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Charles Bethea

@charlesbethea.bsky.social
2.6K followers 680 following 23 posts

New Yorker staff writer in Atlanta Reporting mostly from the South www.newyorker.com/contributors/char…

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Reposted by Charles Bethea
Bruce Handy @brucehandy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
SPY magazine is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a free substack! All the best Trump bits in one place! You know what they say: show me the bankrupt 1980s casino operator and I’ll show you the corrupt 2020s president. Follow the link to subscribe… spymagazine.substack.com/p/coming-soo...
spymagazine.substack.com
Coming Soon — Spy at 40
Spy Magazine’s Anniversary Chronicle of a Certain Short-Fingered Vulgarian
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Dan Kruger @therealdfk.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
This story about highway guardrails -- yes, highway guardrails -- by @charlesbethea.bsky.social is amazing. It's got tragedy, redemption, and an all-too uncommon bit of successful public policymaking for the public good. I highly recommend it www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
One Man’s Quest to Fix Every Deadly Guardrail
In 2016, Steve Eimers’s daughter died when she hit a defective guardrail. Then he learned that the country was full of them.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 20/07/2026
Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., a Presidential sidekick from Atlanta and a triumphal-arch enthusiast, is just back from Russia, where he hung out with Putin and Steven Seagal. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Man Who Green-Lighted Trump’s Ballroom
Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., a Presidential sidekick from Atlanta and a triumphal-arch enthusiast, is just back from Russia, where he hung out with Putin and Steven Seagal.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 20/07/2026
In 2016, Steve Eimers’s daughter died when she hit a defective guardrail. Then he learned that the country was full of them. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
One Man’s Quest to Fix Every Deadly Guardrail
In 2016, Steve Eimers’s daughter died when she hit a defective guardrail. Then he learned that the country was full of them.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 01/06/2026
In his lifetime, the M.L.B. manager has won multiple World Series, shared a joint with Jimi Hendrix, and co-invented the high five. Will he add Hall of Famer to the mix? www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Dusty Baker Plays the Long Game
In his lifetime, the M.L.B. manager has won multiple World Series, shared a joint with Jimi Hendrix, and co-invented the high five. Will he add Hall of Famer to the mix?
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Danny Funt @dannyfunt.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
What a treat to be able to guest edit today's @thesundaylongread.bsky.social. . Checks it out! @charlesbethea.bsky.social, @nathanielpopper.bsky.social, @mariepastora.bsky.social, @benjij.bsky.social, @davidjroth.bsky.social, and many others. mailchi.mp/sundaylongre...
mailchi.mp
☀️ The Sunday Long Read: Danny Funt, Stanford, YouTube in Schools
The week's best journalism. Every Sunday.
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has a better understanding of foreign policy and the Middle East than the Trump Administration and many DC pro-war pundits. www.newyorker.com/news/the-new...
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Sat down with Steve Kerr for two hours, a few days ago, for this wide-ranging @newyorker.com interview: www.newyorker.com/news/the-new...
newyorker.com
Has Steve Kerr Had Enough?
The Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr on his future, coaching Draymond Green, the potential benefits of eliminating the three-point shot, and whether he might give politics a try.
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Jasper Lo @japrse.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
I was always too scared to tweet during its heyday but I'm curious to meet anyone this article might shake out!
thenation.com
Fact-Checkers Anonymous
Getting a job at The New Yorker felt like an arbitrary stroke of luck. Getting fired was quite the opposite.
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The New Yorkerest @newyorkerest.com · 05/04/2026
Weekend reading from this week's issue: "The Camps Promising to Turn You—or Your Son—Into an Alpha Male" by Charles Bethea (@charlesbethea.bsky.social). newyorkerest.com/issue/2026/04/06?u…
newyorkerest.com
The Camps Promising to Turn You—or Your Son—Into an Alpha Male
At the Men of War Crucible, you bear crawl through rivers. At Warrior Week, you dig your own grave. At the Squire Program, your teen-ager can take part, too.
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Longreads @longreads.com · 03/04/2026
In this week's Top 5: · Chasing manhood @newyorker.com · Naming the dead @wired.com · Searching the stacks @altajournal.bsky.social · Leaving music @hazlitt.bsky.social · Opting out @nytimes.com longreads.com/2026/04/03/t...
longreads.com
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week - Longreads
Highlighting excellent stories by Charles Bethea, Mahmoud Mushtaha, Geoffrey Gray, Luke Ottenhof, and Matthew Shaer.
