Today's Liberal News

James Risen on Why Trump’s Charges Are Different Than for Whistleblowers Targeted Under Espionage Act

As former President Donald Trump faces Espionage Act charges, newly leaked audio reveals he showed a classified Pentagon document to multiple people in 2021 detailing a plan to attack Iran, contradicting Trump’s recent claim that he did not have classified documents. We speak with veteran national security reporter James Risen, who says Trump is a thief and should not be compared to whistleblower Reality Winner or others, but also notes, “I am no fan of the Espionage Act.

“Dead Men Walking”: James Risen on How the Wagner Revolt Threatens Both Putin & Prigozhin

The Kremlin says it has dropped criminal charges against Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenaries after he attempted to lead an aborted mutiny against the Russian military. Prigozhin has reportedly arrived in Belarus. We speak with James Risen, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Intercept, who covered the 1991 attempted coup in Moscow and says Prigozhin may have had a chance to complete his march on Moscow and topple the government, but he lost his nerve.

What Russia’s Whirlwind Crisis Could Mean for Putin

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.“A short recap of the past 24 hours in Russia reads like the backstory for a fanciful episode of Madam Secretary or The West Wing,” my colleague Tom Nichols wrote yesterday.

Who’s the Cutest Little Dolphin? Is It You?

Across human cultures and languages, adults talk to babies in a very particular way. They raise their pitch and broaden its range, while also shortening and repeating their utterances; the latter features occur even in sign language. Mothers use this exaggerated and musical style of speech (which is sometimes called “motherese”), but so do fathers, older children, and other caregivers. Infants prefer listening to it, which might help them bond with adults and learn language faster.

The Battle for I-95

Two weeks ago, looking at the burned-out section of I-95 in Philadelphia from above, the safe bet was that this stretch of the East Coast’s most essential arterial would be a traffic nightmare for months to come. The elevated section of the highway had collapsed on June 11 after a tractor trailer flipped over and caught fire.Instead, on Friday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro unveiled a temporary fix that reopened the six lanes to traffic—albeit at a slower pace for now.

What Is Putin Worth to China?

This weekend’s tumultuous events showed just how big a gamble the Chinese leader Xi Jinping took by partnering with Moscow.Russian President Vladimir Putin survived the rebellion that Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private army unleashed on Saturday. Perhaps Putin’s hold on power was never in great peril.

View from Kyiv: What Does the Wagner Revolt Mean for Ukraine, Mali, Sudan, Syria & Beyond?

As we continue to look at the fallout of this weekend’s mutiny in Russia by Wagner mercenary troops, we go to Kyiv to speak with Ukrainian political scientist and historian Denis Pilash, who notes that despite infighting inside Russia, the military still carried out devastating strikes across Ukraine. He adds that the Wagner revolt still shattered an illusion of consensus inside Russia.

Mutiny in Russia: Nina Khrushcheva on How the Wagner Revolt Exposes Putin’s Weakness

We speak with Nina Khrushcheva in Moscow after an extraordinary weekend that saw the most significant challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leadership since the beginning of his invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago. On Friday, the head of the powerful Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused the Russian military of attacking his forces and began a march on Moscow — but the revolt quickly fizzled out.