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.
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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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Nancy Pelosi’s Mother