Monday Briefing | November 16
Astronauts Soichi Noguchi, left, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins at Cape Canaveral before the launch. Credit...Joe Skipper/Reuters
Photo: Credit: Joe Skipper/Reuters
Stories to follow:
NASA successfully launched the Crew-1 mission from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday evening. Using the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule, NASA propelled four astronauts to the International Space Station. Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi are scheduled to spend six months at the ISS, conducting scientific research. The launch marked the inception of the Commercial Crew Program, which marks the resumption of regular flights from America to the ISS after nine years of relying on Russian launch vehicles.
Now that Joe Biden has been elected president, the election season truce between DNC moderates and progressives has ended. The two wings of the DNC are blaming one another for the party’s poor performance in Senate and House races and simultaneously jockeying for Biden cabinet appointments. Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the DNC for lacking “core competencies” to run campaigns. AOC further warned that if the Biden administration did not appoint progressives to top positions, the DNC would be routed in the 2022 midterm elections. To counter, moderates are blaming progressive messaging, like “Defund the Police,” for blowing down-ballot races. Keep an eye on cabinet appointments in the coming weeks. And expect moderates to dominate the Biden administration.
This week in JPI:
For Developing Countries, Desire to Grow Overpowers Climate Change. Vanisha Sampat considers the political, financial and social obstacles that developing nations face in confronting climate change.
Happening this week:
The Queens-based Museum of the Moving Image is hosting an ongoing online exhibition, “Every Movie Cough.” As the name suggests, “ECM” presents coughs and sneezes from throughout the history of cinema. The first database of its kind, “ECM” compiles historic bodily expulsions to be considered through the lens of the ongoing pandemic.
Saturday, November 21st at 8:00 pm EST, join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra online for its performance of “You Have The Right To Remain Silent.” This poignant and timely program features Avery Fisher Prize winning clarinet soloist Anthony McGill.
In your free time:
To celebrate NASA’s return to human spaceflight, revisit NASA’s original venture, Project Mercury, with Tom Wolfe’s nonfiction novel “The Right Stuff.” Released in 1979, Wolfe’s irreverent space race standard was adapted into the 1983 Oscar-winning film and the 2020 Disney+ television show. Each version of “The Right Stuff” considers the domestic politics driving early NASA decision-making, the geopolitical ramifications of the space race, and the personality quirks of America’s first star voyagers.
Or, to prepare for the November 24th release of “Ready Player Two,” by revisiting “Ready Player One.” Before the long-anticipated sequel drops next Monday, refresh your memory with either the New York Times bestselling novel, or the Steven Spielberg blockbuster film adaptation.
This week’s Monday Briefing was brought to you by Harrison Kass.
