2 texas is frozen, mars mania

after feedback from reader T.K., we’ve upgraded the quality of our audio newsletter. if you’re on the run Sunday mornings, you can just hit the play button above to listen in. we’d love to hear from you too! 

big idea: the world is ending (but only in texas)

1. while texas is facing its lowest temperatures in 30 years, it’s acting like the apocalypse has come. reader S.C. in austin tells us her local walmart was closed, her power was out for over 24 hours, and now the city is telling residents to boil their water. people are dying because texas can’t handle near-zero temperatures. hearing all this makes us wish we were in cancun, until we found out that ted cruz is there...

2. while republicans are blaming frozen wind turbines, the reality is that:

   1. gas, coal, and nuclear plants were also knocked offline because of frozen pipes

   2. texas’s grid is disconnected from the rest of ‘murica’s (the only state with such a system) for the utterly stupid reason of texans wanting to avoid federal oversight. the downside to this isolationist mentality is that neighboring states can’t send in spare electricity. other states also facing record low temperatures have largely avoided crippling blackouts because they tapped into the national grid.

   3. the deregulation of texan power companies (in the name of small government) has led to a lack of investment for this type of scenario, and now, skyrocketing prices for consumers because surge pricing is legal

3. companies have to own up to the fact that governmental regulation isn’t inherently evil and literally keeps the lights on. while texas’s ‘go it alone’ attitude might result in higher profits in the short term, it is lethal long term.

4. companies and states should force utilities to harden equipment against sudden weather shifts, which are more likely to occur in the future due to climate change

story to watch: a new space race is kicking off

1. three missions arrived at mars recently. china and the UAE’s orbiters rolled in last week, and ‘murica’s rover landed thursday. while most people are focused on daddy Bezos’s and bully Elon’s space companies, the real space race is between the US and China.

2. this sort of traffic jam is going to happen more frequently. beijing arguably has a head start to mars given that its space agency doesn’t have to fight for funding from congress, or battle shifting political winds every few years. 

3. like the ‘60s space race against ‘those commie ba*sta*rds’, winning this space race isn’t just about showing off - it’s about who has the best tech, best talent, and the spirit to go where no (wo)man has gone before

4. the first space race caused an incredible burst of r&d from both the government and private NASA contractors, leading to the invention of everything from better dialysis to satellites. if readers still think this is a waste of money, consider that NASA’s annual budget ($23 billion) is about what the military spends on just building maintenance.

this week’s image: kid knievel

• (Reuters) an eight year old venezuelan girl does stunts which we can’t even do in our dreams

this week’s number: 10.5% gender wage gap for gig workers

1. a new study finds that women earn 10.5% less than men in the gig economy. the traditional job market gender gap is 18% on average (but as high as 46% for Latinas).

2. what’s surprising is that gig work is anonymous, gender-blind, and flexible. instead of the overt sexism seen in traditional jobs, researchers think the 10.5% gap is caused instead by women subconsciously settling for lower paying tasks. expect more research in this field in the future.

what we’re reading: “I, Robot”

1. a classic, 250-page ‘50s sci-fi novel written by our fav biochem prof (no, not the terrible Will Smith movie based on the book)

2. this was the first bestseller to consider how humanity will change when intelligent robots become part of our everyday lives, establishing “three laws of robotics” which continue to influence AI ethics today (all hail the singularity!)

reader mailbag:

1. reader H.A. disagreed with issue 1’s big idea that the GOP will be relegated to the minority in the house. he has a point - the midterm cycle & redistricting will be good for them.

2. however, we believe the GOP’s continued embrace of Donald will limit their appeal in the longer term (and Joe kicking covid’s butt may result in a bump for dems short term, like for W after 9/11)

and, in case you missed it:

• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was elected as the first Black and first female director-general of the World Trade Organization, before winning the world record for awesomest name ever

• plans are back on track to replace genocidal Jackson on the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman

• we may be seeing the beginning of inflationary pressures, with food prices starting to rise

the weekly rundown is produced by Ahmed, Faisal, and Yunus. learn more about us, and remember to email us your comments and suggestions!