Unlike many of my friends who cover politics and who traditionally spend convention weeks talking all day at breakfasts and parties and inside the convention hall, I’ve regrettably watched nearly every minute of the last five conventions on television. On that curve, I found the DNC this past week pretty entertaining — the mix of sincerity, weirdness, and technologically distinct lighting and filming styles really kept the whole thing alive and interesting in a way conventions rarely are with the one, boring stage.
Anyway, the best part was the great roll call, which we covered here (many great accents and backdrops). The weirdest part were the musical performances, which included: Billy Porter and Stephen Stills covering Buffalo Springfield with an acid karaoke backdrop; a Maine candidate talking about her Senate run in golden seacoast light, then turning to reveal Maggie Rogers on a rock with a guitar; Billie Eilish debuting a single during the Democratic National Convention ; Diplo doing a DJ set in which he “flew” to Milwaukee like Superman.
Links
If you like logistics, Ruby Cramer’s got all the inside details on how they approached the DNC speech on the final night, and the crazy/surreal scramble to move everything from Milwaukee to Wilmington in two weeks — including the COVID testing apparatus.
And speaking of deep strangeness, a great story on the 2020 Trump campaign (and the deep strangeness of its day-to-day workings) here from Olivia Nuzzi, including a long, funny exchange with an Ohio Republican about polling.
This is really sharp and empathetic from Rob George about Kamala Harris, his experience growing up as a black immigrant, and identity in America.
“Since Casa Amadeo has reopened, though, he’s noticed a change: He’s now selling over ten guitars a month, when he usually sells only around three. And since the instruments cost anywhere from $60 to $895, it’s adding up to a substantial increase in his monthly sales.” Interesting story about a cash-only Bronx music store.
The AP called up a bunch of states, which are mostly not going through with the executive-driven unemployment. Different states and governors have different rationales in either direction — it’s interesting.
American schools are doing stuff like giving everyone in the class code names to protect Chinese students from the new laws there.
Tangentially on the subject of code names, Harris picked “Pioneer” for her U.S. Secret Service call sign. I’ve never really understood why these are public — like, are they… decoy names? Are we honoring an antique tradition no longer in practical use, like baking cookies on Christmas Eve as adults? Regardless, the Wikipedia page on this topic is great, and contains the full range of “cool” and “mysterious” to “would be mortified if Secret Service referred to me as ‘Smurfette,’ let alone in a way that would forever be associated with my name.” Also, the USSS apparently called Edith Wilson “Grandma,” which I’m sure she did not appreciate.
Light book commentary
Last weekend, so that I could properly analyze the text with a friend who’d already read the book, I skimmed Finding Freedom, the story of Harry and Meghan.
Now, this book purports to tells their side of the story. Instead, what I’d like to present you are two things. First, there is a man who goes by Skippy, and he actually delivers the most sensible advice in the entire book: Perhaps, suggests Skippy like three months into their relationship, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry should live together for a period of time before deciding to marry.
Second, I would just like to present this:
Although Meghan didn’t grow up with pets, Bogs, as she called him, became the object of her devotion and in heavy rotation on her Instagram feed. But she credits Ellen DeGeneres as the reason she adopted the Lab mix.
Meghan was cuddling with Bogart at the animal shelter that had rescued him and his brother in Los Angeles when the daytime talk show host walked in with her wife, actress Portia de Rossi.
‘Is that your dog?’ Ellen asked Meghan.
‘No,’ Meghan answered.
The two women had never met. And although Meghan, of course, knew Ellen, Ellen had no idea who she was. Still, the famous comedian said to her, ‘You have to take that dog.’
‘Well, I’m deciding…’
‘Rescue the dog!’ Ellen ordered.
Ellen left the rescue center, but as soon as she walked outside, she tapped on the window and yelled to Meghan, ‘Take the dog!’
So there you have it.
A note on all this
Thanks for subscribing. Hope you enjoy. The goal here is just to offer up some links you may have missed, and maybe the occasional commentary on something in politics or a book I may have read that you, the reader, might enjoy. If you have thoughts on any of this, hit me up at katherinemillernyc@gmail.com or just tweet at me.