onwards
Apologies for being MIA for a few weeks — and for this newsletter being relatively short. I found the election and my job covering it to be a bit exhausting, so I waited until today to gather my thoughts. Election night wasn’t quite the landslide many of us in the media thought it would be, and it’s led to a lot of “takes” — many which were written before Biden actually won the election, and before we knew by how many votes, which really frustrated me at the time.
But now, a full week out of it (though Trump still hasn’t conceded), I’m ready to move on, and maybe do less reflecting and more focusing on what’s happening right now (like the dire coronavirus crisis) — mostly because none of us have the answers however much we’d like to say we do (I am especially guilty of this during frustrating conversations with friends and coworkers). However, out of all the “takes” I’ve read, I think the first article below is the best one:
what i’ve been reading:
Slate: Maybe This Is Who We Are, by Fred Kaplan
A friend sent me this the day after Election Day and I think it sums everything up pretty well.
During the campaign, Biden and many of his surrogates, including former President Barack Obama, one of the most popular men in public life, would recount a few of Trump’s inadequacies and say, “This isn’t who we are.” Well, maybe in fact, it is.
//
The fact is we are, perhaps more than any time since the late 1850s, a divided country—divided not only by ideology and policy preferences (that’s normal; it’s what elections are supposed to decide) but also by the way we see the world.
The Daily Beast: Parents Tried to Cover Up a ‘Superspreader’ Dance. Disaster Ensued., by Olivia Messer
The coronavirus crisis is really scary right now, and articles like this show what we’re up against. If people won’t take this seriously, it’s only going to get worse.
The story out of Rolla mirrored many others throughout the country, where health departments face an uphill battle against COVID-19 skepticism and the politicization of mask-wearing—and the potential for one event to spark massive outbreaks. But it stood out for what residents described as a purposeful effort to ward off health officials’ scrutiny even as the pandemic’s third wave breaches new frontiers of horror nationwide.
some fun news nuggets:
Somehow, Two Of The "Love Is Blind" Couples Just Celebrated Their Second Wedding Anniversaries
Chris Evans Wearing The "Knives Out" Sweater While Holding A Puppy Is The Content I Needed Today
books i’ve been reading:
My book club just read Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Ghasi, and while it was light on plot, it was thoroughly well-written and engaging.
what i’ve been listening to:
Though I don’t think it’s going to make my Top Albums of the Year list, I still can’t stop listening to Ariana Grande’s Positions. It’s so fun and breezy and I am just glad Ari is in a good place!!
Billie Eilish’s single “Therefore I Am” is a bop and I stand by this tweet.
And meanwhile Billie’s big brother FINNEAS has some real depressing truths on HIS new single, “Where The Poison Is.” This lyric especially got to me: Once we put this all behind us//We get to go right back to school shootings and a climate crisis.
I also enjoyed the following:
LEON: Apart
Lindsey Lomis: In The Madness
Eve Irie: The Pessimist
Dizzy: Basement Covers