Today's Liberal News

The Beverage Universe Keeps Expanding

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.In recent years, a massive selection of new drinks has popped up on the market, including a spate of alcoholic seltzers and a bunch of no-alcohol options.

This Week in Books: Could AI Ever Write Like Stephen King and Margaret Atwood?

This is an edition of the revamped Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.The precipitous arrival of artificial intelligence into our lives over the past year has provoked some very deep existential quandaries, such as: What is it that a human can do that a robot never could? When it comes to creativity and whether art is within the range of a machine’s capabilities, this question is not so academic.

The Other Work Remote Workers Get Done

Carolyn Vigil has spent most of her career in Big Tech. She is also the primary caregiver for her 23-year-old autistic son, Jax. Managing these two roles has never been easy, and at various times over the years, Vigil has had to step back from her job for the sake of her kid. It is somewhat remarkable that when schools shut down during the pandemic and Vigil became not only her son’s carer but also his teacher, she didn’t quit her job.

Six Books to Read When You Want to Feel Closer to Others

Anytime I’ve felt adrift or lonely, literature has been a bridge leading me back to other people. When I moved to a new country after living in the same city for three decades, I sought out literary events to meet fellow artists. Back when I was a disillusioned law student, frustrated with the limitations of the curriculum, I convened a reading group that addressed the gaps in our education and breathed new meaning into my degree.

Green New Deal Architect Rhiana Gunn-Wright Warns the Green Transition May Leave Black People Behind

As the cost of the climate crisis continues to rise and climate justice groups demand more government action to halt the heating of the planet, we speak with policy expert Rhiana Gunn-Wright, one of the architects of the Green New Deal. She says the Inflation Reduction Act championed by President Biden, which is the largest climate bill in U.S. history, has many provisions that “structurally leave out Black people.

Enbridge Is the Guilty Party, Not Me: Meet the Pipeline Protester Facing 5 Years for Peaceful Action

We speak with climate activist and water protector Mylene Vialard, whose trial for peacefully protesting the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline began this week in Minnesota. Vialard faces up to five years in prison for her 2021 protest, when she attached herself to a 25-foot bamboo tower erected to block a pumping station in Aitkin County. Vialard, who lives in Colorado, had come to Minnesota to take part in a wave of Indigenous-led acts of civil disobedience to stop the pipeline.

Jan. 6: Proud Boys Lieutenant Joe Biggs, Who Warned of “Second Civil War,” Sentenced to 17 Years

Two former leaders of the right-wing Proud Boys gang were sentenced Thursday for their actions during the January 6 insurrection, with the judge handing down some of the longest sentences yet for people involved in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Joseph Biggs, the former leader of the group’s Florida chapter, was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison. Zachary Rehl, the former leader of the Philadelphia chapter, received 15 years.

Meryl Streep Is Giving Yet Another Killer Performance

Only Murders in the Building is easy to watch. Each season follows Charles (played by Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez), true-crime podcasters who solve murders in the Arconia, the titular building in which they live. Every episode mines comedy from the trio’s generational differences and explores how their unusual shared hobby bolsters their equally unusual friendship.

When Sci-Fi Anticipates Reality

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.The relationship between tech and sci-fi is closer—and messier—than observers might think.