Dez Reads. Teamster Tactics, Crisis Controversies, Disinformation Dilemmas, Doomsday Luxuries, and WNBA Wins.

For your poolside reading this week: Dez superstar Kaci Donegan makes her Dez Reads debut with a look at some of the fallout from the attempted assassination of Donald Trump; Steven Schlein examines the continued rise of the Teamsters in American politics; Jen Hirshon has something to say about the luxury apocalypse bunkers being built by the rich and famous; and Mike Bova appreciates (as do I) the rise of the WNBA as a top-tier sport.

Your faithful correspondent is out of town this week, so nothing from me. I’m glad to see our team continuing to read and learn – that cultural curiosity is what has set our firm apart for decades. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week.

Here we go.

Politics.

Axios. Teamster president Sean O’Brien savages big business in RNC speech

Sean O’Brien, the president of the 1.3 million-strong International Brotherhood of Teamsters, is a brilliant political strategist. He asked the DNC and RNC for primetime speaker slots at their convention; the Republicans took him up on it. His job is to get policymakers to support pro-union initiatives, and he has been working hard, with some success, to cultivate Republicans that represent working-class districts. In my youth, I held a Teamsters card for nine months from a corrupt local in New Jersey that was eventually taken over by the federal government. To see a Teamsters president taking the stage at a national political convention 45 years later impresses the hell out of me.  

His appearance at the Republican National Convention accomplished two things: 1) It’s a warning shot at Democrats for taking unions for granted; and 2) It put him in a position to have access to a potential Trump administration. This is pure pollical genius. 

Sean O’Brien for president in 2028!

– Steven Schlein

Crisis.

CNN. Demolition Ranch YouTuber: ‘Shocked and confused’ to see Trump shooter wearing my shirt

A popular YouTube channel for gun enthusiasts with over 11 million subscribers has found itself inadvertently associated with the recent assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump after it was reported that the shooter was wearing a Demolition Ranch branded T-shirt on the day of the attempted assassination. Matt Carriker, the owner of the channel, took to YouTube to address the situation–expressing his shock, condemning the actions, and sharing his condolences, all to distance his brand from the violence that took place last Saturday.

While Carriker was swift, direct, and sincere in his handling of the situation, this is yet another reminder that no brand or individual is immune to controversy, a common theme here at Dez Reads. Crises are unpredictable, and anticipating one of this magnitude is nearly impossible – especially when it can start with something as seemingly harmless as selling a T-shirt. 

– Kaci Donegan

Culture.

NYT. Even Disinformation Experts Don’t Know How to Stop It

As the internet and social media have evolved, we’ve learned a lot about disinformation in recent years. When it comes to false and misleading content, researchers know more than ever before.

However, the mystery remains: how to stop it from spreading like wildfire?

Nonpartisan civic groups like the League of Women Voters are serving on the frontlines of combating disinformation, but it can be “demoralizing and sometimes dangerous work, requiring an unusual degree of optimism and doggedness.” Unfortunately, these volunteer word warriors, for all their doggedness, are no match for bots, toxic content, and conspiracy theories of all shapes and sizes.  

A recent “megastudy” tested disinformation interventions like warning labels and digital literacy training and results show that these measures have only improved the ability of its 33,000 participants to judge true or false headlines by 5-10%. Not exactly a marker of great success.

Efforts continue to combat the information integrity crisis, but as one professor involved in the research put it, “It’s really all a mess right now.”

– Anne Marie Malecha

BBC. Here are the new luxury (and very weird) doomsday bunkers built by billionaires | BBC Science Focus Magazine

Sure, there’s “Zillow therapy,” as Anne Marie discussed previously, where people find solace in browsing homes online. But what about the allure of Doomsday Bunkers? For years, I’ve been captivated by news articles of the ultra-wealthy prepping for the apocalypse with lavish bunkers designed not just for survival, but for comfort that rivals a five-star vacation retreat. Probably because I love books such as Station Eleven or TV shows such as Fallout.

What is interesting to note is the shift towards viewing these bunkers as vacation homes, reflecting a broader trend among the ultra-wealthy who crave not only safety but also luxury and comfort in their doomsday preparations. Instead of just a place to hunker down during a crisis, these bunkers offer a lifestyle of leisure and relaxation, albeit in an underground fortress built to withstand catastrophic events. These are not your great-grandfather’s bunkers, folks.

The allure of Doomsday Bunkers as vacation homes may continue to grow, as will my fascination. 

– Jen Hirshon

Sports.

The Athletic. WNBA’s media rights deals set league up to receive $2.2 billion over next 11 years: Sources

The heightened attention on women’s college basketball and now WNBA enthusiasm is starting to show significant financial returns. As part of the NBA’s new blockbuster $75 billion media rights deal, the WNBA is reportedly set to receive $2.2 billion during that same 11-year timeframe. While the disparity between those two numbers remains large, this will quadruple the $50 million a year that the league currently receives, with reports that the WNBA expects to sell two other rights packages that will bring in an additional $60 million annually – bringing the total to roughly $260 million a year.

These developments are a testament to the great work the league and the players have done to attract a whole new audience, but they also again highlight the high price that cable providers and streaming services are putting on any live sports they can get their hands on. And while you are likely tired of me talking about this, until we get a streaming service that lets you just watch your favorite sports teams, this will be the last bulwark against full-on chord cutting.

– Mike Bova

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