Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Barbra Streisand directs a political music video, we check in on Brazil’s elections, and Nikki Haley reminds us that the news still has the capacity to surprise. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
EVERYONE'S TALKING
• UNlocking Haley's potential? Nikki Haley yesterday shocked the U.S. political world—who knew we could still be shocked?!—by announcing her resignation as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She’ll step down at the end of the year.
The daughter of Indian immigrants who favors free markets has gained prominence in recent years for butting heads with her boss. She sharply criticized Donald Trump's demeanor on the 2016 campaign trail and expressed worry that his behavior could harm American diplomacy. Once she joined the president's administration, she clashed with Trump publicly. For instance, when Haley seemed to announce additional sanctions against Russia prematurely, the White House blamed the miscommunication on Haley's "momentarily confusion." "I don't get confused," Haley shot back.
And in her most eyebrow-raising departure from the administration's party line, Haley said in December 2017 that the women accusing Trump of sexual misconduct “should be heard.” (The White House has long argued that the president’s accusers are lying.)
Still, there was plenty of common ground between Trump and Haley. For instance, she championed the U.S.’s withdrawal from the UN Council on Human Rights, which she said was the organization's "greatest failure."
The impending departure of Haley means Trump’s mostly-white, mostly-male Cabinet is losing its most public-facing woman just ahead of the November midterms, an election already colored by enthusiasm among female voters, fueled in part by their repudiation of Trump and the GOP’s attitude toward women. (Though it seems possible that the president could name a female replacement—Dina Powell, a current Goldman Sachs exec and former deputy national security advisor to Trump, is reportedly a frontrunner.)
In announcing Haley’s resignation, Trump said the 46-year-old had made the position of UN ambassador “more glamorous.” It’s true that some saw Haley as using the role as a political stepping stone. On Tuesday, she sought to kill the idea that she’d run for president in 2020—another long-simmering rumor—and said she would support Trump's re-election bid instead.
“I expect to continue to speak out from time to time on important public policy matters," she said, "but I will surely not be a candidate for any office in 2020.”
That won't end speculation about Haley's political future. It's worth noting that the former South Carolina governor who famously spoke out against the state's use of the Confederate flag is—in relative terms—universally liked. An April Quinnipiac poll identified her as the only Trump Cabinet member with majority approval ratings across party lines—75% among Republicans, 55% among Democrats, and 63% with Independents. As U.S. politics suffers unprecedented levels of divisiveness, there's likely great power—and potential—in that kind of popularity.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
• Lighting the Match. Match, the online dating giant led by CEO Mandy Ginsberg, fired back at Tinder cofounder Sean Rad with a motion to dismiss his lawsuit. Rad had alleged that Match undervalued Tinder at $3 billion as a play to decrease the value of his stock options, but Match now says that Rad was closely involved in the process of determining Tinder's valuation and neither side expected Tinder's growth over the past year—from projections of $500 million in revenue to an expected $800 million for 2018. Fortune
• Baby bump. There's big money in baby food. Once Upon a Farm, the organic baby food line co-founded by Jennifer Garner, closed a $20 million investment from Cavu Venture Partners. Bloomberg
• The next Netanyahu? Ayelet Shaked is Israel's minister of justice—and a far-right candidate to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A former computer engineer, Shaked has had a meteoric rise within the religious-nationalist Jewish Home party even though she herself leans toward the secular. The Atlantic
• Go for Goop. Fortune's Polina Marinova has an interview with Felix Capital founder Frederic Court, one of the earliest investors in Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. "Gwyneth has a point of view—there will be some people who love the point of view, some people who don’t mind it, and some who hate it," he says. "As investors, we ourselves have a point of view, and we are very bullish on the Goop opportunity." Fortune
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Michèle Flournoy, former under secretary of Defense for policy, and Ellen Jewett, Canoe Point Capital managing partner, are joining the board of directors at Booz Allen. Ashley Miles was promoted to chief client officer and head of advertising for North America at Refinery29. Lyft's new chief marketing officer is Joy Howard. Vikki Neil was promoted to executive VP and general manager of the new Discovery Digital Studios Group. Jenna Lyons has a new partnership with Turner Entertainment to build an omnichannel lifestyle brand in her first major move since leaving J. Crew. Jessi Hempel, formerly of Wired—and a Fortune alum!—has joined LinkedIn as senior editor at large.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
• A music video is born. Barbra Streisand has a new album coming out, and it includes an anti-Trump song called "Don't Lie to Me." Streisand directed the music video—the first time she's done that and taken the credit. Vanity Fair
• #NotHim? Women's movements in Brazil faced a setback after elections on Sunday, which saw Jair Bolsonaro win in the first round and women's representation in the Senate stay flat. Bolsonaro is known for his racist and sexist comments and was the target of a campaign called #NotHim. Brazil will vote again in a runoff later this month. Bloomberg
• Back to November. Taylor Swift's Instagram political endorsements have had real effects. The organization Vote.org says it saw 65,000 voter registrations in the 24 hours after Swift urged her followers to vote, about a third as many as the site had all of September. Fortune
• Jupiter genius. Margaret Kivelson has been part of almost every major NASA voyage beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter for the past 40 years. With her team, the nearly 90-year-old professor emerita of space physics at UCLA discovered the first saltwater alien ocean below Jupiter's surface, and she's now working on a Jupiter mission expected in 2022. New York Times
Today's Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe. Share it with a friend. Looking for previous Broadsheets? Click here.
ON MY RADAR
The New Yorker's Jane Mayer is holding the world's most powerful men accountable Elle
Why we need to include female villains in our history books Medium
These women were crucial to early deep sea research Lenny
QUOTE
|
|---|
