The Navigator, Saturday, November 2, 2024
Elon Musk, Road Rage, the RNC's voter fraud strategy, AI Girlfriends, School for Seniors, Fake CEOs—and more
Happy weekend, subscribers!
With just days left until the election in the United States, we’re on pins and needles, like most of the world. We’ve been covering the change that this election cycle has wrought, everything from the impact of vibes to the role of GenZ, the role of new media, and the proliferation of misinformation. We’ll continue this coverage as the dust settles post-election, clarifying the trends that may become norms in the future.
Earlier this week, we sent you our first reader survey. It’s an opportunity for us to learn more about you and continue to tailor our coverage to meet your interests. Please take a moment to respond to our survey today! We deeply value your input and the conversations and ideas you share!
And as always, thank you for including us in your regular reads. In case you missed it, check out our pieces from this week. High Anxiety explores plans by local, state and national organizations, agencies and local community groups to prevent violence from erupting on—and after—this Tuesday’s election. Good Death is a call to action for more people to engage in end-of-life planning.
Please keep the conversation going by leaving a comment below, and let us know what you’d like us to cover next.
Trump Says the Country Is ‘Dying.’ The Data Says Otherwise. (The New York Times)
Actual data seldom tells a simple tale of disaster or triumph, but in this case, indicators of national well-being over recent decades suggest that the reports of our nation’s demise are greatly exaggerated.
The Perfect Girlfriend (Esquire)
Flirty, sexy, seductive, supportive. Your AI companion can be whatever you want her to be. And now a growing number of men are turning to bots to ease their loneliness or satisfy their kinks. The choices are endless. The emotions are real.
Wealthier Americans Are Paying Millions to Age on Luxury Campuses (The Wall Street Journal)
High-end restaurants, manicured grounds and guest lectures. But the one-time entrance fees can exceed $1 million
Why Kamala Harris Is Targeting Deep-Red Counties (The Atlantic)
“Countrypolitan” areas around Charlotte and Raleigh are where North Carolina will be won—and lost.
LGBTQ activists canvassed in a red state. The conversations surprised them. (The Washington Post)
The group spread out across Missouri in the final days before the election. Residents had viewpoints that did not fit into neat, partisan boxes.
Special Report: Is climate change lighting a fuse under Iceland's volcanoes? (Reuters)
Scientists are racing to find out whether the rapid retreat of glaciers could drive a surge in eruptions as magma builds under the island nation — and if so, whether the same might occur at ice-covered volcanoes around the world, putting many lives at risk.
This Is What $44 Billion Buys You (The Atlantic)
Ellon Musk has turned X (formerly Twitter) into a political weapon.
Inside the Republican National Committee’s Poll-Watching Army (The New Yorker)
The R.N.C. says it has recruited tens of thousands of volunteers to observe the voting process at precincts across the country. Their accounts of alleged fraud could, as one Trump campaign official put it, “establish the battlefield” for after November 5th.
Suck Up to your fake CEO (The Economist)
The deepfake scam explosion has only just begun, with Asia in the foreground.
Guns. Knives. Bats. Hammers. Hatchets. Spears. (The Washington Post)
As incidents of road rage escalate across the country, aggressive drivers in Texas try to understand what triggers the anger.