A very good week for millennials and women
We got a 34-year-old NYC mayor and new music from Hilary Duff.
My fellow 30-something Lizzie McGuire-heads, our time has come: We’re getting new music from Hilary Duff in the year of our lord 2025. And much like seeing Andrew Cuomo lose on a grand scale twice in a row and Ralph Fiennes doing a dramatic reading of “very demure, very mindful” last NYE, the announcement is scratching an itch I didn’t know I had. We need deserve this.
Hot Tip celebrated a new milestone this week! Thank you so much to the well over 4k of you (across 74 countries and 49 states—South Dakota, I’m coming for you) reading, laughing, sharing, and commiserating with me about the world.
In politics: It’s the first Tuesday in November, so you know what that means—waiting to see if Steve Kornacki sees his shadow. And it was, thank god, a really good fuckin night. We got Democratic governors in New Jersey and Virginia, special election flips in Georgia, and after the highest electoral turnout since 1969, NYC elected Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as mayor (with over 50% of the vote, as of writing).
Can Zohran deliver on everything he promised? TBD. But will he be forced to resign after (in the words of Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who I hope starts a podcast tomorrow) “slappin fannies and killin grannies?” No, no he won’t. And it’s been a joyful, exciting campaign to watch from afar. I’m happy to see my New York friends so happy.
Hot tip: The victory speech is worth the watch (starts at the 14 min mark.)
And right here in my beloved chosen home of California, we passed Prop 50 by an overwhelming majority—helping fight back against GOP efforts to steal the midterm elections next year. This publication must admit that Gavin Newsom is 1) still hot and 2) did a good job with this.
Of note: I couldn’t help but notice the ages of the Democrats who won tonight. Mikie Sherrill is 53. Abigail Spanberger is 46. Zohran Mamdani is 34. And this week, New York Magazine did an extensive feature on 25 young Democrats across the country, including, of course, big time Hot Tip crush Greg Casar. Someone send a copy to Chuck Schumer.
Election night firsts:
Virginia elected its first female governor in Democrat Abigail Spanberger, as well as the first Muslim woman to hold statewide office anywhere in the US, in Democratic Lieutenant Governor-Elect Ghazala Hashmi.
Mary Sheffield will become the first female mayor of Detroit.
Zohran Mamdani will be the first Muslim and person of South Asian descent to serve as mayor of New York City.
The government is still shut down: Sure, Republicans want to withhold SNAP benefits from millions, but at least Donny T is focused on the thing that really matters: Where he takes his (morning, noon, and night) dumps. Trump posted seven different times over the weekend about his recently renovated Lincoln bathroom, because everyone knows Abe’s dying words were “not enough marble.”
To assure people that the president does care about potentially starving millions of Americans, House Speaker Mike Johnson called Trump “big hearted,” but I’m pretty sure talking about his horse-sized deep-fried internal organ is a HIPAA violation. Meanwhile, Trump held a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago hours before the SNAP funding lapsed (with the tagline ‘a little party never killed nobody,’ in reference to a song from the movie), and I’ve never been more sure that an entire room of people didn’t even read the SparkNotes.
Money well spent:
In further evidence that only women should be billionaires, Mackenzie Scott just donated $80M to Howard University.
Jon Stewart’s contract was extended at The Daily Show through 2026, one less reason to egg David Ellison’s house. There are still many others, though.
One of my absolute favorite cookbooks from my absolute favorite Los Angeles restaurant, All Time, is on sale, and it would make a perfect holiday gift—or hey, just get one for yourself.
In culture: The new novel everyone is talking about and reading is Heart the Lover. Kim Kardashian’s new legal drama is getting extremely poor reviews (generous). David Beckham became a knight this week at Windsor Castle. And the Stephen Colbert you never knew you needed but suddenly makes all the sense in the world (see below) is on the cover of GQ’s 2025 Men of the Year issue, talking how he’s feeling, how it all happened, and what’s next.
Previously on Hot Tip:
Hey Alex, if you’re still looking for a great read, I strongly recommend, A Little Life by Hanna yanagihara.
WHAT A WEEK. 💙