Weekend reading for July 13, 204

Last June, four astronauts entered NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA), a sealed environment at the agency’s headquarters in Houston designed to simulate the experience of isolation on Mars. They came out last weekend and learned a lot, we assume, about the possibilities of life in space, but they certainly missed a lot here over the last year and will no doubt struggle to catch up. It was hard enough to survive on a day-to-day basis!

Unless you’ve also been living in a Mars colony simulation, you can’t get away from it – this week was dominated by coverage of the ongoing debate over Joe Biden’s fitness and how that affects the chances of a Democratic victory in November, something no one wants to leave to chance. Of course, there are no easy answers, but one of the things we spent some time this week doing was digging deeper into the issue with some of the smartest and best-informed people we know – in the Senate and the Cabinet – and We have also forwarded the question to you.

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And to close out the week, like every weekend, we have put together some links for our paying subscribers to pieces that we think are worth checking out this weekend. Did you know that the 2000 Bush vs. Gore The Supreme Court ruling says there is unfettered (that’s “indisputable” in legal jargon) power to override voters’ right to choose the president? People are working on the issue, and we found a good article that explores what’s at stake and what solutions are possible. Also, below you’ll find a photo essay on how LGBTQ+ people in Japan are fighting homophobic public opinion with lavish wedding photography, an in-depth study on how people stopped thinking of land ownership as theft of the commons and started embracing the idea of ​​personal property, an essay on how the tech industry finally figured out how to find the right price for everyone, and more.

As always, we hope that the articles we have collected will inspire and entertain you and even give you some hope for the future.

We spoke to author and activist George Monbiot about his new book (with Peter Hutchison), Invisible teachinga history of capitalism, an expose of neoliberalism (that’s the doctrine at issue here), and a manifesto for the future designed to refute the “fairytale” that keeps humanity focused on growth and efficiency rather than prosperity. You should read the interview (and the book).

Rewriting the fairy tale of capitalism

We had a great live conversation with Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, where we talked about what’s at stake with the president, how he’s working across party lines to address the root causes of America’s discontent epidemic, why politics in the United States has strayed so far from the ideas that can give people meaning and purpose – and how we can get that back. If you didn’t get a chance to join the call, we encourage you to listen to the conversation.

FULL AUDIO: Senator Chris Murphy live with The Ink

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined us for another fascinating conversation. In the conversation, he talked about his experiences working with the president, his belief that infrastructure work – fixing the broken things that take away people’s freedom in everyday life – is part of a long-term fight against fascism, and how the meaning of fatherhood and manhood is changing in the 21st century.

Pete Buttigieg on the reality of working with Biden, how bridges fight fascism and modern fatherhood

We ended the week talking to podcaster Yowei Shaw, who turned her experience of being laid off—and having to deal with the consequences alone—into a new show that provides people with resources to help them deal not just with layoffs, but with all the varied stresses of life in late capitalism.

Dismissed? Yowei Shaw helps

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The danger of the unfettered power theory lies not only in the lawlessness and violence of the Trump coup, or in the possibility that a parliament could usurp the citizens’ right to elect the president. If states’ power over presidential elections is “unlimited,” states can get away with less dramatic but equally authoritarian measures to ignore the public’s will. (Balls and shots)