Voters head to the polls in what is being framed as a referendum on President Trump, along with the Democratic Party. A civil war in Sudan bursts into the international spotlight. And the Trump White House agrees to disperse some more SNAP funds.
Many people think that the closest the world ever came to nuclear war was during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
To be sure, that was a very tenuous point in history.
However, there is a good argument to be made that the closest the world has come to nuclear war actually took place in 1969. The reason most people are unaware of what happened is that it had nothing to do with the United States.
It was two other nuclear powers who almost went to war.
Learn more about the 1969 Sino-Soviet Border Conflict, how it changed the course of the Cold War, and almost led to nuclear disaster on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Sponsors
Quince
Go to quince.com/daily for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order!
Mint Mobile
Get your 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/eed
Stash
Go to get.stash.com/EVERYTHING to see how you can
receive $25 towards your first stock purchase.
Newspaper.com
Go to Newspapers.com to get a gift subscription for the family historian in your life!
Last-minute election campaign stops ring a bit hollow in Virginia and California.
President Trump endorses Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City as the Zohran Mamdani campaign hits additional bumps in the road before the finish line.
Do you feel uneasy? Do you feel a level of ambient anxiety? Do you feel despair, despite the fact that we live in the most luxurious time and place in human history?
The point is, you are not crazy. If you feel these things, you are simply attuned to reality—and it’s not a problem that’s solvable with less screen time or with meditation, red light, or sea moss.
My brilliant guest, Paul Kingsnorth, argues that the reason you feel this way is not this or that social media app or algorithm or culture war issue. That these are all superficial expressions of a thousand-year battle with what he calls “the Machine.” What exactly that means, he’ll explain tonight.
To personally fight the Machine, Paul has moved his family out of urban England to live off the land in rural Ireland, where his family grows their own food, draws water from a well, and homeschools their children. To learn more about his life, you’ll have to go back and listen to the Honestly episode we did with him in 2024.
In his new book, Against the Machine, Paul makes the argument that what this moment requires is something of a rebellion. He says the West is not dying, but already dead. And this book is an attempt to understand how we got to this profound feeling of disquiet—and how we might return to true peace. It’s being billed as a “spiritual manual for dissidents in the technological age.”
Click below to listen to our conversation, or scroll down for our favorite moments.
The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.
Part 1. This is big, folks. Think Watergate combined with Deflate-gate combined with Christina Applegate combined with the Bowling Green Massacre. THAT's how big of a scandal this is.
You thought Zohran Mamdani was just an innocent 34 year old assemblyman who rose to stardom by being an incredibly good candidate and relentless campaigning an economic message in a positive way. But you were an idiot. Dummy.
Asra Nomani broke it here, but let Jenessa and I explain it to you because clearly your feeble, gullible brain can't process. information properly.
While decolonization liberated territories, it left the root causes of historical injustice unaddressed. Governance change did not address past wrongs and transferred injustice through political and financial architectures.
In Calibrating Colonial Crime: Reparations and The Crime of Unjust Enrichment (Bristol University Press/Policy Press, 2024) Dr. Joshua Castellino presents a five-point plan aimed at system redress through reparations that addresses the colonially induced climate crisis through equitable and sustainable means.
In highlighting the structural legacy of colonial crimes, Dr. Castellino provides insights into the complexities of contemporary societies, showing how legal frameworks could foster a fairer, more just world.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
The prosecution believes the case is airtight, but when the defendant takes the stand, the case takes a turn. With alternate suspects introduced, the jury must decide what they believe really happened to Samantha Woll.
---
Become a paid subscriber to The Free Press to binge the full series today, and with reduced ads. Click here to subscribe.
What to know about today's elections — expected to test the momentum and divisions in both parties.
Also, the latest ways the government shutdown is impacting food assistance, preschool, air travel, and more.
And how one of the biggest business takeovers so far this year could create a health-and-wellness giant.
Plus: how a Halloween terror attack may have been avoided, why a Hollywood lawsuit pitting two movie stars against each other has ended, and what's historic about the newest "Sexiest Man Alive" of 2025.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
A federal judge once again blocked the Trump Administration from sending the National Guard to Portland over the weekend — but if Trump is successful in the courts, Portlanders can look to the great city of Chicago for a preview of what may be in store. Since ICE began operations in September, there have been violent raids on apartment buildings and near-constant activity from aggressive federal agents rounding up immigrants who are being kept in facilities reportedly full of cockroaches and with horrifying examples of overcrowding. And, in some cases, US citizens are getting detained, too. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has faced the brunt of Trump’s attacks on the city, while also reckoning with Chicago’s crime rate and affordability crises that many big cities also face. We sat down with the Mayor to talk about what it’s been like to face down the President while trying to manage the nation’s third-largest city.
And in headlines, President Trump’s tariffs are at the Supreme Court this week, a rundown of the high-profile Election Day races, and 20 Democratic-led states sue the Trump administration over a rule that could block certain public servants from getting their student loans forgiven.