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Longreads @longreads.com · 02/04/2026
"I watched a small son get pummelled. 'That was fun,' he said flatly when it was over. Heading back to the gym, one notably silent son told me that his father had made him come." — @CharlesBethea.bsky.social for @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Camps Promising to Turn You—or Your Son—Into an Alpha Male
At the Men of War Crucible, you bear-crawl through rivers. At Warrior Week, you dig your own grave. At the Squire Program, your teen-ager can take part, too.
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Reposted by Charles Bethea
The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 30/03/2026
Inside the programs and camps that promise to turn regular men into “alpha males.” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Camps Promising to Turn You—or Your Son—Into an Alpha Male
At the Men of War Crucible, you bear crawl through rivers. At Warrior Week, you dig your own grave. At the Squire Program, your teen-ager can take part, too.
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Went to D.C. and stood beside a hole: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The I.R.S.’s Money Pit
A mysterious hole on the sidewalk outside the agency’s headquarters hasn’t been filled for years. One lawsuit is seeking seven million dollars in damages.
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Michael Kruse @michaelkruse.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
“I don’t care what occupation you have in life,” Kevin McCarthy tells @charlesbethea.bsky.social. “When people know you by a three-letter acronym, you’ve really built a following.”
newyorker.com
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Big Breakup
The congresswoman split with the President over the Epstein files, then she quit. Where will she go from here?
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 07/01/2026
Why did Marjorie Taylor Greene split with Donald Trump? She may have belatedly educated herself, a longtime Georgia G.O.P. operative suggested: “My theory is she’s not actually a dumbass anymore.” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Big Breakup
The congresswoman split with the President over the Epstein files, then she quit. Where will she go from here?
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Went on "Fresh Air" this week to talk about the MTG era: www.npr.org/programs/fre...
npr.org
Fresh Air for Jan. 6, 2026: Marjorie Taylor Greene's political transformation
Hear the Fresh Air program for Jan 06, 2026
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 24/09/2025
Some January 6th insurrectionists have re-offended. Others have run for office. Cleveland Grover Meredith, Jr., is campaigning to get reparations—from “the deep state” and his parents.
newyorker.com
How One J6er Has Been Emboldened by His Pardon
Some insurrectionists have re-offended. Others have run for office. Cleveland Grover Meredith, Jr., is campaigning to get reparations—from “the deep state” and his parents.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 20/09/2025
When Charles Bethea climbed the world’s tallest volcano with the help of an altitude-sickness pill, he wondered: Had he denied himself some deeper experience or insight?
newyorker.com
What It’s Like to Get Really, Really High
Climbers are often chasing a rush. Was I cheating by using some help to get there?
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 09/09/2025
A former senior official and two current staff members describe the turmoil at the C.D.C. under R.F.K., Jr.,’s stewardship. “Everyone has a limit,” the employees said, “and there are many of us being pushed to the brink.”
newyorker.com
Inside the Chaos at the C.D.C.
A former senior official and two current employees describe the turmoil at the agency under R.F.K., Jr.,’s stewardship.
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Daniel Paisner @danielpaisner.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
this... absolutely this... @charlesbethea.bsky.social #RSDI #Balls #TheBallsInitiative #DogeII www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The DOGEfather Part II
Joe Gebbia, a RISD grad and an Airbnb billionaire, may soon lead the federal cost-cutting effort known as DOGE. Could there be clues to his methods in his art-school days?
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
The saddest shortest short story ever written-- For Sale: Used Tesla, Never Driven
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Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
reassuring www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/u...
nytimes.com
Defending Medicaid Cuts, Ernst Tells Iowans, ‘We All Are Going to Die’
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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
National treasure. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
newyorker.com
Kenny Smith Isn’t Going Fishing Yet
The co-host of “Inside the NBA” discusses the show’s move to ESPN, the antics of his co-star Charles Barkley, and their role in popularizing meme culture.
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
I had a long talk recently with Kenny Smith: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
newyorker.com
Kenny Smith Isn’t Going Fishing Yet
The co-host of “Inside the NBA” discusses the show’s move to ESPN, the antics of his co-star Charles Barkley, and their role in popularizing meme culture.
