Chris Riback's Newsletter: Recent Episodes
Chris Riback
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6 Minutes or Less: Can America Run a Fair Election?
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Following the latest voting disaster this week in Georgia’s primary – broken machines, inadequate poll workers, 8-hour lines, voters who simply gave up and left – the question of whether we can run fair elections has again been raised.
Guest: Rick Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine and author of the new book “Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy.”
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The World
A new spike in Beijing Covid-19 cases mirrors early stages of outbreak in Wuhan, as the Chinese capital shut down its biggest vegetable market and declared “wartime management” in one district where more than 50 people tested positive. (South China Morning Post)
The sister of North Korea’s leader warned of retaliatory measures against South Korea that could involve the military, in the latest escalation of tensions over defectors from the North who have been sending back propaganda and food. (Reuters)
Majorities across racial and ethnic groups express support for the Black Lives Matter movement, while deep partisan divides exist over the factors underlying George Floyd demonstrations. (Pew Research Center)
Protesters shut down a major highway in Atlanta and set fire to a Wendy’s restaurant where Rayshard Brooks was shot by police as he tried to escape arrest. Meanwhile, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned. (Reuters, Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Florida fired its coronavirus data scientist; now she’s publishing the statistics on her own. Meanwhile, turning down pleas from Gov. Mike DeWine to stay on the job, Dr. Amy Acton surprisingly resigned as director of the Ohio Department of Health. Acton became both a beloved and polarizing figure for her candid, personal talks at news briefings and for issuing orders closing down parts of the state’s economy that some found excessive. Separately, new research estimates that up to 45 percent of SARS-CoV-2 infections may be asymptomatic. (Washington Post, Columbus Dispatch, Science Daily)
Profiles & Reads
The story behind the photo: "Around 6:10 p.m., my phone buzzed in my pocket — I usually have it on silent when I'm working because I don't want an unexpected ringtone to distract me from the moments I'm photographing. I saw it was my photo editor Mary Ann Gerth. She said the paper needed a scene setter, an image that shows how many people are at a particular scene and what it looks like. I didn't think I could make the deadline if I relied on the usual work mode of a laptop and hotspot. ‘Probably iPhone pic at this point. 15ish minutes,’ she texted.” (Louisville Courier Journal)
The city that really did abolish the police — and rebuilt the department from the ground up. The strange, hopeful, politically complicated story of Camden, N.J. (Politico)
The death of engagement: Orville Schell writes that for almost a half century, the U.S. and China have operated under a fragile policy framework of "engagement." But with the two countries facing their most adversarial state in years, it’s worth revisiting how we got to this moment — and why it didn't have to end this way. (The Wire China)
What Hannah Arendt can teach us about work in the time of Covid-19. The philosopher’s distinction between work and labour should guide our attempts to build a better society. (New Statesman)
A 17-year-old’s guide to building the world’s biggest pandemic and protest trackers: The coronavirus pandemic and the protests have been the defining events of 2020 so far, and in both cases one 17-year-old has played a major role online: Avi Schiffmann, the creator of the web’s preeminent covid-19 case tracker and, more recently, a protest tracking site. (MIT Technology Review)
Two conversations with Fiona Hill, the former senior director for Europe and Russia in the national security council who testified in Congress’ impeachment investigation. Hill discusses her working-class roots, studying Putin — and the turmoil of Trump’s White House, as well as noting that “Trump thought I was a secretary.” (Financial Times, The Guardian)
Australia’s Water Is Vanishing. Scorched by climate change and drained by industrial farms, the country’s most important river system is nearing collapse. Meanwhile, the vultures aren't hovering over Africa – and that's bad news. (Bloomberg, The Guardian)
Bob Dylan agreed to a phone chat from his Malibu home with historian Douglas Brinkley, which turned out to be his only interview before next Friday’s release of “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” Brinkley had a brief follow-up with Dylan one day after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis: “Clearly shaken by the horror that had occurred in his home state, he sounded depressed.” (New York Times)
Good News
Sundar Pichai is now the highly paid CEO of tech behemoth Alphabet—last year he earned $280 million. But he came from humble beginnings in India, as he recounted in a YouTube video aimed at students graduating from college this spring. Pichai’s family didn’t have a telephone until he was 10 years old. He didn’t have regular access to a computer until he was a student at Stanford. When he moved to California for grad school, he noticed that a backpack cost more than his dad’s monthly salary. The point of his comments was that students should be hopeful about the future. But it was a rare look at Pichai’s early life. (The Information)
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6 Minutes or Less: Einstein & Investment Risk
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Einstein said that the most powerful force in the universe is compound returns.
Question: Was Einstein right? And if we’re told to diversify our holdings to manage risk, why does a cross-sectional diversification investment strategy fail during a shock?
Guest: Nobel Laureate in Economics Myron Scholes is the Frank E. Buck Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and co-originator of the Black-Scholes options pricing model.
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The World
Layoffs in the U.S. fell in April, but remained the second highest on record, while job openings dropped according to the Labor Dept., suggesting the labor market could take years to recover despite May’s surprise employment rebound. Meanwhile, the U.S. budget gap more than doubled in May, pushing the deficit for the fiscal year to near $2 trillion as the recession became official, and the longest U.S. economic expansion dating back to 1854 ended. (Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Finance 202)
74% of Americans support the nationwide protests, and 69% say police forces have not done enough to ensure that blacks are treated equally to whites. The finding marks a significant shift when compared with the 2014 reactions to police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and New York. (Washington Post-Schar School poll)
Thousands of protesters rallied in Hong Kong, facing off with police who had banned recent demonstrations to mark the one-year anniversary of a million-person rally that thrust the city into its biggest turmoil in decades. (Wall Street Journal)
Investment agreement, 5G and Hong Kong are among the sensitive topics ahead of Wednesday’s EU-China dialogue, as Beijing pivots to Europe and President Xi calls top European leaders far more regularly. Meanwhile, China leap-frogged Russia to become the world’s second largest arms exporter. (South China Morning Post, The Times)
President Trump’s decision to cut U.S. troop levels in Germany blindsided a number of senior national security officials, and the Pentagon had yet to receive a formal order to carry it out. (Reuters)
The U.S. retook its position as the globe's top renewable energy market in an EY report. (Consulting.US)
Since the start of June, 14 states and Puerto Rico — locations previously not hot spots — recorded their highest-ever seven-day average of new coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, fewer than half the states are following federal recommendations to report probable cases and deaths (Washington Post, Washington Post)
More than half of U.S. school districts have buildings in need of major repairs, and 41% of districts have problems with their HVAC systems, according to a new GAO report. (EducationDive)
Economy
The recession is generating winners and losers in corporate America, with cash-rich behemoths set to grow while debt-heavy companies and the economy lag. Meanwhile, some 25,000 U.S. stores could close permanently — most mall-based retailers, led by department and clothing stores. (Bloomberg, Bloomberg)
92% of private equity professionals globally believe distressed fund activity will increase in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. PE managers viewed distressed funds as the biggest near-term fundraising opportunity, with 83% indicating more investor demand for strategies targeting distressed assets. (Institutional Investor)
Hong Kong-based hedge funds are considering uprooting their operations as China prepares to impose national security legislation and the industry worries it could find itself in Beijing’s crosshairs. (Financial Times)
Fitch anticipates annual enrollment declines could range from 5% to 20% for many universities this fall. Private colleges could experience more meaningful financial effects than public colleges, given a higher reliance on tuition and student fee revenues. (Fitch Ratings)
Technology
IBM told Congress it will no longer offer, develop, or research facial recognition technology, while Apple will announce a shift to its own main processors in Mac computers, replacing chips from Intel. (The Verge, Bloomberg)
Pinterest is working to keep revenue flowing as it has received an increasing number of requests for payment extensions from struggling advertisers. (Wall Street Journal)
A hackers-for-hire group targeted thousands of individuals and hundreds of institutions globally, including advocacy groups, journalists, elected officials, lawyers, hedge funds and companies. Meanwhile, the U.S. Homeland Security’s cybersecurity unit warns Windows 10 users to patch their systems, after exploit code for a “wormable” bug was published online. (Financial Times, TechCrunch)
An extensive report explores social media content moderation and concludes that major companies have marginalized the people who do this work, outsourcing the vast majority of it to third-party vendors. (NYU Stern)
Smart Links
10 commitments companies must make to advance racial justice. (Harvard Business Review)
Cities use sewer systems as COVID-19 early warning signs. (The Verge)
The biggest psychological experiment in history is running now. (Scientific American)
Russia’s birth rate fell for 4th straight year. (Wall Street Journal)
Saturn’s moon Titan is migrating away 100 times faster than predicted. (Cal Tech)
Drug researcher develops 'fat burning' molecule. (Science Daily)
Twitter is nerve center of the American news cycle. (Axios)
Good News
In the “Pitch Your Thesis” contest, Harvard seniors distilled their weighty papers into three-minute riffs. Kelsey Ichikawa ’20, a neurobiology and philosophy concentrator, was one of the winners for a presentation on “The Reward of Others’ Pain: Imaging the Brain, and the Ethics of Schadenfreude.” (Harvard Gazette)
Which apps leave people feeling happy? (Center for Humane Technology)
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6 Minutes or Less: Gene Sperling on His Parents, Race & Economic Dignity
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Gene Sperling’s new book is “Economic Dignity." He also wrote a moving tribute to his mother, Doris, who died last month. The two pieces connected for me.
