Today's Liberal News

Denise Oliver-Vélez, Pioneering Young Lord & Black Panther, Dies at 78

Lifelong activist, organizer and educator Denise Oliver-Vélez has died at the age of 78. She was a central figure in the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s and was the first woman elected to the Young Lords Central Committee, a radical Puerto Rican human rights group modeled on the Black Panther Party, which Oliver-Vélez was also a member of. She later became the first Black female program director in public radio and taught at SUNY New Paltz.

Trump Owes Americans a Better Explanation About Iran

Two more Americans have given their lives in the service of their country. They died in an Iranian attack on a Jordanian air base; several more U.S. military personnel were injured and one is missing. The American people have a right to know why they died, and how many more of their sons and daughters President Trump is willing to risk in this war of choice.
The president, so far, has issued his usual stock answers.

Movies and the Attention Span

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.
Earlier this year, my colleague Rose Horowitch reported on a new irony in higher education: Students who have chosen to take film classes can’t sit through the films.

What Trump’s Speech Could Mean For Future Elections

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.
President Trump’s obsession with alleged election corruption featured heavily in his latest speech to the nation. On Washington Week With The Atlantic, panelists joined to discuss the president’s remarks, and more.

What Lionel Messi Sees

Lionel Messi on the soccer field takes the short, trotty steps of a dachshund in the park. Such diminutive, mincy movements are part of his mystique: He gives opponents absolutely no reason whatsoever to track his runty, 5-foot-7 figure, right up until he bolts away and suddenly tears open the grass in front of him. He becomes the most commanding man on the green expanse, and seems to grow a foot in stature as he charges the goal.

Dua Lipa’s Freedom-to-Read Crusade

The pop star Dua Lipa is known for her dance-floor hits, for her turn as a mermaid in Barbie, for always seeming to be on vacation. Lately, though, she’s cultivated a reputation as a literary tastemaker. Through her book club, Service95, founded in 2023, the singer has made her love of books key to her public persona. She interviews authors on her podcast and has appeared at various Booker Prize festivities; she and her new husband, Callum Turner, purportedly bonded over a Hernan Diaz novel.

Just Ask the Dinosaurs How Bad Air Quality Can Get

The air quality this week is bad. Smoke from Canadian wildfires has turned the sky orange in Philadelphia. It has veiled the Statue of Liberty in Manhattan. In Detroit, which has dealt with some of the worst conditions in the country, the smoke has almost entirely blurred the city’s skyline. The eastern United States isn’t exactly accustomed to smoke days, which can prompt someone like me, from the wildfire-prone West, to brag about how they’ve seen far worse.

Cyclosporiasis Is Solved! Right?

Produce lovers of the Midwest, rejoice! It seems that parents can stop fretting about serving their kids berries, Redditors can stop trying to do their own epidemiological investigations, and I can stop cooking my salads. The mystery of what food caused an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, the diarrhea-causing parasitic illness, across several midwestern states appears to be solved: It was shredded lettuce served at Taco Bell, federal health agencies announced yesterday.

Photos: Wildfire Smoke Blankets Parts of North America

Cole Burston / AFP / Getty
People walk in downtown Toronto as smoke from forest fires in northern Ontario causes poor air quality over the city, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July 15, 2026.Stephen Maturen / Getty
The sun sets behind a layer of smoke on July 15, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Atlantic Reads: The Small Stuff With Ian Bogost

The Atlantic contributing writer Ian Bogost sat down with the senior editor Chris Suellentrop to discuss Bogost’s new book, The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life. Bogost argues that machines, technology, and other modern conveniences have contributed to a growing sense of societal disconnection and dissatisfaction. Bogost and Suellentrop’s candid conversation explores how to identify and appreciate the small, often overlooked joys in doing everyday tasks.

How the World Cup Finally Won Over America

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Why does the World Cup endure in an age of fractured attention? Is FreddyLA7 a real person? Charlie Warzel speaks with Men in Blazers founder Roger Bennett to chart how the World Cup has become far more than a sporting event and how this year’s tournament marks a turning point for soccer in the United States.

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” Faces Boycott Calls over Filming in Occupied Western Sahara

Hollywood’s blockbuster adaptation of the ancient Greek epic The Odyssey premieres around the world today amid growing calls for a boycott. Human rights campaigners are criticizing director Christopher Nolan over his decision to film part of the film in Western Sahara, a vast territory in northwestern Africa that Morocco has occupied for the past half-century.

“Disrupt, Identify, Defund, Debank, Arrest & Prosecute”: Trump Admin Threatens Leftist Groups

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top White House adviser Stephen Miller are pushing for a global crackdown on leftist organizations. The State Department on Thursday hosted a summit “on the resurgence of political terrorism,” where Miller described the left as “enemies of civilization” and described efforts to “disrupt, identify, defund, debank, arrest and prosecute these political terrorists that are operating in our country.” Rubio announced the U.S.