Hi y'all,

🍎 Authenticity can often be a rare commodity in the fast-paced world of American politics, writes The Advocate's Christopher Wiggins. Yet, as Vice President Kamala Harris’s pick for a running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, enters the national stage, those who knew him as a high school teacher recognize a figure whose public persona mirrors the values he lived by in the classroom. We spoke to some of those students.

🏐 When Jessica Norton became “team mom” for her daughter’s volleyball team, she never expected it might cost her job. She certainly didn’t anticipate becoming the face of a national controversy about transgender children’s place on the athletic field. But that changed when the Broward County School Board announced disciplinary action against administrators at Monarch High School and against Norton, who worked as an information management specialist at the school. District officials said the school and Norton personally had violated Florida’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act for allowing her daughter, who is a trans girl, to play on the girls' team. 🏐

📣 A pro-dictator movement? Of course JD Vance is a fan. Rachel Maddow took the VP nominee to task earlier this week in a segment exploring the Ohio senator's endorsement of the "late-republic" movement.

Onward and upward,

Alex Cooper