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12 min read Despatch

How to run a family business

Comedians, autocrats, and presidential power. How influence works when the rules break down. &c. | The member’s despatch, Week XXXVIII.
—District Bureau
How to run a family business
Anita Jankovic

This week: The logic behind the U.S. administration shutting down a TV comedian in 48 hours—no laws broken, no violations cited. Why the United Arab Emirates got access to America’s most advanced AI chips two weeks after investing $2 billion with the Trump organization. & What happens when the president of the United States can order military strikes first and ask Congress later—if ever.

Also: Emile Dirks on whether the Chinese Communist Party really controls TikTok. & Sergey Radchenko on how much control  China really has over Russia.

& Weather report: 20.1050° N, 121.9473° E …

+ Cultural intelligence: What happens when environmental solutions create environmental problems? Thea Riofrancos, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism. A Welsh-language music scene? &c.

Briefing

What’s happening, September 13-19

Laughing matters

Brendan Carr, the head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (the FCC)—the agency that regulates broadcast media, appeared on a podcast Wednesday, calling the comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks about the Trump administration’s response to the political activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination “the sickest conduct possible.”

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