25 hours in 2025 (and paid subscriptions)

Welcome to Export Quality, your home for news by and about South Asian Americans and Canadians - and everything in between

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When Senator Cory Booker, the Democrat from Newark, New Jersey, hit the 12 hour mark as I finally reached for my phone at 7 am on Tuesday morning, my one thought was: Finally.

Several rounds of DOGE-led dismantling, seeing dozens of friends lose their jobs, talking to several more having to grapple with uncertainty, writing about the costs of eliminating DEI efforts and confounding tariffs - the last 72 days have felt like an endless, exhausting marathon.

I had been wondering whether a prominent Democrat besides Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett would step up in the last few months.

Maybe you fight fire with fire, er, I mean another kind of marathon? Perhaps a 25 hour and four minute filibuster from a Black man that broke the record of ancient racist Senator Strom Thurmond is the remedy for what ails us? The late Senator had previously filibustered for 24 hours when he was trying to stop the Civil Rights Act from passing.

To be honest, I didn’t think Booker had it in him. That’s more a comment on the general pearl-clutching and hand-wringing of Senate Democrats in the wake of the last 72 decades days than on Booker himself.

The cynic in me thinks he may have just done this to set up a run for president in 2028. But, the hopeful part of me, the part I cling to as I continue to write about and interview people not directly involved in politics, wants to believe this is the start of something - or maybe just a more accurate reflection of what people are feeling outside the Beltway.

I know a few of us could wax poetic like this about the state of the world but it counts for something that Booker, the one with the access, did it in such a fashion that’s gotten him hundreds of thousands of new fans.

Some are arguing he should have done this to block a big legislative vote or appointment that would be particularly destructive if passed or confirmed. I think there is merit to that but if we tally up all that has gone on, how much of it actually came before the Senate for a vote besides Cabinet confirmations? How much of it was carried on without Congressional involvement?

There is something to be said for trying to remind the world where the real power lies in Washington - not with a billionaire who bought his way in (and still lost in Wisconsin) but with an elected body.

There is something to be said for taking a stand simply because you felt the need to and not for a targeted political purpose. Of course, that could have been a calculated move as well. Whatever the motivation, he did it and Republicans in Congress and otherwise may never be able to buy the kind of social capital.

And now on to your required viewing:

Big congrats to Niketa Patel on becoming Executive Director/CEO of the Online News Assoication! I was a contractor in two places where Niketa worked - Twitter and the CUNY Journalism school (where I still am) - so I am extra excited to see her boss up like this. I can’t wait to see all the amazing things she’ll do leading this group!

The Asian American and Pacific Islander press brings the world home - Kavitha Rajagopalan for The Emancipator

Op-ed: Gutting USAID means more deaths worldwide - Amy Yee for Chicago Sun-Times. [Amy was a foreign correspondent in South Asia for years and wrote a book on the Dalai Lama and Tibetans in India and the diaspora - Far from the Rooftop of the World: Travels Among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents]

Houston businesses brace for challenges as Texas Legislature moves toward THC crackdown - Jishnu Nair for Houston Business Journal

Cory Booker's record-breaking speech ignites a Democratic base 'desperate' for a fighter - Sahil Kapur for NBC News

Donald Trump & presidential term limits - Deepa Shivaram on NPR Politics Podcast

WATCH: ‘Deli Boys’ offers a new take on South Asian representation on screen - NBC News

Clive Revill, Original Voice of Emperor Palpatine in ‘Star Wars,’ Dies at 94 - Sopan Deb for The New York Times

Why Is Dining Alone So Difficult? - Priya Krishna for The New York Times

Op-ed: Trump’s Academic Purge Will Make America Stupid and Provincial Again - Jeet Heer for The Nation

Feds cancel $4.3M worth of poultry, cheese, eggs to Michigan food banks - Nushrat Rahman for Detroit Free Press

WATCH: Cox signs bill requiring opt-in for vote-by-mail system - Mythili Gubbi for Fox 13 News Salt Lake City