Currently: Mamdani, The Clipse, Diarrha Joins Skims, Selling Sunset, and Media Layoffs

Our takes on what’s trending — and what it says about who we’re becoming.

Welcome to Currently!

Our weekly digest — or, if you will, our collective Explore Page — where we unpack the stories, trends, and hot takes that had us (and probably you) double-tapping, debating, or doom-scrolling all week.

Each edition, our editors break down what the week’s biggest moments are really about — and how they connect to the ideas we care about most: leadership, conviction, and becoming.

Politics? Pop culture? Business, beauty, world news, or the latest “did-you-see-this?” viral moment? Nothing’s off-limits here. If it’s shaping the conversation, we’re talking about it — with context, curiosity, and occasionally a little bit of side-eye.

CURRENTLY…

... reconditioning my hope muscles. Thanks to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral election win in New York City and record (local elections) voter turnout across the country, hope has been trending again. But as we wrote last week on here [Follow the Leader], What Kamala’s Loss Has Taught Us About Hope, we’ve seen this before—a surge of belief that rises and crashes on results. A year after Kamala’s loss, many of us are still learning that outcome-based hope is fragile. The steadier kind, assignment-based hope, doesn’t depend on headlines or wins. It’s the quiet conviction to keep showing up, forgiving, and becoming the evidence that hope still works. That is the hope muscle we must continue to exercise, especially now, as we’re seeing the Senate Dems cave to the Republicans’ deal to reopen the government (without properly protecting affordable healthcare), disappointing liberal voters less than a week after such a historic election day for the party. Outcomes and “wins” change as quickly as the wind, but being the hope you want to feel does not. - Maya Watson

...replaying the Clipse album. Grammy noms are in and The Clipse have received five nominations, including Album of the Year, for their critically acclaimed album Let God Sort Em Out produced with Pharrell Williams. The AOTY nod, particularly, speaks to the power of standing on what you believe and not compromising even when it costs you. The brothers, who cover GQ’s Men of the Year issue this month, refused to remove a Kendrick Lamar song on the album and had to buy themselves out of a 7-figure deal with Def Jam to release the project the way they envisioned. They also weren’t afraid to speak about the pain of losing both of their parents, their drug-dealing past, or reuniting after a 15-year hiatus, during which the eldest brother, Malice, spent most of his time away reconnecting with his Christian faith. In August, we wrote about how Malice used the promo tour for the album to stand ten toes down on his spiritual beliefs and the way it’s made him a better artist – a daring feat in a time where some would say talking about Jesus out loud (or rapping past the age of 50) is “culturally inappropriate.” - Kevin Stuckey .

… thinking of all my fellow journalists as media layoffs hit more companies. CBS News and Teen Vogue are the latest casualties as the media industry, as we knew it, continues to crumble. I’ve been on both sides of layoffs, and I know how they leave everyone – those kept and those let go – scrambling to navigate an ever-shifting landscape with fewer resources and less hope. It’s a disappointment many of us have carried since the death of print journalism. At this point, it’s clear: the system was never built to protect us. We can keep lamenting that truth or figure out how to keep operating in our assignment anyway. We made these brands, not the other way around. Our gifts come with us. We are both the juice and the squeeze. To everyone laid off or struggling in this ruthless economy, feel the pain, yes, but let it also be a portal. Let the suffering squeeze out your ingenuity and reveal new parts of your design you might never have discovered otherwise. Take advantage of the dismantling of old media and become the answer to the problem. I truly believe the future of journalism is independent, driven by creators who’ve earned their audiences’ trust. Whether that means building your own platform, joining forces with others, or finding new ways to share your work, don’t let your creativity sink with a ship that was never built for us in the first place. - Sylvia Obell

… in my Skims pajamas watching Diarrha N’Diaye, newly appointed EVP of Skims Beauty, give a masterclass on real-time reinvention. In a world that worships linear success stories and only expects you to be one thing, she’s proving that pivots can be power moves. She didn’t hide the mess and reality of entrepreneurship when Ami Cole was forced to shutter. Instead, she talked openly about what didn’t work, from bad advice from investors to how unprepared she was for the beauty brand’s growth, on her episode of Emma Grede’s digital series Aspire (also, Emma’s best work imo). And somehow that honesty made her story even stronger. Now with this new position at Skims, she’s got everything she needs to keep scaffolding who she’s becoming – stability, an apprenticeship with Emma Grede, all while getting paid to learn. Sometimes the real flex isn’t building something from scratch—it’s knowing when to evolve and still stay on the path of your best work. - MW

