The Daily

Take a look at work from The Daily’s illustration desk this week.

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Illustrations by Sylvia Le, Keiden Carlos, Max Smee, Mariko Carskaddan, Maya Rasche, and Jenny Pyon The Daily

[OPINION] On April 29, a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) “Prove Me Wrong” event was hosted on the HUB lawn, welcoming right-wing politician and social media personality Nick Freitas to engage in an “open mic” debate. The event is a part of TPUSA’s “Pick Up The Mic” initiative, in which the organization travels to different college campuses to hold tabling events and lead debates with a variety of conservative hosts.

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Read Critical Conversations beat writer Gabi Treece’s full piece online.

Photo by Zoe Hsieh The Daily

[SCIENCE] Desert planets have long been darlings of science fiction writers, from Frank Herbert and Arrakis to George Lucas and Tatooine. Unfortunately, according to researchers at UW, planets might need more water than previously thought in order to maintain a habitable
environment on geological timescales.

Haskelle White-Gianella, Ph.D. candidate in planetary science and astrobiology at UW and lead author of the paper published April 15, 2026, is aware of the implications of her findings in the realm of pop culture.

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Read writer Gideon Hall’s full piece online.

Illustration by Maya Rasche The Daily

[OPINION] On April 12, President Donald Trump posted on X, saying that Pope Leo XIV is “WEAK on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

On the same day, Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself portrayed as Jesus.

Many Catholics were immediately suspicious of the president’s intentions behind the post, if not outright angry. Trump has also used AI to portray himself as the Pope in the past, an action that would cause anyone — regardless of their religion — to question what he’s doing.

UW student Eva Scearce, who attended Catholic school for 10 years, discussed her thoughts on Trump’s X posts and the intersection of Catholicism and politics.

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Read Jaya Parsons’s full piece online.

Media by Max Smee The Daily

[NEWS] One day after a student was arrested for disorderly conduct during a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event on the HUB Lawn, dozens of protesters — including the arrested student — returned to the site and accused the university of suppressing dissent.

UW officials have maintained the arrest was necessary to prevent disruption of a permitted event.

The arrest, which occurred late Wednesday morning during a “Prove Me Wrong” tabling event featuring Nick Freitas, has since spurred further debate, with student groups, university officials, and event organizers offering sharply different accounts of what happened and why.

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Read technology beat reporter Talan Collins’ full piece online.

Photos by Kanoa Shim, Tenzin Palden, and Zoe Hsieh The Daily

[ARTS + CULTURE] The Jacob Lawrence Gallery has been home to many things; Graduation exhibitions, student art shows, book clubs, and art talks have all filled the room with various creations, creators, and audiences. The gallery was transformed into a market and studio for the “Print, Copy, Paste Zine Fest” on Friday, April 24.

The evening before the festival, the gallery also hosted a zine making event for anyone interested in making their own work. Rather than keeping the creation aspect of the event to just one evening, it was continued into the actual festival as well. The welcome area just outside of the heart of the gallery was filled with zine making supplies; paper of every color covered tables, inviting passersby to not just observe the festival, but to actively participate in.

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Read writer Montanna Lovins’ full piece online.

Photo by Szerena Guggenheim-Schoening The Daily