Question: I asked Sperling in a recent Zoom conversation if they were connected.
Guest: Gene Sperling is the former director of the National Economic Council under President Obama and President Clinton.
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The World
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was heckled and told to “go home” after he told DefundMPD marchers that he favors reforms over disbanding, as weekend rallies stretched nationwide and globally. (Star Tribune, Reuters, Financial Times)
An overwhelming majority of Americans, 80%, feel the country is spiraling out of control and by a 2-to-1 margin are more troubled by the actions of police in the killing of George Floyd than by violence at some protests. The poll also reveals striking partisan divides. (Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll)
Japan decided not join the U.S., Britain and others in issuing a statement scolding China for imposing a new security law. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi’s September trip to Germany for a historic meeting with all EU national leaders has been postponed. (Reuters, South China Morning Post)
HSBC warned Britain against a ban on the equipment maker Huawei in 5G telecoms networks, claiming it will face reprisals in China. Meanwhile, internal memos show how Huawei pivoted to counter Washington’s charges with lawsuits, reorganization; “the company has entered a state of war.” (The Sunday Telegraph, Wall Street Journal)
In a significant shift, Boris Johnson ordered ministers to lift the lockdown quickly to avoid a possible “jobs bloodbath” — the loss of three million jobs. (The Sunday Times)
The European economy is “through the worst,” but activity remains depressed. Shopping, leisure and work-related travel all begin to improve but tourism is subdued. (Financial Times)
AstraZeneca has approached Gilead about a potential merger. The $96 billion deal would be a record in health care. (Bloomberg)
Summer camps kids will be America’s coronavirus test subjects. (New York Times)
Profiles & Reads
Bryan Stevenson is a civil-rights lawyer and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human-rights organization that challenges convictions, advocates for criminal-justice reform and racial justice, and created the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, in Montgomery, AL, which honors the victims of lynching and other forms of racial terror during the Jim Crow era. He discussed the frustration behind the George Floyd protests. (New Yorker)
Asia has prospered because Pax Americana, which has held since the end of World War II, provided a favorable strategic context. But now, the troubled U.S.-Chinese relationship raises profound questions about Asia’s future and the shape of the emerging international order. Will the new configuration enable further success or bring dangerous instability? (Foreign Affairs)
The Loneliest Everest Expedition. No energy-bar wrappers litter base camp. No climbers clog the Hillary Step. Thanks to the pandemic, Mount Everest is taking a much needed break after last year’s record crowding. But amid the COVID-19 outbreak, three Chinese teams scaled the world’s highest peak. (Outside)
Worst. Deal. Ever. Fifteen years after Eric Baker was fired from StubHub, the ticketing giant he cofounded, he bought it back for $4 billion—weeks before coronavirus utterly wrecked the business. Revenge isn’t always sweet. (Forbes)
How Germany got coronavirus right. Combined with its six-week shutdown, Germany’s “track and trace” system has been instrumental in stalling the spread of Covid-19 and preventing it from overwhelming the health system. (Financial Times)
The Lessons of 1884. When Grover Cleveland clinched the Democratic nomination and faced an allegation of misconduct, he wrote up a new political playbook. (The Atlantic)
Comedian Sarah Cooper has become one of the hottest comics of the coronavirus era with her social media videos, in which she lip-syncs some of Trump’s most controversial pandemic-related pronouncements. He’s blocked her on Twitter. But she says he’s a fabulous “head writer.” (Los Angeles Times)
Good News
Japan companies are developing cool face masks as summer approaches. (Kyodo)
Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard explains the virtues of solitude — and the secret to a life well lived: “Eternity is awfully long, especially near the end.” (Financial Times)
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6 Minutes or Less: The Neurobiology of Altruism
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: As protests and the ongoing COVID-19 threat upend notions of safety and unleash deep-seated fury and grief, stress and worry abound, particularly for communities of color.
Question: How can altruism reduce stress — and how can adults manage effects of stress on their children?
Guest: Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker holds various science and teaching positions and sits on Turnaround for Children’s advisory board. She has written a series of articles for Turnaround called ”Back to Basics.” This audio excerpt comes from our full conversation for The 180 podcast.
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The World
Employment stunningly rose by 2.5 million in May and the jobless rate declined to 13.3%, far better than economists had been expecting and indicated that an economic turnaround could be close at hand. (CNBC, Wall Street Journal)
Restaurants and bars, health care employers and construction were among the sectors that drove the job market improvement. About 1.4 million people gained or took back their restaurant jobs, even as hotels continued to shed workers. About 460,000 were hired or rehired in construction, 370,000 in retail, and 390,000 in health care and social assistance. That latter boost came heavily from dentist’s offices, which took back some 245,000 workers. (New York Times)
Unemployment for black workers continued to rise, while the Black-white economic divide is as wide as it was in 1968. President Trump said his plan to address racism is a strong economy. (New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Post)
Politicians, civil rights legends and pro athletes joined family members at a Minneapolis memorial to mourn George Floyd, while new abuses are caught on camera and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed the street in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza.” (Star Tribune, Washington Post, Washington Post)
The U.S. scrapped plans to ban Chinese airlines after Beijing permits foreign carriers, but will limit flights to two a week. Meanwhile, airlines from America to Australia are ramping up June and July flights. (CNBC, Reuters)
The latest UK-EU Brexit talks are set to finish without a breakthrough, with both sides stuck on trade and other crucial issues after another week of difficult negotiations. (Bloomberg)
State-backed hackers from China have targeted Biden campaign staffers, while Iranian hackers recently targeted Trump campaign staff email accounts, Google said. (Reuters)
Japan's fertility rate fell for the fourth straight year, reaching its lowest level in 12 years as births fall below 900,000, 2 years ahead of expectations. (Nikkei Asian Review)
In Senate testimony, college presidents outlined plans to reopen campuses, highlighting the need for robust testing for the virus, contact-tracing measures and social-distancing tactics. (EducationDive)
Economy
Companies that protected their labor forces and supply chains during this year’s stock-market drawdown saw more net inflows from institutional investors and better returns than industry peers. (Wall Street Journal)
Simon Property Group, the country’s largest mall owner, filed a lawsuit against Gap over unpaid rent and other charges it says amount to $66 million. (Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. public-pension funding crisis worsened, as funding ratios fall while the cost of provision has risen. Meanwhile, debt-repayment problems are increasing in the rapidly growing private credit market. (The Economist, Wall Street Journal)
Hong Kong’s monetary authority stepped into the financial market twice on Friday to rein back the local currencyahead of several blockbuster initial public offerings on the local stock exchange. (South China Morning Post)
Technology
Zoom is in advanced talks with Google to use its cybersecurity service. (The Information)
Slack announced an integration deal with Amazon, amid increased competition from Microsoft Teams. Amazon employees will start using Slack, while Slack will increase use of Amazon Web Services and migrate voice and video calling features to Amazon Chime. (The Verge)
Fifty-two percent of U.S. adults say they are very concerned about fake video, up from 35% in June of 2019. (Civic Science)
As China’s access to international markets has grown more unreliable, Chinese e-commerce platforms are partnering with manufacturers to launch their own domestic brands. (MIT Technology Review)
Elon Musk blasted Amazon and its founder Jeff Bezos — tweeting it’s time to break up Amazon — after the online retail giant rejected a book about the coronavirus pandemic. (Wall Street Journal)
Smart Links
Readers flock to books about race relations. (Wall Street Journal)
10 movies and shows to watch about systemic racism. (Business Insider)
NBA restarts July 31 with 22 teams; MLB players reject baseball plan. (ESPN, ESPN)
Soviet military program secretly mapped the entire world. (National Geographic)
Authoritarians don't faze markets. (Axios)
What Apple learned from automation: Humans are better. (The Information)
How the Plague gave rise to British pub culture. (Atlas Obscura)
Good News
Why #oddlysatisfying videos are so oddly satisfying. (New Scientist)
British Parliament welcomed a cat.
