Newsweek 10/23/2020

2005 “When will the real world catch up?” asked Newsweek, referring to the many movies and shows that portray women in power. Some fear that “those glass ceilings have been broken for naught, and younger women…have decided that the struggle just isn’t worth it.” Women are now half of the U.S. college-educated workforce, but only 7.4 percent of Fortune 500 company CEOs and have never gotten key leadership positions like president or vice president. This year, perhaps, that might change with the selection of Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to be nominated for VP by a major party. 1966 According to Newsweek, Senator Robert F. Kennedy emerged as a strong advocate, giving “a bravura performance” to the Senate pushing for a $750 million anti-poverty bill. Last year, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another fresh face…

ALL SUMMER LONG, JOE BIDEN SURROGATES in Pennsylvania lived in fear of a rerun of 2016’s Nightmare on Election Night, when the Democratic candidate for president, after leading in the polls for weeks, lost the state to Donald Trump by less than one percentage point, clearing his path to the White House. Their biggest concern was tactical: By avoiding in-person campaigning during the pandemic, Biden insiders worried, the former VP was ceding a big advantage to Trump, who, coronavirus be damned, was holding boisterous rallies across the Keystone State and, by proxy, knocking on millions of doors, just as he’d successfully done four years before. Fast forward to early fall, though, and suddenly Biden was everywhere—on a tour of western Pennsylvania with whistle stops in Pittsburgh, Latrobe, Greensburg and Johnstown;…

RECESSION, UNPRECEDENTED unemployment, a pandemic— there’s a lot to be anxious about these days. In fact, researchers who monitor public sentiment on Twitter have determined that 2020 is, by far, the worst year since they began monitoring things in 2008 (itself not the best of times). Every week on LinkedIn Live as part of Newsweek’s new video interview series, I interview authors, business leaders and other thinkers who can help us learn how to become just a little “Better” at what we do. Recently, New York Times bestselling author Chester Elton, co-author of All In, The Carrot Principle and Leading with Gratitude, joined me to share four tips about how we can get smarter about managing our anxiety—and others’—in the workplace. Overcommunicate. “When there’s a gap in communication, that gap gets filled,…

AVOID WAR, DEFEND AMERICA, RECOGNIZE TAIWAN by Gordon G. Chang THE UNITED STATES SHOULD immediately extend diplomatic recognition to the Republic of China. This move will advance the interests of the 23.8 million people of Taiwan, help defend 331 million Americans and deter one angry and increasingly dangerous tyrant in Beijing. On January 1, 1979, the United States switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing as the sole government of China. American strategists thought they needed the help of the People’s Republic of China in the Cold War. The core assumption of a half-century of American “engagement” policies—that a Communist regime would become benign as it integrated into the liberal international system—could not have been more wrong. China, partly through the support of America, has become a strong state. That strong state, however, now spreads…

THE FIRST THREE “NODES” of the conspiracy-theory network known as QAnon arose in 2018 in the persons of founders Tracy Diaz, Paul Furber and Coleman Rogers. They had figured out how to profit from promoting the posts of “Q,” a mysterious figure claiming to have inside information on a mass arrest, undertaken with the blessing of President Trump, that nabbed Hillary Clinton and others for running a pedophile ring. They interpreted, analyzed and amplified Q’s cryptic ramblings of a massive Satanic child-sex-trafficking, blood-drinking cult run by prominent Democrats, among other dubious stories, on YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, 8chan and other social media outlets. Over several years, they racked up hundreds of millions of “follows,” “likes” and “shares”—each connection extending their reach outward, like spokes in a wheel, to new followers, each…

A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, WILDFIRES, RACIAL PROTESTS AND APOLARIZING election: at this moment, a ranking of stores that offer a satisfying shopping experience might seem completely irrelevant. And if that’s what you’re feeling, we won’t argue. But still, if there were ever a time when one wanted to feel listened to and accommodated, it’s now. ¶ For the second year, Newsweek has partnered with respected global data research firm Statista to identify the stores that consistently provide the Best Customer Service 2021. Whether it’s an intuitive website, a generous return policy or a friendly voice on the other end of the phone, these companies have found a way to put you, the consumer, first. ¶ Even amid this ongoing pandemic and its resulting restrictions, our families still want— and need—things. And…