To read the full newsletter, including stories on Tonga's new Prime Minister, a recollection of when Denmark's sovereignty was NOT threatened by the U.S., and a global solution that should have received more attention at Davos, go to: conta.cc/4bDha25

* "You to the Power of Two" — Don Tapscott is co-author of this book that gives scrutiny to “Identic AI,” personal AI agents, and the fight for control of our digital identities.

* "The People’s Cabinet" — Daniel Arrigg Koh’s weekly podcast on bold solutions to today’s political chaos, with top voices from across government and activism, an increasingly important platform in opposition to the current administration.

* "Men of Troy" — Monte Burke revisits USC’s Pete Carroll glory years, from Heisman stars to scandal.

* "The Running Dictionary" — Mark Remy’s witty mini-guide to the strange rituals, delusions, and language of runners.

(Note: Whenever we include a link to a book or other project, we always aim to showcase independent bookstores — and NOT Amazon.)

12/
These aren’t relics of the past — they’re reminders that history repeats as pattern unless people recognize it in time.
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11/
Both films get at something deeply unsettling: once institutions start warping under pressure and public space becomes politicized, the line between democracy and coercion gets very thin.

10/
That strike — along with the ongoing protests and legal conflict over federal enforcement — feels like the real-world echo of what “Battle of Algiers” was dramatizing: collective action meeting forceful response.

9/
And then there’s Minnesota: tens of thousands of people took to the streets, and a statewide general strike shut down businesses, schools, and workplaces in protest.

8/
Though it’s nonviolent, it’s treated like an existential threat. Even people simply … not cooperating becomes something the state feels it has to crush.

7/
There’s a sequence in “Battle of Algiers” that feels especially relevant right now: the general strike by the Algerian Muslim community — mass refusal as resistance.

6/
What really stuck with me is how street-level violence and institutional force feed each other. One escalates, the other justifies, and the spiral keeps tightening. It’s like watching a feedback loop you can’t unplug.

5/
“The Battle of Algiers” is even more direct: everyday life becomes contested ground. Cafés, sidewalks, apartment buildings — suddenly the whole CITY feels like it’s holding its breath.

4/
Courts look the other way. Police get politicized. Officials explain away the unacceptable. The system doesn’t collapse — it just begins to serve power instead of people.

3/
“Z” is set in a fictional country that’s basically Greece under right-wing takeover. What’s terrifying is how authoritarianism doesn’t arrive all at once — it creeps in as institutions start quietly bending.

2/
Watching them with Minnesota on my mind, amid protests and a recent general strike over ICE enforcement and fatal shootings there, felt less like movie night and more like an emergency broadcast.