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DocuPod: Gen. James Mattis’ Statement
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This is a DocuPod. No conversation; no interview. Just a reading of the document itself.
I offer DocuPods because with our democracy under stress, certain documents are interesting and essential. And it’s really hard to find time to read them. Today, Gen. James Mattis’ statement on presidential leadership.
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The World
Tensions are building in Pentagon circles: Former Defense Secretary James Mattis denounced the president for dividing the nation, and accused him of ordering the U.S. military to violate Americans’ constitutional rights (full statement). Defense Secretary Mark Esper abruptly reversed a decision to order active-duty troops home from the national capital region. Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released a message affirming that every member of the armed forces swears an oath to defend the Constitution, which “gives Americans the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.” (Washington Post, The Atlantic, Politico, New York Times)
The House-passed anti-lynching bill won’t pass the Senate without changes desired from Sen. Rand Paul, who worries the current proposal might “conflate lesser crimes with lynching.” (Politico)
VA Gov. Ralph Northam is poised to announce plans to remove the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, where Mayor Levar Stoney wants four other famous statues honoring the Confederacy removed in the wake of protests. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Far more African-American than white voters suffered a reduction in family income due to the coronavirus outbreak. 74 per cent of black voters reported a financial hit compared to 58 per cent of white voters, while more African-Americans lost jobs. (Financial Times)
The U.S. trade deficit widened 16.7% in April from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted $49.41 billion. Meanwhile, 1.9 million unemployment claims were made last week, the first time they fell below 2 million since the week ended March 14. (Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal)
Thousands crowded Hong Kong’s Victoria Park amid a police ban to mark the Tiananmen Square crackdown anniversary, as Hong Kong’s legislature passed a law making disrespect of China’s national anthem a crime. Meanwhile, China warned Britain to “step back from the brink” after Boris Johnson vowed to offer a path to citizenship for up to 3 million Hong Kong residents, and India and Australia signed a new military pact. (South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, The Times, Nikkei Asian Review)
Brazil and Mexico reported record daily coronavirus death tolls as governments in Latin America battled the accelerating pandemic, while a second wave hit Iran. In the U.S., Texas, Arizona and Oregon saw significant spikes in new infections. (The Telegraph, Bloomberg, Axios)
Earth’s carbon dioxide levels hit record high, despite coronavirus-related emissions drop. Meanwhile, China’s air pollution is back to pre-Covid levels, and Europe may follow. (Washington Post, The Guardian)
U.S. public school students likely will start the new school year having learned 37% to 50% of what they ordinarily would have learned in math had schools remained open. However, the top third of students will have continued to make gains in reading despite education interruptions. (Brown University)
Economy
The Senate passed legislation to provide more flexibility to small businesses that have received forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, providing more time to use the money. Meanwhile, nearly half of commercial retail rents were not paid in May. (Washington Post, Washington Post)
The European Central Bank said it would vastly scale up its bond-purchase program to €1.35 trillion ($1.52 trillion), putting its stimulus effort in league with the Federal Reserve’s. Meanwhile, Germany agreed to a €130bn fiscal stimulus centered on a big cut in value added tax. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)
The coronavirus outbreak could trigger a $25tn collapse in the fossil fuel industry by accelerating a terminal decline for the world’s most polluting companies. (The Guardian)
The S&P 500 is up 39% in 50 days and in the midst of its longest winning streak since February. Many big bulls are sounding distinctly...bearish. And while UBS sees Asia as ‘the only region’ with positive earnings growth this year, political tumult historically hasn’t dragged down the market. (Bloomberg, CNBC, Finance 202, Strategas Research Partners)
Technology
Google will start factoring user experience into its search results, as well as the top stories feature in mobile search. Google is no longer just optimizing for information that’s closest to your keywords, but optimizing for a more delightful web — meaning intuitive, user-friendly page design will be even more important. (Fast Company)
Uber’s global rides business is down 70% from last year, a slight improvement from its low point but an indication that recovery will come slowly. The decline is partially offset by the food delivery boom, as Uber Eats is more than doubling, and the gains are accelerating. (Bloomberg)
Recode obtained leaked audio and transcribed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s tense video call with employees to address how the company handled Trump’s controversial Facebook posts. (Recode)
Amazon is in early-stage talks to buy a stake worth at least $2 billion in Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel. (Reuters)
Smart Links
Timeline: What led to the Tiananmen Square massacre. (PBS)
New AP Stylebook released. (Associated Press)
Fitbit gains FDA authorization for low-cost emergency ventilator. (TechCrunch)
AI improves eye exam accuracy. (Science Magazine)
How big is the murder hornet threat? (Harvard Gazette)
California pot industry faces decline. (Los Angeles Times)
Joe Rogan got ripped off by Spotify. (Marker)
Good News
This happened:
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6 Minutes or Less: The Oxygen-COVID Discovery
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Doctors made the incredible discovery that putting COVID patients on their stomachs significantly reduced the need to intubate and should cause a logarithmic collapse in the resources needed to be thrown at COVID for intubation going forward.
Question: How did we make the remarkable shift?
Guest: Dr. Richard Levitan is an emergency room doctor and entrepreneur, who spent 10 days at New York’s Bellevue Hospital at the height of the surge and helped make the incredible discovery. He described his experience in the New York Times.
Housekeeping:
Welcome to the Weekender — a combination of news, profiles, and good reads that you might not see during the week.
