Today's Liberal News

American Family Policy Is Holding Schools Back

Many American schools are failing to provide all students with a quality education, and policy makers don’t seem to know what to do about it. Even before schools closed during the pandemic, 30 percent of graduating seniors failed to reach a basic level of competency in reading, and 40 percent failed to do so in math, according to national data. Performance gaps across race and socioeconomic status in both subjects have persisted to some degree for decades.

“Lady Justice”: Dahlia Lithwick on Women Who Used the Law to Fight Racism, Sexism Under Trump & Won

We speak with Dahlia Lithwick, who covers the courts and the law for Slate, about women who fought the racism, sexism and xenophobia of Trump’s presidency. She profiles many of them in her new book, “Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America.” “Law is slow and takes a long time, but at its best, it really can make us all freer and safer and restore dignity to those that have been harmed,” says Lithwick.

Bill McKibben: Victory Over Big Oil as Sen. Manchin Forced to Drop “Hideous Deal” on Energy

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin abandoned his own energy permitting proposal Tuesday that would have fast-tracked the federal review of energy projects, including the contested Mountain Valley Pipeline. Following intense pressure from a range of climate justice and Appalachian organizers, Manchin asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to drop the permitting reforms from a funding bill after it became clear he did not have the votes to pass the proposal. 350.

Tampa Update on Hurricane Ian: Millions Prepare for Cat. 5 Storm Fueled by the Climate Crisis

As Hurricane Ian is set to strengthen into a Category 4 or 5 storm and make landfall Wednesday afternoon south of Tampa Bay, the storm already knocked out power in Cuba and killed at least two people Tuesday. Communities across Central Florida are preparing for a “very strong storm,” says Seán Kinane, news and public affairs director at Tampa community radio station WMNF, and many acknowledge the strength of the hurricane is “definitely impacted by climate disruption.

Ukraine update: A surprise move could change everything in the battle for Lyman

On Tuesday, buses began to arrive in Crimea carrying Russian conscripts called up during the mobilization. For some of these soldiers, training is apparently going to consist of a couple of days sleeping on cots, and whatever tips they could pick up in transit. Those troops immediately got a ceremony—a “departure ceremony”—as they were directed to the front lines. There are other reports of similar troops arriving in the Donetsk area.

A gutless Ken Paxton tries to preen after bravely fleeing from a court’s process server

At this point, we have probably all heard of “indicted for seven damn years now” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s brave efforts to dodge a process server trying to serve him with a subpoena. But hearing about it is not enough. It’s important to also make fun of him, because Jeebus, this dude is going all-in trying to portray himself as having barely dodged some of the rampant violence going on down in Texas these days.

Newt Gingrich tries to attack John Fetterman’s tattoos and it goes hilariously badly for Newt

John Fetterman has been running a very solid campaign based on policy promises and remedies. The very simple idea is that Fetterman wants Pennsylvanians to consider voting for him to become their next senator. He is hoping that the ideas he puts forth and policy promises he makes will appeal to voters. He has the added bonus of having a great social media team. He has the double added bonus of running against television diet pill-pusher Mehmet Oz.

Staff who talk about abortion at University of Idaho can be terminated, face up to 5 years in jail

In support of the state’s near-total ban on abortion, which took effect in August, the University of Idaho sent a memo to staff last week warning employees not to provide birth control pills or reproductive health services. According to the memo, shared by the Idaho Press, under Idaho’s new law, staff cannot provide emergency contraception except in the case of rape.

Young people are registering to vote in massive numbers post-Dobbs, but we’re running out of time

We’re just six weeks away from the midterm elections, and we have seen a huge influx of young people registering to vote because they’re angry about the Supreme Court’s destruction of abortion rights in June.

As Daily Kos’ Kerry Eleveld wrote this month:

Ideally, heading into the final stretch of a midterm election, a party settles on a unifying message on the top one or two issues driving the cycle.

Russia’s Nuclear Threats Are All Putin Has Left

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.Yesterday, I discussed the shambolic attempt under way in Russia to conscript hundreds of thousands of men. Today, one of Vladimir Putin’s minions again threatened the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. What do these threats mean?But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.

We’re Witnessing the Birth of a New Artistic Medium

Creative artificial intelligence is the latest and, in some ways, most surprising and exhilarating art form in the world. It also isn’t fully formed yet. That tension is causing some confusion.If you’re familiar at all with the use of creative artificial intelligence, you probably know it through one of the popular text-to-image AI applications, which use sprawling databases of existing imagery to convert a written prompt into a new picture.

Who Is Tracy Flick Now?

Editor’s Note: This article is part of our coverage of The Atlantic Festival. Learn more and watch festival sessions here. In the dark 1999 comedy Election, the overachieving student Tracy Flick—played by an up-and-coming Reese Witherspoon—dreams of political domination, starting with the race for class president at her suburban high school.

“Immoral & Sinful”: Bishop Barber Blasts Mississippi Gov. for Failing to Protect Jackson’s Water

We speak with Bishop William Barber of the Poor People’s Campaign to get an update on the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, where tens of thousands of residents are still without clean tap water. “It’s an immoral and sinful violation of equal protection under the law and human rights,” says Barber, who led a rally Monday outside the Governor’s Mansion in Jackson demanding the state reverse decades of disinvestment in the majority-Black capital.