isaac james on showing up where community already exists
ALSO: TikTok as college counselor, the rise of weird, niche parties, how the manosphere became a multi-billion dollar industry, and more
Happy Friday, August 7th!
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 like the one below :) 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 🙏
Today, we’ve got some texts from the very cool Isaac James, Co-Founder & Executive Director at OutVote, which is an organization dedicated to helping more young LGBTQ+ people get informed, engaged, and involved in civic life. Enjoy!
LR: The 2024 electoral cycle was a crazy one, to say the absolute least. What were the specific moments that inspired you to start OutVote, and what were your main takeaways from that cycle going into this one?
IJ: OutVote started with a conversation between my co-founder, Ranen Miao, and me in the summer of 2023. We kept coming back to the same frustration: Gen Z is the largest and queerest generation in American history, but the existing LGBTQ+ advocacy landscape was not engaging with our generation in an authentic and effective way, and no organization was exclusively focused on educating and mobilizing queer and trans youth.
After many late-night Zoom calls, countless conversations with LGBTQ+ movement leaders, and a rapidly-expanding Google Drive folder, we launched OutVote in January 2024 and hired our first 12 organizers. That November, watching anti-LGBTQ+ politicians win across the country while youth turnout declined in critical states made the urgency of what we were building impossible to ignore.
Now over two years old, we’ve reached millions of young LGBTQ+ voters through digital civic education and made tens of thousands of direct voter contacts in key states. The main lesson from 2024 is that LGBTQ+ youth expect authentic, relevant, and sustained engagement. I’m excited that this midterm year will be our most ambitious deployment yet, fueled by our belief that young queer and trans people can transform electoral outcomes.
LR: And speaking of crazy cycles… this current one is, once again, an unprecedented moment in American politics. What are three things that you wish people understood better about Gen Z voters right now, especially LGBTQ+ Gen Z voters?
IJ: First, disillusionment is different from apathy. Gen Z has grown up with school shootings, climate disasters, attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, unaffordable housing and technology changing faster than the government can begin to respond to it. When young people question whether political institutions can solve problems, it makes sense. We have spent our entire lives watching leaders describe problems as urgent and then fail to act.
Second, Gen Z is the queerest generation in history. Nearly one-third of Gen Z identifies as LGBTQ+, representing more than 10 million eligible voters. We’re not a niche constituency, but we’re also not a monolith. We live everywhere, hold all kinds of intersecting identities and care about everything from grocery prices and housing to healthcare and climate change.
Third, we have the power to determine the outcome in competitive races — including in the congressional districts where OutVote is working this year — but that takes investment in our community. Investing in LGBTQ+ youth civic participation means: paying young organizers (a living wage!), building authentic community infrastructure, and engaging people long before the final few weeks of an election. Young people can absolutely swing elections, but only if someone does the less glamorous work of building relationships and organizing online and offline, and those investments need to begin early.
LR: I know OutVote does a lot of work on the ground. What lessons have you learned about building trust with voters who may care deeply about political issues but feel disillusioned with electoral politics or political institutions, or even feel actively pushed out or excluded by them?
IJ: The biggest lesson is that distrust in our process isn’t irrational, but it’s also not permanent. If a young LGBTQ+ person has watched political institutions ignore their community, politicians compromise away their rights or contact them only when an election is close, who could blame them? We deserve political institutions that refuse to turn their back on LGBTQ+ youth.
At OutVote, we’re investing in trusted messengers. Young LGBTQ+ people may not trust a political party, a large nonprofit or someone parachuting into their community, but they do trust their friends and the voices they follow online. That’s why we hire and pay local LGBTQ+ young people to organize in the communities and neighborhoods they call home. We provide training, funding, and resources, and we don’t pretend we understand their community better than they do.
OutVote’s organizing efforts are grounded in showing up where community already exists – places like open-mic nights, picnics, student groups, drag shows and online spaces. We’ve found it often makes more sense to bring voter registration or a political conversation into something people already wanted to attend.
LR: If OutVote were a cocktail, what would it be?
IJ: A spicy margarita. It’s fun but has a serious kick to it. Plus, I’m from Texas!
LR: What is your favorite meme or viral moment of 2026 thus far?
IJ: Most recently, the “preparing for my Netflix documentary” trend. We did a version for OutVote about “Gen Z’s political power being grossly underestimated.” I’m a longtime Big Brother fan and here for a confessional-style setup.
