the beautiful game meets our border state
ALSO: the flamingo revolution, why bridesmaids have to become influencers now, AI's new love for serif fonts, and more
Happy Tuesday, June 9th!
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 🙏
Democrats Set in Motion Plan to Redraw Congressional Maps in as Many as 13 States
So Democrats plan to be more aggressive on the redistricting front ahead of 2028, and taking advantage of a favorable election environment in 2026 is key. Williams tells me her committee sees hundreds of statehouse seats as flippable this fall. Of those, just 19 targeted races would deliver Democrats a trifecta—the governorship and majorities in the state House and Senate—in four states: Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. (TIME, 6/8)
How the World Cup became a front line for the U.S. immigration debate
And some fans who live in the United States remain wary that ICE will carry out arrests at stadiums during the World Cup. Tournament organizers have said federal officers will not be conducting broad immigration sweeps around the matches. But Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has not ruled out enforcement actions involving people suspected of criminal activity, leaving questions about how officers will operate in and around the venues. (WaPo, 6/8 – free version)
Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort stokes days of protests in Albania
Demonstrators rallied against a billion-dollar resort development in Albania linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump for a seventh consecutive day on Saturday. Activists have dubbed it the “Flamingo Revolution,” adopting the pink flamingo as a symbol of the wildlife they say will be destroyed if the project goes ahead. (CBS News, 6/6)
‘Unbelievable how accurate’: How paid influencers hype Polymarket’s odds
During the 14-month span reflected in the payment records, they posted about Polymarket at least 490 times on the social media platform X without clearly disclosing a paid partnership. The analysis of payment records and concurrent social posts highlight the company’s under-the-radar campaign to generate buzz in the political world around the highly controversial prediction market. (POLITICO, 6/7)
ChatGPT failed to kill Google Search
With Google incorporating AI into all parts of Search, the success of its stand-alone chatbot Gemini is becoming less important, as evidenced by the overall growth in Google traffic. Many have previously remarked that Gemini lagged the popularity of ChatGPT, but even that is doing pretty well, recently growing market share and gaining on leader ChatGPT, according to data from Apptopia. (Sherwood, 6/8)
Spotify is reportedly looking to add live streams of concerts
The streaming giant has approached concert promoters about licensing the rights to show live video of music festivals, according to people familiar with the talks. Adding live video would be a new initiative for the Swedish company, which previously experimented with live audio shows. Spotify has already started adding some videos from live events, including a Dua Lipa show in Mexico City. (Bloomberg, 6/8 – free version)
AI Has Come for Serif Fonts
The shift away from slicker, more conspicuously computerized typefaces is something the San Francisco Bay Area writer, designer, and type practitioner Keya Vadgama has termed “the serif renaissance.” In a recent newsletter, published on her Substack, Vadgama suggests the move is a bid for companies to project more “personality and warmth.” (WIRED, 6/5 – free version)
The Influencer-ification of the Bridal Party
But if you’re not one to spend time cold DM-ing ahead of the celebrations, a cottage industry has also cropped up to meet the same cost-cutting impulse. Like premade Etsy kits for around $25 each, marketed as the affordable alternative to custom-curated boxes that can balloon to $150 per bridesmaid when all is said and done. One bride interviewed for this story says she found ribbon-tied bridesmaid boxes on Temu for $7 a bundle, though she admits these are “just the boxes,” not the swag. (The Cut, 6/9 – free version)
Cosmeticorexia: How girls are falling down a skincare rabbit hole
As well as young influencers like Ellie-May, there are many more young girls who have multi-step skincare routines embedded in their day. A snapshot by Pai, a skincare brand, of 1,500 nine-to-12-year-olds suggests that nearly half are using multiple skincare products weekly, with half of those saying that they use it to fix what they perceive to be problem skin. (BBC, 6/6)
The Sound of Summer
In only 16 years, New York’s Governors Ball has proven to be a pillar of pop culture and a launchpad for music’s next breakout stars. The undeniable hustle the city is known for, mixed with the insatiable ambition of rising artists performing to a sea of people, seems untouchable—but it becomes a reality for one summer weekend in Queens’ Flushing Meadows Corona Park. (Cosmopolitan, 6/8)
Utah Has Banned Its 35th Book from All Public Schools
The state of Utah has been on a book banning blitz in 2026. On Friday, June 5, the state added its 35th book to the list of books that must be removed from every public school in the state: Lucky by Alice Sebold. The ban comes amidst a lawsuit challenging these state-sanctioned bans filed in February, and it comes after banning 15 other books in 2026 alone. (Book Riot, 6/8)
Under Notre Dame cathedral, a ‘dig of the century’ unearths 1,700 years of history
Below them lie Merovingian and Carolingian grain pits, from the sixth to the 10th centuries; below those, darker and deeper still, a dense Roman quarter from the fourth and fifth centuries. Twenty centuries are stacked in 4 meters (13 feet) of earth — or about the height of two-and-a-half Napoleon Bonapartes standing on top of one another. (AP, 6/2)
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That’s all for now – I’ll see you next week!