Pete Buttigieg, antitrust warrior?
And other election-day distraction reading
(A reminder that you’re subscribed to occasional updates from me, Nancy Scola, a Washington D.C.-based journalist focused on technology, economics, politics, and policy — and that that is appreciated.)
It is of course election day in the United States of America, and I know what you’re thinking: if only there was something I could read on the state of competition policy in the U.S. vis-à-vis the airline industry.
I’m here to serve, so I’m passing along a new profile I have out, of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, for POLITICO Magazine.
This was a profile motivated by a question. After his 2020 presidential run, there was much skepticism about ‘Mayor Pete’ in certain segments of the political left, particularly among those with an economic-populist bent. But Buttigieg has emerged as something of an ally to those folks. I set out to figure out, ‘how did that happen?’
The resulting piece — with what I think are rather striking photographs of Buttigieg by photographer Stephen Voss in Reagan National Airport’s historic Terminal A — is here.
One other story that I hoped to put on your radar: a feature for Washingtonian Magazine on the rise in political texting in the United States — how we got here and, perhaps, what can be done about it.
If that’s of interest, that story is here.
And while you have Washingtonian up on your screen, you might take a look at this story I wrote this summer on Tom Blanton, the director of Washington’s National Security Archive, detailing his effort to make public what government often keeps secret. That story is here.
There’s a sentiment circulating on social media that it’s a remarkable thing to live in a country where you can wake up on election day and truly have no idea how things are going to turn out until the people have their say. That’s how I’m feeling today.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
—Nancy