Trump fills ambassador posts with more donors, loyalists than any recent president
In selecting donors and loyalists for ambassadorships, the president is flouting a 1980 law that states that only people with diplomatic experience should serve in such roles — and that these assignments should not be used as political patronage. But the law is seen as merely advisory due to the president’s constitutional right to make political appointments, said Ryan Scoville, a professor at Marquette University who has studied ambassador nominations. (WaPo, 8/6 – free version)
At least 12 states report cyberattacks on water systems possibly linked to Iran-backed hackers, sources say
Some utilities have lost critical remote-control capabilities, forcing operators to switch to manual mode. In several cases, the hackers gained remote access to pumps, valves and water pressure. So far, according to officials, the cyberattacks have had no impact on drinking water, which has remained safe. (CBS News, 8/6)
TikTok Withheld a Safety Feature From Millions. One Died by Suicide
When TikTok tweaked its algorithm in 2021 to stop users from being overwhelmed with harmful content, the company didn’t roll out the safer version to everyone, a confidential internal document shows. Instead, to see if the change might reduce the app’s stickiness, the company conducted an experiment. It created a control group of 10% of US users — at the time, that would have been about 15 million people — who kept the old version of the app. (Bloomberg, 8/4 – free version)
Is TikTok Your College Counselor Now?
One rising high school senior I spoke to says he has watched many dozens of videos that all follow a common formula: The content creator deconstructs an application, talking through that student’s test scores, their GPA, their extracurriculars, and giving a quick summary of their essay topic. They show the list of colleges that student applied to, and where they did and did not get in. The outcomes follow a typical pattern: Impressive student with impressive scores and grades is roundly rejected from all their dream schools. “It can be demoralizing,” the senior says, “but I know these creators are all basically doing it to sell their courses.” (Town & Country, 8/4)
Now AI can create new viruses
Biotechnology is regulated through a patchwork of laws and agencies, with breakthroughs frequently outpacing regulators. The Trump administration last month issued a policy for stopping high-risk research in the life sciences that prohibits federally funded “gain of function” research and calls for enhanced oversight of projects involving harmful biological agents. But that didn’t specifically address AI-driven research, which is evolving at breakneck speeds. (Axios, 8/6)
How Ariana Grande’s body became political (OP-ED)
Fueled by access to illicit use of GLP-1 appetite suppressants, recent years have seen a surge of online influencers who explicitly push starvation over health — and especially over strength — as a feminine ideal. On TikTok, the trend was even called “SkinnyTok,” where influencers like Liv Schmidt build a fanbase with videos highlighting their perilously meager diets. Most of this content is not explicitly political. But as The Atlantic’s Annie Joy Williams chronicled in June 2025, the right-wing politics aren’t far below the trend’s surface. (Salon, 8/5)
The ‘Manosphere’ Isn’t a Movement. It’s a Multibillion-Dollar Grievance Industry
Once men feel they are in community with one another based on a shared sense of victimhood and betrayal, and hostility toward a mutual enemy, the same predatory characters can then sell them the dubious solution, whether that’s a class, access to an exclusive club, or gray-market pills. In breaking down the sources of the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate’s income, the researchers estimate that he makes $184 million in annual gross revenue just from his subscription-based “Real World” education platform, which costs $99 per month. (WIRED, 8/7 – free version)
Gen Z Is Testing the Limits of How Weird Parties Can Get
The result is a feedback loop: People get inspiration from Instagram and TikTok. Then they whip up an invitation on Partiful and upload pictures to social media when the party’s over. In some cases, the themes can start to feel forced—more of a performance for some brief attention online than anything else. In D.C., more than 5,000 Partiful users have expressed interest in attending a five-minute “eat an apple with me” event. Normal park picnics have been rebranded as “sit down and touch grass” events. (The Atlantic, 8/5 – free version)
Lucy’s note: this is very true, and if I may be honest… I’m really starting to miss normal parties :(
Meet The Guerrilla Gardeners Turning Vacant Lots Into Flowerbeds
It’s a practice growing roots around the world, from London to Thessaloniki, Sydney to Toronto. The barrier to entry is low; the easy joy of giving life to neglected ground hard to resist. A year ago, at her father’s funeral, Lily gave out packets of perennial wildflower seeds for those who loved him to plant in his memory. A year on, she wakes up to their pictures of wildflowers thriving all across the US – in vacant lots, on rooftops, on lawns. (Service95, 8/2)
What Would It Mean to See a New Color?
No printer can print olo, and no camera can photograph it, and there can never be an olo-colored pigment or dye. And yet the study participants—there were four additional researchers, including Ng—did experience a color that you and I have not. This seeming contradiction emerges from the haziness of what we mean by “color.” (The New Yorker, 7/27 – free version)
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Extra Credit 🤓
Substacks That Really Substacked This Week 🤌
want to reach young voters? try texting in lowercase from Hunter Schwarz
The Mystery of the $45 Lip Gloss from Lindy Segal
Love a creative graph!
The Niche Survey
Sneaky Links
TL;DR I’ve inexplicably started receiving codes to stuff… here are the things I actually like :)
My BNTO code for August is LC7QE5 for $20 off (if you know me IRL, you know my rant about the Nuulification of the 20-something city dweller)
I also have a code for CampSnap??? And I do love my CS8 camera from them but like I don’t think I said that online? Either way, it’s LUCYR7 for 7% off
That’s all for now – I’ll see you on Tuesday!
Tysm for the shoutout on my story (and especially my GRAPH!!)