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
I had a long talk recently with Kenny Smith: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
newyorker.com
Kenny Smith Isn’t Going Fishing Yet
The co-host of “Inside the NBA” discusses the show’s move to ESPN, the antics of his co-star Charles Barkley, and their role in popularizing meme culture.
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
At @thirdactorg.bsky.social some of us are old enough to remember when Richard Nixon almost lost his job as veep for a $16,000 slush fund and the gift of a cocker spaniel puppy. I guess with inflation we’ve gotten to a $400 million plane…
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Brian Steel is expected to cross-examine Casandra Ventura, the main accuser in the Sean Combs sex-trafficking and racketeering case. (Follow @meghanncuniff.bsky.social's excellent coverage of the trial.) My profile of Steel: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
A Lawyer Freed Young Thug. Now He’s Defending Diddy
Since the Young Thug trial, Brian Steel has modelled for the rapper’s fashion brand and had a Drake song named after him. Sean Combs took note.
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Incoming head of the U.S. Treasury doesn't know where January 6 medals went. That and more on Brandon Beach in today's @newyorker.com lede story: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
newyorker.com
How an Election Denier Became the U.S. Treasurer
Brandon Beach was a state senator in Georgia who got involved in Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. Now his name will be on our money.
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
This is Young Thug's dog, Schneebly, a french bulldog-poodle mix. I met Schneebly -- a good boy -- in March when I spoke to YT in Miami for my profile of Brian Steel, his lawyer, in this wk's @newyorker.com www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
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Helen Rosner @hels.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Today’s edition of Why Haven’t You Subscribed to the Print Edition of @theonion.com yet: every single ad in the latest issue is a lil shower of pee on Mr Roll Of Nickels. Two faves:
Boer’s Pride Ketamine: Worke against valid criticism, fast!Call the moon a pedophole. Starlink.
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unoservix @unoservix.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
"no thank you, sir, i do not wish to be lit" ~Brian Steel
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
This week's This American Life @thisamericanlife.org has 2 segments: the best reporting on Gaza and on deportations that I've yet heard. But listen with care, and maybe not both at once--the cruelty of the powerful is almost unbearable. But we must hear it www.thisamericanlife.org/859/chaos-gr...
thisamericanlife.org
Chaos Graph - This American Life
People immersed in chaos try to solve for what it all adds up to.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 28/04/2025
Barry Blitt’s cover for this week’s issue, “The First Hundred Days.” #NewYorkerCovers nyer.cm/ysrCZ47
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
I profiled the remarkable Brian Steel for this week's @newyorker.com -- with a cameo by Young Thug, his client, who met with us in a Miami recording studio in early March. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
A Lawyer Freed Young Thug. Now He’s Defending Diddy
Since the Young Thug trial, Brian Steel has modelled for the rapper’s fashion brand and had a Drake song named after him. Sean Combs took note.
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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
NEW: Government officials insist that neither DOGE nor Musk have any real decision-making authority—they merely “advise” or “consult.” But internal DOJ emails provide the most compelling evidence yet that DOGE is not simply advising—it’s calling the shots. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/on-d...
On DOGE, Directives, and DOJ
Anna Bower
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 4:05 PM
Share On: f X in & G B
A new court filing reveals the most compelling evidence yet that the government has been spinning a fiction about DOGE in federal court.
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 28/04/2025
dry chuckle in the middle of this article about brian steel, the boy scout lawyer from young thug's RICO case www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Williams mentioned an upcoming sP5DER fashion show, which he was planning to hold during Paris Fashion Week. (In 2016, he stopped a model mid-runway, while smoking a blunt, to fix the model's "neck ruff.") He wanted Steel to walk the runway. "You should come, Brian, and bring them," Williams said, referring to Steel's daughters. "It's gonna have you fucking lit." Steel said that he did not want to be lit.
"Who the biggest lawyer ever?" Williams went on.
"Clarence Darrow," Steel said, referring to the attorney best known for defending a teacher who taught evolution in the Scopes "monkey trial," during the nineteen-twenties.
"That'll have you bigger than him," Williams said.
"He's pretty big," Steel replied.
