My Recommendations This Week

Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season

I hope that whatever you celebrate, you are able to feel safe, warm, and happy as we close out 2024. Grab a cup of something warm and dig in:

Her Surprise Bestseller Offers a Holiday Message Americans Need to Hear

If you missed it: I was on the CNN homepage this weekend.

This Plural Wife is Now in the Capitol

What is Martha Hughes Cannon doing in Statuary Hall? Read this article for more.

Democrats: “Not Relatable Anymore”?

Almost immediately following Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in the 2024 election, Democrats began soul-searching. From every corner of the political spectrum, newspapers tried to diagnose what was wrong with their ill patient: the Democratic Party.

Biden Granted Clemency to the Man Who Poisoned My Town

A decade ago, Jim Carlson contributed to the spread of addiction and increased crime by selling synthetic drugs in Duluth, Minnesota. He was caught and locked up — until President Biden commuted his sentence. In this week’s Q&A, I also talk about how Elon Musk is becoming a shadow president.

Why Grocery Prices Are Unlikely to Go Down

Donald Trump vowed to lower grocery prices, but in a recent interview, he seemed to admit that there will not be dramatic reductions in prices across the board. Here’s why.

The Spy Group Targeting Americans

In his first article since being released from a Russian prison, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich provides details on a shadowy Russian counterintelligence organization, called DKRO, that is targeting Americans and in charge of squashing all oppression.

What I am reading…

Senior U.S. Diplomats in Syria to Meet With Governing Militias

By Edward Wong and Christina Goldbaum for The New York Times

Senior American diplomats traveled through Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Friday to meet with militias controlling the country and with civil society groups, and to look for signs of the journalist Austin Tice and other missing U.S. citizens.

Trump-Putin relations enter a new chapter and the world is at stake

By Robyn Dixon, Catherine Belton and Francesca Ebel for The Washington Post

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a sit-down with President-elect Donald Trump as equals in which they divide the world into spheres of influence.

The bald eagle isn't actually America's national bird — but that's poised to change

By Rachel Treisman for NPR

The bald eagle has been a symbol of the United States for centuries, with its iconography plastered across currency, documents, flags, stamps, government buildings, military uniforms and more. You'd be forgiven for thinking it's America's national bird. But the fine print doesn't officially say so — at least not yet.

What to Know About the Man Who Toppled Assad

By John Haltiwanger for Foreign Policy

Abu Mohammad al-Jolani has worked for years to rebrand himself, but has he truly broken from his al Qaeda past?

What I am watching…

A look at the legal tactics Trump is using against media outlets

PBS Newshour

Donald Trump is following through on threats of legal action against the media. After ABC agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump, his legal team filed a suit against Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register for a poll showing Kamala Harris leading. Trump's suit called the poll “election-interfering fiction.”

Inside a Syrian Prison: A Producer’s Unexpected Personal Discovery

The Wall Street Journal

Following Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, WSJ travels to an abandoned prison in Damascus while families across Syria desperately search for missing relatives, and in the process makes a grim discovery.

What I am listening to…

Good Reasonable People with Keith Payne

Here’s Where It Gets Interesting

Why do we tend to feel like ideas coming “our side” are good, and ones coming from the “other side” are bad, even if they are the same exact ideas? Keith Payne, professor of psychology and neuroscience at UNC and author of “Good Reasonable People,” breaks down why we see the world so differently—especially in the world today. He dives into how our backgrounds shape our beliefs and why throwing facts at someone rarely changes their mind. Keith offers advice on how to have more meaningful conversations with friends and family when political disagreements arise.

---

Thank you for being part of the Governerd community! I am grateful for each and every one of you.