David Lidsky's Blog, page 319

How Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s Sweat Tour turned sold-out arenas into nightclubs

Sweat turned venues with more than 15,000 seats into intimate dance parties. The creative directors say that was by design. 

Unsurprisingly to anyone who was online this year, one of the most repeated names when the Grammy nominations were announced last week was Charli XCX, whose album, Brat, earned seven nods. The Recording Academy also nominated Charli XCX’s creative director, Imogene Strauss, for Best Recording Package (alongside branding agency Special Offer) for the ubiquitous, neon-green artwork of Brat. 

Trump’s new DOGE task force is tailor-made to benefit Elon Musk’s businesses

With the new Department of Government Efficiency, Musk would be gutting agencies that are responsible for enforcing the law against him.

On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump named Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as cochairs of a new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. This appointment allows Musk the opportunity to simultaneously do two things that are very important to him: publicly complain about government policies that cost him money, and tweet deeply unfunny jokes about the fact that the acronym is also the name of a meme cryptocurrency. 

Your brain doesn’t have to decline as you get older. Debunking myths about aging

Key insights from the new book, ‘The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond.’

Debra Whitman is an economist and expert on aging issues. As AARP’s chief public policy officer, she leads global policy and research to help communities, lawmakers, and the private sector make aging easier. She has also served as staff director for the Senate Special Committee on Aging and as a researcher in the Social Security Administration.

Dude Perfect went from YouTube to raising $100M. Here’s how its new CEO wants to grow the brand

Dude Perfect CEO Andrew Yaffe talked to ‘Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies’ podcast about his plans for the media brand.

Over the past 15 years, sports and entertainment company Dude Perfect—which started as a YouTube channel where five best friends posted videos of trick shots in different sports—has grown into a media juggernaut with attendant cruises, toy lines, and TV deals. Its content has expanded to include highly produced biweekly videos where they break world records or attempt challenges—sometimes, with the help of famous guests.

How natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires impact incarcerated people

As Helene traveled northward, 2,000 incarcerated people were evacuated from prisons in North Carolina, but only after the storm damaged local water and power sources.

The United States has almost 2 million people behind bars in prisons, jails and detention centers—the largest such population in any country. Although incarcerated people are locked away from the outside world, they are even more vulnerable to the impacts of disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires, than the rest of society.

RFK Jr.’s most controversial and scientifically inaccurate claims, from autism to raw milk

The 70-year-old lawyer and former presidential candidate was nominated by Donald Trump to be the next U.S. health secretary. Critics say he should be disqualified from the post.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, is ringing alarm bells and prompting sharp criticism from Democrats who are calling him everything from “dangerous, unqualified, and unserious” to “f*****g insane.”

‘They’re the most pissed-off people on the planet’: The internet is falling in love with the drama on the Crumbl Cookies subreddit

The impassioned Reddit community leaves detailed—and often very harsh—reviews of everything related to the cookie brand.

Allow me to introduce you to my new favorite place on the internet: the Crumbl Cookies subreddit. 

Will more women run for office now that Donald Trump won? This group says yes

Nonprofit She Should Run reported a 743% increase in women looking to get involved or run for office after Trump’s Election Day victory.

As women worry about what will happen to their reproductive rights in the wake of Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House, more are looking to get involved in politics.

Lawsuit alleging Elon Musk rigged Dogecoin is dropped

Dogecoin investors who said Musk and his company Tesla committed fraud and insider trading are withdrawing their appeal from an August 29 dismissal of their case.

A lawsuit accusing Elon Musk of rigging Dogecoin is ending.

55,000 Canadian postal service workers go on strike

Canada Post says shutting down facilities will affect its national network, with processing and delivery of mail possibly needing time to return to normal once the strike is over.

Workers at Canada’s national postal service are on strike after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with Canada Post.