As recommended by an actual scientist.

In a recent Atlantic story, writer Zeynep Tufekci spells out the obstacles our nation faces as another, possibly more deadly coronavirus wave hits. Tufekci’s evaluation of this surge–she’s especially concerned that without sufficient leadership, the nation won’t be able to stave off rising “hospitalizations, deaths, and potential long-term effects on survivors”–worries me. Does President Trump have the emotional (or intellectual) bandwidth to handle this properly?

No. We know the answer is “no,” because we’ve experienced, firsthand, his sluggish response to the first wave of the virus. His inaction then would lead to an unseemly number of COVID-related deaths–not to mention some 36,000 lives could have been saved if social distancing started a week earlier in March, according to a study by Columbia University. And Trump’s unwillingness to allow his coronavirus task force to communicate with President-elect Joe Biden, now, as Trump is fully distracted with stealing the election, follows the same pattern of negligence. …

Yes, that little, random state near Washington, D.C.

Let’s get right into it.

It’s got Blue values with Southern charm.

By and large, Maryland residents support socially progressive policy and consistently vote Blue, particularly in presidential elections. The state decisively chose Biden over Trump in 2020–and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

But unlike, say, the state of New York, which is also a liberal stronghold, but has a reputation for its outspoken, no-B.S. inhabitants (no hate, I promise–I plan to live in New York City for the rest of my life!), people of the Old Line State tend to be warm and hospitable. …

When TikTok star Amanda Fago went on live for her near-3 million followers on Election Day, her comments section suddenly flooded with calls to cancel her. She was filming at a Trump-themed election party, where people in attendance mocked the Black Lives Matter movement (don’t be too offended–she and her party-mates live in the receptacle that is Staten Island) and barked racial slurs from across the room.

For Gen Z–the largest demographic of users on TikTok, and who collectively represent the most socially progressive generation yet–Fago’s warm “Auntie” image, in which she fully embraces her bisexuality (and the identities of her young fans) and, more pertinently, her Puerto Rican heritage, seemed at odds with the company she kept that night, and the candidate they were supporting. …

In the third season of his streaming series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, the former late night host chats with Kim Kardashian West about the most noteworthy moments in her life, from the time she was robbed at gunpoint during Paris Fashion Week in 2016 to her childhood memories with “Uncle O.J.” Simpson. At one point, when Letterman presses for her opinions about President Trump, she says she’s “grateful for this administration for the work that they’ve done in prison reform.”

The words, which she actually uttered–like, out loud! to an audience! on a show on Netflix!–were in response to Letterman asking how she reconciled the criticisms of and her relationship with the current administration. (Kim, who’s in the process of getting a law degree in the most privilege-y of privileged ways–“Abraham Lincoln did it this way,” she says, so it’s legit?–has personally appealed to the president to secure the commutation of several nonviolent offenders.) …