The only thing to fear is fear itself. FDR spoke that line nearly a century ago, but it holds up as key tenet of this American moment. Fear is scary because making opponents afraid is a core ingredient of authoritarian-leaning leadership. Are we seeing rising levels of fear across American institutions and businesses? I'm afraid so. We've seen law firms get cold feet. We've seen business leaders clam up. We've seen universities offer teachable moments about how to knuckle under. We've seen some media outlets change tone. Democracy dies in darkness is a nice slogan until someone scares the living daylights out of you. Fear is contagious, so if big institutions are buckling, how will smaller entities and individuals keep their spines stiff? Isaac Stanley-Becker in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The United States of Fear. "The pressures boil down to fear—fear of adverse executive action, fear of associations disfavored by a vengeful president, and fear of a government bent on retribution. Two months into Trump’s second term, fear is taking hold across broad cross sections of American society. Business executives are privately speculating that the U.S. president could be a foreign asset, his actions a 'gift to China,' but biting their tongues in public. University administrators and the lobbyists they’ve retained are quietly expressing relief that Columbia is the government’s 'whipping boy,' keeping their heads down to avoid a lashing of their own. Government scientists, apprehensive that their research will be scrapped, are scrubbing their work of anything that might smack of diversity efforts ... The consequences are severe: hiring freezes, loss of clients, abandoned clinical trials. So fear of confronting the president spreads, quieting those who might otherwise be motivated to speak out." (It's worth remembering that courage can be as contagious as fear.) 2Palava Flow"The wind ruffled Aun Abdullah’s hair as he strolled along a path paved through lush grasses circled by apartments more than 20 stories high. Large gaps between the towering buildings channeled the winds, providing relief from the muggy heat." Channeling winds is just one of innovations in Palava, a 5,000-acre experimental community northeast of Mumbai that hopes to provide a model for adapting to a climate-transformed world. WaPo (Gift Article): This muggy city keeps cool with minimal AC. Here’s how. 3Fight or FlightAs I mentioned yesterday, I'm pretty worried about a potentially massive drop in international tourism to the US. For the nation that has long been our top visitor, that drop-off is already happening, bigly. WSJ (Gift Article): Canadians Are Boycotting American Vacations. "A boycott by the top international visitor threatens to upend local economies across the U.S. Canadians made about 20.2 million visits to the U.S. in 2024. Even a 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean $2 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses." How is the Trump administration responding? Here's White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly: "Canadians will no longer have to worry about the inconveniences of international travel when they become American citizens as residents of our cherished 51st state." 4Bagging is Not My Bag"With more cities, states and countries banning single-use plastic bags, paper has become a popular alternative at the grocery checkout. At first glance, this seems like an obvious win for the environment. Plastic bags, after all, are made from fossil fuels and a major source of pollution. Paper bags, however, are not necessarily a better choice. They come with their own list of environmental caveats, as do reusable totes." NYT (Gift Article): What Shopping Bags Should I Use? "All bags are not created equal when it comes to the environment. And paper might not be as green as you think." (I've given up. I now just eat all my groceries right there in the store.) 5Extra, ExtraWarning Signal: We're all using Signal to hide from them only to find that they're all using Signal to hide from us. Why government workers and military planners all love Signal now. (Too bad someone didn't tell the brothers from White Lotus about these private sharing apps before it was too late.) 6Bottom of the News"To this day I think that no one has turned in a first draft of an episode better than 'Diversity Day.' Now, as a successful comedy writer, I can look back and feel nothing but excitement for my very dear friend B.J. At the time when that episode came out in 2005, I was so angry, and it like filled me with anxiety how good that draft was. I remember it because B.J. turned in like a 30-page draft. It was just so lean and funny. Besides just being a funny episode of TV, because it was the second episode, it was very good for the rest of us, because it sort of was like, 'Here’s the bar.'" That's Mindy Kaling looking back at the early days of a show that's still my happy place (maybe now more than ever). ‘The Office’ Turns 20: An Oral History of Season 1 From the Writers Who Shaped It.
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