The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Trump moves to fire Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook as she vows to sue (CBS News)
“President Trump said Monday he has fired Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, a dramatic move after months of public attacks against the central bank. Cook and her attorney said Tuesday that the move has no legal basis and that they plan to file a lawsuit challenging the president's action.
“The president announced Cook's removal from the Fed board in a letter posted to Truth Social that accused Cook of making false statements on mortgage documents, actions he claimed were "gross negligence" and "potentially criminal." Mr. Trump had previously urged Cook to resign, leading the economist to say she had "no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet."
Is this a Lord Braxfield moment? The 18th-century Scottish jurist was famous for saying: “Show me the prisoners, I will find them law.” In his book Data and Goliath, Bruce Schneier echoed this thinking. “In the 17th century, the French statesman Cardinal Richelieu famously said, “Show me six lines written by the most honest man in the world, and I will find enough therein to hang him.” If you have enough data about someone, you can find sufficient evidence to find him guilty of something.” Is this such a moment?
She isn’t getting off the bus (for now), but she is fighting for her seat. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins popularized the idea of “first who, then what.” Great leaders of great organizations, according to Collins, make sure they have the right people in the right seats on the bus. They do this for 3 reasons: you can more easily adapt to a changing world; you don’t have to worry about motivating and managing; and the people, more than the direction, matter more when it comes to the success of a company.
Before there was YOLO, there was ETIP. The Corinthians had a motto: everything is permissible. Similar to you only live once, ETIP served as a type of license to channel the time of Judges and do as one pleases. However, Paul took this motto and redeemed it: everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. In this instance, just because you can fire a governor doesn’t mean it is beneficial to do so. (1 Cor. 10)
5. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announce engagement (WaPo)
“Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged, the couple confirmed Tuesday afternoon. “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” Swift captioned an Instagram carousel that featured five photos of the pair in a bucolic garden setting, including one of Kelce kneeling and another featuring an enormous diamond ring on her left hand. Kelce shared the post on his account. Swift and Kelce, both 35, have been dating since summer 2023, and the union between the world’s biggest pop star and one of the NFL’s top players has captivated the world ever since.
“Swift’s personal life and boyfriends have been a point of public discussion since her days as a teenage country singer in Nashville, where she started her career, and she quickly became famous for her autobiographical lyrics and for hiding clues in her liner notes that alluded to the subjects of her songs. The spotlight only grew brighter as she became a global superstar and was linked to various celebrities throughout the years, although Swift made it clear that she disliked the “boy crazy” narrative and that she was simply a woman in her 20s and 30s trying to date.”
Ready For It? Not in the least bit, Taylor. Kelce and Swift are bucking a trend here in the US. In 2024, US adults were less likely to be married than at almost any point since the Census Bureau began tracking marital status in 1940. In 2024, 47.1 percent of households were headed by married couples. The percentage of households with a married couple peaked 76 years ago: in 1949, it was 78.8 percent. That percentage has been below 50 percent since 2010.
Why can’t we Shake This Off? What explains our interest in this? Social comparison theory. Coined in 1954, this refers to how individuals evaluate their own abilities, opinions, and self-worth by comparing themselves to others. There are 2 main types of comparison: upward comparison, which is looking up to someone seen as superior (which can be motivating or lead to feelings of inadequacy), and downward comparison, where one compares to someone seen as inferior (which can boost self-esteem or create contempt).
A broken heart inspired so many of her songs and now a full heart has captured our attention. Their love for each other, and the love for her, caused a few tasks to be left undone yesterday… but such is love. As Frederick Buechner put it: “Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless. It is the most powerful because it alone can conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold that is the human heart. It is the most powerless because it can do nothing except by consent.” (1 Cor. 13)
4. Trump wants to punish people for flag burning. (WaPo)
“President Trump signed an executive order Monday that seeks to punish people who burn the American flag, accusing those who do so of displaying hostility and contempt toward the United States. Mr. Trump has for years threatened to crack down on flag burning. In 2016, he wrote on social media that anyone who burns the American flag should lose their citizenship or face jail time. During a 2024 speech before the National Guard Association of the United States, then-candidate Trump said he would work to pass a law imposing criminal penalties on those who burn the American flag.
