Featured

Trump vs. Harris magnifies America’s generational and cultural divides. By Hannah Knowles and Dylan Wells / Wash Post

The candidates, their movements and their rallies embody two very different identities, setting up a stark contrast for voters.

Donald Trump walks onstage to the 1984 Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA,” cheered on by a roaring crowd that skews older and White.

“We will make America great again!” he promises.

Kamala Harris walks out to Beyoncé’s 2016 hit “Freedom” and leans into internet memes — addressing more racially diverse audiences dotted with chartreuse shirts and pins that pay homage to a 2024 pop album called “Brat.”

“We are not going back,” she says. Read more

A competition for domination: Harris has Trump beat at his own game. By Chauncey Devega / Salon

Trump is on the ropes. Now is the time for the Harris-Walz campaign to press the attack and show no mercy. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser.”

Public opinion polls and other metrics have shown a whiplash-like shift in political momentum. Within just two weeks, Harris is now tied with or leading Trump in national polls. She is also leading in key battleground states. A new poll from the Economist/YouGov also shows a change in the public mood and enthusiasm in her favor, with more respondents reporting that she will win the 2024 election than Trump. Read more

Political / Social

The Trump-Musk Snoozefest. By William Kristol and Adrew Agger / The Bulwark

Donald Trump is back on Twitter—sorry, X!—and some of his advisers are wringing their hands about it:

Last night’s much-ballyhooed X “interview” of Donald Trump by Elon Musk involved two of the biggest villains and personalities of the MAGA pantheon—the felonious, megalomaniacal, deteriorating ex-president and the internet-poisoned, race-war-curious gajillionaire mogul. So why was it all so boring? Read more

Walz rallies union workers as he hits campaign trail on his own for first time. By Lauron Barron-Loez and Eliot Barnhart / PBS Video

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in Los Angeles, California, today, stop number one of a five-state dash that has the V.P. pick flying solo for the first time.

He addressed the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees at its annual convention, the largest trade union representing the public sector in the U.S., and it already endorsed the Harris/Walz ticket. Watch here

Photo: JD Vance In Drag at Beer Pong Party—Unlike His Friend. By Lily Mae Lazarus / The Daily Beast

New photos obtained by the Daily Beast show JD Vance donning a blonde wig and skirt playing beer pong with fellow Yale Law School students.

The photographs were posted to Facebook in April 2011 by a former classmate, and the Ohio senator is tagged. His wife, Usha Vance, is mentioned in one of the image’s captions. Prior to 2021, Vance was an open supporter of LGBTQ+ causes and, in law school, advocated against “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” a source who knew the statesman told the Daily Beast. His current stance, however, is a point of concern for LGBTQ+ advocacy groups. The Ohio statesman is a vocal critic of gender-affirming care for minors and once opposed federal protections for gay and interracial marriages. In 2022, Vance called critics of so-called “don’t say gay” legislation “groomers.” Read more

How Trump’s deportation plan would harm the nation — and the church. By J. Kevin Appleby / NCR

Former President Donald Trump — now the Republican 2024 nominee for president — has again proposed a plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants in the country, an idea he first introduced in 2015. It would involve every level of law enforcement plus the U.S. military to implement, with detention camps — think of the Japanese internment camps in World War II — set up to house migrants as they await their deportations.

The costs of the plan — both economically and socially — are almost too numerous to list. It also would exact a moral cost, as a nation built on the backs of immigrants would be betraying its heritage and traumatizing its fellow human beings.

Ilhan Omar defeats challenger in Minnesota House primary. By Patrick Svitek / Wash Post

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee declined to seriously target Omar after helping unseat Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) won her Democratic primary for reelection Tuesday and avoided the fate of two colleagues in the House’s liberal “Squad” who lost earlier this year after pro-Israel groups heavily targeted them. Read more

A year later, sprawling Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump has stalled. By Kate Brumbeck / AP News

The general election in November, in which Trump is the Republican nominee for president, provides more uncertainty. Even if the appellate courts ultimately decide that Willis can remain on the case, it seems unlikely she would be able to move forward with the prosecution against Trump while he’s president if he wins the election.

Complicating things further, the U.S. Supreme Court last month ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. They are not protected for unofficial, or private, actions. Read more

Former Houston mayor to replace late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on ballot. By Patrick Svitek / Wash Post

Precinct chairs on Tuesday night selected Sylvester Turner to be Jackson Lee’s likely successor next year in Texas’s 18th Congressional District.

