Elon Musk and DOGE are everywhere these days, including in today's cabinet meeting, supposedly trying to get rid of government waste, handouts, and corruption. But few American citizens have benefited more from government programs than its richest one of all. "Elon Musk and his cost-cutting U.S. DOGE Service team have been on a mission to trim government largesse. Yet Musk is one of the greatest beneficiaries of the taxpayers’ coffers. Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world’s richest person." WaPo (Gift Article): Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding. "In 2024 alone, federal and local governments committed at least $6.3 billion to Musk’s companies, the highest total to date." America's liberal democratic government enabled Musk and other billionaires to amass more money faster than at any time in history. Yet, somehow, that wasn't enough. Somehow he has been a victim of the system that has benefited him more than anyone.

+ "As the ranks of global billionaires have swelled dramatically in recent years, a new category of ultrarich has emerged—the superbillionaire. Musk is one of just 24 people worldwide who qualify for that distinction, which is defined as individuals worth $50 billion or more." WSJ (Gift Article): Meet the World’s 24 Superbillionaires. "The concentration of wealth among a small number of tech entrepreneurs gives these individuals unprecedented influence over policy, media, and society. Musk controls SpaceX, Tesla, and X, influencing everything from space exploration to online discourse, as well as more recently having the ear of President Trump. Bezos owns the Washington Post. Zuckerberg heads Instagram, Facebook and Threads, platforms used by billions. These superbillionaires operate in a largely deregulated digital landscape where oversight is limited." (And that landscape is getting less regulated and the influence of a very few has never been more powerful. So we can expect the concentration of wealth and influence to become more concentrated and more influential.)

+ "Jeff Bezos, the owner of the The Washington Post, announced a major shift to the newspaper’s opinion section on Wednesday, saying that it would now advocate for 'personal liberties and free markets' and not publish opposing viewpoints on those topics. Mr. Bezos said that the section’s editor, David Shipley, was leaving the paper in response to the change. 'I am of America and for America, and proud to be so,' Mr. Bezos said. 'Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else.'" (I've long been under the impression that personal liberties and free markets can only thrive in a system dominated by the rule of law. Looks like we're about to test that theory.) NYT (Gift Article): Bezos Orders Washington Post Opinion Section to Embrace Personal Liberties and Free Markets’ (To America, the value of the Washington Post has been priceless over the decades. To Bezos, the value of the Washington Post doesn't even amount to rounding error.)

2

Texas Nexus

"A measles outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico has killed a child and sickened more than 130 people, and public health experts fear it’s only the beginning. It’s an entirely avoidable health emergency fueled by weaknesses in our vaccine forcefield." Bloomberg (Gift Article): Measles Outbreak Was Entirely Avoidable. (And the outbreak couldn't come at a more precarious time: The beginning of the RFK Jr tenure, an era we should have avoided like the plague.)

+ "A child in Texas has died from measles, officials said Wednesday, the first known death in the current large outbreak in West Texas and the first death from measles in the country since 2015. The individual, described as a school-aged child, was not vaccinated." Stat: Texas measles outbreak marks first fatality as more cases reported.

3

Expertease

"Gen-Z isn’t just trusting influencers over experts, they’re redefining what expert even means. Doctors, journalists, and scientists are dismissed, not because they are wrong, but because they are inconvenient, a straw poll of teens told Fortune. Influencers, on the other hand, are fast, familiar, and on the medium we turn to most: our phones." Fortune: Gen Z teens tell us why they stopped trusting experts in favor of influencers on TikTok.

4

Class Struggle

"He told his students he wanted to begin with a story that explained why he chose to pursue medicine. He picked up a letter he had received years earlier from a patient dying of chronic kidney disease. The man and his family had made the decision to withdraw from dialysis, knowing he would soon die. Dr. Lin adjusted his glasses and read, choking up again. 'I wanted to thank you so much for taking such good care of me in my old age,' he read, quoting his patient. 'You treated me as you would treat your own father.' Dr. Lin said this final act of gratitude had left a lasting impact on him. He explained that he had created this 10-week medical school course — 'From Diagnosis to Dialogue: A Doctor’s Real-Time Battle With Cancer'— with similar intentions." NYT (Gift Article): When This Professor Got Cancer, He Didn’t Quit. He Taught a Class About It.

5

Extra, Extra

Conquer and Divide: "The drama going on between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine raises one of the most disturbing questions I’ve ever had to ask about my own country: Are we being led by a dupe for Vladimir Putin — by someone ready to swallow whole the Russian president’s warped view of who started the war in Ukraine and how it must end? Or are we being led by a Mafia godfather, looking to carve up territory with Russia the way the heads of crime families operate? 'I’ll take Greenland, and you can take Crimea. I’ll take Panama, and you can have the oil in the Arctic. And we’ll split the rare earths of Ukraine. It’s only fair.' Either way, my fellow Americans and our friends abroad, for the next four years at least, the America you knew is over." Tom Friedman in the NYT (Gift Article): The Disturbing Question at the Heart of the Trump-Zelensky Drama. Meanwhile, from CNN: What we do and don’t know about Trump’s ‘very big deal’ on Ukraine’s mineral resources. (Prop up enemies, shake down allies...)

+ The Better to See You With: It's a bad time to have a face for radio. It turns out that a whole lot of people are now watching their podcasts and radio shows. "YouTube isn’t a podcast app, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming the number one place people who want to consume online radio shows now turn to." More than 1 billion people are now watching podcasts on YouTube every month. (Thankfully, those with a face for newsletter writing are still safe.)

+ Altered State Media: "The move, coupled with the government’s arguments this week in a federal lawsuit over access filed by The Associated Press, represented an unprecedented seizing of control over coverage of the American presidency by any administration." The White House says it ‘will determine’ which news outlets cover Trump.

+ Billion Air: "The consuming class in Asia's third largest economy is not 'widening' as much as it is 'deepening', according to the report. That basically means India's wealthy population is not really growing in numbers, even though those who are already rich are getting even wealthier." A billion Indians have no spending money. (This is a global trend.)

+ Firing Lines: "When I left Children’s National, I left behind: A tenured associate professor career. Five active large-scale grants. 40 peer-reviewed publications. A school-based EF curricula I ran through two clinical trials, now used in 15 districts. A journal editor position. A community of the best, most brilliant, selfless colleagues and friends I deeply respect." As the federal government purge continues, here's a FB post from one of the folks fired to remind people of the sacrifices many people maketo take a gov job in the first place.

+ Gaza Plaza: "The apparently AI-generated video includes depictions of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing in Gaza, and imagines scenes of destruction in Gaza transformed into a glitzy Riviera-style resort called TRUMP GAZA." Trump's social media video garners pushback from Arabs and Muslims in U.S. and Gaza.

+ Gopher It: "Large corporations are shopping for underground bunkers that can survive a nuclear blast to protect their data centers and C-suite employees as geopolitical tensions rise." Corporations dig deeper: using bunkers to secure data (and their CEOs).

6

Bottom of the News

"It was not a tranquil time. People argued with their friends about the very basics of reality. Spouses vehemently disagreed. Each and every person was on one side or the other side. It could be hard to imagine how anyone in their right mind could hold an opinion different from your own." Slate: It’s Been 10 Years Since “The Dress." Was it gold? Was it blue? Was it a preview of the future of American discourse?

+ Apple Pledges to Fix Transcription Glitch That Replaces ‘Racist’ With ‘Trump.'