Pivot

Longtime Donald Trump supporter Tucker Carlson has broken with the president on some key issues, becoming one of the country’s staunchest critics of the US relationship with Israel. Carlson is engaging with voices he once criticised, like The New York Times, and his rising popularity has fueled speculation in Washington, DC that he could try to ride that momentum all the way to the White House.

Contributors:
Wajahat Ali – Cohost, Democracy-ish Podcast
Briahna Joy Gray – Host, Bad Faith Podcast
Ana Kasparian – Executive producer and host, The Young Turks
Jude Russo – Managing editor, The American Conservative

On our radar

In the United Kingdom, days after a knife attack in north London left two Jewish men in hospital, much of the country’s political and media class settled on a narrative that anti-genocide protests and the only Jewish leader in British politics, Zack Polanksi, were to blame. Meenakshi Ravi dissects the media coverage.

Greater Israel: How a fringe settler fantasy went mainstream

Israel’s settler movement has moved from the fringes to having influence over key Israeli institutions, including the media, where a constellation of voices is pushing for Israel to conquer new territory. The Listening Post‘s Tariq Nafi reports on the rapid normalisation of the idea of a “Greater Israel”.

Featuring:
Ben Reiff – Deputy editor, +972 Magazine
Maya Rosen – Assistant editor, Jewish Currents

Not every crowd will gleefully applaud and cheer a known notorious villain. But the Disneyland faithful certainly will, as when Darth Vader set foot in the park’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on Wednesday morning and the audience erupted in approving hollers.

Kylo Ren has officially been evicted from the fictional “Star Wars” town of Black Spire Outpost. Vader has instead taken up residence, and he will appear multiple times daily in front of the land’s militaristic TIE fighter before stalking the area on the prowl for Luke Skywalker.

In Vader’s first two appearances Wednesday, he spoke of his quest to hunt down the young Jedi. He was flanked by two classic Stormtroopers, who had different dialogue in each showing — one time critiquing Black Spire Outpost and later talking of a run-in with a Jedi.

Vader isn’t the only new addition to the area. Leia, Han and Luke, the latter of whom previously appeared in the land for a limited time last year, are also now regularly appearing in Galaxy’s Edge.

Their presence marks a major shift in direction for the 14-acre theme park land. When Galaxy’s Edge opened in 2019, it was set at a fixed point in the “Star Wars” timeline, namely one in the middle of the latest films in the series.

This was done in part to promote the new cinematic works, but to also facilitate interaction, placing guests on an unknown adventure rather than one with a fixed outcome. It was a theme park experiment to see how much Disneyland attendees would lean in and role play.

But Disneyland wisely hasn’t completely pivoted on the Galaxy’s Edge mission. The characters appear out in the land and on a quest rather than simply standing and posing for photos.

Leia, for instance, spent the bulk of one appearance working with the furry Chewbacca to fix up the starship Millennium Falcon. Later, she joked around with Luke and asked young fans if they wanted to train to learn the ways of the Force.

We’ll have more on the changes to Galaxy’s Edge and what they mean for the future of Disneyland in our theme park newsletter, Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride.