Amanda Coulombe and her employer are critical to the infrastructure of Democratic campaigns. But are they a clunky monopoly?

A couple of years ago, Amanda Coulombe got into powerlifting. “I just got to the point where I was sick of being scared of that side of the gym,” says the Spin class regular, who this summer lifted 305 pounds to finish second in a dead lift competition at her Boston gym.

It’s a fitting pastime for the 36-year-old who these days is carrying the weight of the world, or at least that of the Democratic universe. As general manager of organizing at web hosting service provider and voter database NGP VAN, Coulombe is charged with managing the technology powering nearly all Democrats, from local races to the 15 would-be presidents still vying for the party nomination. And amid criticism of the tech company’s efforts, she’s trying to prove it’s a Democratic strength for 2020.

Call it navel-gazing if you will, but with an industry filled with sleaze and crime, producers are looking inward for content.

Hollywood has long reflected the zeitgeist, from films like the Watergate-era All the President’s Men to The Big Short, which follows the 2008 financial crash. But The Morning Show and other recent offerings are part of a new wave of projects that reflect how the media industry is turning its own recent wrongs into profits, even as the events they focus on are playing out in ongoing investigations, litigation and press coverage. Backed by some of Hollywood’s most powerful women, they’re also part of the #MeToo movement, supercharged by the misconduct they portray.

Britain's anti-transgender bent is weakening its LGBTQ support.

Melania Geymonat and her girlfriend, Chris Hannigan, got on a London bus and were attacked by a gang of four teenagers. Geymonat said the young men “started behaving like hooligans,” asking the couple to kiss, calling them “lesbians” and describing sexual positions. She ended up with a broken nose in the May attack, which was condemned by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, and the country’s then-prime minister, Theresa May, who both said that violence against the LGBTQ community would not be tolerated.

But the attack was a reflection of what observers say are increasingly homophobic tendencies in the United Kingdom. Britain has dropped from the most LGBTQ-friendly country in Europe in 2014 to seventh this year.