My Weekly Recommendations
What I'm reading and listening to this weekend
I know you’re busy, so let’s catch up on some of our latest articles and recommendations.
Would You Pay 3% in Taxes? Here's How Billionaires Do It
Billionaires probably pay a lower tax rate than you do. Some even pay $0 in income taxes, despite their net worth increasing exponentially each year. So how do they do it?
This Debate Isn’t About DEI -- it's About Power. Here's Why.
DEI has become a boogeyman in the federal government, often blamed for every ill. The truth is that it’s a smokescreen to justify efforts to undo decades of civil rights progress.
Zelensky/Trump Fallout: What's at Stake for America
The consequences of the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin stretch beyond the awkward meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. The rules-based international system that's being dismantled was the foundation of American prosperity and security for generations. When smaller nations can't rely on the rules we agreed to play by, they will then align themselves with powers that can ensure their security. And those new alliances rarely benefit American interests.
From the Press Gallery: The State of the Union Is on Life Support
Sitting in the House press gallery during President Trump’s primetime address on Tuesday night, there was a lot to think about. And yet, as the speech wore on — it was the longest presidential address to Congress in modern history — my mind kept slipping to a different question: What would Thomas Jefferson have made of the spectacle playing out in front of me?
My Thoughts on the Democrats -- and Why They’re Losing the Fight Against Trump and Musk
That, plus: Is Trump getting tired of Elon Musk? What exactly is DOGE up to, and will there be cuts to Social Security? And finally, Republicans are getting hammered at town halls across the country. Are they being told not to hold them anymore?
What I’m reading…
The Democrats’ ‘No We Can’t’ Strategy
By David A. Graham for The Atlantic
After Hillary Clinton’s ignominious loss in 2016, the congressional team of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer quickly took charge. They were mostly able to keep a fractious coalition together through Donald Trump’s tumultuous first term. Democrats won the House in 2018 and the White House and Senate in 2020. At the start of Joe Biden’s presidency…the party managed to enact a huge legislative agenda. That seems a long time ago now.
How a Leading Black Historian Uncovered Her Own Family's Painful Past—and Why Her Ancestors' Stories Give Her Hope
By Sara Georgini for Smithsonian Magazine
The Trouble of Color is a story about how we become families, as well the stories we tell about being a family. Each generation had its stories, and they changed over time. Author Martha S. Jones came to see how family letters, interviews, legends and even photographs were more than facts; they were themselves stories.
Justice for Sale
Joyce Vance for Civil Discourse
Justice is for sale—literally. The Trump administration included the Main Justice building on Pennsylvania Avenue on a list of properties it intends to put on the market. The reason? The property is “not core to government operations.” Wednesday morning they seemed to waffle a bit, taking down the list they’d published Tuesday and saying it was “coming soon.”
Why March is Women's History Month in the U.S.
By Erin Blakemore for National Geographic
Frustrations over the exclusion of women from America’s national narrative boiled over in the 1970s—leading to the creation of Women’s History Month.
For an Anesthesiologist, Intuition Stands Between Life and Death
By Ronald W. Dworkin for Aeon
Dworkin sketches a history of professional intuition, from the cultural attitudes that shape our conceptions to individual efforts to regain that inner harmony. He also brings us into the operating room, where an unlikely succession of complications—touched off by chewing gum, of all things—briefly bewilders him, a harrowing moment whose resolution remains enigmatic to the author.
Make Magic
By Brad Meltzer
Based on bestselling author Brad Meltzer’s viral commencement speech for his son’s graduating class at the University of Michigan, Make Magic is the little book of hope for anyone who has ever wished for more. More authenticity. More empathy. More gratitude. A more fulfilling life.
With charming, thoughtful insights from his remarkable life and career, Meltzer uses magic as allegory, sharing the secret that there are only four types of magic tricks:
1) you make something appear,
2) you make something disappear,
3) you make two things switch places, and
4) you turn one thing into something else—the hardest trick of all, transformation.
Embracing each of these easy-to-follow tricks—and unleashing your kindness and empathy—will inspire you to craft a life filled with wonder and awe.
Make Magic is an uplifting message from one of today’s most inspiring voices.
What I am listening to…
Does Tim Walz Have Any Regrets
The New Yorker Radio Hour
Democrats in Washington have seemed almost paralyzed by the onslaught of far-right appointments and draconian executive orders coming from the Trump White House. But some state governors seem more willing to oppose the federal government than congressional Democrats are. In January, Governor Tim Walz, of Minnesota, tweeted, “President Trump just shut off funding for law enforcement, farmers, schools, veterans, and health care. . . . Minnesota needs answers. We’ll see Trump in court.” He’s only one of many Democratic governors challenging the federal government. Walz joins David Remnick to offer his analysis of why Democrats lost the 2024 election, why the Party has been losing support from men, and what Democrats need to do now that Donald Trump is back in the White House.
How Does Kash Patel Compare to J. Edgar Hoover?
On The Media
Since Kash Patel was announced as the director for the FBI, pundits have warned of a return to the era of J. Edgar Hoover, who ran the bureau for 48 years. But according to Beverly Gage, the author of G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, under Patel, the FBI could be politicized in ways that even its notorious first director would have rejected. This week, Micah and Beverly discuss how Hoover established a playbook for weaponizing the FBI, and how Patel might go even further.
DEFY with Dr. Sunita Sah
Here’s Where It Gets Interesting
How do you stay true to your values when the world pushes you to conform? I was joined by award-winning Cornell professor Dr. Sunita Sah to talk about her new book, “DEFY: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes.” Dr. Sah breaks down why we feel pressured to comply—and says real defiance isn’t about rebellion, but about standing up for what you believe, even when it’s uncomfortable. After listening to this discussion, even the most obedient people pleasers will be able to say no.
Thanks for being here! I appreciate you.
Powerful sharing, Sharon. I needed this today. We all do.
In my brief time on the Planet (a few days short of 91 years), I have twice experienced being totally distraught about America. The first was on a train from North Dakota to California to wish farewell to my older brother as he prepared to be deployed in the service of our Country. The train was full of soldiers being shipped to the West coast. A sergeant ran through the train announcing the President Roosevelt had just declared war on Japan. The date was December 8, 1941. Through a child’s eyes, all I could think of was some murky sense of what that meant. But it was totally frightening and the purpose of our trip became blazingly clear to me.
The second time is now. Only, now, the enemy isn’t thousands of miles away. The enemy is us. I hope I will live long enough to have some sense that we are taking up the unprecedented challenge to rescue ourselves from that reality.
You are a priceless resource on behalf of that hope.
Thank you. Thank you so much!
I'd be lost without you, Sharon. Thank you for working so hard and keeping us engaged, informed, thinking and re-thinking -- and inspiring each of us to keep doing the next needed thing.