Critic’s Notebook: A Sundance Festival Sampler

HUGE legal news out of Arizona! 11 "Fake Electors" and numerous Trump co-conspirators were just indicted on felony charges related to their shenanigans during the period right after the 2020 election. The Washington Post reports that a grand jury officially "indicted seven attorneys and aides affiliated with Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign as well as 11 Arizona Republicans on felony charges related to their alleged efforts to subvert Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state." Those indicted include Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Christina Bobb, top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn and former campaign aide Mike Roman.

Thursday's Turkeys Edition STRIKE!!! Sounds like an excellent idea. Hamilton Nolan "real talks" it. An American writes a letter about, among other things, working people. Speculation: Hackwhackers wonders what the alliterative "Peter" Pecker & Hope Hicks have on Lumpy. Insult someone w/ dirty words & this reporter is there. North Stars and Cowboy Bars & everyone is entitled to my own opinion come through. M.

The West Virginia Senate primary is May 14. When Zach Shrewsbury started campaigning, he was running against reactionary Democrat Joe Manchin, who has since announced he isn’t running for reelection.  At that point, another special interest, corporate-backed right-of-center Democrat, Glenn Elliott, jumped into the race against Shrewsbury. On Monday, as expected, Manchin endorsed Elliott. And if you want to see another senator just like Joe Manchin, Elliott’s the man.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry knows that battling the climate crisis is an uphill battle— but that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up the fight. “Every analysis of finance of the transition to clean energy says we need something like 2.5 to 4.5 trillion dollars every year for the next three years,” said Kerry during his TIME Earth Award acceptance speech, after being presented the honor by former honoree Tom Steyer.

Nemonte Nenquimo believes that Mother Nature is sending us a message—we just need to listen. “She’s crying. She’s shouting. She’s screaming. She’s saying that I am when the tides are rising, the rivers are rising. There are droughts. And this is my language. This is my alarm to you.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Nenquimo, an Indigenous leader of the Waorani peoples in Ecuador and founder of the nonprofits Ceibo Alliance and Amazon Frontlines, has focused much of her activism on preserving the Amazon from deforestation and oil extraction.

Designer Gabriela Hearst accepted a TIME Earth Award on Wednesday, presented to her by actress Jodie Comer, who praised Hearst’s commitment to sustainability through simplicity. Hearst made clear that the admiration was mutual. “Artists and scientists hold the important keys to get us out of the mess we have gotten ourselves in,” she said before discussing her passion for clean energy. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Hearst has weaved sustainability into her namesake company’s practices—her brand sells handbags on a made-to-order basis, and is constantly finding new ways to reduce waste in packaging and fabrics.