Headwaters: August 2–9, 2026

The weekly roundup of what we’ve done at Liberal Currents includes an examination of a new book outlining the plans of democratic socialists to bring about economic transformation; an interview with Brad Lander, who has ousted an incumbent in a New York City Congressional primary; and the first broadcast of our new Thursday afternoon live show, “Liberal Currents Live.”

Articles:

• “The Audience Gets a Vote,” Adam Gurri: A media strategy is just that: a strategy, with both strengths and limits.
• “Setting the Stage” (The Opposition Report #16), Chance Phillips: The corruption, death by ICE, one war after another, and more.
• “The Parasocial Style in American Politics, Part 2: Witch Hunts and Comfort Blankets,” Alan Elrod: Social media enables a process of rendering people into totemic figures in a war between Good and Evil.
• “The Master Key of Modern Politics?,” Guillaume A. W. Attia: Ibram X. Kendi's new book Chain of Ideas promises an alluringly straightforward model of modern politics.
• “Democratic Socialism Gets Serious,” Matthew McManus: The Blueprint demonstrates how the new generation of democratic socialists are providing real, practical proposals for economic transformation.
• “The Third Red Scare,” Luke Baumgartner: “Antifa” serves much the same function today that “Bolshevik” did a century ago.

Podcasts:

• “Red in Tooth and Claw” (Neon Liberalism #85): The pressure of international competition has driven both mindless militarism and genuine modernization.
• “Free Trade and Free People” (Out of the Jaws #9, with Joshua Eakle): Grounding liberalism in openness and dynamism.
• Liberal Currents Live #1: The editors tackle parasociality, proportional representation, and the media environment.
• “Mr. Rogers With a Steel Spine” (Out of the Jaws #8, with Brad Lander): Being a better neighbor can lay the foundations for resisting authoritarianism.

Editors’ Notes:

• “Making the Personality Cult Salient”: The public is largely unaware of just how deranged and Maoist it has gotten in the second Trump term.
• “Our Headless Opposition Party System”: The opposition to Trump is diverse, diffuse, decentralized, and lacking in leadership.

Videos and shorts:

• “We Can Make Corporate Spending on Elections Illegal”: Seth Morgan explains how legislation in Hawaii and Montana shows how pro-democracy advocates can fight back against Citizens United.
• “Expose the Personality Cult”: Adam Gurri demands that the public be told the truth about Republican politicians in the Trump era.

What we’re reading elsewhere:

• A joint statement from Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, Scottish Trans, and TransActual, on the imposition of the UK’s bathroom ban.
• A Bluesky starter pack of people and organizations working for trans rights in the UK, plus people who regularly post on the topic.