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The World
After a night marred by clashes and looting despite curfews and National Guard troops in the streets, cities across the country assessed the damage and looked for answers to the escalating unrest. In Philadelphia, a peaceful demonstration by thousands gave way over hours to anger and vandalism, and police reported 109 arrests as of early Sunday morning. In the Twin Cities, security forces moved aggressively to disperse protesters with tear gas, pepper spray and drawn weapons. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp ordered additional National Guard troops to deploy ahead of several potential protests Sunday, as Savannah braced for an unsanctioned rally and the Atlanta curfew was lifted. In London, hundreds defied social-distancing rules to gather in Trafalgar Square to protest. (New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Star Tribune, AJC, The Independent)
President Donald Trump plans to invite Australia, India, South Korea and Russia to join an upcoming Group of Seven meeting, in a move that has stoked speculation that he is trying to form a bloc to contain China. (South China Morning Post)
Beyond Hong Kong, an emboldened Xi Jinping pushes the boundaries. Less than four months ago, Xi Jinping faced the biggest crisis of his leadership — bruised by China’s initial, bungled coronavirus response. He has since pulled off an extraordinary turnaround, gaining ground in areas central to his “China Dream” of a strong unified nation. Meanwhile, the UK widened visa rights offer to almost 3m Hong Kong residents. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)
The EU’s chief negotiator warned Boris Johnson that he must keep his promises if he wants to avoid the double economic hit of a no-deal Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. In an exclusive interview, Michel Barnier accused the prime minister of backsliding on commitments. (The Sunday Times)
Facebook’s decision not to take action against recent posts about mail-in ballots and the Minnesota protests by President Trump is roiling employees, some of whom are calling on executives to reconsider their stance. (The Verge)
NASA astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on the SpaceX spacecraft. (NASA)
Profiles & Reads
Inside Twitter’s decision to take action on Trump’s tweets: A weeks-old policy about virus misinformation laid the groundwork for the social platform’s steps this past week to push back on the president’s posts. (Wall Street Journal)
Steve Buscemi has spent a lifetime playing weirdos and lovable misfits. He also knows a thing or two about anxiety, grief and death. He was hit by a car and a bus as a kid, was once stabbed in a bar fight, volunteered as a firefighter during 9/11, and somewhere along the way became one of the most accomplished film actors of his generation. And then tragedy struck: In 2019, Buscemi lost his wife of over 30 years. (GQ)
China’s move to curtail Hong Kong’s autonomy could have major implications for the tech industry, particularly the cryptocurrency sector, cloud services and tech financing. Venture capitalists and tech companies could shift operations to Singapore. The new rules could also slow the growth of firms such as Amazon and Google, which started offering cloud-computing services in Hong Kong. (The Information)
The Class of 1970 Meets History. Twice. With graduation ceremonies canceled during the Vietnam War, coronavirus now puts off this group’s 50th reunion; “You will never forget your senior year at Grinnell.” (Wall Street Journal)
How the pandemic turned Brené Brown into America’s therapist: But the best-selling author, unapologetic cusser, and fifth-generation Texan would rather not be called that. (Texas Monthly)
The biggest global electricity power demand plunge since the Great Depression is reshaping markets and will continue after nations lift stay-at-home orders. The slowdown is squeezing coal, buoying renewables and foreshadowing the “grid of the future.” (Bloomberg)
America’s Worst Year: The most traumatic year in recent American history—1968—offers some disquieting lessons for the present. (The Atlantic)
How does TikTok work? The story of how 16-year-old Charli D’Amelio became its biggest star may help the rest of us understand. (Washington Post)
Good News
Some law enforcement took a different approach on Saturday.
Camden, NJ:
Flint, MI:
Kansas City, MO:
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6 Minutes or Less: Poverty in Coronavirus Age
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: People living in NYC’s poorest neighborhoods are “dying from coronavirus at more than double the rate of more affluent neighborhoods,” Politico reported. Globally, an estimated 2 billion people are at risk of “abject poverty, according to the NY Times.
Question: What does it mean to live in poverty in the age of coronavirus?
Guest: Lauren Sandler is an award-winning journalist based in Brooklyn, and the author of This Is All I Got, a book of narrative nonfiction about a young homeless mother in New York.
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The World
The U.S. economy shrank even faster than initially estimated in 1Q20, with GDP falling at an annual rate of 5%. Economists expect a worse outcome this quarter. Meanwhile, breaking precedent, the White House won’t release formal economic projections this summer that would forecast extent of downturn. (CNBC, Washington Post)
New jobless claims declined to a seasonally adjusted 2.1 million last week from 2.4 million the prior week. Total initial claims since March topped 40 million. The Fed’s Beige Book survey suggests a significant number of the overall job losses will be permanent. (Wall Street Journal, Finance 202)
The Paycheck Protection Program largely missed the neediest businesses it aimed to save with its first round. Per a S&P Global report, 63% of the PPP’s initial $350 billion in forgivable loans went to sectors less effected by the shutdowns. The loans also skewed toward larger businesses. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the House and Senate are close on a PPP loan extension. (Finance 202, Bloomberg)
China passed legislation to extend the country's opaque national security law to Hong Kong, as the National People’s Congress annual session closed. The law would prohibit acts of secession, subversion, terrorism or conspiring with foreign influences in Hong Kong. (Nikkei Asian Review, South China Morning Post)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s post-NPC press conference did not address ongoing anti-government protests in Hong Kong, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement that Washington no longer considered Hong Kong autonomous from Beijing, the China-India standoff, the Belt and Road Initiative or China’s relations with Europe. (South China Morning Post)
The China-India border dispute is getting more serious. (Economist)
The U.S. is ending sanctions waivers that allow Russian, Chinese and European companies to work on sensitive Iranian nuclear sites, dealing another major blow to the Iran nuclear deal and raising the prospect of covert advances in Tehran’s nuclear program. (Washington Post)
During a second night of violent protests in Minneapolis, one person died after being shot by a store owner. Many businesses were looted and some were in flames early today. Mayor Jacob Frey asked the governor to consider calling in the National Guard and called for a fired officer's arrest in George Floyd's death. (Star Tribune)
From City Lab:
After Trump's attacks, Republicans are much more skeptical than Democrats their ballots will count if cast by mail and less confident they will be able to vote in November’s election if their state switches to all-mail voting. (Reuters/Ipsos poll)
Only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine: 31% weren’t sure if they’d get vaccinated. Another 1 in 5 said they’d refuse. (Associated Press-NORC Poll)
The UK suffers the highest death rate from coronavirus, ahead of US, Italy, Spain and Belgium. The U.S. reached 100,000 dead. (Financial Times)
Economy
Paul Krugman is pretty upbeat about the economy. Nouriel Roubini says the economy may be headed for a decade of depression. (Bloomberg, New York Magazine)
American Airlines to cut 30% of management and administrative staff. Popeyes U.S. same-store sales soar more than 40%. (Wall Street Journal, CNBC)
The UK is not Europe’s top destination for foreign investment for the first time in more than two decades after being overtaken by France. (The Times)
Most CNN employees will not return to their offices this year. (Hollywood Reporter)
Technology
Zuckerberg and Dorsey clash as Trump order looms: Tensions escalate between Facebook and Twitter founders ahead of US president’s threatened action. (Financial Times)
Chinese rival launches TikTok challenger: Kuaishou, the $30 billion startup that’s the second-largest social video app in China, launched Zynn, an app that allows users to upload, edit and share short videos. Within a month of its start, the app has become the topmost downloaded iOS app in the U.S. (The Information)
Amazon plans to offer permanent jobs to about 70% of the U.S. workforce it hired temporarily to meet consumer demand during the pandemic — some 125,000 warehouse employees. (Reuters)
COVID-19 is “the perfect storm for the diffusion of false rumour and fake news.” Researchers use explosion coronavirus misinformation to study how misinformation works. (Nature)
Smart Links
Mount Everest height may change. (Outside)
Dinosaur-dooming asteroid struck Earth at ‘deadliest possible’ angle. (Imperial College London)
People who compare themselves with others spend longer on Facebook. (New Scientist)
Will coronavirus finally kill off global supply chains? (Financial Times)
The epic battle against misinformation and conspiracy theories. (Nature)
Champagne sales expect to sink by 1/3. (Reuters)
Good News
Appalachian Trail reopens to day-trippers. (Washington Post)
Premier League to restart on 17 June with Man City v Arsenal. (BBC)
Rarely heard narwhal vocalizations. (Science Daily)
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6 Minutes or Less: 1918 Pandemic & Today’s
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: All 50 states reopened. U.S. coronavirus deaths approach 100,000. The virus swells in South America.
Question: What lessons should we apply today from the 1918 flu pandemic?
Guest: Dr. Howard Markel studies the history of pandemics. He is the Director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and a New York Times bestselling author.
Housekeeping:
Welcome to the Weekender — a combination of news, profiles, and good reads that you might not see during the week.
