‘Every argument has a rational, emotional and rhetorical component’

‘The fight for the future of women’s basketball’

Louisa Thomas at The New Yorker

WNBA player Napheesa Collier “spoke bravely while pointing out the obvious,” says Louisa Thomas. Collier “recounted a conversation with Cathy Engelbert, the commissioner,” and stated the “way many people in leadership positions in sports — and especially in the NBA, which owns a substantial portion of the WNBA — talk about women’s professional leagues for years, justifying low salaries and poor playing conditions.” As the “league’s profile has grown, though, so has the gap between the players driving that value.”

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‘Blue states should come together to declare an emergency. Here’s how.’

Thomas Geoghegan at The Guardian

Donald Trump is “all about political theater, or circus, and it often seems that even in resisting him, as decent citizens must do, we become part of the circus too,” says Thomas Geoghegan. Why “not put on our own show, our own form of political theater, that leaves Trump out?” We “should create a limited, invitation-only body — an embryonic constitutional convention — that the anti-Trump blue states exclusively set up for themselves, limit to themselves and control.”

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‘The rise of America’s hard left’

Rana Foroohar at the Financial Times

We “all know about the rise of the authoritarian right in America, and the risks that it poses to both the economy and society,” but “what about the hard left?” says Rana Foroohar. This “political tail risk is now being taken more seriously by many in the business community who worry that the center-left is disappearing, just as traditional conservatism has given way to MAGA.” Populism is “clearly what’s driving the move among Democratic incumbents.”

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‘Gen X may be the first to need a universal basic income after late-career job loss’

Annette Nierobisz and Dana Sawchuk at The Hill

Estimates “suggest that half of all white-collar jobs will disappear as artificial intelligence advances. How will older white-collar workers displaced in the AI revolution fare?” say Annette Nierobisz and Dana Sawchuk. A “larger proportion of Gen X are susceptible to hard falls than their predecessors.” It’s “impossible to prepare for a bout of unemployment extended indefinitely by age discrimination in the hiring process.” This “demands a structural solution and a universal basic income might be the answer.”

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