Good afternoon from staff writer Alex Shephard, writing from snowy New York City, which is (briefly) beautiful before everything turns to charcoal-tinted slush. I just took my pandemic rescue dog for her first walk in the snow, which she did not care for in the slightestâbreaking the heart of this native western New Yorker.Â
Today is January 7, which means yesterday was January 6. My colleague Walter Shapiro made the case that President Bidenâs fiery speech yesterday morning was a âturning pointâ in his presidency, noting that he âwent for the jugular, not the capillaries.â Iâm inclined to agree. For most of the last year, Biden has avoided direct shots at his predecessor. Yesterday, we saw him take the gloves offâall without naming Donald Trumpâfor the first time in a very long time, branding Trump a loser and previewing a part of the Democratic Partyâs midterm message: There is oneâand only oneâparty that actually cares about defending democracy. Tim Noah, meanwhile, argued that Lindsey Graham (who condemned the assault on the Capitol a year ago) was âwaving the bloody shirtâ in his response to Bidenâs speech. I made the case that a year after the riot at the Capitol, the Republican Party is in Trumpâs pocket more than ever before and has more radically remade itself than it did during the preceding four years. Â
In other news, the Supreme Court will consider whether vaccine mandates from the Biden administration affecting large businesses and health care facilities can go ahead. Earlier this week, Andrew Koppelman argued that the case against the mandates is severely flawedâbut that it nevertheless may appeal to some of the courtâs conservative justices. New York, meanwhile, marked the highest number of Covid-19 deaths since vaccinations began earlier this year.Â
In media news, The New York Times purchased The Athletic for a (reported) $550 million. The Athletic, a startup that once aimed to replace the sports sections in newspapers across the country, has now been swallowed up by the countryâs biggest newspaperâthough, at this point, the Times more closely resembles the Death Star than it does the papers its newest acquisition poached much of its sizable staff from. Writing in Defector, Ray Ratto made the case that Athletic co-founder Alex Matherâwho infamously boasted that his goal was to destroy local newspapers, back in 2017ânow found âhis creation ⦠inside the whale he wanted to harpoon.â The Times has thus far been quiet about its plans for The Athletic.Â
My phone, meanwhile, has been blowing up over the case of Filippo Bernardini, the rights coordinator for Simon & Schuster UK, who was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday and accused of being the âSpine Collectorââa mysterious figure who had for years been posing as various people in the industry to steal copies of books before they were published. Rumors about the Spine Collector had been circulating among publishing professionals in America, Europe, and Asia for years. Bernardini allegedly registered more than 160 domains as part of his scheme. And yet, despite his being arrested and charged with wire fraud, the mystery persists. No one really knows why he did itâthough, of course, rumors are circulating like crazy. There is still nothing to suggest he was making money from these pilfered advance copies.
Also at NewRepublic.com today: Molly Osberg has a terrific piece making the case that teachers are paying the price for the governmentâs failure to manage the pandemic. Tim Noah argues that the National Labor Relations Board is finally doing its jobâwelcome news to this member of the NewsGuild of New Yorkâs executive committee. Daniel Strauss suggests that Marjorie Taylor Greene could loseâmaybe. And Jo Livingstone writes about two films, The Lost Daughter and Câmon, Câmon, that take on the boring, terrible, maddening, ordinary, joyous task of parenting.Â
Happy Friday, âAlex Shephard, staff writer
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