Smash The Bubble

News and opinion from both the left and the right, mixed together so you can break out of your filter bubble.

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Today's Headlines

China Is Ready for the Next War. America Is Not.

What radar and jet propulsion were to World War Two, robotics and artificial intelligence will be to the next war between great powers.

Gingrich Takes a Look at the GOP's 2026 Chances

President Donald Trump and his party need things to go their way this summer to have a chance in the fall.

Warming Up Yesterday’s $28 Lunch

Millennials in some ways have gotten a better deal than they realize.

Illegal alien sentenced to 50 years for producing child pornography involving own relatives: 'Monster'

An illegal alien in California was sentenced to 50 years in prison for producing child pornography involving his underage niece and nephew, DHS says.

I'm Jealous That New Yorkers Have Mayor Mamdani

Sure, he's not perfect, but on libraries, childcare and potholes, he's getting the job done. Why can't more politicians give a damn?

Texas Dem: Let's Put All 'Zionists' in Camps – And Castrate Them!

A Deceitful Propaganda Campaign Marketed as a ‘Prank’

CBC-funded TV producers using fake names are ambushing Canadians who take a positive view of their country—including an 82-year-old Ontario grandfather who invited the film crew into his home.

The Data Center Race

‘It’s a geopolitical and a world-defining, epoch-defining technology potentially. And so we cannot afford to lose.’

The Axe Finally Falls upon Thomas Massie

And in the end it wasn’t even terribly close.

Trump demands Senate parliamentarian's ouster for axing ballroom security funding

Trump calls on Senate Republicans to replace parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after she blocked his ballroom security funding in reconciliation.

Donald Trump Bets on Ken Paxton for the Senate

Expect the Texas Senate race to become the most stupendously expensive money pit in modern electoral history.

Datapanik in the Year 2026

The political stakes are going to keep rising, and the financial stakes are huge, too.

Rubio Moves Closer to Decades-Long Goal of Transforming Cuba

The secretary of state is the son of immigrants who left Cuba before the Castro revolution to look for economic opportunities. Yet, he pursues change with the zeal of a political exile.

Barney Frank, influential congressman and gay rights hero, dies at 86

The Massachusetts Democrat led a sweeping overhaul of the financial industry and was one of the first openly gay members of Congress.

Analysts' Iran Crystal Balls Get Murkier

The war in Iran is entering an unpredictable new phase where the risk to energy markets is growing.

Margins of Error

Look closely at almost anything and you'll find data—lots of it. But what are those numbers really saying about who we are and what we believe? Harry Enten is on a mission to find out.

GOP Voters Are RINO Hunting

The Best ‘Chilling Effect’ Yet

If there is a ‘chilling effect’ in Massie’s loss, it will also be one that reinforces the desirable stigma around antisemitic agitation.

House Passes Housing Bill, Uniting on a Measure to Bring Down Costs

The legislation, which had been stalled amid Republican divisions, passed overwhelmingly, signaling an eagerness in both parties to address affordability in an election year.

Will Spencer Pratt Realign California?

California's ruling class turned decline into a business model, and Spencer Pratt's insurgent campaign is finally speaking to voters in the only language the regime can't ignore.

What Tuesday's Primaries Tell Us About the Democrats

Democrats still searching for a way out of the rubble of the 2024 election got a peek in Tuesday's primaries of what their voters want for the future.

The Sceptered Aisle

It’s no revelation that the U.K. economy is in a mess, and it’s no revelation that the Labour government rarely misses an opportunity to make things worse.

BBC: This Is Sick Beyond Measure

Intifadas Bring Neither Justice Nor Peace

Calls to “globalise the intifada” have produced a wave of antisemitic terror and encourage an unending cycle of violence.

Trump endorses Paxton in Texas Senate primary over incumbent Cornyn

The president faced pressure from his base to endorse the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton. Advisers had urged him to support Sen. John Cornyn, arguing that Paxton has too much baggage.

Trump’s extraordinary $1.8 billion legal fund to his allies

Why the enormous fund is so controversial.

Why Thomas Massie Lost

Massie went from principled libertarian during COVID, to GOP leadership lapdog under McCarthy, to anti-Trump Epstein obsessive in 2025 after tweeting about that issue a whopping three (3) times in the decade prior. The nail in the coffin for him w…

How Kyrsten Sinema's decision makes Democrats' 2024 Senate map tighter

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema decided to shake up the political world on Friday by becoming an independent. The former Democrat is still caucusing with the party in the Senate, so the Democratic caucus still has 51 members. Now, instead of 49 Democr…

Admiral accuses lawmaker of ‘inappropriate’ remark at Iran war hearing

Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, appeared frustrated with questions from House Democrats who pressed him on a range of issues about the conflict.

