Fortune - 'I've been dreaming again.'

April 24, 2020

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Sen. Elizabeth Warren mourns her brother, who died of the coronavirus, Midol rebrands to reach a new generation of women, and a chef considers her place in a post-COVID world. Have a rejuvenating weekend.

– ‘I’ve been dreaming again.’ Let’s end the week with some wholehearted candor. When I went to read chef Gabrielle Hamilton‘s open, honest essay in the New York Times about the shuttering of her East Village restaurant Prune, I might as well have highlighted the whole thing.

It’s a commentary on so many of-the-moment matters—the coronavirus’s impact on small businesses, yes, but also urban gentrification, the near-impossible economics of the restaurant industry that employs so many, income inequality, and our current on-demand, Instagram culture, which Hamilton treats with open distain.

She walks us through the labor-intensive process of temporarily shutting a businesses—”It turned out that abruptly closing a restaurant is a weeklong, full-time job”—and the quagmire of government resources that are supposed to help—”No one was going to rescue me.”

And she dwells on a gut-wrenching question so many are asking these days; whether the world that emerges from this crisis will still need the skills and talent we once offered it.

In the end, it’s a portrait of resilience, of an entrepreneur “dreaming again,” in a papered-up restaurant, of “round tables, big tables, six-people tables, eight-tops.”

I encourage you to read it.

Claire Zillman
claire.zillman@fortune.com
@clairezillman

Today’s Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Rest in peace. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's brother Donald Reed Herring died of the coronavirus on Tuesday. Herring, an Air Force veteran, was 86. "I’m grateful to the nurses and other front-line staff who took care of my brother, but it is hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say ‘I love you’ one more time," Warren said in a statement. Boston Globe

- Not your mother's Midol. Midol is getting a major rebrand, embarked upon after Bayer learned that consumers weren't particularly attached to the old Midol or aware about how it differed from other pain relievers. The new bright pink and yellow packaging is meant to reach millennial and Gen Z women with its "modern, bold femininity." Adweek

- Home at the White House. First Lady Melania Trump has in the past avoided too many speaking engagements or campaign stops. But she's much more comfortable at home, making her well-suited to the coronavirus era's form of public appearances. Washington Post

- Taking stock. Why is it so fraught to charge members of Congress with insider trading? Fortune's Rey Mashayekhi examines the question—including the effects of the 8-year-old Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act—after the high-profile trades by Sen. Kelly Loeffler and other lawmakers. Fortune

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Ten-X president Maureen Waters joins MetaProp as partner. Casper hired Lisa Pillette as CMO. Meredith Corporation EVP and chief business and data officer Alysia Borsa joins the board of trustees of the National 4‑H Council.

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Sponsorship support
It takes a village, especially to get to the C-suite. Hear from Deloitte's Kenny Smith, Monica O'Reilly and Neda Shemluck about the impact sponsorship can have on achieving gender equity in leadership. Read more

A note from Fortune's editor-in-chief

Listen Now: Sustainable Priorities, Fashion Icons

This week, in a nod to Earth Day and businesses’ increasing focus on sustainability, the Leadership Next podcast features Eileen Fisher, a unique entrepreneur who has been putting purpose at the center of her company since 1984. Also in this week’s episode, the founders of the fashion label Public School share how they are retooling their business to become a more sustainable brand. Listen here or wherever you enjoy podcasts.

Clifton Leaf

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

- Essential again. Texas's battle over abortion during the coronavirus lockdown is over for now. A revised ban on non-essential medical procedures allows exceptions for providers that don't use hospital beds or public sources of personal protective equipment; the state's attorney general agreed that abortion providers meet those standards and can resume procedures. CBS News

- Relief restrictions. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ordered that government relief for college students affected by the coronavirus crisis can only go to those eligible for federal student aid—meaning that undocumented students and DACA recipients can't receive the emergency relief. New York Times

- Soothing song. Kacey Musgraves' 'Rainbow' was released on her award-winning Golden Hour album in 2018, but the ballad has found new popularity among listeners seeking comfort in the coronavirus era. It sold 3,000 downloads after Musgraves performed it on the 'One World: Together at Home' broadcast, remained near the top of the iTunes chart for days, and is now in a Target ad about the pandemic. Washington Post

ON MY RADAR

Beyoncé and Jack Dorsey donate $6 million for African-Americans’ mental health during the coronavirus pandemic Fortune

What novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reads while she works New York Times

Nurses have always used ingenuity when it comes to personal protective equipment Vogue

PARTING WORDS

"We’re completely tied together."

-Colleen Stephens, president of Alaska's Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises, on how coronavirus outbreaks in Seattle and Canada hurt Alaska's tourism industry