the scandals we love and the ones we can't escape
#5SmartReads - February 4, 2025
#5SmartReads is a Webby-honored weekly news digest that amplifies underreported news and underrepresented perspectives. My goal is to help you stay informed without being overwhelmed, and to embrace nuance and reflection over picking a side.
Is anyone else feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and terrified by the news?
If you are, I’m glad you’re here. And, same.
One of the people I seek out when politics is wilder than normal is
. She unpacks the news, offers the necessary context, and gives you clear actions to give you a useful alternative to doomscrolling.Watching a coup unfold before our eyes has me wanting to crawl back into bed for the foreseeable future. It is terrifying - the barrage of blatantly illegal executive orders, the ‘in a normal world, would be disqualifying’ confirmation hearings for cabinet secretaries, and the seizure of government assets and data by someone who aspires to outshine every comic book villain combined.
Emily compares Hitler’s two coup attempts (one unsuccessful, the other…well, you know) to what we see happening in real time.
Don’t put down your phone. Don’t hide under the covers. I want you read - and believe - Emily’s words:
“Democracy is currently intact. We have an independent judiciary. We have a functioning, albeit Republican Congress. We have a business sector that does not want economic collapse. Federalism serves as perhaps the biggest bulwark, there’s no ‘martial law’ capacity that allows the President to single handedly control all law enforcement in America.”
I need to heed her last two actions (post more regularly about this administration’s actions that will affect me, and build more community around practicing citizenship).
Inside the Chaos, Confusion, and Heartbreak of Trump’s Foreign-Aid Freeze (TIME)
Can the children being treated for severe malnutrition continue their treatment?
What about the clinics offering obstetrics care to women in Haiti - can they continue delivering healthcare?
And the secret schools educating girls in Afghanistan?
If the USAID freeze isn’t swiftly overturned, all of these programs - and tens of thousands more - will likely end. More tragically, the aid ecosystem (which USAID is a key funder of) will be largely dismantled as a result - and it may take decades to rebuild it.
This is not a defense of the agency, which certainly requires significant reform (more oversight, less waste, working with smaller, local groups). Outside perspectives would complement those who have worked within the agency for decades to reform USAID.
Instead, we have chaos by design to dismantle something that is vitally important - and a spectacle to distract us from the larger coup at hand.
The TIME piece is the best primer on this particular issue, breaking down how it happened, the current state of affairs, and the immediate and future impact it’ll have if it remains in place.
None of it is good. But it’s infinitely worse for USAID’s partners, whose work may end indefinitely as a result of this inhumane move.
#5SmartReads is all about helping you feel smarter this week.
If you want to feel better but feel overwhelmed on what to do, check out this month’s plan (mindfulness practices, workouts, meals, and more):
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