Brigadoon Daily
Your daily dose of the emerging issues + independent thinkers shaping commerce + culture
November 2, 2021
You’re never going to be “caught up” at work
TOP FIVE
1. Boris Johnson, an unlikely Captain Planet with global ambitions
2. Youngkin now slightly favored in Virginia
3. Mark Zuckerberg knows Facebook is boring
4. Neuromarketing: The booming business of pushing people’s buttons
5. Lewis Hamilton plans to revolutionize Formula 1
GLOBALIZATION + STATECRAFT
Global leaders have gathered in Glasgow for COP26 — the United Nations climate change conference that runs until November 12.
G20 backs stronger climate action, but won’t end coal use: Politico reports the summit sends a mixed signal to COP26 climate talks opening in Glasgow.
Biden says Russia, China ‘didn’t show up’ on climate change commitments: Politico reports at the close of G20 summit, US president says Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia have not done enough.
+ India has set a target to reduce greenhouse emissions to “net zero” by 2070
China’s Xi to address COP26 climate talks in writing only: Politico reports the leader of the most polluting country won’t be at COP26 or make a video address.
The Times: Boris Johnson tells COP26: It’s last chance on climate
Boris Johnson, an unlikely Captain Planet with global ambitions: At first glance, the British Prime Minister is an unlikely eco-warrior. So what’s really behind his green crusade?
SMH
Why the COP26 climate summit won’t save the planet: Efforts to stop warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius may already have slipped away.
Politico
Will Glasgow be the climate breakthrough we need?
Justin Gillis
If COP26 fails, our future is hot and angry: Nations that cling to coal and destroy rainforests should expect to become pariahs as tensions turn into blame games.
William Hague
UK-French rivalry puts the west at risk: The problem is not fish or Northern Ireland — it’s Brexit. And it’s time for the US to stage an intervention.
Gideon Rachman
Macron and Biden patch up France-US relations: Politico reports with a meeting in Rome, the presidents said they are moving past a recent diplomatic feud.
Éric Zemmour, Macron’s far-right rival, wins backing from Russia: The Times reports the Kremlin has anointed a new favorite in the French presidential election: Éric Zemmour, the far-right insurgent campaigner who says that Moscow is far more reliable than the Americans, the British or the Germans. After gushing coverage by Kremlin-backed media of the polemicist’s rise in polls to second or third place, a Moscow think tank close to President Putin has endorsed him, saying he could bring Russia into a new European order.
Liz Truss pulls no punches about ‘genocide’ of Uighurs by China
The Times
Taiwan is the main problem for Xi-Biden talks, Chinese observers say: SCMP reports Foreign Minister Wang Yi said ‘political preparations’ were needed for the next phase of exchanges, in a meeting with Antony Blinken in Rome.
What will drive China to war? A cold war is already under way. The question is whether Washington can deter Beijing from initiating a hot one.
Michael Beckley + Hal Brands
+ An investigation found USS Connecticut, the nuclear-powered submarine sailing in the South China Sea, hit an uncharted sea mount on Oct. 2.
How the US should deter China’s nuclear ambitions: While recent advances in the size and sophistication of the Chinese arsenal are worrying, the US should avoid a destabilizing arms race.
Bloomberg - Editorial
China locks 30,000 visitors inside Shanghai Disneyland after one guest got COVID-19: WSJ reports guests are required to take coronavirus test to exit after a positive case shuts down the park
+ The global death toll from COVID-19 has reached 5 million
Another warning sign for China’s economy: DealBook reports factory activity fell for the second straight month, with analysts attributing the drop to weaker domestic demand, rising commodity prices, and slowing construction activity.
Silicon Valley wants to power the US war machine: Amid rising tensions with China, a cadre of defense insiders and tech players want to remake the Pentagon in Silicon Valley’s image.
Fast Company
When the Soviets set off the biggest nuclear bomb, JFK didn’t flinch: A new study offers insights into how the United States reacted to Tsar Bomba, a planet shaker that made the deadly Hiroshima blast look tame.
WSJ
POLITICS + CAMPAIGNS
Youngkin now slightly favored in Virginia: Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball just changed its rating for Virginia’s race for governor from Leans Democrat to Leans Republican.
Virginia prepares for a long Election Day as polls show dead heat between McAuliffe, Youngkin: WP reports voters are headed to the polls to pick a new governor in a neck-and-neck race that has drawn national attention for what it might reveal about the state of electoral politics in the first year of the Biden presidency — and how the Democratic party may fare in the 2022 midterms.
