Welcome back to Lucid, and hello to all new subscribers. Our next Q&A will take place on Friday, Nov 7, 1-2pmET. Paying subscribers will receive a link at 10amET on Friday to register for the Zoom gathering. Once you register, you receive a link from Zoom and you just click on it when it’s time to connect.
Our guest will be journalist Eduardo Porter, who is a columnist covering global politics and economics for The Guardian. He worked for The New York Times for two decades as economics reporter, member of the editorial board and author of the Economic Scene column. He publishes the Substack newsletter Being There. His latest book is American Poison (2021), about how racial hostility undermined the American social contract. He lives in Brooklyn and Mexico City.
In gratitude for your readership, and to allow more people to attend the Q&As, here is a link for 30% off the first year. It is good through Sunday, November 9. If you know someone who might benefit from Lucid you can share this post and they can use the coupon too.
I had a great conversation with my friend Dean Obeidallah on the elections. Dean is a comedian as well as an astute political commentator (who publishes the great Dean’s Report newsletter and has a SiriusXM radio show) so it’s always fun to be together. As you see above, I am demonstrating my amazing talent to have my eyes shut when videos start or photographs are taken.
Here’s an excerpt by Dean of our conversation:
Ruth put it bluntly that the reason these big Democratic wins were so powerful and significant is because “different kinds of Democrats won.” She noted that we saw the very progressive Zohran Mamdani win big in New York City while in Virginia a more centrist, former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger was victorious. Over in New Jersey, a former Navy pilot Mikie Sherrill—who is somewhere between Mamdani and Spanberger in terms of being a liberal—won far bigger than expected.
I’ll be back this weekend with an essay on what people around the world want from democracy and the optimal strategies for democratic parties faced with authoritarian threats. And I will see some of you tomorrow!
Stay well, and stay Lucid,
Ruth
