Before the July 4th break, the SCOTUS released a slew of decisions that left us feeling far less than celebratory. We were reminded again that dissent and activism is patriotic; not unquestioned acceptance of the machinations of power.

So let’s slow down the capitalist grind a bit, shall we? Instead of jumping straight into answering emails, give yourself a minute to sink into some interesting ideas, articles we think you should read, and a missive on a game we all (mostly) know and love.

As a person who rides horses in New York, I feel somewhat of a connection to Martha Stewart. She keeps her horses at the place where I ride upstate (what some might call a seal of approval), and the nearby Bedford Riding Lanes Association’s annual “biggest prize” at its gala is the chance to go riding with her. I have yet to even attempt to win, but there’s plenty of Martha to go ‘round for the casually interested observer.

This month, the domestic goddess - turned - known-insider-trader - turned - weed mogul has dropped another frame into her multifaceted image: swimsuit model. Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, specifically, and the oldest such model to grace the cover at age 81.

You’ve used a memoji, right?

It’s ok if you haven’t. It’s a feature that now comes with every iPhone, where you can translate your facial movements into a cartoon (in addition to the above you can be a mouse, a dragon, an illustrated version of yourself — the list goes on). It’s super cute. But as I learned at TED last week, there’s a world in which it is not.

This week I’m away from my part-time home in Florida, and so is our governor. While I am aligning with leftist hearts and minds in New York, he is rallying the conservative masses on his book tour.

Prospective presidential candidates routinely queue up book tours right before their runs, as a way of priming their audiences, revivalist-style, before campaigning is allowed. DeSantis is kicking off his charm offensive in Iowa.

I do not remember first watching the Terminator … but I do remember generally being able to make a Skynet joke by mid-late elementary school. And I do remember a younger Arnold Schwartzenegger, heavily armed, fighting the good fight in subsequent films. What I do not remember was ever wanting to live under the leadership of Skynet, the film’s driving antagonist, an artificial neural network-based superintelligence system.

The entire Terminator franchise is built around the idea of slaying this fictional force. In the first movie, when Skynet gained consciousness, people tried to deactivate it. In response, it launched a nuclear attack. The humans ultimately beat Skynet, but over the course of the series, the AI tries to send emissaries back in time to prevent the humans’ victory.

But first, know this: I never had a sex ed course. And the ones I’ve heard about sound pretty underwhelming. Diagrams of inside parts. Condoms on bananas. Abstinence and fear.

Absent actual pedagogy, most of us learn what we need to know by seeing and doing, through porn, the internet, and, well, regular TV

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As we approach 2024, a looming fear looms larger: What would we do with a GOP-led country? What would that actually look like? And under such a circumstance, how might we harness a progressive agenda?

As Western Regional Political Coordinator for the Teamsters labor union, Phil Freedman is working to pass progressive legislation in the 13 western states, from Republican-led swaths like Montana to blue giants like California. For him, the most interesting state is Montana, which sometimes comes down to a matter of 1-2 votes for big legislation. But his work has had a material impact on politics in each state where he works.


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