Leave Your Echo Chamber
Plus White Lotus and Oscar reactions
On the Medium publication where I am the editor, The Political Prism, I called for more MAGA perspectives on the platform. Currently, the balance of our stories skews center-left. We need more MAGA perspectives because the last thing I want is for the publication to devolve into an echo chamber. Especially when we’re supposed to be “celebrating a diversity of viewpoints.”
While many of us may be horrified, surprised, and disturbed by the actions of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and others, millions support them. Scroll through X or spend any time on right-wing media, and you’ll find out just how much unflinching support they have, despite Trump executing much of the Project 2025 playbook that he said he wouldn’t.
This is why I called for more diverse perspectives. We need to talk to each other more than ever. The minute we retreat to our respective echo chambers is the minute democracy dies in darkness. We all have more in common than you might think.
So, if you’re interested in submitting political writing and making a little money on the side, message me. You can check out some of the best political writing on Medium at The Political Prism. At the end of this newsletter are the stories that have been “boosted” in our publication by Medium’s curators thus far in 2025 (a fancy way of saying “supercharged” through Medium’s algorithm).
What you will notice, however, is that many of the articles are critical of the current U.S. administration, while few are supportive. If you have a supportive take that you can substantiate with quality sources in a long-form essay, I want to hear from you.
The White Lotus gets political without being political
Episode three of the White Lotus aired last night, and it touched on politics without getting too political. Keep in mind that this episode would have been shot before the U.S. election results. For those who didn’t watch the scene, it involved three older rich women talking at dinner, all of whom have been friends since childhood. Everything was fine until Donald Trump came up in conversation.
Two of the women, residents of Los Angeles and New York, respectively, spoke with the assumption that their third friend, who lives in Austin, Texas, would never vote for Trump. To their surprise, she got defensive. She admitted nothing aside from her now-regular church attendance and the fact that her husband is a Trump voter. But it was clear —these women did not know each other any longer.
Old friends may not be current friends. Lives change, and people change. Sometimes drastically, even if some core habits and principles stay the same.
More fundamentally, it’s a reminder that while two is good company, three is a crowd. These women have been ruthless to each other, primarily in passive ways. They’ve each taken turns gossiping and critiquing a rotating third woman. It makes you think twice before agreeing to vacation with groups of “old friends.”
Apart from the women, the other characters are sensational. It’s probably the best White Lotus cast of their three seasons. It’s sad to think they all won’t make it, especially given the nonstop death foreshadowing, with tsunamis, snake bites, and poisonous fruits all making appearances.
My favorite character group is the Southern family (the Ratliffs). They’re so incredibly rich and dysfunctional. Dad is likely going to prison after the vacation for fraud and money laundering; the oldest son is a prototypical nepo-baby who works for dad with nothing to show for himself but muscles; the daughter is probably the most sane but convinced everyone to go to Thailand for a class project that she didn’t plan; the youngest son is still innocent but also terribly insecure and mentally damaged from his family, and the mom is a full blown drug addict who lives on sleeping pills.
God bless America!
And that’s precisely what makes The White Lotus so compelling. It takes characters we can all recognize either from our own lives or from society and adds captivating narrative arcs. Use a luxury resort in Thailand as your backdrop, and boom, you have a top television show. And next week, they’re going on a yacht while everyone continues to disintegrate.
What could go wrong?
Anora takes the Oscars
I predicted it! Nothing could go wrong for Anora on Sunday night at the Oscars. The Best Picture winner won multiple awards, and for good reason — the writing and cinematography were elite. As I wrote yesterday, I could tell after the first 20 minutes or so that this was not a movie all about sex, even though the main character was a sex worker.
Anora is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while because it’s one of the best stories, with the perfect casting to tell it. It also shows what’s possible when you don’t bow down to Russians.
My only other comment on the Oscars is don’t get dissuaded. It’s easy to dismiss the pageantry as a celebration of rich and famous people simply patting themselves on the back. But we need great films and stories more than ever. We need to celebrate those great works of art that have the power to connect us and expand our minds.
And for those who fell asleep during Adrien Brody’s longest Oscar acceptance speech ever, I will leave you with the greatest acceptance speech of all time from one of my favorites, Joe Pesci:
Boosted stories in The Political Prism - thus far in 2025
Another Defeat: What’s Next For the American Left? by Oliver Caute
The Privatization of Truth: What Meta’s Decision Means for Democracy by Bryan Driscoll
The Controversial NYC Congestion Pricing Program by John Polonis
Revisiting ‘On Tyranny’ by Timothy Snyder in the Age of Trump by Paula Marie Orlando
Constitutional Crisis: How Courts Should Anticipate Trump’s Defiance by John Polonis
The Leftist Empathy Gap and Decolonizing Leftist Spaces for Palestine by E.V. Solanas (إيفيلينا) | 🇵🇸
Why We Should Defend Public Service, Not Dismantle It by Gary Mitchell's Ghost
As editor, I also featured a few stories that I thought could have been boosted, including:
Why H1B Visas Aren’t the Magic Fix for America’s Talent Shortage by Neela 🌶️
Fear vs. Reality: Will I Get Deported Under Trump’s Immigration Policies?by Arturo Mora 😎🔥🎸🚀
Is European Resolve Diminishing on Ukraine? by Oksana Kukurudza's Sunflowers Rarely Break
Despite DEI Purge, Trump Appoints More Women to Cabinet Than Any Republican President by David B. Grinberg 🇺🇸
I worked on something for you for next week. Defending MAGA is impossible John hahaha
But I tried something else. I hope you will like it.
Happy Wednesday!
To your offer to write political, critical pieces, I just have to say:
"If you have a supportive take [of the US' admin] that you can substantiate with quality sources in a long-form essay, I want to hear from you..." Me too.
I'd like to see that, if it can be done...