Is There Any Good News Left?

For the last few weeks, doomscrolling has felt like playing a slot machine of existential threats: Will AI Kill Us? (Yes.) When Will the Iran War End? (Not soon enough.)

But—and don’t leave—despite what our algorithms and daily digests suggest, there is still some good news worth celebrating.

Earlier this month in Rhode Island, progressives notched a win with democratic socialist David Morales’s victory in Providence’s mayoral Democratic primary. Morales, a 27-year-old state representative who supports capping rent increases, improving public transportation, and increasing taxes on polluting industries, bested centrist Mayor Brett Smiley in the city’s first-ever primary defeat of an incumbent mayor.

Morales’s primary win is part of a broader embrace of progressive left politics ahead of the midterms. Nearly nine months into his first term as mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani has not only proven popular and effective, but his star continues to rise beyond the traditional honeymoon period—becoming something of a hopeful icon for people everywhere who might otherwise be disengaged with politics. And he’s been commodified: While lurking around Central Park West (across from Trump Tower), I spied souvenir shops selling Mamdani T-shirts, and his upbeat visage has even lent itself to a best-selling children’s book. He has much to smile about.

There’s cause for optimism across the pond, too. Earlier this month, the UK’s foreign secretary Ed Miliband—who, I cannot resist noting, is a former Nation intern (class of 1989)—announced that his country, along with Canada and France, would impose economic sanctions on Israel’s illegal West Bank settlements. This action would be significant even if these countries weren’t long-standing allies of Israel. Given the history, the sanctions could well be a historic turning point.

And in the public consciousness, support for the Palestinian people has reached an unprecedented hold, and in unexpected venues. Rapper Macklemore’s ouster from Ed Sheeran’s world tour over outspoken pro-Palestine comments sparked an immediate and overwhelming backlash. Just a few years ago, the “Palestine exception” to free speech seemed impenetrable; more often than not, speaking out for Gaza could be a career-death sentence. Today, refusing to speak out on the issue might just carry greater risk, as evidenced by Ed Sheeran’s struggling to fill stadiums at a $37-per-ticket price point.

And speaking of free speech: even as national media outlets continue to face challenges—support The Nation, why don’t you?!—in certain corners and niches, local media outlets are showing signs of reemergence.

The last few months have seen the introduction and return of print newspapers in communities from Pittsburgh to small-town Mississippi. Even the white-collar workers of Wall Street have their own hard-copy newsletter these days. From scrappy community organizing zines to a puzzle-centered, news-free newspaper, the stubborn remnants of independent and physical media are finding ardent supporters in a country increasingly skeptical of technology’s direction.

And in other news, let’s celebrate four resilient and feisty institutions for their well-deserved anniversaries this year. Mondoweiss, a news website centered around Palestinian liberation, just commemorated 20 years of operations. FAIR, a media watch organization advocating for open and just media practices, celebrated 40 years of activism, while the Economic Policy Institute—the “working people’s think tank”—will host its own 40th-anniversary celebration next month. And the remarkable Center for Constitutional Rights just marked 60 years of upholding our fundamental freedoms.

Am I sounding like Alexa when I argue with her (about the weather and Bezos and Putin)—is my list of reasons to hope that lame? Here’s a reason I will stand by them: Read this wonderful new biography from Nation editor Dave Zirin on the life of scholar-activist Howard Zinn. It’s our alternative history, and Zirin is radically compelling in persuasively drawing parallels between then and now. Or listen to Good News for Lefties, a podcast that highlights joyful progressive wins each day. (The Mets stop playing on September 27; the Knicks return on October 20.)

And even in a realm as bleak as AI, you can find a silver lining. More Americans than ever are finding common ground in their shared disdain for data centers and reckless automation. Just a couple of weeks ago, Steve Bannon and Senator Bernie Sanders shared a stage to demand AI regulations. Pigs are flying. Hell is frozen. Transpartisanship is alive.