Tuesday, August 4th Edition |
Is it cooler where you are? I had a drop in humidity here and can genuinely say that I’m thankful for it.
Let’s dive in today …
Today’s Big Story
The Tradwife Conversation
Nara Smith rejects the viral label, but TikTok ain’t buying it

Is it a “tradwife” summer? Actually, that’s not much of a questions, is it? Of course it is. Netflix has rebooted “Little House on the Prairie,” and the book of the year has all but been given to Yesteryear, right? Even in the most liberal of states, nonreligious tech entrepreneurs and CEOs are increasingly utilizing matchmakers to find them “traditional” and “conservative” women to marry, reports WIRED.
Like many people, my first exposure to the world of tradwives came from a young, soft-spoken mother from Texas. Nara Smith makes homemade nut butter, cares for five children and, according to my student’s essay, shares “the joys of serving those she loves while still fulfilling her career as a model.” She also has over 12.5 million followers on TikTok and 4.8 million followers on Instagram.
According to the New York Times, many were intrigued and plenty of women saw at least glimmers of hope from resurrecting old fashioned hobbies and rethinking domestic chores. JoAnna Novak wrote, “How can I renounce the regressive side of tradwives while blissfully kneading my own milk bread dough?” And she’s not the only one that seems uncomfortable.
After a recent podcast appearance, Smith herself appears to be backpedaling against every idea that made her a household name. “I don’t prioritize being a homemaker,” she told Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy. “I’m a working mom. I am out in LA. I travel a lot. Sure, do I love cooking because it’s my passion and kind of have to do it given my autoimmune (disease)? Absolutely. But that’s a passion of mine and a hobby; it’s not something I need to be doing,” she said.
However, while Smith is up in arms over being called a “tradwife”, TikTok users point out that the influencer has portrayed herself as a homemaker online to build her platform. Content creator @Culturework added that Smith used to post YouTube vlogs that modeled the tradwife lifestyle, in which she often promoted her religious lifestyle by reading the Book of Mormon. On a similar note, another content creator told The Root Smith is trying to rewrite her history on the platform and reject the label now that it is no longer trending on TikTok.
Dig Deeper:
The term "tradwife," as Mashable defined it in 2022, refers to a woman who "denounces feminism in turn for the ‘more fulfilling’ life of submitting to a man."
Those Reflecting Pool Claims Just Don’t Hold Water
Trump says Jeanine Pirro ‘choked’ by dropping vandalism case
The story seems to have died down a bit, but the president has a way to bring things back into the news cycle. Remember when Trump promised to fix Washington’s Reflecting Pool and make it glimmer a bright shade of blue? “It’s going to last, I would say 50 years,” he said. “It’ll last, it’s going to last a long time.” But it only lasted a few days—didn’t even make it to the big 4th of July celebration.
The basin’s coating began to visibly peel, with chunks of Trump’s new pool liner, tinted “American Flag Blue,” littering the surface and algae blooms clouding the water. Since then, the administration’s response was to blame vandalism for the damage. But the government just dropped charges against three individuals in connection with damage (including a former Olympian), further weakening Trump’s argument that it was the work of vandals.
The president hurled more criticism at Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro as he fumed over her move to drop the cases. But she didn’t have much of a choice: Her office said that given newly released evidence from the Department of the Interior, “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” Instead, it blamed a “botched installation” by Trump’s hand-picked, no-bid contractor.
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The Perseids Meteor Shower Is Coming
This year, the Perseids will peak along with a new moon, unfolding hours after a total solar eclipse
Have you heard of the Perseids Meteor Shower? Considered the best meteor shower of the year, each August lucky stargazers catch a glimpse in the night sky. Why? Well, meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids. And every year Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.
And the Perseids are coming in hot and this year—a solar eclipse is practically turning off the lights for them to shine. Officially, they’re already underway, but the peak viewing will be overnight on Wednesday, Aug. 12 into Thursday, Aug. 13. This year, it will peak along with a new moon, unfolding just hours after a total solar eclipse, which presents skywatchers in the northern hemisphere with quite the experience.
With up to 50 to 100 meteors visible per hour under ideal conditions, it is considered one of the most dazzling and “plentiful.” In terms of the ideal vantage point, you’ll want to find a place where you get unobstructed view of the sky and as little light pollution as possible, although it’s still possible to see shooting stars in the city.
FYI:
The Perseids got their name because they can be observed in the constellation of the Greek hero Perseus.
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