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
I profiled the remarkable Brian Steel for this week's @newyorker.com -- with a cameo by Young Thug, his client, who met with us in a Miami recording studio in early March. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
A Lawyer Freed Young Thug. Now He’s Defending Diddy
Since the Young Thug trial, Brian Steel has modelled for the rapper’s fashion brand and had a Drake song named after him. Sean Combs took note.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 18/04/2025
Clayton Dalton asked paramedics in Gaza what was hardest about their work. Responding to an airstrike and discovering that it’s your own family, one said. Recovering the bodies of children, said another. nyer.cm/Iz1ztSY
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Another infuriating story of "media disruption," this one involving the place where I got my start, @outsidemag.bsky.social: www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...
newyorker.com
The Decline of Outside Magazine Is Also the End of a Vision of the Mountain West
After its purchase by a tech entrepreneur, the publication is now a shadow of itself. A letter signed by its illustrious contributors says as much about a way of life as it does about the media indust...
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 12/04/2025
Charlie Duncan, who lived through the stock-market crash of 1929, shares his general life advice: good sex, fresh vegetables, the occasional Coors Light, and water aerobics.
newyorker.com
Living Through the Market Crash? Ask a Centenarian
Charlie Duncan, a hundred-and-five-year-old Georgia resident, recalls the mood in 1929.
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Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
The oldest man in Georgia never bought stocks. “I can’t afford to lose it, because I can’t make no more.” Asked whether he had any other general life advice, he listed, in no particular order, good sex, fresh vegetables, the occasional Coors Light, & water aerobics www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Living Through the Market Crash? Ask a Centenarian
Charlie Duncan, a hundred-and-five-year-old Georgia resident, recalls the mood in 1929.
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Wrote about Flannery O'Connor's early painted artworks, recently discovered in a rural Georgia attic—five of which are seen here for the first time—for this week's @newyorker.com: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
The Art Works in Flannery O’Connor’s Attic
In an old Georgia mansion, a team of the writer’s devotees found a dusty wooden box: inside were two dozen of her never-seen oil paintings.
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GA_Brownie @gabrownie.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
A beautiful piece by @charlesbethea.bsky.social for @newyorker.com about my favorite place in NE GA - Rabun County & the surrounding area. The area has so many beautiful waterfalls and I can't wait to hike some of the unknown ones that Dr. Waterfall (Mark Ozboyd) has documented in his book. 🌿🌱🪶🦎
newyorker.com
Chasing Waterfalls in the Peach State
Mark Oleg Ozboyd, known to fans as Dr. Waterfall, makes the case that Georgia is just as spectacular for splashes as Pennsylvania—even if “we’ll never be Hawaii or Washington.”
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Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 29/01/2025
"Why Trump Freed Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts" @charlesbethea.bsky.social for @newyorker.com
newyorker.com
Why Trump Freed Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts
Ulbricht, who was convicted of running an anonymous online drug marketplace, became a hero to crypto-holders everywhere. What does his pardon signal for the future of the technology?
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Charles Bethea @charlesbethea.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Thinking about Ann Kerr, Steve's amazing mom, whose beautiful home in the Pacific Palisades, where Steve grew up, I visited in 2018. It's gone now, like so many others. But she's ok. Her resilience, as chronicled in "Come With Me From Lebanon," is remarkable--
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Michael Luo @michaelluo.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
In today's @newyorker.com Daily newsletter, Fergus McIntosh, our head of fact-checking, reflects on Meta's retreat from fact-checking. www.newyorker.com/newsletter/t...
newyorker.com
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Abandon Fact-Checking
From the daily newsletter: Facebook and Instagram’s new approach to the facts. Plus: Jimmy Carter rests; why Justin Trudeau had to step down; and the view from the limo driver.
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 07/01/2025
Over the past few years, there’s been ample time to consider and reconsider the long and fruitful life of Jimmy Carter. “He poured himself into the work that he felt like he wanted to do,” his grandson said. “A labor of love—all of it was.”
newyorker.com
Jimmy Carter Rests
During a week of funerals, supporters and loved ones reflect on the former President’s legacy. “He understood that the arc of history is long,” his grandson said.
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Amanda Kolson Hurley @amandakhurley.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
When Jimmy Carter entered hospice care in early 2023, @nathanielbullard.com and I took a look at his energy/environment legacy, which went well beyond putting solar panels on the White House and was surprising in some ways
bloomberg.com
Jimmy Carter’s Presidency Was Defined by Energy
The 98-year-old former president was an early champion of solar power who also saw coal as key to the US reducing its dependence on foreign oil.
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