 10, 2026.Fadel Dawod / Getty
A marina is seen surrounded by exposed riverbed as water levels remain low along the Waal River in Nijmegen, Netherlands, on August 8, 2026. The Netherlands is facing an ongoing drought and water shortage as exceptionally low river flows continue across the country.

Never Trump, Still a Republican

Subscribe here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Overcast | Pocket Casts
Jeff Flake is something of a maverick in today’s Republican Party. He was an early and consistent critic of President Trump. In December 2015, when then-candidate Trump floated a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering” the United States—a preview of what became his now-infamous executive order barring travel to the U.S.

If Only This Could Last Forever

Summer always overstays its welcome by about a month. After the Fourth of July, which has its charms, nothing but a stretch of relentless heat lies ahead, reaching toward Labor Day, and I begin to yearn for fall. So does the grand, semi-malevolent intelligence that organizes American consumption: By mid-August, grocery stores are stocking their shelves with autumnal goods—pumpkin-pie Pop-Tarts, cinnamon-maple Frosted Flakes, pumpkin-spice cinnamon rolls in pressurized cardboard tubes.

In Defense of Flock

Crime in San Francisco, Jarico Anderson announced last year, “is over with.” Anderson, who raps under the stage name Dreamllife Rizzy, would know—he’s a convicted felon. Lately, though, he says that cameras have been making criminal life inconvenient.