Weekly Roundup: October 26–November 1, 2026

The weekly roundup of what we’ve done at Liberal Currents includes five essays on the meaning of liberalism—”Liberalism Week,” we called it.

Articles:

• “Vote Democratic to Fight Socialism,” Cameron Cummins-Smith: A spectre is haunting America, and we must exorcise it.
• “The Joy of Liberalism,” Paul Crider: Tolerance and forbearance are liberal virtues, but these are virtues in service of the deeper value of loving humanity.
• “Born in Horror: A Moral Reading of ‘The Liberalism of Fear,’” Guillaume A. W. Attia: Liberals have had their politics shaped by the horrors of history, and as a result, have developed a mature distaste for cruelty.
• “The Politics of Equality, the Politics of Autonomy,” Silvaria Lysandra Zemaitis: We must refocus on our core principles, and then organize politically in order to close the gap between them and our society, laws, and culture as they currently are.
• “We Have It in Our Power to Begin the World Over Again,” Ryan Geddie: Who would seriously say that we have achieved all the freedom we can?
• “Better Win a District: Tennessee's Ninth,” Alan Elrod: Justin Pearson is leading a David-like challenge to Republican rule.
• “Liberalism Is for Ordinary People,” Adam Gurri: Beyond political philosophy.

Podcasts:

• “How the Wheels Came Off: China's Economic Malaise” (Neon Liberalism #97, with Logan Wright): The conventional wisdom on China is wrong—and time is not on China's side.
• “Midterms Madness 2026: Who's Winning the Senate?” (Half the Answer #111, with Ryan Cooper, Marisa Kabas, and Jonathan M. Katz): U.S. voters seem poised to turn some historically red states purple and blue.
• “Voters On the March Worldwide” (Liberal Currents Live #13): Voting hard was an effective anti-dictator strategy this week in Serbia and Brazil.

This Tuesday we will have an Election Night livestream beginning at 7 p.m., with results as they are called and reaction from our editors and special guests: watch it on YouTube or Twitch.

Editor’s Notes:

• “Freedom Means You Don't Know How People Will Vote”: Polls are the only things worth looking at for gauging where things stand with elections, and they are not very good.
• “Liberalism Punches Back”: We have an opportunity to build some momentum against the global fascist movement.

Videos and shorts:

• “Do Men Know When There Is Consent?”: Nicole Bedera breaks down why male fears of a consensual situation being misconstrued are simply misplaced.
• “Democrats Can Capture Districts in 2026 That Have Been Hard to Win”: Alan Elrod sees opportunity for some Democratic House candidates in Southern states.
• “How Are Cities Across the World Putting People Before Cars?”: Doug Gordon says they can just make it a little harder to drive.
• “The Nature and Opportunism of Media”: Adam Gurri on the tragedy of journalism.
• “Could the Midterms Make Reconstruction Possible?”: Adam Gurri walks through the inherent uncertainty of any election, and the range of scenarios very minor changes in polling error can bring about.
• “Impeach the Bastards, Save American Democracy”: Keira Havens says holding public officials accountable for offenses against the Constitution and nation remains vital.

Selections from The Reconstruction Papers:

• Chapter 18: “In Search of an FDR Consensus: The Future of an American Foreign and Defense Policy,” by Secretary of Defense Rock.
• Chapter 19: “Rebuilding International Law,” by Y. L. Al-Sheikh.

Every chapter has now been individually published on our website. Complete audio of The Reconstruction Papers is also freely available. And of course, the handsome printed book remains available as well: Get your copy and pre-order next year’s issue now!

Riptides:

• “Flailing and Failing Election Interference”: Trump’s “Department of Justice” pokes and prods election officials around the country (Friday, October 30).
• “Giving Voters What They Deserve”: Israel, Brazil, and Serbia over the line, with the U.S. up next (Thursday, October 29).
• “Temper Your Expectations for Israel”: Incredible corruption, election interference failures, and a red carpet for Flávio (Wednesday, October 28).
• “Donald Trump’s Hundredth Smoking Gun”: His criminal abusiveness hangs in the open over an American election yet again (Tuesday, October 27).

Sign up here to get Riptides—a liberal look at the news, four days a week—by email.

Some of what we’re reading elsewhere:

• Henry Farrell ponders the nature of the foreign-policy Blob: “It is a perceived consensus,” “a by-product” of “specialized mechanisms in our brains for keeping track of coalitional dynamics,” “a predatory emanation of our collective thoughts that has assumed a force and life of its own. Specifically, we can compare the Blob to the Baileys.”
• Christopher Hooks catalogs the myriad scandals of Ken Paxton: “This is the standard-bearer of the Republican Party of Texas, one of the most dominant and ruthless political machines in the nation, which has exerted unilateral control over the state for the last 23 years. And now it’s all threatening to come apart, thanks to a decade-plus of factional squabbles that are frenzied and abstract enough to put the DSA to shame.”
• David Wallace-Wells muses on the consequences of a vibe of dissatisfaction: “In America the window of policy opportunity now seems to shrink with each cycle. If you want government just to stand by and stand down, turnover and turmoil works fine. But if you want real social change?”