Headwaters: September 28–October 4, 2026

The weekly roundup of what we’ve done at Liberal Currents includes searching examinations of the psychological and political downsides of social media.

Articles:

“Portraits of an American Dopamine Eater,” Alan Elrod: Our attention economy incentivizes the profane degradations of fame-seeking and celebrity culture.
“The Return of the Cutting-Off Way,” Samantha Hancox-Li: Structural changes are driving us towards a more chaotic world, defined by "neither peace nor war, but conflict."
“How Chile Recovered Its Democracy,” Valentín Tapia: A leader operating beyond the margins of the law can yet eventually be defeated in a free and fair election.
“Tax the Wealthy, Not Wealth,” Cameron Cummins-Smith: Don’t miss the forest for the tallest trees.
“Social Media Has Not Brought Liberation,” WBF: Social media has been a boon to autocratic regimes and their allied movements in democracies.

Podcasts:

“Don't Let John Roberts Fool You” (Neon Liberalism #93, with Mike Sacks): How we need to think about court reform in the future.
“Everything's 'National Security' in Trump's Washington” (Half the Answer #106, with Stephanie Mencimer): Donald Trump is changing the landscape of D.C., from East Potomac Park to the Kennedy Center to the 'Arc de Trump.'
“The Cheap Precision Strike and the New Way of Raiding” (Liberal Currents Live #9): Are drones fundamentally altering the nature of war for the worse, not for the better?

Editors’ Notes:

“‘The Indian Question’ Shows That No One Is Safe From White Nationalism”: That is the entire point.
“Running and Sprinting” (The State of Liberal Currents #3): Update for Q3 2026.
“Healthcare in The Reconstruction Papers”: One of America's most intractable problems.
“Your Local Fascists”: We know what to do with Trump and his stooges. The harder question is what to do with the ordinary Americans we will have to live alongside afterwards.
“Americans Are Angry. The Democratic Base Is Furious.”: We must channel our anger at current injustices into productive direct action.

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Video shorts:

“Richard Hanania Doesn't Even Try to Hide His Male Supremacism”: But he’s back in polite society anyway, reports Alan Elrod.
“What Is Trump Doing to the D.C. Area?”: It’s the president’s time to build, explains Stephanie Mencimer.
“The Cost of Being a War Correspondent in Ukraine”: Dylan Burns suffers as a result of his time covering the conflict.
“Israel, the United States and the Nightmare in the Middle East”: Y. L. Al-Sheikh summarizes the current situation.

Selections from The Reconstruction Papers:

Chapter 20: “Remember Who You Are, Liberal,” by Samantha Hancox-Li.
Chapter 21: “The Ark and the Deluge: The Unfurling of Equality in World History,” by Guillaume A. W. Attia.
Chapter 22: “The Return of Constitutional Politics,” by Adam Rust.

Some of what we’re reading elsewhere:

Radley Balko, on the law enforcementization of the military: “The right has completely given in to the idea that there’s nothing wrong with using the military for domestic policing, that there’s nothing even wrong with using the military to settle political scores.”
Jonathan V. Last, with a hard lesson about Republican viciousness: “I want to be clear about the persecutions of Springfield’s Haitians… This is judicially blessed ethnic cleansing motivated by nothing—nothing—other than naked white nationalism.”
Brian Beutler, on prospects for budgetary hardball: “Democrats should conduct themselves a bit like Republicans did in Obama’s first term. Not exactly like Republicans, not to spurious or non-germane ends. But with the same kind of radical zeal, on behalf of values the public supports.”