Author: bijansabet

Nearly the entire Fulbright board resigned this week. These public servants did not step down lightly. They quit because the White House interfered in selecting Fulbright scholars, turning a merit based program into something political.

When I served as U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, I saw what Fulbright makes possible. I met American Fulbrighters teaching in Czech towns, often living abroad for the first time. They were curious and humble and eager to learn. I met Czech Fulbrighters studying in the U.S., working on public health and climate science and music. One went on to build a nonprofit. Another joined the Czech foreign ministry.

I met Czech university leaders like Milena Králíčková, a Fulbright alum who became rector of Charles University in Prague. Martin Bareš, rector of Masaryk University in Brno, is also a Fulbright alum. These leaders are shaping the future of their country. Fulbright played a part in that.

I met Americans in government and research and civil society who traced their careers back to a Fulbright experience.

Senator J. William Fulbright created the program in 1946. He believed educational exchange could help prevent future wars. He wanted to replace suspicion with understanding. That idea matters as much now as it did almost 80 years ago.

Fulbright builds real relationships. It says that exchange between people matters. That academic freedom matters. That we gain something when we listen to each other.

When politics takes over this program, we lose something. We turn away the very people who want to engage with us. We damage how others see us.

This never should have happened. The board members who resigned stood up for what the program was meant to be. They were right to do so.

We should be protecting Fulbright, not weakening it.

We’ve had a place on Nantucket for years but never been inside the Unitarian church on Orange Street. This spring, Lauren and I decided to try it. What I want to tell you about happened on our second visit.

The minister started telling a story passed down from a local family. She said the word “Czechoslovakia,” and I sat up. This island and my second home, Czechia, were suddenly connected.

It was 1939. Nazi forces had just marched into Prague. Czech intellectuals and religious leaders were being hunted. Some escaped.

Word spread that Czech Unitarians were in danger. Congregations in the U.S. arranged passage for those fleeing. When this little Nantucket church learned Czech families were arriving with nowhere to go, they opened their homes. Quietly and without fanfare.

One family they took in was Maja Capek, her teenage son, and her elderly father. Maja’s husband was Reverend Norbert Capek, who had founded the Unitarian Church in Prague. In 1923, he created the Flower Communion. Each person brings a flower and places it in a shared vase. At the end of the service, each person takes home a different one. We come from different places, but we belong to the same community. We are changed by being part of it.

That ritual spread everywhere. Congregations still hold a Flower Communion each spring. Capek believed in human diversity and spiritual freedom. The Nazis saw those beliefs as a threat. He was arrested in 1941 and murdered in 1942.

Another family the church took in was Zdenek Kopal, a young astronomer, with his wife and infant daughter. He went on to help NASA map the moon for Apollo. That journey started in a stranger’s home on Nantucket.

The Capeks and the Kopals arrived with almost nothing. No luggage. No certainty. Just hope someone would help. And someone did.

Sitting in that pew, I felt the weight of it.

The values Capek held onto did not die with him. They lived on through his family. They lived on in Nantucket. They live on every time people come together to honor difference.

The connection between the U.S. and Czechia runs deeper than diplomacy. It shows up in what it means to show up for one another.

You’ve probably seen that chart going around. U.S. interest payments hitting $1.2 trillion. Chamath and the DOGE crowd are using it to argue for deep cuts.

Let’s look closer.

Yes, interest payments have gone up. A lot. That’s what happens when the Fed hikes rates after years of borrowing at almost no cost. But context matters.

That $1.2 trillion is eye catching but incomplete. What matters is how it compares to the economy. According to the St. Louis Fed and CBPP, interest as a share of GDP was higher in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Projections put us at about 3.2% by 2026. Not ideal, but within historical range. We’ve been here before.

The CBO expects this to keep rising. That deserves attention. But it’s not the apocalypse some are making it out to be.

