Frenemies, Identity Crises, and Jake Gyllenhaal's Worst Day Ever
This week, a discussion about the Infrastructure bill, Survivor, Ted Lasso, and Red (Taylor's Version).
No Polls, Just Vibes
The big political news of the past week, of course, is infrastructure, which passed the House last Friday with bipartisan support (albeit a bit more bipartisan in the Senate than in the House).
Cansler Culture Senior Advisor Sam Signorelli recommended this great breakdown on exactly what’s in the bill, so you can sound that much smarter at Thanksgiving dinner.
Buttigieg and Harris, Democrats’ Favorite Frenemies
With infrastructure finally passing, it’s worth taking a moment to discuss Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s role in this whole ordeal.
When Biden nominated Buttigieg, there was a lot of (understandable) confusion about his qualifications for the role. He’s a smart man, but that hardly a good enough reason to make someone the head of transportation for the richest country in the world.
But in reality, Buttigieg’s job hasn’t really been about transportation — it’s been about selling infrastructure, a historically un-sexy topic, to the public. Buttigieg has always been a better spokesperson than agenda-setter, which is what makes him particularly effective in this role. The media loves to talk with and about him, and as a result, infrastructure gets free press.
Buttigieg is what I call a Celebrity Secretary, perhaps the first of his kind.
“For now, though, Buttigieg is the public point man for the infrastructure bill. Sure, he’s appearing on cable news and late-night talk shows repping the proposal, leveraging his status as the most recognizable member of Biden’s Cabinet for (the administration hopes) public support,” The Atlantic wrote back in June.
It’s hard to say how much impact on public opinion Buttigieg actually had, since he was on paternity leave for much of the last few weeks of infrastructure talks, but it’s almost certain that he’s going to claim a lot of the credit regardless, and it’s going to look really good for him come 2024/2028.
Now, though, Buttigieg’s real test begins, as he oversees the implementation of the bill. We’ll see if it looks as good on his resume.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris, Buttigieg’s known frenemy, has a much trickier road ahead to her next presidential bid. To the public eye, she’s been largely absent from public discourse, leading The Telegraph and Los Angeles Times to write stories explaining what she’s actually doing.
It’s not that she isn’t doing important work. She is. It’s that the work she’s doing doesn’t have visible solutions to put on a resume like Buttigieg’s does. It’ll be a lot harder to talk about her accomplishments on the campaign trail if there isn’t something tangible to point to.
For more on Harris and their friendly rivalry, I highly recommend this episode of Politico Playbook Deep Dive:
Some more recommendations:
This in-depth report by Center for American Progress about how states with higher minimum wages are recovering the fastest. (Recommended by Sam)
This great Atlantic piece about how the US Men’s Soccer Team has a uniting power in a very polarized country. (USA plays Mexico tonight at 9pm in World Cup Qualifiers btw).
Also, apparently there’s a real difference between EST and EDT. Found that out this week.
When a Good Show Has an Identity Crisis
In an age in which there are near-infinite options for content to consume, it’s really easy to abandon a show once it gets bad. But what about when it’s still mostly good, but having an identity crisis?
I ask because at least two great shows are having that exact problem this year.
First up is Survivor — probably the greatest reality TV show of all time (not an exaggeration, it’s genuinely great, for all you skeptics) — which has made a lot of changes this year in its 41st season, some of which aren’t sitting well with fans.
Survivor first premiered in 2000 and was an instant success. It’s 1st season finale was one of the most watched television events that year, and while numbers have fallen, the show remains popular, especially with the back-catalog available to binge-watch.
You see, Survivor was so successful in those first few seasons because it struck a balance between survival documentary and game show. You got to see real people struggling to live together on an island while also getting the high stakes storylines of the game intertwined. Over its first 40 seasons, it changed a lot and probably shifted more towards a traditional gameshow than documentary, but that change reflected what viewers wanted, and there was still a clear balance.
Now, the show has gone full-on gameshow. Jeff Probst, the show’s beloved host and showrunner, seems to be throwing plot twists at a wall to see what’s working and what isn’t. Some are popular, others aren’t. Virtually everyone agrees it’s too much.
The thing is, it’s still very entertaining, and the cast this season is particularly compelling, which has kept myself and many other viewers coming back each week. But one can only watch a show with an identity crisis for so long, and one hopes that the show comes out the other side having decided what’s worked one way or the other.
Another show of a very different nature is having a similar identity crisis this year: Ted Lasso. After a phenomenal first season — seriously go get your free trial of Apple TV+ and binge watch it — that managed to surprise audiences and gain a massive viewing, the second season didn’t quite all the same highs.
Ted Lasso’s second season had the same problem that Survivor 41 does. The writers threw concepts at a wall to see what stuck, and in doing so left behind some of the things that made the first season great. But the show is still funny and entertaining enough to keep viewers coming back.
For more on the specifics of Ted Lasso’s struggles, here’s The Review podcast talking about the second season.
The Weekly Soundtrack
I’d be remiss to not talk about the biggest music news of the week: Red (Taylor’s Version) — aka the rerecording of Red, Taylor’s Swift’s blockbuster 2012 album — is out today. It’s 30 songs long and includes the long-rumored 10 minute version of Swift’s best song, All Too Well.
Unlike Fearless (Taylor’s Version), these re-recordings aren’t quite carbon copies of the originals. There’s some clear differences in instrumentation, but overall it’s similar enough to capture what worked so well the first time around. (Except universally-disliked song Girl At Home, which has been completely redone and is much, much better now.)
If you haven’t listened to the album before, listen to it end to end. If you have, start with the previously unreleased vault songs.
And for a great podcast about the importance of this album, here’s The Ringer’s Every Single Album episode about Red.
Finally, here’s the background on why Swift is re-recording her albums in the first place.
I Hardly Know Her!
The Cocktail Column
It’s getting cold. It’s dark by 5pm. Snuggle up and enjoy something warm and cozy that’ll get you just the right amount of tipsy to enjoy a classic fall movie.
Classic Hot Toddy
1 shot bourbon
0.5oz honey
0.5oz lemon juice
1 cup hot black or orange tea
1 cinnamon stick
Combine bourbon, honey, and lemon juice in a mug. Meanwhile, make the tea. Boil water and pour 1 cup into mug. Add a tea bag and let sit for 3-4 minutes. Stir with cinnamon stick. Enjoy.
That’s all for the week. As always, reach out with questions, comments, concerns, recommendations, and contributions.