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You’ve probably heard a lot about the gender gap in presidential politics by now. And this most of all: In modern presidential politics, the gender gap has never been wider, but it gets particularly large when we break out gender by educational attainment. KerrY Bush Obama McCain Obama Romney Clinton Trump Biden Trump Harris Trump +40 Dem. KerrY Bush Obama McCain Obama Romney Clinton Trump Biden Trump Harris Trump +40 Dem. The story of this election could well be the gender gap between those Americans who went to college and those who didn’t.

Persons: You’ve, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Harris, Trump, KerrY Bush Obama McCain Obama Romney Clinton Trump Biden, KerrY Bush Obama McCain Obama Romney Clinton Trump Biden Trump Harris, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton’s, —, Trump’s, JD Vance, ”, Vance, Biden, Ronald Reagan, Reagan, Joe Rogan’s, Joe Rogan, Brené Brown, Wade, Joe Biden’s, Amanda Iovino, Glenn Youngkin’s Organizations: Trump, Harris, women, Pew, Mr, Pew Research, Facebook, Democratic, Pew Research Center, KerrY Bush Obama McCain Obama Romney Clinton Trump Biden Trump, KerrY Bush Obama McCain Obama Romney Clinton Trump Biden Trump Harris Trump, ., Election, Republicans, Republican Party, Democratic Party, America, Lake Research Partners, Democratic National Committee, WPA Intelligence, Republican, Republican National Convention, Democratic National Convention, YouTube Locations: American, New York, Roe

☆ There’s a Reason Most People Aren’t Following the New York Trump Trial - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Matthew Walther | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Christopher Hitchens once described participation in the absurd debate over who actually wrote Shakespeare’s plays as “an unfailing sign of advanced intellectual and mental prostration.” It would be unsporting to apply this characterization of literary conspiracy theorists to the enthusiastic followers of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York, but only, I think, because the verdict in the latter case is still an open question. For the uninitiated (a category to which a great majority of voters belong), the most immediately striking feature of both Shakespeare denialism and the Trump trial is impenetrability: endless rolls of decontextualized names and dates; speculative chronologies; inconsequential or irrelevant details invested with a lurid significance; complex, novel theories of evidence that are somehow applicable only to one individual. How many people, even those who purport to be following the case against Mr. Trump, can summarize the premise on which the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, has based his claim that various alleged low-level bookkeeping offenses somehow congeal into a felony, much less explain why Mr. Trump is the only person of note whose ostensible accounting errors are treated like this? People recognize, at least implicitly, that the trial is in effect an attempt to settle an issue that courts are poorly suited to decide: namely, whether Mr. Trump should again be elected president of the United States. That, as they say, is a question for another day, specifically Nov. 5.

Persons: Christopher Hitchens, Donald Trump’s, Shakespeare denialism, Trump, Alvin Bragg, Shakespeare, Francis Bacon Locations: New York, Manhattan, United States

☆ The N.F.L.’s New Kickoff Rule Is Terrible - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Matthew Walther | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There is no English noun that adequately conveys what millions of fans experience on the eve of the pro football season. This year, alas, my sense of tranquillity is being threatened by the N.F.L.’s decision to change the rules governing kickoffs. After a fair catch, the ball will be placed on the 25-yard line (just as it would after a traditional “touchback” in the end zone). This new rule, adopted in the name of player safety, is the latest and most drastic in a series of changes that the N.F.L. has made to the kickoff in recent years, in what seems to be a prelude to eliminating it altogether.

☆ William Friedkin’s Movie ‘The Exorcist’ Understands Old-Time Catholicism - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Matthew Walther | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It is one of those strange accidents of history that the best film ever made about the Roman Catholic Church was directed by a Jewish agnostic. When it came out, “The Exorcist” didn’t just shock audiences with lurid scenes of projectile vomiting and spinning heads. It also forced them to acknowledge a tension, most acutely felt in the Catholic Church but omnipresent in Western society, that had grown between two rival conceptions of religion. Is religion an expression of a transcendent moral and metaphysical order? “The Exorcist” came down on the side of tradition.

Persons: William Friedkin, ”, Friedkin Organizations: Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church, Catholic, Vatican Council

☆ How ‘Undisputed’ Emerged as an Unlikely Forum for Smart Talk About Politics and Race - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Matthew Walther | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

It pitted Mr. Bayless, a journalist who helped popularize the daytime sports talk format on ESPN with a show called “First Take,” against Mr. Sharpe, a Hall of Fame tight end who won two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos and one with the Baltimore Ravens. In an early episode of the show in 2016, Lil Wayne appeared to discuss the national anthem protests led by Colin Kaepernick and other N.F.L. This is not a perspective that has much cultural purchase on NPR or CNN, but it is shared by millions of Americans. Throughout their exchange, Mr. Bayless asked occasional questions but seemed mostly content to listen. A self-described “God and country guy,” Mr. Bayless is often considered a mouthpiece for older, tradition-minded sports fans, but his own views are somewhat less predictable.

Persons: LeBron James, Michael Jordan, ”, Bayless, Sharpe, Lil Wayne, —, Covid, George Floyd, Colin Kaepernick, Mr, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s, Justice Ginsberg Organizations: ESPN, Fame, Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, YouTube, Lakers, Cleveland Browns, NPR, CNN Locations: African American, Georgia

☆ Opinion | Read This Before Shopping for Your Bud Light Replacement Beer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Matthew Walther | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In the words of a television spot from 1979: “It’s not city beer. Rather than acknowledge Bud Light’s place in a faceless globalized chain of ownership, advertisements for the beer attempt to underscore its supposedly distinctive American and working-class character. Some years ago a series of advertisements featured the Bud Knight, a character who figured in faux-medieval settings alongside a royal personage known as the Dilly Dilly King. In one spot, the king enters a tavern and orders “Bud Lights for everyone,” eliciting cries of approval from the assembled crowd. The implication is that Bud Light is for ordinary decent people who just want to have a good time with their friends, not smug effete connoisseurs.

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