“In remarks from the Oval Office on Monday, Mr. Trump alleged that burning the American flag "incites riots" and said those who are prosecuted and convicted as a result of his directive would face one year in prison. "The people in this country don't want to see our American flag burned and spit on," the president said.”
Fire Away? Hold your horses, Chris Stapleton. Behind the flag-burning debate, there is something more substantive and telling about this moment. Walter Berns, in his famous essay, Flag Burning and Other Modes of Expression, points to an illuminating difference between today and the founding. While many today are concerned about the self (self-expression, self-care, self-love, etc.), our Founding Fathers spoke of souls, with the difference being decisive.
Highlighting the thinking of John Locke, Thomas Jefferson understood the significant connection between the freedom of speech and the care of the soul. “The care of each man’s soul belongs unto himself alone.” With this freedom, it allowed fellow Americans, not kings or tyrants, to seek out or offer care to one of life’s most important gifts: the soul. “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
Today’s self is very often forceful, less considerate of the needs of others, and more assertive in pursuing its desired end. In this instance, the one burning the flag doesn’t want a conversation but rather desires to make a point, illuminating the decisive difference between the self and soul. The founders, who risked their lives for the freedom of speech, understood that this God-given right is more than self-expression because it requires more than a listener. As Berns points out, its speech that requires “conversation and, in the political realm especially, deliberation. It is a means of arriving at a decision, of bringing people together, which requires civility and mutual respect; and in a polity consisting of blacks and whites, Jews, Muslims, and Christians, liberals and conservatives, and peoples from every part of the globe, civility and mutual respect are a necessity. So understood, speech is good, which is why the Constitution protects it.” (Is. 1)
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Cultural News
3. Workplace jargon hurts employee morale, collaboration, study finds (University of Florida)
“You’ve probably heard it before in a meeting: “Let’s touch base offline to align our bandwidth on this workflow.” Corporate jargon like this is easy to laugh at — but its negative impact in the office can be serious. According to a new study, using too much jargon in the workplace can hurt employees’ ability to process messages, leading them to experience negative feelings and making them feel less confident. In turn, they’re less likely to reach out and ask for or share information with their colleagues.
“You need people to be willing to collaborate, share ideas and look for more information if they don't understand something at work,” said Olivia Bullock, Ph.D., an assistant professor of advertising at the University of Florida and co-author of the new study. “And jargon might actually be impeding that information flow across teams.”
Don’t Speak… in office jargon, Gwen Stefani. Like duct tape, office jargon serves a variety of purposes. Research indicates it boosts our confidence (and perceived competence), delineates our work life from personal life, provides desired ambiguity when we are uncertain, and makes us feel like our jobs are more important.
Are you a supercommunicator? Charles Duhigg, in his book Supercommunicators, writes that to “communicate with someone, we must connect with them. When we absorb what someone is saying and they comprehend what we say, it's because our brains have, to some degree, aligned.” This requires grasping the nuances of the 3 core conversation types: practical, emotional, and social. “Miscommunication occurs when people are having different kinds of conversations. If you are speaking emotionally, while I’m talking practically, we are, in essence, using different cognitive languages.”
We are more than puzzles to be solved but adventures to be explored, according to David Brooks. Channeling the woman at the well, Brooks writes: “Every person I meet is fascinating on some topic. If I approach you in this respectful way, I’ll know that you are not a puzzle that can be solved but a mystery that can never be gotten to the bottom of. I’ll do you the honor of suspending judgment and letting you be as you are.” (Jn. 4)
News You Can Use
2. Dad Holds Family Meeting About Kids Constantly Saying 'Mom,' Becomes Viral Legend
Watch it here. “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her…” (Pro. 31:30)
1. 'Snack Bag Dad' creates art for his daughter's bagged lunches
Watch it here. “A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.” (Pro. 18:16)