Honey, I Shrunk The California High-Speed Rail...Again

In Georgia, Senate GOP primary heads to runoff where electability is top issue

Georgia was among six states where voters participated in primaries Tuesday. Its Senate race is among a handful that could determine party control next year.

Trump roasts Dem candidate as unelectable for cardinal sin in Texas

Trump says Democrat James Talarico can't win Texas Senate race because "he's a vegan in Texas," while endorsing AG Ken Paxton in the GOP primary.

Laughing Bass on Homelessness: 17% Is A Passing Grade!

At Coast Guard commencement, Trump tells grads to lead ‘national resurgence’

The president linked the force’s mission to his own priorities, domestically and in Iran, in an address at the military academy in Connecticut.

Frampton Comes Alive! at Fifty

The improbable story of rock’s greatest live album.

Mamdani is a Socialist Demagogue Relying on People's Ignorance

When Education Stops Being About Truth

Truth was shoved aside in favor of feelings and subjectivism.

Trump Gets His Payback in Primary Elections, but It Comes at a Cost in Congress

Republican senators are angry the president is working to unseat their colleagues. But he is also creating more free agents in his own party in Congress willing to defy him.

Cuban ex-President Raul Castro indicted on charges including murder, conspiracy to kill US nationals

The U.S. Department of Justice and Florida Attorney General's Office announce the Miami grand jury indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro for the 1996 murders of four U.S. nationals.

Colbert's Demise, by the Numbers

Many are saying Stephen Colbert is getting canceled to appease Trump. But the truth is that there are numbers that justify his demise.

Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund Tests Constitutional Limits

The deal the president reached with his own subordinates relies on a mechanism created by Congress that legal experts had warned was subject to manipulation.

The Issue Is the Revolution

The murder of Brian Thompson was, in the Mangionistas’ view, the propaganda of the deed that should galvanize similar acts of terror.

A 2010-Style Disaster Brewing for Dems in Michigan

Take a walk down memory lane with me. It's a midterm election, and things are not looking good for the president's party. A grassroots revolt has erupted among the opposition party, which has infused it with much-needed energy and citizen activism…

Trump jolts immigration hawks with surprising defense of Chinese students in USA

Trump defends Chinese students at U.S. colleges and remarks on farmland ownership, sparking backlash from Marjorie Taylor Greene and immigration hawks.

Omar breaks silence on alleged fraud connections in statement pointing to Trump admin: 'Flat-out false'

Rep. Ilhan Omar claims she had no knowledge of the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, pointing to Trump's role in signing the MEALS Act into law.

Cuba is out of gas, prices are soaring and electricity is scarce.

Trump demands Senate fire parliamentarian who ruled against ballroom funding plan

The demand comes as Senate Republican leaders wrestle with whether to include money for the controversial project in a bill that funds immigration agencies.

How a UN Agency Misled the World on Cancer Risk

Nathan Schachtman’s indispensable new paper explains how the International Agency for Research on Cancer has misled the public with its classifications of carcinogens.

Tracking who Trump is appointing to fill key administration roles

Follow President Trump’s progress filling over 800 positions, among about 1,300 that require Senate confirmation, in this tracker from The Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service.

Teacher in a Tutu

Bragging about my PhD to general indifference during the second-most humiliating day of my life.

Tuesday’s Final Word

Robert Woodson, Leader of the Black Conservative Movement, Dies at 89

A veteran community activist, he believed self-reliance — rather than affirmative action or government help — was the way to fight racism, poverty and crime.

How Rubio Is Driving the U.S. Pressure Campaign on Cuba

Our diplomatic correspondent Michael Crowley explains how Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long lobbied for an end to the regime in Cuba, is ramping up pressure on the island.

Researchers Conclude Climate Change Worst-Case is 'Implausible'

Trump-backed housing bill clears House after GOP defies Senate pressure campaign

Lawmakers passed a bipartisan housing bill backed by Trump that aims to make housing more affordable and restrict large investors from buying homes.

More From the Platner Files: Ridiculing Wounded Troops?

Vance and Rubio step behind the lectern — and deeper into 2028 territory

Parallel briefings by the two men offer a view of their contrasting styles.

How To Fix Childcare for Families and Workers

New accountability rules could expose the childcare wage crisis and push states to fund early childhood work like the public good it is.

DOJ Indicts Raul Castro for Murder

Claire's Weekly Letter: Dangerous Losers

Senate plots permanent end to government shutdowns with bipartisan push

The Senate moves to prevent government shutdowns permanently with bipartisan legislation that would strip lawmakers of recess and travel privileges.

Prosecutor Is Charged With Stealing Sealed Report on Trump Documents Case

Prosecutors accused Carmen Lineberger of emailing records related to Jack Smith’s investigation to a personal account, charging her with a felony punishable with 20 years in prison.