Former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner has won the Democratic nomination to replace the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), making Turner her likely successor next year in the heavily Democratic district that she represented for nearly three decades. Read more

Young Black voters are becoming more conservative than their parents. Here’s why. By Bria Suggs / NPR

Generally, young voters and Black voters tend to vote Democratic. In 2020, 92% of Black voters cast a vote for President Biden, while only 8% backed former President Donald Trump.

However, there appears to be a shift within the Black electorate that has been widening over the years. According to Pew Research, 7% of Black voters over 50 currently identify as or lean Republican, while 17% of Black voters under 50 align with the Republican Party. It is unclear how Vice President Harris, as the Democrats’ presidential hopeful, will fare with this group. Read more

World News

After far-right riots, Brits of color contemplate their safety. By Jennifer Hassan / Wash Post

Large counterprotests have pushed back on anti-immigrant riots. But for people of color and immigrant groups, the riots exposed a worrying undercurrent.

For many Muslims and people of color in Britain, riots led by far-right protesters in recent weeks, some demanding “we want our country back,” roused feelings of insecurity in a country that is home. “They were emboldened once, so who is not to say there won’t be flash points again?” said Dhruti Shah, a British-born citizen of Indian and Kenyan heritage, referring to those who committed anti-immigrant violence. Read more

Israeli Society Is in a Deepening State of Contradiction. By Mairav Zonszein / The Intercept

Israelis blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging them into endless war — and are at a loss for how to carve a way out.

Nearly a year into the Gaza war, the sense of dread in Israel is all-consuming. Since the twin assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders within hours of each other in Beirut and Tehran, respectively, nearly two weeks ago, Israelis have anxiously awaited a retaliatory attack by Iran and its regional allies. Despite some indications from Iran that it’s not seeking an all-out war, fears of a larger regional escalation continue to reverberate around the globe. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor any other Israeli leader has publicly addressed citizens’ concerns or outlined how Israel will react, beyond saying that the country is prepared and will exact a heavy price from its enemies. Read more

Why Ukraine’s Charge into Russia Is Putin’s Very Worst Nightmare. By Marcel Plichta / Daily Beast

Why would Ukraine launch an offensive into Russia itself? After all, Kyiv’s main goals are to ward off Russia’s offensives and try to reclaim as much Ukrainian territory as possible. But the offensive into Kursk offers several clear opportunities for Ukraine and headaches for a shocked Putin and his commanders.

One immediate benefit for Ukraine is that attacking Russia itself shifts the narrative in Kyiv’s favor. Instead of losing territory, the Ukrainians are now gaining it. The wider narrative about the direction of the war influences how much Ukraine’s partners are willing to send arms and financial support, so this matters a great deal. It undercuts Russia’s narrative that Ukraine cannot win the war, so the international community should pressure President Volodymyr Zelensky to just cut a deal. Read more

Jamaican officials needed help. They turned to Kamala Harris’s dad. By Jeff Stein / Wash Post

An unconventional economist at Stanford, Donald J. Harris pushed strikingly nonideological economic solutions to the nation of his birth.

The debates stretched late into the evening and sometimes well past midnight. At their offices in Jamaica’s capital city, after the nighttime cleaners had come and gone, Gladstone “Fluney” Hutchinson and his colleague Donald J. Harris would lock horns over technical questions related to the Caribbean nation’s economic development — how to diversify exports, options for tax reform, what might boost worker productivity. Read more

Ethics / Morality / Religion

As NC faith leaders, we are speaking out against Mark Robinson who is running for governor ( Shown) . By Rev C. J. Brinson / The Charlotte Observer

North Carolina has a proud history of faith-based movements. Movements like Moral Mondays and the Poor People’s Campaign helped defend voting rights and move our state toward socioeconomic justice.

Now, however, the far right has hijacked faith with their degradation of Christianity to advance a violent, divisive vision for North Carolina. Known as white Christian nationalism, this far-right movement weaponizes religion to promote hate and fear. And the current face of this movement in North Carolina is none other than Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Read more

Catholic Converts Like JD Vance Are Reshaping Republican Politics. By Matthew Schmitz / NYT

The Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism after attending Yale Law School, exemplifies this phenomenon.