Tight Virginia governor’s race tests party strategies
WSJ
WP: VA went big for Biden, but on eve of another election, many voters say Democrats have not delivered
Virginia governor's race could show the way for Republican congressional campaigns
Reuters
The forces behind Biden’s problems: Four parties, zero trust: Faced with a split in his party, the president is stumbling as he tries to get his big domestic agenda passed.
Gerald F. Seib
Tim Scott says he’ll support Trump in 2024: Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) — who is often mentioned as a presidential candidate in 2024 — said that he would “of course” support former President Donald Trump if he ran for president again, the Charleston Post and Courier reports.
How Big Business got woke and dumped Trump
Time
DISRUPTION + INNOVATION
How two new supercomputers will improve weather forecasts: Each of the upgrades by the US National Weather Service is the size of 10 refrigerators, has the capacity of 12.1 petaflops, and will help predict storms made worse by climate change.
MIT Tech Review
COMMERCE
Q&A: Michael Bastian just wants to make Brooks Brothers even 'Brooksier': "And if it kills me," the company's new-ish creative director says, "I'm going to make this brand everything it ever was, if not better."
Esquire
2021 DealBook Online Summit: The NYT is making it free to join. The event is set for November 9-10, 2021. Register here.
Web Summit is kicking off: More than 40,000 ticket holders will descend on the Altice Arena for Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
The real reason Facebook changed its name: Mark Zuckerberg wants to be the hero of the metaverse because he knows Facebook is boring.
Atlantic
Wall Street, long a Facebook fan, was doubting its Meta pivot: The company has lagged rivals on a key measure of investor confidence.
Bloomberg
TikTok owner ByteDance shortens China work hours, discouraging notorious ‘996’ routine: The company is one of the first to end the punishing work schedule that has characterized the Chinese tech industry.
WP
Fintech startup Bolt sees valuation surge to $6 billion: Bloomberg reports the company says it’s building a universal checkout login that will help retailers compete with Amazon’s speed. European expansion is next.
Reuters: Amazon-backed EV startup Rivian targets over $53 bln valuation in US IPO
Jes Staley leaves Barclays over Epstein ties: DealBook reports Barclays announced that Jes Staley had stepped down as CEO after he and its board learned of the results of a two-year investigation by British regulators into his ties to Jeffrey Epstein
Ryanair is considering delisting from the London Stock Exchange, citing lower trading volumes as a result of Brexit.
Apple has too much power over its rivals: Users have welcomed the company’s privacy changes, but it should not have so much sway over competitors.
Brooke Masters
Farewell offshoring, outsourcing. Pandemic rewrites CEO playbook. Uncertainty in the global supply chain is driving executives to seek operations away from cheaper countries to locales affording greater control.
WSJ
MARKETING + COMMUNICATIONS
Neuromarketing: The booming business of pushing people’s buttons: Major corporations are applying the lessons of cognitive neuroscience to get the American public buying.
Neo.Life
SPACE + SCIENCE
Jeff Bezos pledges $1 billion to protect 30 percent of the Earth’s land and sea: Bezos’s large donations are transforming climate philanthropy — even as Amazon’s cloud-computing business and shipping operations have a significant carbon footprint.
WP
PERFORMANCE
You’re never going to be “caught up” at work. Stop feeling guilty about it.
Art Markman
CULTURE
Oi! Reading recommendations for Ted Lasso and the AFC Richmond crew
NYPL
The comedians you should and will know in 2021: These are the 22 comics who industry insiders predict will be the superstars of tomorrow.
NY Mag
Matthew Rhys on why he restored a wreck he bought on eBay: A desire to imitate Ernest Hemingway’s ocean-going exploits led the actor to a four-year passion project, he tells Andrew Billen.
The Times
SPORT
Lewis Hamilton, star Formula 1 driver, plans to revolutionize the sport: On his way to becoming the most dominant Formula 1 champion ever, Lewis Hamilton overcame more obstacles—and took curves harder—than any other driver on the circuit. Now he wants to make the sport more diverse than ever.
WSJ
The Red Bull Big Wave Awards just wrapped and this is who bagged the wins
RB
The NBA’s most surprisingly valuable player: Suns backup Cameron Payne was out of the league. Now he’s a star in his role on a nearly $20 million contract. Even he can’t believe it.
WSJ
NFL player Aaron Rodgers will receive a part of his salary in Bitcoin and give away $1 million of the cryptocurrency to fans as part of a promotion with Square-backed mobile payments service Cash App, he announced in a tweet.
Oh great, another cranky column about baseball games taking too long: Still, the point remains. On its biggest stage, the World Series, baseball’s got to speed up its action.
Jason Gay
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
Curation and commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder @ Brigadoon
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