today in tabs: Gen Z as Jekyll and Hyde?
ALSO: buy those Nike sneakers right now, Sen. Cory Booker has more to say, and more...
Happy Wednesday, May 28th, 2025.
There are two Gen Zs
That internal split, roughly between those aged 18 to 24 in the latter camp and 25 to 29 in the former, hasn’t dissipated post-election; it is still showing up in polling and surveys. No cohort is monolithic, but a combination of factors — the pandemic, the rise of smartphones and newer social media, inflation, Trump — seems to be driving a wedge within Gen Z. (Vox, 5/27)
Lucy’s note: I recommend reading
’s excellent coverage on this schism in Gen Z.
Tariffs Are Coming for Your Sneakers
Last week, Nike said it plans to raise the prices of many of its products by June 1. Industry analysts expect that two of the sports brands’ biggest rivals, Adidas and Puma, will soon roll out similar increases, although neither company has confirmed pricing changes yet. (The Cut, 5/27)
Sen. Cory Booker expands upon historic Senate floor speech for new book, ‘Stand’
“This book is about the virtues vital to our success as a nation and lessons we can draw from generations of Americans who fought for them,” Booker said in a statement. Booker’s speech broke a record set by Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a segregationist and southern Democrat who opposed the advance of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which eventually passed. (AP, 5/28)
Why the left gets the far right wrong
Socialist candidates, like Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn, failed spectacularly to win over either far-right or working-class voters when given a chance in national elections. And attempts by center-left politicians to tack left, like President Joe Biden’s “post-neoliberal” agenda on trade and antitrust, have failed to bring disaffected voters back from the right-wing cold. (Vox, 5/28 – free version)
Lucy’s note: This is a super wonky but interesting take on how the left always assumes people are fundamentally materialists – but that misses some key factors.
A white-collar bloodbath
AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years, Amodei told us in an interview from his San Francisco office. (Axios, 5/28)
US will refuse visas to foreign officials who block Americans’ social media posts
Marco Rubio – the secretary of state who has controversially rescinded visas for activists who criticize Israel and ramped up screening of foreign students’ social media – said on Wednesday he was acting against “flagrant censorship actions” overseas against US tech firms. (The Guardian, 5/28)
The Jaw-Dropping Cost of a Hamptons Girls’ Weekend
On TikTok and Instagram, women post videos and photo carousels uncanny in their repetition. The parades of hydrangea-studded scenes and rosé-drowned meals, narrated in a monotone, almost feel AI-generated. (WSJ, 5/25 – free version)
McDonald’s is closing down CosMc’s, its beverage-focused spinoff
CosMc’s menu consisted of sweet drinks and light snacks, with the company hoping customers would visit during their afternoon slump. A spinoff was launched because executives thought the customizable drinks would be too much of a strain on its McDonald’s employees, but fewer people customized their drinks than the company thought. (CNN Business, 5/24)
There’s a Crazy New Wrinkle to Choosing a College
The roots go back to 2019, when the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which represents admissions officers and high-school counselors, voted to scrap parts of its ethics code under threat from the Justice Department, which said it stifled competition. A section that discouraged colleges from recruiting students after May 1 was eliminated. (Intelligencer, 5/23 – free version)
L.A. Made Big Promises for the Olympics. Can It Deliver by 2028?
But three years before the opening of the 2028 Summer Olympics, those ambitious promises have been scaled back, supplanted by obstacles that are threatening to undercut preparations for an event that would test this city’s wits and resources even in the best of times. (NYT, 5/28 – free version)
That’s all for now – I’ll see you on Thursday!