The Daily Valet. - 1/15/21, Friday

✔️ What This Record Heat Means

Friday, January 15th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Raise your hand if you’re ready for the weekend ...

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

What 2020’s Record Heat Means

For one, it’s a preview of hotter years to come

Top U.S. research agencies confirmed Thursday that 2020 ranks among the hottest years on record. And modern records go back 140 years.

NASA said that 2020 shares the top spot with 2016. And the World Meteorological Association, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and U.K. Met Office all released figures putting 2020 within the top three warmest years ever, reports The Verge.

But crucially, the numbers underscore that Earth's relentless warming trend continues unabated. As heat-trapping carbon levels rise in the atmosphere, every year since 1977 has been warmer than average and the years are growing increasingly hot.

These ever-increasing temperatures are changing what’s considered “normal” on our planet. For some perspective: the warmest six years in recorded history have all taken place since 2015. We just climbed out of the hottest decade on record, and it already looks like the decade ahead will get hotter.

And the numbers are only a small part of the story, reports the New York Times. As climate scientists have predicted, the world is seeing an increase in extreme weather as the planet warms, which leads to disasters like droughts, floods and wildfires. Case in point: 2020 delivered record fires in Australia and California, and severe drought in central South America and the American Southwest.

“It’s no longer a question of when the impacts of climate change will manifest themselves: They are already here and now,” Texas Tech professor Katharine Hayhoe told the Washington Post. “The only question remaining is how much worse it will get. And the answer to that question is up to us.”

↦ Motivated? Green America offers up 10 ways we can fight climate change in our everyday lives.

Biden Introduces His COVID Relief Plan

It includes $1,400 checks and help for the jobless

The pandemic continues to deal fresh blows to the U.S. economy, with more than 1.2 million Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits in the first week of the new year. President-elect Joe Biden laid out an emergency relief plan Thursday night that will test his ability to steer the nation out of this disaster.

According to the Washington Post, the plan is designed to take aim at the economic and health crises, delivering direct aid to American families, businesses and communities, while focusing on coronavirus testing and vaccine production to slow the spread of new cases.

“We not only have an economic imperative to act now—I believe we have a moral obligation,” Biden said in a nationwide address. At the same time, he acknowledged that his plan “does not come cheaply.”

The $1.9 trillion plan includes $1,400 stimulus checks and additional benefits for the unemployed, while a chunk of the funds ($416 billion) will help launch a national vaccination program with a goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans and reopening schools in the first 100 days of his administration.

↦ FYI: Wednesday January 20th, when Biden is sworn in as president, marks the anniversary of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States.

The Capitol Mob Is Getting Arrested

The more we learn, the scarier this story gets

A retired firefighter with white supremacist ties has been charged with assaulting three Capitol Police officers with a fire extinguisher during last week’s violent riots at the U.S. Capitol. So was a former Olympian as well as the man who was videotaped beating a police officer with an American flag.

About 10 new charges announced by the Justice Department on Thursday rammed home the message from law enforcement that it will find the participants in the siege of the Capitol, reports Reuters.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday more than 200 potential suspects have already been identified and over 100 arrests have been made. Since most of the rioters stormed the Capitol maskless, they're being turned in by coworkers, neighbors and online detectives.

The story seems to grow more upsetting every day. Federal officials have said the details of the violence that will come out is disturbing. DC officer Michael Fanone, who was tased in the neck by rioters, told CNN, “Some guys started getting a hold of my gun and they were screaming out, Kill him with his own gun...”

↦ Dig Deeper: What does it mean to call the Capitol rioters “terrorists”? NPR investigates.

Podcasts are, Once Again, Booming

After a dip, we’re all listening more than ever

When the pandemic got serious in America and lockdowns began, it drastically altered everyone’s daily routine. One noticeable change? We stopped listening to podcasts. Or at least, cut back substantially as disappearing commutes scrubbed out one of the medium’s central consumption contexts.

But podcasters kept on recording (over Zoom or from inside a closet) and by summer's end listening had stabilized and by the end of the 2020, more people were listening than ever as remote workers discovered the joy of an afternoon break with a coffee and a podcast.

A common question is “how many podcasts are there?” The answer is that there are currently over 1,750,000 shows; and more than 43 million episodes as of January 2021. To highlight the growth, there were about 525,000 podcasts just two years ago, according to Fast Company.

And Spotify, is betting that the landscape has plenty of room to grow. Bloomberg reports the Swedish streaming platform is staking its future on finding more Joe Rogans. In the past two years, Spotify has spent close to $900 million acquiring podcast production and technology companies. Sure, Apple still has the most listeners in the U.S., but Spotify is narrowing the gap. And it’s No. 1 in many overseas markets.

↦ Need a Laugh? Vulture offers weekly recommendations in comedy podcasts. This week it's Pod Save America, Off Book and Ask Ronna.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

A chatbot afterlife?

Canned cheese

Dumbphones

How Do You Apply Skincare Products?

Because the order is important, we learned

Men are using more skin care products than ever before. By next year, the men's personal care industry is predicted to hit $166 billion, according to Allied Market Research.

But the boost in guys caring for their skin has come with some confusion. You've now got eye cream to combat fine lines and maybe a serum to hydrate skin, along with a spot treatment for blemishes and a daily SPF moisturizer. Perhaps you're experimenting with retinols or face oils.

The question now is, "Can I just slap them on or is there a specific order to applying my lotions and potions?" The answer, dermatologists told us, is that the order matters. If you don't layer your products in the right way, you might render them ineffective or, worse, irritate your skin.

We consulted a few board-certified dermatologists for the proper order to ensure you get the most out of your grooming products and your skin.

↦ Read: The importance of layering your grooming products.

What We’re Buying

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↦ Get It $24.99 / $18.74 at YETI