Hats Off! Power Corridor's First 20,000 Readers

Thanks to you, Power Corridor hit 20K readers this week, on its three-month anniversary.

Ready for more?

Dear readers,

I think we can all agree this spring has been quite the wild ride — from the U.S. almost defaulting on its debt, to banks toppling, to a King’s coronation and the unreal tour of a former president’s resort residence amid his second set of indictments.

It’s really been a marathon season, no? Usually, the spring pings by in a flash, but not this one. This spring has been action-packed, each week seemingly more of a tightrope walk than the last. It’s literally required smelling salts, spa sessions, weighted eye pillows and sensory deprivation tanks.

Yet we also have a great deal to celebrate, and I am giving thanks for all of you, as Power Corridor zoomed past 20,000 readers this week, just in time for its three-month anniversary June 15. (Never forget, you were the first!)

When I initially teamed up with our parent company, The Daily Upside, to start this newsletter, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. We’d spent some time brainstorming how we wanted a twice-weekly espresso shot — with some deep-dives as well — of how power and money connect globally, with Power Corridor examining key events, trends, people and pressure points.

I’d done plenty of long-form journalism, investigative pieces, columns and news stories, but I’d never before put together a newsletter. In writing this, I feel I am slowly getting to know many of you and I am hoping that will continue. As you are the founding subscribers, please reach out and let me know if you have certain things you have enjoyed in this newsletter or would like to see more of (or less of). Also, tell me what first brought you here — and feel free always to send story ideas or tips. You can drop me a note anytime at leah@thedailyupside.com.

Finally, I’d like to thank you for having the curiosity, inquisitiveness and, let’s face it, the intestinal fortitude to take this journey through what are often objectively unsettling and unprecedented events (perhaps against your better judgment). After all, exploring the world is one of life’s great pleasures, even if the exploration can sometimes be bracing.

I also want to reassure you about this interminable spring: The days have seemed long, because they have been long. As we rapidly head toward the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, on June 21, I think we will at last be able to settle into a slightly more relaxing season. While it won’t change our proximity to the 2024 presidential election, it certainly has the potential to give us the breather we all need before the next cycle.

So here’s to you, here’s to the summer and sending you very best wishes for the weekend! Thank you, once again, for coming along for the ride — and please drop me a line.

See you next week,

Leah McGrath Goodman, Editor, Power Corridor

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Power Reads

A selection of fab reads, for your weekend glorification.

Who doesn’t love a good heist story? This week, Power Corridor got a sneak preview of a phenomenal feature uncovering a smattering of heists pointing to a larger crime wave in The Conversation, a media concern that publishes global, research-based news by academics and journalists. This piece, written by David Maimon and my former Newsweek colleague, Kurt Eichenwald, delves into the extraordinary story of how banks, churches and “mule accounts” were exploited by bad actors in one of the oldest games around: check fraud. In Power Corridor, we talk a lot about fraud and convicted or suspected fraudsters (Elizabeth Holmes, Jeffrey Epstein and Sam Bankman-Fried, to name a few). Too often, these frauds are unfolding right before our eyes, but don’t get properly apprehended. This excellent story lays bare why.

America’s accelerated path of political polarization is no secret to anyone but, for many, it does remain a sort of mystery. Whatever side of the political fence you stand on, it is likely you have experienced the loss of a close friend or loved one to some political rabbit hole or other. This piece by Elaina Plott Calabro in The Atlantic, titled “A Star Reporter’s Break with Reality,” takes a closer look at this trend through the story of Lara Logan, a journalist who went from reporting on major global issues for some of the biggest names in media to, in recent years, taking that proverbial walk “over the edge.”

I will leave you for the weekend with a story that, at first glance, seemed far more surreal than a classified document-filled presidential resort. I had no idea what to make of it when I stumbled across it, but found it completely riveting and could not resist sharing it. This piece, which recently appeared in New Lines Magazine by Andrew Chamings, opens with a clown motel (yes, that’s what I said) and earnestly asks why America is so devoted to fetishizing its history — not just the glorious, but also the brutal. Written by a California-based Brit who is clearly trying to make sense of this country, it is both dark and delightful reading.

Thanks so much for reading, thanks for getting us to 20,000 — and have a great weekend !