Reading archive 2024-07-29

The picture of early-human origins in Africa grows more complex: Researchers say multiple groups of early modern humans intermingled and spread across Africa, not just in small areas in the east and south, before moving to Europe and Asia. 

With Vance’s rocky debut, Republicans ask if Trump’s VP bet will pay off: Sen. JD Vance has had a challenging start as the GOP’s vice-presidential nominee, leaving the Trump campaign to try to clean up his controversial past comments.

How Kamala Harris took control of the Democratic Party: Party officials and campaign aides raced to flip an entire brand from fading hope to salute emojis.

Sanctions crushed Syria’s elite. So they built a zombie economy fueled by drugs.

How India’s warm embrace of Kamala Harris grew chilly: India was excited about Kamala Harris in 2020. Four years later, the reaction to her presidential bid is more complicated.

Maduro declared winner of disputed Venezuelan election: The opposition, which had warned of the potential for fraud, was expected to challenge the result.

How Elon Musk came to endorse Donald Trump: The world’s richest man favored Biden in 2020, but he has since become a vocal Trump supporter.

With Biden out and Harris in, down-ballot Democrats plot 2024 gains: “The additional enthusiasm that the Democrats have shown will obviously help down-ballot races,” GOP political consultant Whit Ayres said. “Whether that will be enough to overcome the other negatives and challenges remains to be seen.”

For Ukrainian diver, 10 meters from water, 1,500 miles from father at war: Oleksii Sereda, 18, is at his second Olympics, but the first since Russian invasion.

They have jobs, but no homes. Inside America’s unseen homelessness crisis.: Homelessness, already at a record high last year, appears to be worsening among people with jobs. - "Many who spoke with The Washington Post said they’re trapped in an impossible position — making too much money to qualify for food stamps and other types of government assistance, but not enough to secure housing."

Inside the powerful Peter Thiel network that anointed JD Vance: A small influential network of right-wing techies orchestrated Vance’s rise in Silicon Valley — and then the GOP. Now the industry stands to gain if he wins the White House.

Justice Dept. settles with ex-FBI officials over leak of anti-Trump texts: Fired FBI agent Peter Strzok will receive $1.2 million, and former bureau lawyer Lisa Page will receive $800,000 to resolve their claims that the Trump administration’s Justice Department violated the Privacy Act.

He finally met his son — then killed the mom and grandmother, a jury found.: Prosecutors argued that Keanan Turner killed Ebony Wright and her mother after Wright filed for custody and child support to help care for their son.

For some District ANC commissioners, a difficult decision to run again: Data from the D.C. Board of Elections shows that as of Friday, 117 out of 345 commissioner seats did not have a single interested candidate.

Amtrak just took over Union Station. What does it mean for riders?: After years in court, Amtrak gained control of Union Station on Monday. Here’s how it’ll affect the station experience.

Far-right in uproar after Israel detains reservists over Gaza detainee abuse: Far-right demonstrators broke into Israel’s Sde Teiman base to protest the detentions of guards.

Paris Olympics organizers sorry for Last Supper at Opening Ceremonies: The tableau included a woman in the role of Jesus and drag queens and gay icons as disciples. It was crashed by a man in blue as Dionysus, the Greek god of revelry.

Biden endorses Supreme Court reforms, amendment to limit immunity: For Biden, who has long resisted calls for Supreme Court reform, the call marks a major shift in his posture toward one of the three branches of government.

Walking the Line: Chinese migration surge tests President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping - "Republican lawmakers say the concerns are more than justified. They point to media reports of at least 100 incidents in recent years in which Chinese nationals were caught or suspected of trying to gain access or information about U.S. military installations.

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"Likely part of Beijing’s concern, analysts and lawyers say, is the potential for politicized Chinese migrants to become part of dissident communities abroad. 

"'The [Chinese] police told my parents, tell your son not to speak any more or do any protests,' said Zhou Zheng, a recent migrant living in Los Angeles who joined groups that protested Xi’s November visit to San Francisco. He’d made the decision to walk the line after he was detained during protests in China.

"While the number of Chinese migrants is relatively tiny in terms of the country’s population, its impact is significant for a government that has sought to advertise its political system abroad. 

"'It’s never looks good when people are willing to trek through the Darien Gap to get out of your country,' said Meredith Oyen, associate professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, referring to the dangerous jungle crossing between Panama and Colombia."

How the "Working Class Republican" Scam Works: A brief description of how this is all gonna go.

How to Jujitsu the Culture Wars: It’s time to make Republicans regret that they ever posed as anti-elites.

Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children): Hannah Neeleman, known to her nine million followers as Ballerina Farm, milks cows, gives birth without pain relief and breastfeeds at beauty pageants. Is this an empowering new model of womanhood — or a hammer blow for feminism? - "That is the biggest paradox: in selling the life of a stay-at-home mother, Neeleman and the other trad wives have created high-earning jobs. They are being paid to act out a fantasy. 'So for me to have the label of a traditional woman,' she continues cautiously, 'I’m kinda like, I don’t know if I identify with that.'

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"One day she mentioned to Daniel that she was getting the five-hour flight from Salt Lake City to New York, back to Juilliard. She didn’t realise his dad owned the airline. 'So Daniel was, like, 'I’m on that same flight!' ' she says. 'I remember checking in and them saying, 'You’re 5A and you’re 5B.' I just thought, no way, that’s crazy!' Daniel smiles: 'I made a call.' He had pulled strings at JetBlue. And so began their first date." [ed. note: this piece is vicious]

My day with the trad wife queen and what it taught me: An interview published last weekend with internet star Hannah Neeleman at her Utah home, Ballerina Farm, has sparked a global social media debate. Our writer, Megan Agnew, revisits her time with the mother of eight - "But it was also a life of contradictions. Children not allowed screens, but who are reality TV characters online for millions. A stay-at-home mother who has made a career out of being so. An analogue, old-fashioned farm, only working because it is underwritten by social media cash. A choice — modern in her ability to have one — to do something so very traditional.

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"Women who work in a paid job feel terrified that by promoting the seeming peace and harmony of a traditional home life, Neeleman is threatening their ability to choose otherwise. They fear they are going to experience guilt or resistance if other women do choose otherwise. 

"Women who look after their children full-time feel judged or patronised for doing so by the women who haven’t, their choices seeming threatened, too. And so, out of fear comes anger, like a bloke punching a wall when his wife leaves him."

I lived as a trad wife for a week. It was awful: Modern women are falling for traditional wife influencers. There’s a darker side, says Harriet Walker