is it hot in here ❤️‍🔥 or is it just that data center next door

ALSO: the industries benefiting most from the vibesession, RIP teen summer jobs, Californians want more political influencer ad disclosures, and more

May 26, 2026

Happy Tuesday, May 26th!

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.

And don’t forget to head to the bottom of the newsletter for the GCC JOBS CORNER! Today, we’ve got SEIU and DAGA.

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 🙏

QUICK NOTE: We are BACK to our regularly scheduled programming after a week off – and hope you had a restorative long weekend! I am jetlagged and sunburned and not at all sure why I don’t live full-time in a small beach town near Barcelona.

Main Takeaways From Pope Leo’s Encyclical on A.I.

Leo uses the Tower of Babel as an illustration of the pitfalls of pursuing uniformity and standardization, and the limits of ambitious undertakings that appear able to compete with the claims of religion. As many aspects of global culture homogenize, and technology becomes a kind of universal language, Leo’s call for humility and diversity stands in contrast. It’s also a reminder that many of the seemingly new ethical and social challenges posed by A.I. have ancient roots. (NYT gift link, 5/25)

How this age of extreme gerrymandering is transforming American politics

None of this is normal. States long stuck to a tradition of redrawing their lines at the start of each decade after receiving census data showing how populations had shifted. Trump last year told Republican-led states to ditch that practice and carve up their states to their advantage ahead of the midterms. Democrats tried to match them but ran into obstacles. (WaPo, 5/25 – free version)

A nation on a hard drive: Inside the rise of digital embassies

Think of it as a giant USB stick loaded with the blueprint and vital data to rebuild an entire state, stored in another country, out of reach of potential invaders, hackers and natural disasters. The site is treated as inviolable, like a real diplomatic embassy. Even the host country can’t enter without permission. (POLITICO, 5/25)

Data Centers Can Make Neighborhoods Up to 4 Degrees Hotter, Study Finds

The study, published May 18 in the Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities, measured heat pollution from a 36-megawatt data center in Mesa, Arizona, and a 169-megawatt data center campus in the neighboring city of Chandler. The researchers found that air temperatures downwind of these facilities were up to 4 degrees F (2 degrees C) higher than upwind temperatures. This heat impact extended up to a third of a mile (half a kilometer) out from the perimeter of the data centers. (Gizmodo, 5/22)

8 AI bots now write 50% of X’s Community Notes

This isn’t hyperbole. In the first three weeks of May, just eight AI contributors wrote 50.3% of all visible Community Notes on the platform. When the program launched five years ago, X positioned it as a way to harness the knowledge of users to add context and corrections to tweets. It described Community Notes as a way to “broaden the range of voices” fighting misinformation. (Indicator, 5/26)

As influencers rise in politics, some call for tighter regulations on payments

Under the law, influencers are required to provide disclosure that a post was sponsored and say who paid for it. Political groups are required to notify paid creators of the requirement. Even if the commission finds that violations have occurred, the penalties are not especially harsh. Violation of the law carries no civil, criminal or administrative penalties. (The LA Times, 5/24)

Lucy’s note: a piece on behind-the-scenes, monied political influence ironically published by the LA Times!

Meta built a Reddit rival out of Facebook Groups

Meta has quietly launched Forum, a Facebook Groups app that pulls community answers into a cleaner standalone space. The app gives Groups a new home for discussions, recommendations, and replies that would normally sit inside Facebook. For anyone who has searched through years of group posts for a useful answer, Forum looks like Meta’s attempt to make that knowledge easier to reach without sending people back into the main feed. (Digital Trends, 5/22)

Watches, movies and burrito taxis fuel small vibecession splurges

Other vibecession winners include food-delivery services like DoorDash, which reported a 27% year-over-year increase in orders in the first quarter. Hobbies and collectibles are in demand — notably a limited-edition, pop art-inspired pocket watch that drew large crowds to Swatch stores in New York, the United Kingdom and France. (Axios, 5/25)

This Summer’s Teen Job Market Is the Toughest in Decades

One key reason this season is expected to be particularly tough: Employers in the entertainment and leisure sector plan to fill 70% fewer roles than last year. The resorts, hotels, amusement parks and other activity centers in that category are known for giving jobs to young workers. (WSJ gift link, 5/24)

UCLA just launched a massive AAPI textbook for the TikTok generation. And it’s free

The textbook officially launched this month — Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month — after some six years of development with contributions from more than 100 authors and curriculum developers from across the country. Designed with the TikTok generation in mind, the platform is optimized for phones and tablets for easy scrolling. (LAist, 5/17 – free version)

This young startup is taking on a fragrance industry that hasn’t changed in almost half a century

They launched Patina last year and began working on a foundation model called Sense1, designed to replicate the scent receptors in the nose and create what they describe as “the first universal code of smell and taste.” Currently, researchers largely use words like “floral” or “woody” to describe smells, an imprecise system that leads to inconsistencies across regions and languages. (TechCrunch, 5/21)