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Tuesday, January 14
The Man with the Right Stuff
Jared Isaacman is President Trump’s nominee for NASA Administrator. Jared is an entrepreneur (he started his first company at age 16), experienced jet pilot, and an astronaut who has traveled to space twice on private missions — including the first ever private spacewalk. So, essentially, a perfect pick to lead an agency that has been bogged down in bureaucracy and increasingly reliant on commercial space companies to maintain America’s place in the stars.
This morning, Former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Chairman of the House Science Committee, Bob Walker published an piece in support of Jared’s nomination — outlining the critical role space will play in the coming years and decades.
Perhaps no entity within the federal government captures the ambition and imagination of the American spirit more than NASA. From putting a man on the moon to navigating the terrain of Mars, some of our nation’s most iconic moments over the past 75 years have occurred thanks to achievements in space.
But America’s continued leadership in the stars is far from guaranteed as our adversaries look to weaponize outer space, with China careening towards a base on the moon and Russia using space as a highway for supersonic cruise missiles.
Given the golden age of American innovation that President Trump intends to build, NASA needs a leader with the vision and experience necessary to think beyond old models and drive the agency to new heights. That leader is Jared Isaacman.
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Simply put, America’s next big endeavors–from establishing a moon base and going to Mars to mining critical minerals from asteroids and manufacturing in weightless environments–will require continued private sector innovation and investment. But the ultimate promise of our future in space can only be achieved through a true partnership with a revitalized and rejuvenated NASA.
Community Notes: Silicon Valley Returns to its Roots
When Elon Musk championed free speech at X, the expert class told us the platform wouldn’t be able to maintain quality without their thumb on the scale. But the success of Community Notes proved them wrong. Now Mark Zuckerberg, demonstrating the same commitment to first principles, is bringing this proven approach to Meta's platforms.
This matters because it signals the deeper shift we are seeing in Silicon Valley's approach to information. Instead of relying on third-party arbiters or opaque internal teams, both leaders have chosen to trust their users. The data validates their instincts: Community Notes reduces misleading content sharing while earning trust across the political spectrum.
The technical achievement here shouldn't be understated. X's bridging algorithm, which surfaces notes that earn trust from traditionally disagreeing groups, represents exactly the kind of innovative problem-solving that made Silicon Valley great. By using this model, Zuckerberg certifies both its effectiveness and, importantly, signals that leaders can learn from and build upon each other's successes.
This shift comes as Americans increasingly reject bureaucratic approaches to managing our speech. Also, moving content moderation teams from California to Texas, as Meta plans to do, isn't just about geography - it's about reconnecting with users outside the coastal bubbles.
What we're seeing is a return to tech's core promise: empowering users rather than controlling them. Both Musk and Zuckerberg recognize that Americans want platforms that enable rather than restrict their voices. Community Notes elegantly solves for both quality and freedom - exactly the kind of innovation we need more of.
The success of this approach reminds us why America is great, and how the US tech industry came to lead the world in the first place: betting on people, embracing open systems, and solving hard problems through technical innovation rather than bureaucracy. This return to fundamentals couldn't come at a better time.
Thanks for reading this morning. Have an incredible day!
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