Saturday Morning Covfefe: 5 Things With Olivia
Truth with a shot of espresso.
It’s the weekend. Your mug is full, and so is this country’s chaos. I already did the doomscrolling for you. Here are five headlines that cut through the noise, one thing for your soul, and just enough truth to make you spill your coffee.
First up: the latest Epstein–Trump bombshell. Yes, that letter. Trump is now suing the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion for reporting it, so you know it’s probably true. If you missed it, I feel it’s my moral obligation to gift you the article: 🧨 WSJ: “We Have Certain Things in Common.”
Now that your blood pressure’s up, here’s what else matters this week.
1. Choose Your Own Insurrection
A new London stage production reenacts January 6 as interactive political theater. Audience members move figurines through a Capitol replica, cast votes on whether to “hang” or “spare” Mike Pence (18 out of 24 audiences chose “hang”—yikes), then sit in stunned silence as real footage from the riot plays. One participant admitted, “I’ve never thought myself somebody susceptible to mob mentality… and I now know I’m wrong.”
It’s haunting, immersive, and a reminder that while some Americans pretend it was just “tourism,” the world hasn’t forgotten. Art has become the mirror to our madness, and sometimes it takes another country to hold it up.
2. ICE Cold: Judges Fired, Citizens Targeted
Trump’s DOJ just fired 17 immigration judges across 10 states, many ousted for union membership or for being too “fair.” They’re being replaced by ideological loyalists expected to rubber-stamp deportations. Because immigration judges report to the Attorney General (not an independent court), this is a direct line of political interference.
Immigration courts are supposed to uphold the law, not serve a political agenda. When fairness becomes a fireable offense, and judges are replaced with loyalists, due process doesn’t just erode, it becomes partisan. Now pair that with reports of ICE detaining U.S. citizens, and the bigger picture becomes clear: enforcement is no longer about justice. It’s about allegiance and control.
A new bill, the Stop ICE from Kidnapping U.S. Citizens Act, aims to prevent this abuse, especially after a federal judge issued restraining orders against DHS over racial profiling in Southern California raids.
⚖️NPR: Immigration Judges Fired; Axios: Proposed Bill; ABC News: Judge Ruling
3. “Eddington” Is the Pandemic Fever Dream We’re All Still Having
I attended an advance screening this week, and I'm still reeling. Eddington isn't just a flick, it's an existential gut punch wrapped in a Western. Director Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid) delivers his most grounded, and perhaps most haunting, psychological thriller yet. The film’s premise is a small New Mexico town in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, where a sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) go to political war over the divisions facing our country during the pandemic. At the time, Americans were living online, trading in an endless loop of news, personal experiences, conspiracy theories, and misinformation, all ricocheting around the internet. As Aster puts it, “It’s a Western, but the guns are phones.”
No spoilers, but the film yanked me back to everything I was seeing across the country while inside the White House during 2020. Memories I thought I had buried. There’s no neat villain here. Just a collision of people, all convinced they’re right, all manipulated by systems far bigger than them. I was so stunned, I lingered outside the theater afterward, talking to strangers. One man walked past us, then turned back and said, “Do you mind if I join your conversation? I’m still trying to process what we just saw.”
This film forces us to confront the emotional baggage many of us are still carrying from the pandemic and our politics. If you worked in government, healthcare, or in any type of service industry during those years, be ready. It’s going to hit hard.
Go see it. Then send me a note. I might even host a community chat, because some things are too big to sit with alone.
Ari, we need to talk.
🎬Opening this weekend and in theaters nationwide—watch the trailer: Eddington.
4. Fulbright Goes Full Resignation Mode
All 12 members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board just quit. Why? Because the Trump administration subjected over 1,200 candidates to ideological screening, think loyalty pledges for scholars. Board members say it violates U.S. law and undermines a cornerstone of American diplomacy.
The Fulbright program has been a symbol of U.S. values since 1946. This kind of political interference guts our soft power. Add it to the growing list: USAID, Voice of America, and now Fulbright.
🎓ABC News: Fulbright Board Resigns
5. The Thing That Made Me Spit Out My Coffee
A Washington Post investigation found the Trump Justice Department is requesting access to voter rolls and election machines in at least nine states, under the guise of “integrity.” Colorado officials rejected these requests. So did Michigan and Pennsylvania. This is no longer about sowing doubt. It’s about trying to rig the system from within. I'll break this down for you in more detail in the coming days.
🗳️Washington Post Exclusive: Election "Integrity"
🌟 One Thing for Your Soul
A Wendy’s Meal, a Ride, and a New Friendship: Driving through Miami, 29-year-old Estrella Quiroz saw a 97-year-old woman, Lilian, strolling with a walker. Something told her to turn around. She gave her a ride. Bought her Wendy’s. And, unknowingly changed both of their lives. Lilian, a retired accountant living on government assistance, told Estrella she rarely has visitors. Now they’re close friends. Estrella, whose name means star, illuminated a quiet corner of the world with one small act of kindness.
I hope that if I’m not around one day, and someone sees my elderly mom alone, they take her to McDonald’s and spend some time with her. That’s the kind of kindness I hope finds all of us.
Enjoy your weekend,
Olivia
Thanks for all of this important information, but especially for the story of Estrella and Lillian. Do we ever need a little message of hope right now!
I had enough to read already, but am glad I signed up for you. Your "five things" is so easy to grab quickly, and so well focused. And yes, thanks for Estrella and Lillian. Omg do we all need more of that these awful days. Thanks for your courage too.