The Angle

The Angle: Unstoppable Sessions Edition

Slate’s daily newsletter on “identity politics,” gerrymandering in Wisconsin, and Trump’s nominee for attorney general.

Sen. Jeff Sessions arrives at Trump Tower on Wednesday in New York City.

Kevin Hagen/Getty Images

Nothing matters: Dahlia Lithwick looks at the nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, and argues that his long history of racist statements—and even racist actions—will no longer be seen as disqualifying, since we find ourselves in a post-evidence era.

Stay the course: Despite some recent liberal critiques of the Democratic Party’s “identity politics”—critiques that she takes seriously—Michelle Goldberg believes the party cannot, either practically or ethically speaking, turn aside from matters of race and gender.

Everything changes: A recent federal district court ruling on partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin could spell the end of redistricting as we know it, Mark Joseph Stern writes.

Don’t let the door hit you: The coach of the U.S. national soccer team, Jürgen Klinsmann, got the ax on Monday. Not a minute too soon, writes Eric Betts; the man was a terrible coach.

Hacking heptapod: What did the movie Arrival, starring a linguist who deciphers alien speech, look like to an actual linguist? Betty Birner tells Marissa Martinelli what she thought.*

For fun: How the song “Black Beatles,” by Rae Sremmurd, hit No. 1.

Stand very still,

Rebecca

*Correction, Nov. 23, 2016: This post originally misspelled Betty Birner’s last name.