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The World
New York Times devotes its entire Sunday front page to coronavirus victims. (New York Times)
China’s Foreign Minister warned the U.S. to stop taking them “to the brink of a new Cold War.” Meanwhile, Hong Kong police fired tear gas and used a water cannon as thousands took to the streets to protest Beijing’s planned national security law. (Washington Post, South China Morning Post)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted a military meeting to discuss new policies to bolster the country's nuclear capabilities amid stalled denuclearisation talks with the U.S. (Nikkei Asian Review)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to reduce Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network. Johnson instructed officials to draw up plans that would see China’s involvement in the UK’s infrastructure scaled down to zero by 2023. (The Telegraph)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first sitting prime minister to go on trial for public corruption. Netanyahu says he has been framed. (Jerusalem Post, Reuters)
Global emissions plunged an unprecedented 17 percent during the coronavirus pandemic. But scientists say the drivers of global warming could quickly bounce back as social distancing ends and economies rebound. (Washington Post)
Mexico and Brazil reported record numbers of infections and deaths almost daily this week, fueling criticism of their presidents, who have slow-walked shutdowns in an attempt to limit economic damage. Meanwhile, as Brazil solidifies its status as the world’s new hotspot, the nation’s disjointed response is fueling concern that the worst is yet to come. (Associated Press, Bloomberg)
The University of Michigan won’t have a football season this fall unless all students are able to be back on campus for classes. And, according to President Mark Schlissel — an immunologist by training — that’s not a sure thing. (Wall Street Journal)
Profiles & Reads
The Twilight of the Iranian Revolution: For decades, Ayatollah Khamenei has professed enmity with America. Now his regime is threatened from within the country. (New Yorker)
Economist and Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt conducted a study that randomized decision-making for people who felt like they were at forks in their respective roads. Those who were told to—and did—make big changes were happier six months down the road. (Quartz)
Venetians are retaking their city, both from the coronavirus and from tourists that have famously overrun it. After three months of near-total lockdown, Venice appears unusually quiet — and clean. Meanwhile, Italy’s leader of the far-right finds himself sidelined. (Associated Press, The Telegraph)
Tempers rise as parents are divided on whether colleges should open this fall. Some schools intend to go online-only, while others say they are opening, leading to major disagreements over what families should do. (Wall Street Journal)
Americans’ confidence in medical scientists has grown since the outbreak began, as have perceptions that medical doctors hold very high ethical standards. But this increase in confidence has come primarily among Democrats, not Republicans. (Pew Research Center)
Bill Simmons just wants to win: Simmons sold The Ringer, his podcast-heavy digital outlet, to Spotify. The deal was finalized in March. Almost overnight, entertainment and sports — The Ringer’s primary coverage areas — ground to a halt. (New York Magazine)
How a Johns Hopkins professor and her Chinese students tracked coronavirus: The story behind the incredible Covid-19 dashboard. (Wall Street Journal)
Good News
Summer reading suggestions, handpicked for your taste: If you know what you’ve liked in the past, these books might work for you now. (New York Times)
Tiger and Peyton vs. Phil and Tom: Two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history face off again, this time on the golf course in a charity match with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. (Golf Digest, Wall Street Journal)
The English towers and landmarks that inspired Tolkien's hobbit sagas. (The Guardian)
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6 Minutes or Less: Putin and the Pandemic
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Russia faces falling oil prices and rising COVID-19 cases.
Question: How are Russia and President Vladimir Putin managing the pandemic?
Guest: Angela Stent is Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University and author of “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest.”
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The World
The jobless rate rose in all 50 states in April, with Nevada highest at 28.2% and Connecticut lowest at 7.9%. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said there is a "strong likelihood" that another relief bill will be needed as states reopen and the economy struggles to stabilize. (Wall Street Journal, The Hill)
China announced a 6.6% military spending increase, but did not set a 2020 GDP target at the National People’s Congress — the first time one’s been omitted since the practice began in 1994, suggesting leaders aren’t eager to unleash a large-scale stimulus. Leaders said safeguarding national security in Hong Kong should be established and activities seeking Taiwan’s independence should be rejected. The U.S. called China’s plan a ‘death knell’ for autonomy, as Hongkongers rushed to download VPN tools. (South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, South China Morning Post)
President Trump’s new arms-control negotiator plans to meet with his Russian counterpart to discuss a new proposal for a far-reaching accord to limit all Russian, Chinese and U.S. nuclear warheads. The talks will mark the first time the Trump administration has opened negotiations to replace the New START accord, which covers Russian and U.S. long-range nuclear arms and is due to expire in February. (Wall Street Journal)
A month after easing lockdown restrictions, Georgia is still seeing a steady stream of unemployment claims, as 40.3 % of the state's workers filed for payments. Atlanta Fed President Bostic calls Georgia’s reopening “a mixed bag.” (Politico, CNBC)
The oil bust has erased tens of thousands of jobs in the drilling and service sectors, and dried up local tax revenues and charitable largess that flowed along with crude oil to Texas, North Dakota and Oklahoma. (Reuters)
Meat packing employees are still standing elbow-to-elbow along production lines. There are some plastic barriers, but employees haven’t been spaced out in parts of the plants. People with symptoms are still coming in for shifts, afraid of losing income if they call in sick. (Bloomberg)
The economic crisis is widening the gap between people at either end of the income scale. (Finance 202, New York Times)
Brazil emerges as a top global coronavirus hotspot, as experts predict death toll will top 100,000 in the coming months. (Financial Times)
Venezuela and Iran are forging a closer strategic partnership: five oil tankers are steaming across the Atlantic Ocean, carrying an estimated 60 million gallons of Iranian gasoline. (Washington Post)
Economy
Morgan Stanley CEO expects only half of employees back by year-end. Royal Bank of Scotland Group told more than 50,000 of its staff to work from home until at least the end of September. (Bloomberg, The Times)
As Starbucks reopens cafes, the company regained about 60% to 65% of its U.S. same-store sales over the last week. (CNBC)
Europe’s recovery is imperiled by banks too scared to lend. The effort is stuttering, as no matter how much money governments offer banks, there is a limit to how much risk they can take. (Wall Street Journal)
Charles Schwab & Co. chief investment strategist Liz Anne Sonders:
Technology
Lawmakers stepped up attacks on a possible Uber-Grubhub merger, but antitrust experts said that robust meal-delivery competition will make it tough for regulators to block the deal. (The Information)
IBM is cutting an unspecified number of jobs in the first major workforce reduction under new Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna, who is trying to revive growth. (Wall Street Journal)
Worldwide game spending totaled a record-breaking $10.5B in April, as lockdowns impact gaming habits. Revenue was higher than March 2020 and was up 17% over April 2019 ($8.9B). (SuperData Research)
Carnegie Mellon researchers find that nearly half of Twitter accounts pushing to reopen America may be bots. (MIT Technology Review)
Apple is ramping up its push into original podcasts by seeking an executive to lead the initiative and buying shows that would be exclusive to its services, just days after Spotify’s announced deal to exclusively distribute Joe Rogan’s show. (Bloomberg)
Smart Links
Parents with degrees give their children significant advantage in math. (Science Daily)
Prepare to be tracked and tested as you return to work. (MIT Technology Review)
Lockdowns shortened the flu season by 6 weeks. (Nature)
Hydroxychloroquine linked to higher Covid-19 death rates. (The Lancet)
Where the world's biggest sports leagues stand on reopening. (ESPN)
All-girl robotics team in Afghanistan creates low-cost ventilator ... with car parts. (NPR)
A chemistry professor explains how to brew better coffee at home. (Wall Street Journal)
Boom in Italy divorce proceedings as couples emerge from 10 weeks of lockdown. (The Telegraph)
Good News
“125 Kids Books We Love” — released on the NY Public Library’s 125th anniversary (NYPL)
British artist David Hockney, 82, used his iPad to create a painted video of the sunrise — A New Dawn. The video above ends with a personal message of hope from the artist. (The Telegraph)
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6 Minutes or Less: Austin Mayor Steve Adler
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Austin, TX is the state capital, 11th-most populous city in the U.S., and the country’s fastest-growing city. Mayor Steve Adler (D) took office in 2015, winning reelection in 2018 with 59% of the vote.
Question: What are the challenges facing a major city during COVID-19?
Guest: Austin Mayor Steve Adler
Housekeeping:
TOMORROW: Membership exclusive live event. I’ll talk with Gene Sperling, Director, U.S. National Economic Council under Presidents Obama & Clinton, about his new book “Economic Dignity” on Thursday at 12 pm ET. Register here.
