Evening Roundup, April 8
Featuring Adam Kinzinger & Jen; Mike Sacks & Evan Vorpahl; Let's Do Lunch! with Jared Bernstein; Shalise Manza Young; Justice Allison Riggs; Meredith Blake; Talking Feds; and Aslı Aydıntaşbaş
Adam Kinzinger and Jen Rubin on MAGA, Markets, and Measles
Adam Kinzinger is a former (a word he relishes) member of Congress from Illinois and was one of two Republican members who sat on the January 6th Committee. Make sure to keep up with Adam on his Substack, which you can find here.
Is North Carolina the canary in the coal mine for American democracy?
By Mike Sacks and Evan Vorpahl
One man can save democracy for future generations.
Let’s Do Lunch! with Jared Bernstein
Today was the Contrarian's first Let’s Do Lunch! with Jared Bernstein! Join us every Tuesday at 12:00pm ET, when Jared will help us break down what's happening in the economy right now and how it affects our communities. He’ll bring on a new guest each week for a live Econ Q&A. Send questions for Jared to submit@contrariannews.org
March Madness is over. But what are we celebrating?
By Shalise Manza Young
Most of these athletes are returning to schools where support is being eliminated or curtailed. There's a better choice.
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs on ongoing election dispute
In November 2024, Allison Riggs was elected to retain her seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. However, her opponent, Judge Jefferson Griffin, has refused to concede the race for five months. Griffin has gone so far as to challenge over 65,000 ballots in court.
How the Cybertruck became a symbol of MAGA dysfunction
After days of tariff-fueled stock market chaos, millions of people took to the streets across the country—and the world—last weekend to protest Donald Trump and his wrecking-ball administration.
Fear & Loathing at DOJ
Many federal agencies have new leadership that are hostile to the career personnel. For this special episode of Talking Feds Substack, we go inside the DOJ, or as close as we can, with the help of two of the country’s most respected reporters, Devlin Barrett and Evan Perez, and a recent DOJ exile, Stacey Young, who has an organization to help her erstwhile colleagues.
Aslı Aydıntaşbaş and Jen Rubin on Turkey’s Authoritarian Rise and Growing Opposition
Mass protests have erupted across Turkey following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a leading opposition figure expected to be named a presidential candidate. Aslı Aydıntaşbaş lays out President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s populist playbook—and its domestic parallels.
Please add Eugene Robinson to the Contrarians
Why are you not speaking about the "supreme court" letting the orange felon get away with all the firing of federal employees and some other reversals of lower court verdicts?
It is absolutely outrageous how these corrupt right-wing idiots rule everything in his favor.