2024 is the biggest global election year in history
For those of us saddling up for the match between President Biden and former President Trump, this piece serves as a good reminder about election stakes in the rest of the world. As Bryan Walsh puts it, "The US is far from the only country where it feels as though not just tax rates or foreign policy will be on the ballot in 2024, but democracy itself." Just about half of the world's countries are electoral democracies, and in many of those, there's a perilousness to the expression of free and fair elections. Democracy feels especially vulnerable in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan, all of which are going to the polls this year.
🎧 Israel's next move
Another huge story over the last few weeks is the existential challenges that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing, both at home and at the front. We saw an interesting contradiction in the fact that the quagmire of the war in Gaza might actually be good for Netanyahu's political future. As we planned out an episode of Today, Explained on this, the news was breaking that a drone strike killed a top Hamas deputy and at least two other Hamas officials in Lebanon. We moved to shift the focus of our episode to who this deputy was and his relationship to Hezbollah, the Shia militia group based in Lebanon and funded by Iran.
The assassination made it clear that Netanyahu's problems are indeed growing and that fears of a wider war are justified. Hussain Ibish, an analyst who has been studying the Middle East for 30 years, helped us take a big-picture look at whether Israel's war with Hamas might spread across the region. According to Ibish, there is a faction in the Israeli government that wanted to take this war to Hezbollah, "in hopes of dragging in not just Hezbollah, but then the United States and Iran, and ultimately getting the United States to attack Iran's nuclear facilities."
The Supreme Court arguments for (and against) removing Trump from the ballot, explained
Speaking of democracy, this piece is a deeply researched and accessible explainer on the efforts by Colorado and Maine to keep Trump off the ballot, based on a previously obscure provision of the 14th Amendment. Ian Millhiser, a senior correspondent at Vox who has written two books on the Supreme Court, gives insights here that you won't find anywhere else — such as the purpose of the insurrection clause, and the Republican Party's argument for keeping Trump on the ballot, looking back at relevant case law.
We thought so much of Ian's analysis that we asked him to make his argument on Today, Explained. He pointed out that if the Supreme Court does not step in on this case, Trump would be off the ballot in Colorado, but that decision wouldn't be binding in the other 49 states, creating a chaotic situation. If you want a pithy version of Ian's piece, you can check out his interview on this episode of the show.
📹 2023, in 7 minutes
If you're like me, you probably read your fair share of 2023 lookbacks and 2024 predictions pieces over the last couple weeks. Here's a different take on that genre: a sparky, fast-moving, irreverent video version of the year in review. This is a mashup of clips, music, and memorable online moments to remind us of the top entertainment stories and major world events of 2023. It feels like you're reliving the year through the eyes of the internet, and even when the stories are grim, the overall effect is addictive.
Silicon Valley's very masculine year
This story is a hilarious romp through the world of the new Silicon Valley, from which, writer Zoe Bernard says, the "softer, soulful leaders" have vacated and a "renewed sense of masculine dominance hit a fever pitch in 2023." It's my favorite type of year-in-review piece: highly pointed and specialized, and with lots of original enterprise reporting. Her thesis is that a decade ago, the Valley outwardly championed diversity, even if it wasn't deeply true, but now, they don't even pretend. She cites a photo of Jeff Bezos's arms ("tanned and vascular") as the vibe shift moment.
🎧 Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
If you haven't ever listened to the Unexplainable gameshow, you are missing out. It's the silliest way to make yourself smarter. What you'll learn about in this episode is nothing less than the mystery of how life began, through three different egg-related stories. The guest playing the game this week is Pablo Torre, formerly of ESPN, whose charming and relentless stream of egg puns throughout will make you smile in spite of yourself.
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