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The World
The nation’s top two economic policy leaders offered contrasting visions, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin favoring a wait-and-see approach to more federal aid and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggesting more would be needed. Their positions reflected differing views on the prospects for a swift economic rebound. (Wall Street Journal)
State governments in the U.S. estimate the collective expense of fighting the pandemic at some $45 billion. Meanwhile, all 50 states have begun to reopen in at least some way, but there remain vast discrepancies in how states are deciding to open up. Excellent NYT graph. (Wall Street Journal, New York Times)
The House plans to overhaul the government's small business aid program, amid concern that it’s unworkable for many employers — a shift for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has focused efforts on more comprehensive legislation. (Politico)
The Defense Department should prepare to operate in a "globally-persistent" novel coronavirus environment without an effective vaccine until "at least the summer of 2021," according to a draft Pentagon memo authored by the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and global security. (Task & Purpose)
Sweden is headed for its worst recession since World War II, as Scandinavia’s biggest economy will shrink 7% this year, while 40% of Sweden’s service sector businesses fear bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Sweden’s death toll unnerves its Nordic neighbours. (Bloomberg, Financial Times)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the highest-level US official to congratulate Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on her inauguration to a second term – comments expected to trigger a furious reaction from Beijing. Meanwhile, as the Taiwan president rejects Beijing rule, China says 'reunification' is inevitable. (South China Morning Post, Reuters)
China’s military seeks a bigger budget amid growing threat of US conflict. The PLA will want to match or exceed last year’s 7.5 per cent growth rate as tensions mount on several fronts. (South China Morning Post)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared it free of its Oslo peace process commitments, including security understandings that have protected Israelis and preserved the authority’s political hold over the occupied West Bank. (New York Times)
In an alert that appeared aimed at Iran, the U.S. Navy warned mariners in the Gulf to stay 100 meters away from U.S. warships or risk being “interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures.” (Reuters)
Federal regulators in 2018 revoked the license for the collapsed Edenville Dam in Midland and Gladwin counties, citing years of failure to address safety problems — especially the dam's ability to withstand a major flood. Thousands were evacuated and downtown Midland potentially faces sitting under 9 feet of water. (Detroit Free Press)
Gen Z says the pandemic is the most impactful event in their lifetimes. (Morning Consult)
Economy
Yields on U.S. government bonds stalled near all-time lows, signaling investors anticipate a difficult economic recovery and years of aggressive monetary stimulus. The UK sold its first ever negative-yielding government bond. (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times)
U.S. airlines see glimmers of demand: Southwest and United said they see a moderate increase in bookings in recent weeks. Delta is likely to increase capacity this summer by adding flights in June and July. (CNBC, Reuters)
Weekly mortgage applications point to a remarkable recovery in homebuying. (CNBC)
Target sales surged in the most recent quarter, driven by online shoppers who stockpiled food and essentials and more recently items like electronics and makeup as states lift stay-at-home orders. Digital sales rose 141%. (Wall Street Journal)
Examining data from Chase cards, JPMorgan Asset Management's chair of market and investment strategy finds consumer spending nationally is down 15 percent since last year. (Finance 202)
Technology
Joe Rogan is taking his podcast exclusively to Spotify in a licensing deal worth more than $100 million. The licensing agreement is one the largest deals in the rapidly growing podcast business. (Wall Street Journal)
Mark Zuckerberg announced “Facebook Shops,” features aimed at making Instagram and Facebook true shopping destinations and giving small retailers a way to sell online that doesn’t involve Amazon. (Recode)
Google said it won’t create custom AI or machine learning software to help fossil fuel companies after a Greenpeace report highlighted cloud contracts between Microsoft, Google and Amazon and big oil firms. (OneZero)
Amazon released Crucible, its first major video game that sets the stage for a possible game-streaming service. (Bloomberg)
Smart Links
Cambridge University moves all lectures online until 2021. (BBC)
U.S. births dropped to 34-year low. (Science News)
Why do food delivery companies lose money? (New York Magazine)
Study on body posture: Powerful poses improve children’s self-confidence. (Science Daily)
Face mask selfies train the next facial recognition tool. (CNET)
Film academy considers postponing 2021 Oscars. (Variety)
Good News
Captain Tom Moore, who became a British national hero after raising $40 million for the National Health Service in the run-up to his 100th birthday, is to be knighted. Moore said he looks forward to meeting Queen Elizabeth, 94: “I hope she’s not very heavy handed with the sword. By then I might be rather a poor old weak soul.” (Reuters)
Moore also became part of a song that reached No. 1 in the UK. (ITV News)
Ever wonder if every Disney song could be classified by type? This guy did it.
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6 Minutes or Less: ‘Enemy of the People’
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: The phrase “enemy of the people” was used in 1793 revolutionary France by Maximilien Robespierre. It helped lead to public executions and the 1794 law eliminating all sentences except acquittal or death. It was used by the Nazi Party in 1934 and later by Joseph Stalin. I hosted a Zoom conversation with Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ Chief White House Correspondent and author of the new New York Times bestseller “Front Row at the Trump Show.” Jon’s also President of the White House Correspondents’ Association. In the Oval Office, Jon asked President Trump.
Question: Why does President Trump call the media “the enemy of the people?”
Guest: Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ Chief White House Correspondent and author of the new New York Times bestseller “Front Row at the Trump Show.”
Housekeeping:
Welcome to the Weekender — a combination of news, profiles, and good reads that you might not see during the week.
Founding Member Rate: Like the newsletter? During this trial period, you 50% off the regular cost. Continued thanks to everyone who already has done so!
The World
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said a U.S. economic recovery may stretch deep into next year and a full comeback may depend on a coronavirus vaccine. He appears tonight on 60 Minutes. (Reuters)
Saudi wealth fund snaps up $7.7bn of blue-chip stocks. The investment vehicle chaired by the crown prince takes advantage of knockdown share prices. (Financial Times)
Texas reported a “massive jump” in new COVID-19 case — 1,801 on Saturday, the biggest single-day jump in cases since the pandemic began. A Texas Panhandle outbreak is a big reason, as more than 700 new cases were reported out of Amarillo. (Houston Chronicle)
Health officials say the virus-tracking system Apple and Google are building will be practically useless. Due to strict rules imposed by the companies, the system will notify smartphone users if they’ve potentially come into contact with an infected person, but it won’t share any data with health officials or reveal where those meetings took place. (Washington Post)
The U.S. would be defeated in a sea war with China and would struggle to stop an invasion of Taiwan, according to a series of “eye-opening” war games by the Pentagon. (The Sunday Times)
The rise and fall of the office: At first offices resembled factories. Later they became a second home. Is this the end of the water-cooler century? Or, as the WSJ asks, when it’s time to go back to the office, will it still be there? (Financial Times, Wall Street Journal)
Profiles & Reads
Inside Gilead Sciences: Emergency approval of the antiviral drug remdesivir is the first good news of this pandemic. This is how Gilead prepared for the moment. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
NYU Business Professor Scott Galloway explains why the pandemic has greased the wheels for big tech’s entrée into higher education. (New York Magazine)
Will Americans commute after the lockdowns end? If so, how? Emerging research indicates people might shift to new travel modes if given the chance. Cars may lose while biking and walking increase. (CityLab)
How New York suffered nearly 10 times the number of deaths as California: The differing outcomes will be studied for years, as more is learned about the virus, its unique qualities, its varying strains, its specific impact on certain populations, and the role of factors like poverty, pre-existing health problems and public transportation in its spread and lethality. (Pro Publica)
Bill Gates has regrets: Years before the Covid-19 pandemic, the billionaire tried to warn global leaders of the threat from new infectious diseases. Few listened. ‘I feel terrible.’ (Wall Street Journal)
Facebook is now a ‘Mark Zuckerberg Production.’ For years, he was an obsessive C.E.O. in some ways, distant in others. Then Facebook’s problems became too acute to leave to anyone else. (New York Times)
Katie Couric Media has a staff of around 20 and pays the bills via sponsorship from brands like Procter & Gamble and Sleep Number. Her husband and business partner John Molner says the business charges “in excess of a million a year” per client. The firm is profitable and has given its investors a 50% percent return. (The Information)
How has Stacey Abrams harnessed so much power in so little time? Despite losing the Georgia governor’s race in 2018, she has moved quickly to political prominence. (Washington Post)
With college football’s massive profits threatened, coaches and administrators are scrambling. Suddenly, the same people who said schools couldn’t afford player labor are crying out about how they can’t afford to lose it. Meanwhile, Texas A&M grapples with filling a 100,000-plus seat stadium. (The Ringer, Wall Street Journal)
After Kim Jong Un: It is time to plan for North Korea’s inevitable succession crisis. (Foreign Affairs)
What do we know about Gen Z? They are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation, on track to be the most well-educated, and are digital natives. But on key social and policy issues, they look very much like Millennials. (Pew Research Center)
Good News
RV vacations may be the safest way to travel this summer. Planes are grounded. Hotels shut. And after a spring spent cooped-up, many Americans are renting recreational vehicles to get away. (Wall Street Journal)
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6 Minutes or Less: Kim Jong Un
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: After reports surfaced that North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un was in “grave danger” and even may have died, more recent reports state he is alive.
