Reading archive 2023-05-20

The biggest revelations from the new ‘Secrets of Hillsong’ docuseries: Carl Lentz, pastor who famously attracted celebrities to church’s hyper-successful New York location, gives first big interview since his firing in 2020

‘Very uncomfortable’: Scott-Haley 2024 divide sparks GOP tensions in S.C.: The long-overlapping circles of the two Republicans are coming sharply into focus — and stoking anxieties in a state where everyone knows everyone in local politics

Trump touts authoritarian vision for second term: ‘I am your justice’: The former president is proposing deploying the military domestically, purging the federal workforce and building futuristic cities from scratch - "'In 2016, I declared I am your voice,' Trump said in a speech last month at the Conservative Political Action Conference and repeated at his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Tex., a few weeks later. 'Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.' ...

"'The Reagan limited-government conservatism and emphasis on federalism is being displaced by a new muscular, nationalizing cultural conservatism, with a lot of anger,' said Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution who studies democracy. 'One thing we’ve learned about Trump and authoritarian populists like him is not to dismiss what they’re saying as just idle language and toothless roar. We need to take it very seriously.'" [ed. note: oh wow he's a fascist who would have thought]

Zelensky makes dramatic G-7 visit as Biden mobilizes allies over China: Leaders focus on confronting Russia and countering China’s economic rise

Europe’s military industrial capabilities fall short of Ukraine’s needs

Opinion  The Durham investigation was a flop. But it’s a propaganda triumph.