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It’s October 16. Tonight: The Israeli-born Miriam Adelson, who is now both a citizen of Israel and the United States, has given more money in this election cycle to a pro-Trump super PAC, namely $100 million just from this one single person than any other single donor has given in an election cycle in American history. Adelson is one of the richest women in the world, in fact, the fifth richest woman and she's the single richest Israeli citizen on the planet by her inheriting the multibillion-dollar fortune of her now deceased husband, the casino mogul and longtime GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson.
It would be notable and, I'd argue, disturbing enough to have anyone be able to use their billionaire wealth to exert such outsized influence on our politics this way. Most definitely, both parties, Democrats and Republicans, have plenty of these billionaires doing exactly that but to have a person who proudly identifies not only as a citizen of the United States but also as a citizen of a foreign country, the one where she was a citizen first, using her unlimited wealth this way to influence American politics and the American government – as Miriam Adelson repeatedly says that her primary political concern is U.S. support for everything Israel wants to do – bears at least serious examination. So that's what we'll do, asking who is Miriam Adelson and what is it that she wants.
Then: Stephanie Lange is an Australian culture critic and commentator whose very popular YouTube show I discovered entirely by accident when YouTube's algorithm gods placed her show in front of me for whatever reason. I watched one of her videos as a result and instantly recognized how under-covered and important are the topics that she very adeptly covers. In particular, there's a huge increase in the numbers of young adults and even adolescents in the West and in the U. S. who are seeking out and paying for plastic surgery, often extremely distorting and unhealthy procedures that can cause long term or even permanent damage, not only to one's appearance but also to one's mental and physical health.
This may seem like a topic slightly off the beaten path for what this show covers, and maybe it is: there's no inherent value in clinging to the beaten path. But I would argue that the types of social dynamics at play that are fueling these industries that play on and exploit the social insecurities and mental vulnerabilities of young people in the West are very much part of the social changes we often discuss in a more explicitly political context. That's why we asked Stephanie to come on our show to talk about all this, and why we are delighted to have her here tonight.
For now, welcome to a new episode of System Update, starting right now.