Despite institutional decline and internal conflict, Catholicism retains a surprising resonance in American life — especially in certain elite circles. It has emerged as the largest and perhaps the most vibrant religious group at many top universities. It claims six of the nine Supreme Court justices as adherents. It continues to win high-profile converts, and its social teaching exerts an influence (often unacknowledged) on public debates, inspiring political thinkers who seek to challenge both the cultural left and the laissez-faire right. Read more

My Old Church’s Fundamentalist Wing Canceled Me. By David French and Aaron Retica / NYT

A few months ago, the Opinion columnist David French and his family were canceled by their former church. In response, French wrote about the painful experience of being abandoned by his faith community. The column led to an outpouring from readers sharing their own thoughts and similar experiences. In this audio essay, French sits down with his editor, Aaron Retica, to discuss the fallout and listen to some of the responses he received from readers.

Below is a lightly edited transcript of the audio piece. To listen to the piece, click the play button below. Listen here

Latino evangelicals push for immigration reform ahead of election. By Aleja Hertzler-McCain / RNS

With rising political power, Latino voters will make their voices heard on immigration, but Latinos, including evangelicals, are far from a unified bloc.

On Good Friday (March 29) this year, Pastor Tony Suarez, founder of the evangelical Christian ministry Revival Makers, drove a stake into the ground in the middle of a tent in McAllen, Texas. “This entire southern border belongs to Jesus,” he declared to a crowd of mostly Latino Texans.Read more

Gen Z women are increasingly leaving organized religion behind. By Marc Ramirez / USA Today

Americans have been disaffiliating from organized religion over the past few decades. About 63% of Americans are Christian, according to the Pew Research Center, down from 90% in the early 1990s. Meanwhile, the share of those who describe themselves as agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular” has risen to 28%. But it had been males, especially young men, leading these shifts – until now.

“For as long as we’ve been conducting surveys on religion, men have exhibited consistently lower levels of religious commitment than women – across cultures, class divisions, any way you cut it,” said Daniel A. Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life, whose data helped spotlight the trend. “That’s what made this so notable.” Read more

Historical / Cultural

An NC slave’s forgotten story reappears after a century, speaking truth to power. By John Shaffer / The Charlotte Observer

By 1855, John Swanson Jacobs had fled slavery in North Carolina, escaped on a whaling ship, circled the globe from Peru to Alaska, tried his hand at gold mining and — in his spare time — penned the story of his life in chains.

His account of bondage in Edenton described men flogged 100 times and doused with brandy to increase the pain, and white owners so cruel they whipped other people’s slaves for failing to tip their hats. But more than this, Jacobs kept his focus squarely on the people, customs and laws that made slavery possible — starting with the framers of the Constitution, a document he called “that devil in sheepskin.” Read more

Congress didn’t recognize a race riot. Biden will make the site a monument. By Maxine Joselow / Wash Post

The president will designate the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument on Friday, the White House confirmed to The Post. “Acts of Intolerance” by Preston Jackson, on March 22, 2023, in Springfield, Ill. The 2008 sculpture commemorates the centennial of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908.

In 1908, a White mob incited a race riot in Springfield, Ill., leaving several people dead, hundreds injured and dozens of Black-owned businesses and homes burned and destroyed. On Friday, President Joe Biden will designate a national monument to commemorate the violent event, the White House confirmed to The Washington Post on Wednesday. Read more

Why Democrats Should Sing the Union’s Civil War Anthems. By Parker Richards / NYT

Crushing the breakaway slaveholding terror state known as the Confederacy — a nightmare built on America’s worst impulses — is among this country’s proudest moments. The music celebrating that victory is beautiful and patriotic — and already known to many Americans.

“While We Were Marching Through Georgia” and “Union Dixie” might be a stretch too far for the Harris campaign (though what could be more unifying, really, than bringing traitors back into the fold?), but “The Battle Cry of Freedom” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” are surely fitting. Read more

On public school desegregation, NC seems to be headed back to 1954. By Travis Long. By Kevin Spragley and Brad Bradshaw / The News and Observer

House Speaker Tim Moore accepts a letter on Wednesday, July 31, 2024 signed by N.C. parents urging Republican lawmakers to keep their promise to fully fund private school vouchers for 55,000 students on a state waitlist. Critics of the voucher expansion say lawmakers should prioritize public schools.