… processing the latest season of Selling Sunset. Like most workplace reality shows, much of the Netflix drama is heightened for the cameras—but there’s something strikingly real, even familiar, about the ongoing conflict between Mary and Chelsea. Whether it’s Mary calling Chelsea’s clothing “unprofessional” last season or accusing her of being disingenuous after a flower gesture this season, there’s a clear difference in how Mary perceives and reacts to Chelsea compared to the other women. Chelsea is confident, direct, and unafraid of confrontation—qualities that often trigger Mary’s defensiveness and bias. When Chelsea stands her ground, Mary seems stunned that she dares to push back, despite being on a show where confrontation is the norm. What makes Mary’s behavior especially frustrating is how she uses her power and proximity to leadership—particularly her relationship with Jason, their boss and ex—to undercut Chelsea. She repeatedly runs to him to complain, framing Chelsea as aggressive or unsafe, even breaking down in tears at just the sight of her name on a table setting. In leadership, there are diminishers and multipliers. Multipliers amplify others’ intelligence and confidence; Diminishers lead from ego, drain energy, and make others smaller. Watching Mary distort Chelsea’s intentions, weaponize vulnerability, and leverage her privilege to suppress another woman’s voice—especially a woman of color—is a textbook case of a Diminisher at work. And Jason and Brett’s willingness to indulge that behavior only reinforces it. It’s a dynamic far too many women of color recognize in the workplace: the gaslighting, the coded language, the emotional manipulation masquerading as professionalism. And it’s a shame to watch it play out on what used to be one of my favorite guilty-pleasure shows. - SO

… squinting in utter disbelief after watching The New York Times’ opinion columnists debate if “liberal feminism ruined the workplace” on their “Interesting Times” series. The entire thing reminded me why discernment is a survival skill. What used to be a source for truth has turned into televised rage-bait think pieces dressed up as interesting journalism. It felt like a Real Housewives of Handmaid’s Tale reunion with a non-confrontational moderator and host. Not even linking it. Protect your peace. And, if you missed it, good…keep it that way. The real tragedy is how they hijacked our attention and stole our energy. Even the outlets we once trusted are trapped in the same algorithmic economy of selling outrage, not insight. We can’t afford to just watch anymore. We have to protect our time like it’s our most valuable currency because it is. - MW

... missing the king of pop. The trailer for the Michael film has dropped and it makes the film look like a true event movie. With Director Antoine Fuqua at the helm, I can already sense that this biopic will deliver on the action-packed spectacle that Michael’s career produced: explosive hits, iconic moves, and screaming fandom. The trailer also brought back to memory a note from MJ that I came across last year on NYU Professor Naima Cochrane’s Music Sermon page. It expressed a deeper WHY behind Michael’s passion - one no doubt influenced by the pain of his upbringing as a poor Black kid in Gary, Indiana during the peak of the civil rights movement: “Do it, 200,000,000 for the white children so they’ll have Black heroes. So they don’t grow up prejudiced. All kids.” In response to a problem he saw in the world, Michael decided to become something that, even in death, his legacy is still becoming an answer to. - KS

…watching legacy do its work. For the last few years, MacKenzie Scott has been doing what most wealthy white women in her position do not — instead of talking about change, she’s funding it. Last week, she gave an $80 million gift to Howard University, bringing her total giving to HBCUs to $1 billion, all without fanfare or control. What made it even more full-circle was learning she once worked for Toni Morrison, who called her “one of the best students I’ve ever had.” She helped research Jazz—Morrison’s ode to Black brilliance, identity, and freedom in Harlem—and learned to see us through Morrison’s eyes first. It’s the quiet delight of seeing the lineage connect, a reminder that we never know who’s watching us, learning from us, or being shaped by what we sow. - MW

Quote of the week: “Great things start in little rooms.” – Andre 3000 while accepting Outkast’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame