Kaitlin McCready

If I die and go to heaven perhaps St. Peter or Giovanni Sartori will tell me what regime type I really lived in at this moment in time. Until then, as a matter of collective sensemaking, the degree matters less than the direction of change, which is obvious to anyone who wishes to see it. (2/3)

Trump Administration Live Updates: President Says He Is Removing Lisa Cook From Federal Reserve Board

It’s hard to overstate how big a deal this is - for the economy (ours and globally), for the rule of law, and for the proper and efficient function of government.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...

This reporting is the prime example of industry trade mag value

To be fair, they have to sell the dream. And the dream of all drivers is to not ever encounter other drivers.

But are the trade-offs worth it?

I know this is serious.

But all I see is a new name for a Bushwick club.

The Full Tesla Diner Menu, Revealed The diner will serve hamburgers, hot dogs, and “epic” bacon

And in other “experiential marketing” news 🤦‍♀️

la.eater.com/restaurant-o...

So instead of The Workshop easily advancing its brand of "benefitting humanity" (brand building), it's serving to unmuddle it (crisis mgmt).

OpenAI is using it to reeducate customers/stakeholders and differentiate from what is starting to feel like a flattening of AI features among companies (IMO).

What do all of these have in common?

They would have been more valuable to OpenAI at or before ChatGPT was handed to the masses with little guidance or instruction.

There are lots of reasons to open a "Workshop."

Primary: Educate prospects, demonstrate unique value prop, convert prospects to customers.

OpenAI plans to open first D.C. office next year OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is slated to speak at a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.

Smart move by OpenAI to launch a testing lab. Experiential marketing (i.e. pop-ups, permanent activations, user testing, etc.) is a useful tactic esp. for intangible brands (software, services).

I would have done it differently 🧵:

www.cnbc.com/2025/07/21/o... @ashleycapoot.cnbc.com

Counterpoint: This data doesn’t demonstrate an approval problem. It demonstrates a COMMUNICATIONS problem.

People don’t know what the federal govt is or what it does for them.

Biden Admin had the same problem. This is not new.

That persistency is the story.
apnews.com/article/poll...

Saying sorry for the small stuff is a brilliant comms strategy.

It gives him credibility to deny the big stuff.

Donald Trump Answers the Proust Questionnaire The billionaire reveals what he would change about himself. Hint: It’s on his head.

Reading The Power Broker. The civil service reform theories feel...familiar.

"Which historical figure do you most identify with? Considering his work and love for New York City, I would say Robert Moses."
- Donald Trump, 2004

www.vanityfair.com/culture/2004...

Excuse Me, but Your Theme Park Is Actually a Motif Park I just had a tour of your newly renovated theme park. I hate to be that guy, but I just want to mention that, while you refer to your destination a...

Literary snobbery x basic summer Americana.

AKA perfection.

Excuse Me, but Your Theme Park Is Actually a Motif Park www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/exc...

New game: Truth Social grift or text message scam?

Pair this with the cuts to public media and no emergency info will ever get through.

Shots fired by Truth Social (now Truth+? I’ve lost the thread on the brand).

😂😂😂

Love this connection! I was at the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which was the team spurring electrified transportation and infrastructure. Everything from state tech support to software/hardware interoperability.

One of my theories of “how did it get so bad” is the increased distance (physical, mental) between average people and those who govern people. It wasn’t that long ago that fed govt was actually both. Now when I tell people I worked for the Dept of Energy, they react w/ a mix of wonder and caution.

We are in a transition moment for the clean energy industry. We need to make reckoning with the brand part of that.

One theory—when businesses are heavily subsidized by public dollars, it's easy to view the customer as who is giving them the $$. In this case, the U.S. government. And so they speak to them. Not average consumers who will drive revenue.

"Clean energy" businesses either actively or implicitly decided not to use the tech innovators brand playbook. They haven't made the connection for people on 1) how this is really awesome, purpose-built tech and 2)how it will directly improve people's lives.

Americans revere the Silicon Valley ethos and the entrepreneurs who built it. We gladly hand over our personal data—in part because these companies have clearly showed us what we will get in return, and how lovely it will make our lives.

Trump’s plan to replace clean energy with fossil fuels has some major problems The budget bill sabotages one of the biggest growth sectors of the US economy.

I've said it before: the clean energy sector has a branding problem.

Perception: solving one very specific problem that many don't understand or agree w/.

Reality: MUCH better technology that also is (was? 🫣) a major growth sector for the U.S. www.vox.com/climate/4185...
@umairfan.bsky.social

Your key insight here is shifting how we define the problem. This isn’t a policy problem. It’s a systems problem.

I’ve been thinking about this concept as my 5 year old attends Safety Town soon. She’ll learn to be afraid of strangers. Will that fear of fellow humans set her up for disinformation?

Exactly. Master class in media consumption.

This is as much a story about crisis comms success as it is about media failures.

No interviewer asked about Jolie? The media* is implicitly admitting it has no power/leverage.

*Unclear if Shepard would define himself as media. But he is shaping public perception, so the responsibility remains.

Federal judge orders Trump administration to release EV charger funding in 14 states A federal judge has partially granted a preliminary injunction that sought to release funds for the build out of electric vehicle chargers in more than a dozen states.

“…When an administrative agency acts contrary to law, it is the Court’s responsibility to remediate the situation and restore the balance of power.”

(Except in D.C., Minnesota and Vermont, apparently.)

@apnews.com apnews.com/article/laws...