Good morning! Gen Z has its own brand of political optimism. Let’s get into it.
Millennial optimism described the feeling of hope-and-change sincerity that came after the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Now, some Gen Z voters, who helped power Democratic candidates to victory in the midterms, are cautiously embracing that optimism with their own version of it: “WhimZ.”
Many are still wary about what comes after the post-election victory lap, so they’re celebrating with a dose of skepticism.
We’re also covering:
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Mississippi Senate race
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Advent calendars
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The best fleeces
Talking points
What to talk about in class today.
1. Scott Colom, a Democrat, won a Senate seat in Mississippi in a historic upset. Colom will be the state’s first Black senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction period.
2. Jensen Huang resigned from Nvidia. Huang, the company’s chief executive, has been under scrutiny for an affair with a woman who U.S. intelligence officials determined was a Chinese spy. He was also said to have had a relationship with an executive who reported to him. Read the latest news.
3. Israel struck a hospital in Gaza. The strikes killed at least six people and injured dozens more, according to local health officials.
4. A building in Brooklyn collapsed, killing at least eight people. Emergency workers were continuing to search through rubble for possible survivors. Follow our live coverage.
5. The White House issued a threat to Congress. The White House’s top lawyer warned Democrats that aggressive investigations into the Trump administration could be a crime.
6. A soldier shouted at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s group to show “respect” after laughter broke out among a group that accompanied him. They were visiting the Tomb of the Unknowns, a solemn memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Watch the video.
On campus
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Richard Holmes, who entered Mississippi State University in 1965 as its first Black student, has died. He was 82. Read his obituary.
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A 21-year-old hockey player collapsed in August at the end of Arizona State’s first preseason workout and remains on life support. It took nearly two months for the school to cut ties with the team’s head coach. Read The Athletic’s investigation into a crisis of leadership at the university.
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Georgia is now at the top of The Athletic’s College Football Playoff ranking, followed by Utah, Alabama and U.C.L.A. See the full list.
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Cornell was negotiating with the Chi Phi fraternity about reinstating it on campus as early as 2030, according to emails and documents obtained by The Cornell Daily Sun. The university told The Sun that negotiations were no longer taking place and that the fraternity remained suspended.
Any tips or feedback? I’m all ears. Email me at extracredit@nytimes.com
The editor of Extra Credit is Talya Minsberg. Eli Cohen and Scott Ball were our photo editors.
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