Just when you thought things couldn't get worse
Spare me the "bad apples" argument when it comes to US politics.
Sree’s newsletter is produced w/ Zach Peterson (@zachprague). In 2018, I met Prof. Anita Hill at The Wrap’s Power Women Summit. If more Americans had listened to her in 1991, maybe Ginni Thomas wouldn’t be poisoning the country today (more on that below).
🗞 TUNE IN: This week’s Sunday #NYTReadalong guest was Craig Newmark, philanthropist and founder of craigslist. See the interview with Craig and our archives. The Readalong is sponsored by Muck Rack. Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Email sree@digimentors.group and neil@digimentors.group.
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THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MODERATE REPUBLICAN anymore. Perhaps Joe Manchin is, but that’s for a different day (my thread on the West Virginia Senator).
We’ve been concentrating on the horrors in Ukraine in recent weeks (here are my thoughts, parts one, two, three, four), but that doesn’t mean we take our eyes off the problems in America.
I wrote in January about the last Trumplican straw that caused me to break with my Republican friends. But things have only gotten worse.
It’s been a banner decade for GOP-fueled hate, but we’re not prepared for what’s coming in 2024. Texas, as is custom, is leading the way in taking away the personal rights of women — but the Lone Star State is far from the only problem.
The Oklahoma state house just passed a similar total abortion ban, future former presidential candidate Ron DeSantis just signed Florida’s “don’t say ‘gay’” bill, and there are similar measures popping up in state legislatures across the country.
Kentucky State Senator Karen Berg is having none of it, and I’m not sure I’ve seen a better two-minute explanation of how absolutely toxic, awful, and dangerous all of this is.
It’s all there — a bunch of men making sweeping, health-related policies that will only hurt women. If there’s a better microcosm of the modern GOP, I’m not sure I’ve seen it.
The thing is, this is the litmus test for the party now. As long as Trump is in the picture, it’s a race to the bottom for other GOP presidential hopefuls. Any current officeholder who wants to make it out of a Republican primary is going to have to restrict abortion, work to institute a bounty system among the public to enforce it, and absolutely do everything possible to destroy the lives of LGTBQ+ people — especially young ones. This is the litmus test.
What’s more, anyone who does all of that also has to take a stand firmly on the side of would-be insurrectionists who stormed the capitol, murdered people, and tried to hang the Vice President. It’s a tall order, but if Ginni Thomas, wife of a Supreme Court justice can do it, it’s clearly possible. Please read this story by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa:
As shocking as the Ginni Thomas text messages are, they merely confirm something that has been known to be true for decades — she represents the core being of modern right-wing American politics.
Read this amazing piece and then take a step back and consider the implications.
It’s bad enough that the spouse of a sitting justice texted with the White House as the seat of government was ransacked, but look at the bigger picture. Incredibly powerful, and usually wealthy, people have been playing the long game and it’s all coming full circle — the consequences for the country be damned.
Now, it’s a movement out of control that represents about 30 percent of the country and commands an outsized portion of our attention. Given the moves across GOP-controlled state houses, the time is now to take a stand in the name of inclusion, tolerance and public health.
- Sree / Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube / Cameo
A Message from Armory Square Ventures About Mini Books
Every so often we come across an entrepreneur that stands apart either for seizing upon a cool idea or for making an impact with the idea.
Anthony Price is Founder and CEO of Mini Books. When he pitched us at a pop shop in Dumbo we could not have imagined he would do both.
Today, Anthony has published 7 Mini Books that feature thoughtful and delightful stories about Kobe Bryant, Stephon Marbury, Becky Hammon, Virgil Abloh. Most are reprints of pieces that ran in the New Yorker and the series include two published by Atul Gawande and Malcolm Gladwell.
The virtue of reading a mini-book is having the chance to learn pithy, digestible life lessons that you can hang on to, read and reread as and when you like, whenever you find you have some time.
We love all book-related things at Armory Square Ventures and feel fortunate to have the chance to commend Anthony's efforts and progress! He is also passionate about fundraising for small, minority-owned businesses and has published a book of his own on the subject.
Until next time & to enterprising entrepreneurs everywhere — Stay smart, stay strong,
— Your friends at ASV
Tech Tip w/ @newyorkbob: Tech Event Outlook — The Shows May Go On
By Robert S. Anthony
Each week, veteran tech journalist Bob Anthony shares a tech tip you don’t want to miss. Follow him @newyorkbob.
It’s been a tough two years for those who enjoy the networking, hands-on experiences and other benefits of real, live trade events. Even the best virtual event software can’t duplicate the madness of a crowded show floor, the smell of fast food or a hug from an old friend.
But as 2022 progresses, the news is mixed for tech-related shows. While the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be on the wane nationwide, not every event organizer is confident enough to get real again.
After staging an online-only show in 2021, CES, the huge consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, returned as a hybrid event in January, attracting only 45,000 in-person attendees, far fewer than the 170,000 that piled into its last in-person event in 2020. But Covid-19 infection rates have dropped significantly since then.
After canceling in 2020 and 2021, the New York International Auto Show is ready to open its doors as an in-person event April 15 to 22 at the Javits Convention Center. Some car manufacturers like Volkswagen, which recently unveiled the ID:Buzz, an all-electric “microbus” which resembles the boxy VW Bus of the 1960s, aren’t waiting for the show and have already announced some of their new models in virtual events.
PhotoPlus Expo, a major photography event usually held at the same venue, is “evolving” for 2022. PhotoPlus was a victim of bad luck in 2021, canceling just three weeks before it was scheduled to open due to a sudden uptick in Covid-19 cases in New York.
According to its website, the 2022 show, scheduled for Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, will be “an experience built on intimate education opportunities, hands-on labs, networking meet-ups, and discovering what tools help you create the best.” Whether a full convention hall trade show will be included remains to be seen.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC), canceled in 2020 and virtual-only in 2021, just finished its five-day run at San Francisco’s Moscone Center with hundreds of attendees filling halls and event spaces. The video game industry event enforced masking and Covid-19 vaccination and testing requirements for attendees and offered a virtual component.
Of course, only time, official Covid-19 reports and the confidence of attendees will determine whether tech events will revert to their pre-pandemic frequencies and attendance levels. But for the moment, things seem to be moving ahead cautiously.
Read Something
Really good piece here from Derek Thompson. It’s been clear for some time that The Great Resignation was not an apt way of describing what’s happening in the labor market. People are looking for a better experience at work, it’s really as simple as that. With stimulus checks last year, people had the financial leeway to try to improve their career pursuits. Combined with greater flexibility to work from home (or the road), people left jobs they could afford to leave. “Resignations are rising because people are seeing more job listings, not because they’re feeling more Marxist.”
Watch Something
I can’t say enough about Craig Newmark (@craignewmark). I was honored to have him on the Sunday NYT Readalong this week.
Odds & Ends
🩺 Be sure to check out our “She’s On Call” podcast, with surgeons Sujana Chandrasekhar, MD (@DrSujanaENT), and Marina Kurian, MD (@MarinaKurian) — watch the live show on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
🗞 TUNE IN: This week’s Sunday #NYTReadalong guest was Craig Newmark, philanthropist and founder of craigslist. See the interview with Craig and our archives. The Readalong is sponsored by Muck Rack. Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Email sree@digimentors.group and neil@digimentors.group.
👀 Did we miss anything? Make a mistake? Do you have an idea for anything we’re up to? Let’s collaborate! sree@sree.net and please connect w/ me: Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube / Cameo.