Lawrence Lease
Bio
Alaska born and bred, Washington DC is my home. I'm also a freelance writer. Love politics and history.
Stories (250)
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6 Lessons For Hollywood to Adapt in 2026
Over the past twelve months, moviegoers were treated to a slate of releases that didn’t just look good on paper, but actually delivered. Critics showed up. Audiences showed up. And awards season is already shaping up to reward several of the year’s standouts.
By Lawrence Lease11 days ago in FYI
How 2025 Changed the World
When historians eventually look back on 2025, they probably won’t treat it like 1914, 1939, or 2001. There was no single assassination, no mushroom cloud, no defining attack that instantly rewired the global system. Instead, 2025 belongs to a quieter but more consequential category of years — moments when the rules changed so thoroughly that the world before and after barely resemble one another.
By Lawrence Lease11 days ago in The Swamp
FIELD MANUAL FOR THE SAFE DECOMMISSIONING OF A HOUSE
Purpose: To provide clear, repeatable instructions for shutting down a house that no longer functions as intended. Follow all steps in order. Deviations may result in structural failure, emotional leakage, or reactivation.
By Lawrence Lease12 days ago in Poets
My Predictions for Hollywood in 2026
YouTube steamrolls traditional television. Netflix swallows Warner Bros. Bob Iger links Disney’s future to a boundary-pushing tech startup that redraws the rules of entertainment. Donald Trump decides which media empires thrive, extracts massive legal settlements from broadcast newsrooms, and pressures studios to quietly abandon diversity and inclusion initiatives. After a year where reality repeatedly outpaced imagination, trying to predict what 2026 holds may be the most unrealistic idea of all.
By Lawrence Lease15 days ago in Geeks
The French Defense Model Won't Work for Europe
In today’s increasingly multipolar world, power doesn’t just belong to superpowers anymore. It belongs to the states that understand leverage—how to move money, influence, and security through places where sovereignty is weak and attention is scarce. As the United States, China, Europe, and Russia focus on managing their own global rivalries, a different tier of actors has stepped into the gaps.
By Lawrence Lease17 days ago in FYI
Diving Deep into the Crisis in Venezuela
“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. Large tanker. Very large. Largest one ever seized, actually.” That was Donald Trump, speaking on December 10, announcing the latest escalation in Washington’s long-running feud with Venezuela. It was vintage Trump—off-the-cuff, boastful, and ominous. But behind the theatrics was something far more serious: a renewed standoff between the United States and a country that has spent more than a decade unraveling in slow motion.
By Lawrence Lease19 days ago in FYI
Uganda’s Elections are a Critical Flashpoint. Here’s What to Know
On January 15, 2026, Uganda will hold a nationwide general election. The contest will once again pit the country’s long-serving strongman, Yoweri Museveni, against prominent opposition figure Bobi Wine, reprising their 2021 showdown. After decades of uninterrupted rule and multiple re-elections, Uganda’s opposition believes—perhaps more out of necessity than optimism—that this could finally be the year Museveni is forced from power.
By Lawrence Lease19 days ago in FYI
Young People Are Getting REALLY Conservative. Here's Why.
In the early months of 2025, The New York Times published a headline that would have felt almost surreal just a few years earlier: When Your Son Goes MAGA. Not long ago, a story like that would have been treated as a curiosity, a fringe cultural anomaly, or at most an amusing reversal of expectations rather than a serious political trend worthy of sustained attention.
By Lawrence Lease19 days ago in The Swamp