We can afford it. A 3 to 4 percent interest burden is manageable for a country with our economic strength. We’re not a household. We issue debt in our own currency. U.S. Treasuries remain a cornerstone of global finance.

We also have choices. Managing debt means investing in our economy. The CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act are doing that. Innovation, clean energy, manufacturing. Driving job growth and attracting private capital.

Equally important is not gutting the public workforce. Scientists at NIH. Diplomats at State. Teachers, engineers, park rangers. The people doing hard work that keeps things running. And now the same crowd is floating Social Security privatization.

Here’s the other stat getting attention: interest as a percentage of federal revenue. It’s rising, but that’s not just spending. It’s revenue. The 2017 tax law slashed government income, adding $1.9 trillion to the debt. Overall the debt rose $7.8 trillion under Trump.

Now some of the same people who pushed those policies are pointing to the debt they created to justify dismantling government. They know what they’re doing.

Even if you’re worried about debt, slashing science and diplomacy won’t fix it. It will weaken the institutions we depend on.

We need an honest conversation. One that looks at spending and revenue both. Not scary charts designed to frighten people.

Lately I’ve been writing a lot about politics. I’ll get back to that soon. But this blog has never been about just one thing. Politics, yep. But also tech, travel, photography, music. Whatever’s on my mind. So today I want to share some personal tech I’ve been using now that I’m back in private citizen mode.

Here’s what I’ve been relying on:

Granola. I’ve tried a bunch of AI meeting tools but this is the first one that actually feels useful. It doesn’t record or transcribe. It just produces clean notes that capture what matters. After every meeting I use a Raycast hotkey to copy the notes into Apple Notes so I have them everywhere. Mobile version is great too.

Raycast. I put off trying this for way too long. I thought it was just a fancier Spotlight but it’s so much more. Crazy fast. Endlessly customizable. Packed with so many features. Clipboard management, text snippets, controlling Spotify with a quick command. The AI extensions are wild. I use it to summarize articles and translate text and generate playlists. Every time I think I’ve found everything it can do I stumble on something else.

Superhuman. I’ve used it for years but while I was in government most of my email was on a controlled system so I barely touched it. Now that I’m back I realize how much I missed it. The AI has gotten seriously good. Search is instant and smart. I can ask “when is my next flight?” or “show me tax documents from my advisor over the last three months.” But where it really shines is replying. A few prompts and I have a response that sounds like me.

Arc Browser and Arc Search. This one’s tricky. The Browser Company seems to be moving toward their next thing, DIA. But for now Arc Search is still my default on iPhone. Fast, great ad blocking, smooth gestures. On desktop Arc is packed with thoughtful features. Powerful UI, keyboard shortcuts, fast profile switching, solid Chrome extension support. 1Password works way better here than Safari. Just a great browser.

Chorus.fm. My go to for music discovery. Old school in the best ways. No algorithm. Just solid recommendations and real discussions.

Camera bags (or lack thereof). After years of trying every camera bag imaginable I’ve landed on two that aren’t meant for cameras. A tote from our local Nantucket grocery store and a backpack from Pakt. They don’t scream “camera bag” and they just work.

That’s the list. The political posts will be back soon :)

Elon Musk says Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is irrelevant and a waste of taxpayer money. He’s wrong.

If no one were listening, why do authoritarian regimes work so hard to silence it? Russia has designated RFE/RL a “foreign agent” and an “undesirable organization.” Labels reserved for direct threats. Its journalists face harassment and imprisonment.

One of them is Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian American reporter detained in Russia for months. President Biden and colleagues at the White House and State Department secured her release. I met her afterward. A remarkable journalist.

When we defund institutions like RFE/RL, we cede ground to regimes that thrive on censorship and disinformation. RFE/RL reaches millions in places where state controlled media is the only alternative.

Václav Havel invited RFE/RL to move to Prague in 1995 because he understood what it meant to those behind the Iron Curtain. Czechs still tell me how it gave them hope during the Cold War.

People risk their lives to do this work. They deserve support.