Raúl Castro Has Guided Cuba for Decades

Raúl Castro is 94 and no longer holds any official title, but he still wields enormous power, experts say, particularly over the military.

The fine print of the Respect for Marriage Act

Let's start with the positive: Republicans and Democrats are coming together to protect same-sex marriage from the Supreme Court.

Taiwan in the Balance

Donald Trump seems to have given up on Taiwan’s long-term future.

Taiwan Standing for Itself

This is welcome.

Castro Indictment Is Trump’s Latest Move Against Cuba

For President Trump, the interest in Cuba is not new.

Eyebrow-raising claim from ‘Hunter Biden’ X account draws GOP mockery

Lawmakers and online personalities speculating that a new X account belongs to Hunter Biden, drawing renewed attention as the former first son appears to launch a more public-facing media presence.

About That Alberta Independence Petition

Ebola Containment Efforts May Have Been Hindered by USAID Shutdown and CDC Cuts

Aid cuts by the Trump administration have shut down crucial disease surveillance networks and medical supply chains in East Africa.

Dangerous Losers

It's not poverty that drives men to violence, but the experience of losing status.

Why AI Is Not About to Go Feral

Worries about AI doom rarely take Darwinian evolution seriously. A new paper argues we should—but we are still further from that scenario than its authors suggest.

CNN Political Briefing

The political news you need to know, in 10 minutes or less. Hosted by David Chalian.

The notable legal clouds that continue to hang over Donald Trump

All eyes are on former President Donald Trump, who has launched another White House bid.

Against a Legislative Noonday

The House GOP is resurrecting the Sunshine Protection Act. I wish it wouldn’t.

Politics of the Day

Politics of the Day

A Problem Med Schools Don't Want To Discuss

Demographic disparities in medical and scientific knowledge show up long before admissions time. DEI manipulation at the end of the process doesn't solve the problem.

Meet the woman steering Biden's bipartisan winning streak on Capitol Hill

The Biden administration managed to rack up a long list of major legislative wins in its first two years despite facing one of the most closely-divided Congresses in history. From bipartisan action on infrastructure, gun safety and same-sex marria…

Trump shows off White House ballroom construction as funding stalls in Congress

The president offered journalists the closest look yet at the construction project, where photographers captured images of the work in progress and Trump touted security measures.

The Axe Files with David Axelrod

Go beyond the soundbites and get to know some of the most interesting players in politics.

Henry Nowak's Death and the Poisoning of British Policing

Yesterday, Lord Daniel Hannan tweeted: A man is stabbed to death by someone who accuses him of being a racist - and the first thing the police do on arrival is to handcuff the dying man. Hannan speaks to a kind of reverse Stephen Lawrence syndrome…

Everything you need to know about Biden's student loan forgiveness program

President Joe Biden's federal student loan forgiveness program, which promises to deliver up to $20,000 of debt relief for millions of borrowers, is on hold indefinitely as legal challenges work their way through the courts.

Nicholas Kristof and the Pornography of Accusation

Investigating abuse is a duty. Laundering propaganda is not.

Trump-backed nominees dominate primary contests as president tightens party vice grip

President Trump celebrated a sweeping primary night as his endorsed candidates won key GOP races in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Idaho and Oregon.

The Ballad of East and West

In a fascinating new book, historian Anthony Bale vividly reconstructs the brutal, fantastical, and sometimes deeply religious experiences of medieval travellers across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Texas Opie Leading Both Cornyn and Paxton

Pentagon says U.S. will cut thousands of troops from Europe

Poland was set to receive forces whose deployment was abruptly halted last week.

WATCH: Duffy flips script on Dem senators with pointed questions about their own campaign cash

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy clashes with Democratic senators over corporate-funded Great American Road Trip as Americans face high gas prices.

The Trump paradox: What’s good for him is weighing down his party

The president has created a party that is loyal to him, even when he takes executive actions that anger the broader public. That dynamic leaves him weaker with those outside his base.

1996 Downing of Planes by Cuba Followed Months of Diplomatic Wrangling

Cuban government and the Clinton administration held several meetings discussing the volunteer group’s flights.

‘Watershed Bill of Rights’ Initiative Fails in Oregon

Finally, opponents of such ideas have taken the threat seriously.

Trump's endorsement put to the test in Alabama Senate runoff to replace Tuberville

Alabama's Republican Senate race narrows to Rep. Barry Moore and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson after a seven-way primary triggers a June runoff.

Trump Ousts Massie & Other Key Takeaways From Tuesday

Kentucky's polls were the most closely watched on a day in which Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Oregon and Pennsylvania were also holding primaries.