Question: If, as the latest reports indicate, Kim Jong Un is alive, has anything changed as a result of his brief disappearance?
Guest: Dr. Jung H. Pak, Senior Fellow in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings and author of the new book “Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Analyst’s Insights into North Korea’s Enigmatic Young Dictator.”
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The World
The U.S. is preparing to warn that China’s most skilled hackers are working to steal American research to develop coronavirus vaccines and treatments. Meanwhile, China’s direct U.S. investment fell last year to its lowest level since the Great Recession, while a state-controlled tabloid said China hawks want to reevaluate its Phase 1 U.S. trade deal. (New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters)
Factory furloughs across the U.S. are becoming permanent closings, showing the heavy damage shutdowns are exerting on the industrial economy. Meanwhile, nearly a third of Kentucky’s labor force has filed for unemployment insurance, the largest share of any U.S. state. (Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Journal)
The Paycheck Protection Program no longer seems likely to run out of funds, as daily loan approvals have slowed to less than $2 billion per day. A key impediment to companies’ seeking loans: Media floggings and government threats. (Axios)
As U.S. meat workers fall sick and supplies dwindle, exports to China soar. Meanwhile, foodborne illness investigations have slowed and food recalls have plummeted to their lowest levels in years. (Reuters, USA Today)
The United Nations predicts that a global recession will reverse a three-decade trend in rising living standards and plunge as many as 420 million people into extreme poverty, which is defined as earning less than $2 a day. (Los Angeles Times)
Wuhan, the Chinese city where the global coronavirus pandemic began, reported its first cluster of new infections since a strict quarantine was relaxed in early April. The setback occurred just over a week before China’s rubber stamp parliament was supposed to convene for its delayed annual session. (Financial Times)
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his Chicago office staff will be working from home after a senior staff member in the governor’s office tested positive for the new coronavirus. (Chicago Tribune)
MLB is expected to present a formal proposal to the players’ union outlining how to stage a season in 2020. This will come after commissioner Rob Manfred holds a conference call with the 30 team owners Monday to discuss the plan. (Wall Street Journal)
Economy
Daily trading risks at top Wall Street banks hit their highest level since 2011 during the first-quarter turmoil, driving up a key measure of potential losses. (Financial Times)
Macro investor Paul Tudor Jones is buying Bitcoin as a hedge against the inflation he sees coming from central bank money-printing, telling clients it reminds him of the role gold played in the 1970s. (Bloomberg)
Emerging market currencies are collapsing in a magnitude last seen in 2015 when China's renminbi devaluation panicked global financial markets. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Mark Cuban hired undercover shoppers to assess business safety during the Texas reopening. The result? “Not Good.” (Dallas Magazine)
Technology
The U.S. government and semiconductor companies are looking to jump-start development of new chip factories in the U.S. as concern grows about reliance on Asia as a source of critical technology. (Wall Street Journal)
Snapchat and Twilio are announcing new efforts to provide support for people affected by domestic violence and mental health concerns in response to a swell in demand during the COVID-19 outbreak. (Axios)
3.4 million high school students begin A.P. exams today. The tests historically took three hours to complete; this year, they will last no more than 45 minutes. To minimize cheating, students globally will take them at the same time, meaning overnight exams in Asia. (Wall Street Journal)
Mount Sinai hospital deploys Google Nest cameras for patient monitoring and communication. (TechCrunch)
Smart Links
Nicholas Johnson is the first black valedictorian in Princeton’s 274-year history. (Princeton University)
Coronavirus puts youth sports on pause. (Axios)
Astronomers capture some of the highest resolution images of Jupiter ever obtained from the ground. (The Guardian)
Japan scientists develop new method to track plastic emissions from land to sea. (Science Daily)
9 disasters experts are worried about next. (Politico)
The future of international flight. (The Daily Beast)
Good News
A Buffalo-area milkman came out of retirement to meet local delivery needs. Within two weeks he had 1,400 orders for milk delivery. (CNN)
Five memorable Jerry Stiller roles. (The Guardian)
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6 Minutes or Less
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Nancy Pelosi’s father Thomas D’Alesandro was a US Representative and Baltimore mayor. But the book “Pelosi” describes her mother, Annunciata D’Alesandro, as the one who ran the political organization, “knew where all the bodies were buried, and she never forgot anyone who crossed her.”
Question: Did Nancy Pelosi learn more about politics from her mother or her father?
Guest: Molly Ball, Time Magazine National Political Correspondent and author of the new book “Pelosi”
Housekeeping:
Today’s our first Weekender — a combination of the world, profiles, and good reads that you might not see during the week.
Like the newsletter? During this trial period, you get the Founding Member Rate — 50% off the regular cost. Continued thanks to everyone who already has done so!
The World
Vice President Mike Pence is self-isolating after aide tests positive for coronavirus. (Bloomberg)
Two top White House economic advisers said that as the economy worsens, the unemployment rate could jump to 20 percent. (Washington Post)
House Democrats could bring their phase 4 coronavirus relief package to the floor for a vote as early as this week. Democrats have crafted a $1.2 trillion+ package without input from the White House or Hill Republicans. (Axios)
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms — floated as a possible running mate for Joe Biden — called the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery a “lynching of an African American man.” (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
China tries to calm ‘nationalist fever’ as calls for invasion of Taiwan grow. An influential Communist Party journal drew on parallels with the 17th century conquest of the island to highlight need for patience. (South China Morning Post)
Online games like Fortnite are becoming a new arena for live music. (Financial Times)
Love somebody? Put down your phone. (Pew Research Center)
Profiles
“I just flew. It was worse than I thought it would be.” McKay Coppins describes his surreal experience of flying during a pandemic. (The Atlantic)
Andrew Cuomo: As a communicator, in particular, Cuomo has risen to the occasion, proving especially adept at walking viewers through the nuances of the daily barrage of bad news, offering realistic glimmers of hope but never magical thinking. He’s shared personal anecdotes about his family, including his younger brother, Chris, the CNN anchor, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, and displayed a surprising degree of warmth and humor for someone who acknowledged in his own memoir that the Albany media referred to him, alternately, as the Prince of Darkness and Darth Vader. (Rolling Stone)
Washington Post Live will host Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tomorrow at 11 am ET. He will discuss the 2020 election process, efforts to respond to the coronavirus spread and what he will do to help former vice president Joe Biden get elected. (Washington Post registration)
How the pandemic and an anti-vax health official are roiling a Montana community. (Kaiser Health News)
Good News
The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months. The island is considered uninhabitable. But the boys set up a small commune with food garden, hollowed-out tree trunks to store rainwater, a gymnasium with curious weights, a badminton court, chicken pens and a permanent fire. For centuries western culture has been permeated by the idea that humans are selfish creatures. This 1966 reality is a tale of friendship and loyalty; one that illustrates how much stronger we are if we can lean on each other. (The Guardian)
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6 Minutes or Less
This newsletter-only feature will be available only to paid subscribers: I ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that states struggling to cope with coronavirus should be able to file for bankruptcy.
