Take of the Week: Coachella Recap & Demanding Action (April 18)

Recovering from music festivals feels like a week-long event, especially as you age.

There is nothing that can prepare you for the mental and physical exhaustion of being in the desert for three days or from witnessing the greatness that is Lady mf Gaga. And despite the headliners this year not being as diverse as previous years, acts like Missy Elliott and Megan Thee Stallion completely stole the weekend.

Maybe it’s just my timeline, but judging from recaps, you would have no idea that Post Malone was even there.

Also, I see a lot of people making inferences whenever the audience isn’t giving what they need to give, but this weekend showed me that there may be in-person complications that don’t come through. Sometimes, the energy doesn’t translate.

Almost all of my predictions were wrong, but I still think Lola Young is on the brink of stardom — despite her having to vomit the whole time? I still got my life.

This was easily my favorite Coachella I’ve been to. The energy was contagious and you felt the collective sadness on the last day. But it felt more… influence-y? Some of the influencers were eating Nobu and at completely different private concerts. It’s like we attended two totally different festivals. Don’t get me wrong, Coachella is expensive, but I hope it never gets to the point that only influencers or celebrities can afford to go and have a good time. But this is all great content for my upcoming piece about celebrities and how the separation of them and the “general population” is damaging for everyone involved.

This week, I've included a few takes on demanding more from our elected officials, the new Times 100 list, and the artist from Coachella who impressed me the most.

Political Take of the Week

The hardest part about working on Capitol Hill was seeing how many elected officials forfeited their power out of fear—fear of backlash, of optics, of not getting re-elected. When you are up for election every other year like in the House of Representatives, being a member of Congress comes down to how effective a fundraiser you are—not your policies or positions.

But yesterday, Senator Chris Van Hollen showed that we can demand more from our representatives, and they are capable of rising to the occasion. He met with Abrego Garcia in El Salvador in a meeting that he fought hard all week to have, and many doubted he could. We’re still waiting to hear his report from the meeting, but we know the El Salvador government tried to get them to have margaritas during their meeting to make his condition look better.

I’m going to be completely honest: this is a difficult subject to write about. It is awful, disgusting, and disturbing that people have taken this man who has lived in Maryland with his wife and their disabled kids, has never been convicted of a crime, and pretending he is a threat to public safety. And the Trump Administration is mad that people are calling him a Maryland father?

How can people be so cruel? How can the government separate someone from their family after a court order to not do so?

How can an administration send a man to a prison in El Salvador, pay to keep them there, admit that they sent him there on an administrative mistake — and then pretend they can’t bring them back? It is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen, and it is disheartening to see how many people are willing to find the guilt of an innocent man.

I hope Van Hollen’s actions send a message: empty gestures are no longer enough. It’s time to get creative, get aggressive, and demand action. Anything less is unacceptable.

Pop Culture Take of the Week

The Time 100 List is similar to the NYTimes bestseller list in my head: it seems like everyone’s been on it. But every year, a few names stand out.

My favorite part about the Time 100 list is reading what others say about my favorite artists, innovators, and creators. My second favorite part is finding new inspiration.

To the former point, Amy Poheler's writing about Rashida Jones is perfect. Derek