Regarding “Parents lobby NC House GOP for private school voucher plan,” (Aug. 1): These parents are asking for our state tax dollars to fund their kids’ private school tuition instead of that money going to public schools. School voucher money given to private school parents deprives our public schools — which serve all students in this state. Read more

The Visions of Alice Coltrane. By Marcus J. Moore / The Nation

In the years after her husband John’s death, the harpist discovered a sound all her own, a jazz rooted in acts of spirit and will.

In February 1971, Alice Coltrane released her fourth album, Journey in Satchidananda. It was dedicated, in part, to her husband, the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, who had died from liver cancer four years earlier. The anguish she felt—along with the rest of the jazz community—was channeled into Journey, a stunning album devoted to healing, even when it seemed impossible in the shadow of such a loss. Not only had jazz been deprived of one of its most significant artists, but Alice had lost her spiritual partner, the man who had introduced her to the harp and Eastern religion. Read more

OCTOBER LONDON; The Rebirth of Marvin (Death Row Records). By Mark Turner / Soul and Jazz and Funk

If you’ve been listening to soul radio lately (not too many stations out there are there?!!!), you’re bound to have heard music from this particular album. Tracks from ‘The Rebirth of Marvin’ are being played out all over the place and rightly so!

The long player offers everything the discerning soul listener loves; that’s to say a contemporary take on the genre but with a generous nod to heritage and retro sounds and when those sounds echo a certain Marvin Gaye you have a recipe for success. Read more

Sports

Jordan Chiles’ stripped bronze is biggest gymnastics controversy since Sydney Olympics disaster. By Kaetlyn Liddy / NBC News

The International Olympic Committee’s decision to strip U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles of her floor exercise bronze medal is the sport’s highest-profile controversy since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the site of the biggest scandal in Olympic gymnastics history.

The IOC found Sunday that a scoring inquiry by the U.S. was invalid, echoing a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, which found that the scoring appeal from Chiles’ coach was filed four seconds too late. Romania’s Ana Bărbosu, 18, was retroactively deemed the floor exercise bronze medalist.On Sunday, USA Gymnastics said it submitted an appeal of the CAS ruling in Chiles’ case, including a letter and video evidence that it said proved the inquiry of Chiles’ score was filed within the one-minute deadline. Read more

At the Paris Olympics, power of Black women displayed at important time. By William C. Rhoden / Andscape

Female athletes could play a larger-than-expected role in what is sure to be a divisive U.S. presidential election

At a moment in American history when a Black woman, Vice President Kamala Harris, is seeking to become president of the United States, will the spectacular performances — particularly of Black women at the Olympics — help momentum for Harris back in the States? If you think athletes aren’t paying attention to the political winds back home, you’re fooling yourself. Read more

Althea Gibson Let the Racquet Do the Talking. By Alisa Solomon / The Nation

A recent biography of the complicated tennis legend underlines the sport’s persistent challenges with race, class, and celebrity.

Though Gibson broke the color line in American tennis in 1950 and was the first African American to compete in the US Nationals at Forest Hills (almost a full decade before Ashe made his major tournament debut there), she was overlooked for decades by all but the most ardent devotees of Black or women’s tennis. The Boston Globe sportswriter Sally H. Jacobs wisely makes these contradictions the organizing principle of her recent biography, Althea: The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson, showing how Gibson navigated an often antagonistic world in the only way she could—and, as Jacobs suggests, the only way the world would let her. Read more

Jim Harbaugh wants to hire Colin Kaepernick as Chargers coach. By Jarrett Bell / USA Today

Colin Kaepernick has a door open to return to the NFL in what would be a grand reunion with his former coach, Jim Harbaugh.

But here’s the twist: While Kaepernick, 36, recently told Sky Sports that he still wants to play in the NFL, the new Los Angeles Chargers coach contends that he wants his former quarterback back in the NFL as a member of his coaching staff – and not so much as a player. “If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh told USA TODAY Sports. “He’d be a tremendous coach, if that’s the path he chose.” Read more

Duane Thomas, Enigmatic Running Back for the Cowboys, Dies at 77. By Richard Sandomir / NYT

He led Dallas to its first Super Bowl victory after engaging in a well-publicized contract dispute in which he called Coach Tom Landry “plastic” and refused to talk to reporters.

In his rookie season, he led the team with 803 rushing yards and caught a touchdown in the Cowboys’ 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V. While his teammates were subdued after that loss, Thomas reacted with wisdom beyond his years. “There is something noble in defeat,” he told reporters. “You cannot find victory unless you first understand defeat.” Read more

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