Question: Can a state bankruptcy code be constitutional?
Guest: David Skeel, S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico
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The World
Americans widely oppose reopening most businesses, despite easing of restrictions in some states. (Washington Post-University of Maryland poll)
Consumer debt hits a new record of $14.3 trillion. Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit soared 12% in March as exports saw their biggest monthly decline ever recorded. Factory orders dropped 10.3%, the largest monthly fall since the series started in 1992. (CNBC, MarketWatch, Reuters)
40% of U.S. small businesses are skipping rent in May. (Washington Post)
Intelligence shared among Five Eyes nations — U.S, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — indicates it is "highly unlikely" that the coronavirus outbreak was spread as a result of an accident in a laboratory, but rather originated in a Chinese market. (CNN)
Countries are erecting barriers to block expected efforts by foreign corporate acquirers, particularly China, to scoop up strategically important assets that have lost value during the coronavirus pandemic. With share prices plunging and companies needing financing, governments are tightening restrictions of proposed foreign acquisitions. (South China Morning Post)
India is developing a land pool nearly double the size of Luxembourg to lure businesses moving out of China. (Bloomberg)
Extremist political and fringe medical communities are exploiting the pandemic online. Top targets: Immigration, Islam, Judaism, Muslims, LGBTQ, and elites. (BBC News)
The economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic already is estimated to top $1.7 billion at the Big Ten universities. Meanwhile, with tents and immunity testing, colleges weigh a return to campus life. (Forbes, Reuters)
Economy
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago economists estimate a ‘U-Cov’ unemployment rate in April of somewhere between 25.1% and 34.6%, compared to the 16% rate forecast by economists polled by Reuters. (Reuters)
Home prices are predicted to fall just 2-3% this year. Why might home prices rise during the pandemic? Buyer demand has softened and sales fell 8.5% in March, but the supply of homes on the market is contracting even faster. (CNBC, Wall Street Journal)
Some of the world’s largest hedge funds are raising their bets on gold. (Financial Times)
Private equity managers dramatically reverse return predictions: Pre-pandemic, nine-out-of-ten private equity managers predicted rising returns over the next two years. Now, 68 percent expect to underperform 2019 results. (Institutional Investor)
With four months of lost education, the cost to current United States students in future earnings is $2.5 trillion—12.7 percent of annual GDP. (Brookings)
Technology
Google and Apple ban location tracking in their contact tracing apps. (MIT Technology Review)
A startup that revolutionizes the way students tour colleges online sees a 300% month over month increase in new sign-ups, and a 70% month over month increase in video consumption. (Forbes)
Students’ views of social media are declining. (Gallup)
Software vulnerabilities are more likely to be discussed on social media before they're revealed on a government reporting site, a practice that could pose a national security threat, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. (Science Daily)
Tech giants, including Huawei and Alibaba, are pouring millions of dollars into Asia's quantum computing arms race. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Smart Links
How many jobs do robots really replace? (MIT News)
Americans tilt optimistic about GDP and stock market (Gallup)
Social distance makes the heart grow lonelier. (Harvard Gazette)
30% of high school students plan to delay their college start date. (Diverse Education)
One billion people will live in insufferable heat within 50 years. (PNAS)
The 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced. (Pulitzer.org)
Good News
For the 29th straight year, Labrador Retrievers are America’s most popular dog breed. (American Kennel Club)
Three sisters wish happy birthday to the Godfather of Soul. It’s awesome.
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6 Minutes or Less
Today I’m introducing a new newsletter only feature that, as I refine it, will be available only to paid subscribers: I will ask a thought leader or expert to educate/enlighten/explain an issue via audio in 6 Minutes or Less.
Issue: President Trump said states should “seriously consider” reopening public schools before the end of the year. New York today became the latest state to close schools for the year.
Question: What will it take to reopen America’s schools?
Guest: Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, the school superintendents association.
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The World
Publicly traded companies have received more than $1 billion in funds meant for small businesses from the federal government’s economic stimulus package. Nearly 300 public companies have reported receiving money from the fund. (Washington Post)
The House Judiciary Committee is asking Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to testify. Top committee Democrats accused Amazon of potentially lying to Congress over its private label strategy. (CNBC)
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said U.S. intelligence agencies concur with the broad scientific consensus that “the Covid-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified” in a Wuhan lab. (Wall Street Journal)
President Trump and aides discussed stripping China of its “sovereign immunity,” aiming to enable the U.S. government or victims to sue China for damages. Administration officials also discussed having the U.S. cancel part of its debt obligations to China. (Washington Post)
Armed demonstrators protested Michigan's state of emergency, some entering the Capitol building. Meanwhile, Gov. Whitmer ordered Michigan theaters, bars to remain closed until May 28. (Detroit Free Press)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau banned a range of assault-style guns, with an order that takes effect immediately. (The Globe and Mail)
The Capitol physician says Senate lacks capacity to test all senators. The U.S. Senate returns Monday. (Politico)
Shell CEO says the pandemic may change the oil business forever, oil demand and prices probably won’t recover in the “medium term.” (Bloomberg)
American, Delta and United Airlines said they will require passengers to cover their faces during flights. Meanwhile, Heathrow expects passenger numbers to have plunged 97 per cent in April. (Associated Press, Financial Times)
Venezuela is raiding its gold vaults and handing tons of bars -- equal to about $500 million -- to its long-time ally Iran. The two nations are working more closely together as they try to withstand U.S. sanctions and the oil price collapse. (Bloomberg)
The coronavirus pandemic is likely to last as long as two years and won’t be controlled until about two-thirds of the world’s population is immune. Because of its ability to spread from people who don’t appear to be ill, the virus may be harder to control than influenza. (Bloomberg, CIDRAP)
New York's schools and colleges will stay closed through the rest of the academic year. No decision has been made on the fall, because, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, "the fall is a long way away.” (NBC New York)
Economy
Major restaurant suppliers say the industry is getting ready to resume more normal operations, based on orders for deep-fryer oil and chicken. (Wall Street Journal)
Some 2,000 Nissans SUV sit parked at sea on a cargo ship the length of almost two football fields, revealing the scope of U.S. auto market glut. (Bloomberg)
Investment banks globally raked in record fee income from managing corporate bond issues in the year’s first four months as companies scrambled to raise money. (Reuters)
Sheila Bair, a lifelong Republican who backed Elizabeth Warren’s presidential run, has emerged as a top candidate to chair the new Congressional Oversight Commission watchdog group, created by the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. (Vice)
J. Crew is preparing for a bankruptcy filing that could come this weekend. (CNBC)
From Axios:
Technology
China’s 1Q20 smartphone shipments fell 18% year on year in the world’s largest market. (Canalys)
Tesla shares tank after Elon Musk tweets the stock price is ‘too high.’ (CNBC)
A Google Health study —the first to look at the impact of a deep-learning tool in real clinical settings—reveals that even the most accurate AI systems can make things worse if not tailored to the clinical environments in which they will work. (Google)
Mass surveillance to fight covid-19 doesn’t have to be creepy. Also, what’s the best mask for fooling face recognition? (MIT Technology Review, Towards Data Science)
Smart Links
Plastics pile up as coronavirus hits Asia recyclers. (Nikkei Asian Review)
The humbling of Exxon. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
How will COVID-19 affect the Transatlantic relationship? (Harvard Kennedy School)
Parents hire Zoom babysitters. (Washington Post)
Little League World Series canceled for first time. (Associated Press)
The office cubicle is making a comeback. (Wired)
Astronomers capture rare images of planet-forming disks around stars. (Université Grenoble Alpes)
The $5,000 Zoom fundraiser is now a thing. (Politico)
Good News
US now in puppy love. Labs still tops, but corgis rise. (Associated Press)
Mattel’s new action figures honor ‘everyday heroes’ on the coronavirus front lines. (New York Post)
When Florida utility worker Albert Jones learned it was 94-year-old Barbara’s birthday, he stopped what he was doing to sing “Happy Birthday.” (NBC News)
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