from the group chat: welcome to GCC!

ALSO: gen z trumpies don't want JD, the NYT's first multiplayer game, Katy Perry as soft power at Davos, and more

Happy Friday, January 23rd. (East coasters, don’t forget to buy toilet paper and snacks today.)

FYSA, every Tuesday and Friday, I’ll be in your inbox with the latest in politics, tech & social media, culture, and other relevant topics – and I’ll share some notes and tips on what I’m keeping my eye on.

I’M ALSO LOOKING FOR MORE PEOPLE TO DO MINI INTERVIEWS FOR OPEN TABS :) Tips, thoughts, concerns, good jokes, bad jokes, tea, etc?

And finally, if you enjoy this newsletter and want to share it with your network (and/or your chronically online friends), or buy me a matcha, that would be so appreciated 🙏

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WELCOME to the new era, my friends! Open Tabs is officially now Group Chat Correspondent. The transition is ongoing (and much will stay the same), but everything should hopefully be all set by the end of this month.

I want to extend a huge, huge thank you to everyone who voted and helped with this situation. I feel immensely grateful to have had so many of the best and brightest in progressive politics and culture to bounce ideas off of and talk to – y’all are seriously the best. And whoever forwarded my TikTok to @baldanndowd, you made my entire year.

I have a little project in the works to show my appreciation, more soon :)

The U.S. Is Actively Seeking Regime Change in Cuba by the End of the Year

While the U.S. hasn’t publicly threatened to use military force in Cuba, Trump officials privately say the brazen raid that extracted Maduro should serve as an implicit threat to Havana. (WSJ gift link, 1/22)

We ran high-level US civil war simulations. Minnesota is exactly how they start (OP-ED)

This scenario closely mirrors one explored in an October 2024 tabletop exercise conducted by the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL), which I direct, at the University of Pennsylvania. In that exercise, a president carried out a highly unpopular law-enforcement operation in Philadelphia and attempted to federalize the Pennsylvania’s national guard. (The Guardian, 1/21)

FCC targets talk shows by revisiting ‘equal time’ rule for political candidates

The “equal time” rule is set out in Section 315 of the Communications Act, though it provides exemptions for “bona fide” news programs or interviews. In 2006, the FCC determined that the “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” qualified for the exemption, distinguishing it from an entertainment program and setting a precedent followed by other talk shows in the ensuing decades. (WaPo, 1/22 – free version)

These Gen-Z Trump voters don’t want JD Vance in 2028

When the 18- to 24-year-olds were asked who else they would like to see as potential candidates in 2028, they named Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback. When the moderator asked who wants to see Vance as the GOP nominee, just one of the nine raised their hand — and even he later signaled he is still unsure of his support. (POLITICO, 1/23)

• Lucy’s note: oh, how the VP anti-incumbency bias tables turn…

Did DOGE sign a ‘voter data agreement’ with election deniers True the Vote?

The filing, made by Department of Justice lawyers on behalf of the Social Security Administration (SSA), did not name the group. But during the period in question — March, 2025 — the prominent election denial organization True the Vote was mounting a coordinated campaign, pleading with DOGE to use federal databases, including the Social Security Administration, to probe voter rolls. (Democracy Docket, 1/21)

TikTok finalizes a deal to form a new American entity

TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years on the platform now used by more than 200 million Americans. The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form the new TikTok U.S. joint venture. (AP, 1/23)

OpenAI rolls out age prediction on ChatGPT

OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, had in December said that she expects “adult mode” to debut within ChatGPT in the first quarter of 2026, following chief executive Sam Altman’s comments about allowing mature content for users who verify their age. (Reuters, 1/20)

Gen Z’s hottest club: The local dive bar

Exhausted from years of chasing exclusive reservations and trendy foods from viral videos and ordering app deliveries from ghost kitchens, young adults in America are now looking closer to home for something you can’t promote on Instagram and TikTok: their own version of Central Perk or Cheers. (Business Insider, 1/23 – free version)

Katy Perry Joins Boyfriend Justin Trudeau in Davos as Former Canadian PM Speaks on the Importance of ‘Soft Power’

He explained how certain current world leaders utilize forms of “hard power” and urged the opposite in today’s climate, noting that nations coming together is more productive for the world at large. Elsewhere during the speech, Trudeau got candid about a recent “date with an American girl to a rooftop bar in Montréal” and noted that “she ordered a Jack and Coke.” (People, 1/20)

• Lucy’s note: absolute fever dream of a headline

Travel’s newest flex: “Skillcations”

Vacations are being redefined as investments in personal growth — a shift that’s reshaping how people use PTO and how the travel industry sells time away. 72% of people say they want time off work to explore a personal passion, skill or hobby, per Hilton’s 2026 trends report. Travelers opting into “skillcations” or “curiosity leave” use PTO for trips to embark on experiences ranging from gourmet cooking to mastering mahjong. (Axios Chicago, 1/22)

This just in from The New York Times: Its first 2-player game, and an evolving business model

The Times’ popular Games unit is debuting Crossplay, a Scrabble-like electronic feature that represents its first designed multiplayer game. It becomes the website’s 11th game, joining a lineup of puzzles that were collectively played over 11.2 billion times in 2025. (AP, 1/21)

Why London’s Chimney Sweeps Are Enjoying a Resurgence

According to the National Association of Chimney Sweeps, demand has been bolstered by high energy prices, the popularity of wood-burning stoves and an international climate that has prompted warnings that electricity supplies could be vulnerable to attack by hostile states like Russia. (NYT gift link, 1/18)

There are now more than 1 million “.ai” websites, contributing an estimated $70 million to Anguilla’s government revenue last year

One unlikely beneficiary has been the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, which lucked into a future fortune when ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, gave the island the “.ai” top-level domain in the mid-1990s. Indeed, since ChatGPT’s launch at the end of 2022, the gold rush for websites to associate themselves with the burgeoning AI technology has seen a flood of revenue for the island of just ~15,000 people. (Sherwood, 1/23)

Extra Credit 🤓

Some newsletters I thought were excellent recently:

• “Is the World Getting Grayer?” from Chris Dalla Riva of Can't Get Much Higher

  • cool charts alert!

• “You don’t miss 2016, you miss originality” from Chanda

  • this and above… the core of 2016 nostalgia really just seems to be missing anything colorful, authentic, and original IP

That’s all for now – I’ll see you on Tuesday!