British R&B band Soul II Soul partly foreshadowed this moment with their lyric, Back to life, back to reality...However do you want me, however do you need me. But as we emerge from the pandemic, fewer employees are waiting around to see how their employers want and need them, and are instead focusing on what they want out of work, and more importantly, life. The Atlantic's Derek Thompson on the resetting of worker expectations. The Great Resignation Is Accelerating. "The basic terms of employment are undergoing a Great Reset. The pandemic thrust many families into a homebound lifestyle reminiscent of the 19th-century agrarian economy—but this time with screens galore and online delivery. More families today work at home, cook at home, care for kids at home, entertain themselves at home, and even school their kids at home. The writer Aaron M. Renn has called this the rise of the DIY family, and it represents a new vision of work-life balance that is still coming into focus." This is all the more complex for people who work on the internet. My work/life balance usually comes down to which browser tab I have open.

"The move by the Justice Department comes after an appeals court on Thursday night left in place the law known as Senate Bill 8, which bans abortions once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks. That is before some women know they are pregnant." DOJ will ask Supreme Court to halt Texas abortion law. (This Supreme Court was built to uphold this law...)

What to Roy: This was the easiest pick of all time. Succession is back on HBO. If you missed the first two seasons, you are lucky and about to have the best weekend ever.

+ What to Watch: Hulu's Dopesick starring Michael Keaton provides another look at the Sacklers and the oxycontin story. This really is one of the biggest stories in 21st century America. And it's strongly connected to the fix we currently find ourselves in. For more on the topic, check out Eric Eyre's Death in Mud Lick, Patrick Radden Keefe's Empire of Pain, and John Temple's American Pain.

+ What to Dave: My whole childhood was spent consuming news and discussing it with my parents. I've spent decades digesting and regurgitating the news for you, an audience that refers to me as the Internet's Managing Editor. Long story short, I've been training to write the book Please Scream Inside Your Heart my whole life. I guarantee you'll love it. Amazon | BookShop.org | Green Apple (signed copies). The book is almost here and these pre-orders are incredibly helpful in the book world.

Inflation? I don't see any inflation around here. Prices seem great, everything is in order, and the economy is great. Just go along with me here, because inflation can be a self-fulfilling prophesy. "There is an inherent psychological aspect to inflation: If consumers or businesses expect the cost of goods and services to keep rising, they might change their behavior now. For instance, vacationers might rush to book hotel rooms. Or businesses may stock up on advance orders, pushing prices higher." WaPo (Gift Article For NextDraft Readers): Inflation in the economy today is different. Here are four charts that can explain why.

"Through extensive efforts, he built a secret network of self-reinforcing sites from the ground up. He devised a strategy that got prominent personalities—including Trump—to retweet misleading claims to their followers. And he fooled unwary American citizens, including the hacker's own father, into regarding fake news sources more highly than the mainstream media ... Previously dubbed 'Hacker X,' he's now ready to reveal who he is—and how he did it." The American who built a pro-Trump fake news empire unmasks himself.

"Police said a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after the attack at a church in Leigh-on-Sea." Sir David Amess: Conservative MP stabbed to death.

"A top administrator with the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake advised teachers last week that if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, they should also offer students access to a book from an 'opposing' perspective." (I opposed the Holocaust, does that count?)

+ Sadly, ignorance and hate aren't just found in the occasional crazy headline. This is a trend. MIT Tech Review: Covid conspiracy theories are driving people to anti-Semitism online.

"Apple has taken down one of the world's most popular Koran apps in China, following a request from officials. Quran Majeed is available across the world on the App Store - and has nearly 150,000 reviews. It is used by millions of Muslims." China is committing unthinkable humanitarian crimes against the Uyghurs, and the response is to kowtow to their censorship demands. Maybe geopolitical governance via corporation isn't the best idea, after all.

"My dad had gotten out of prison, and, for the first time in years, we were sitting down to dinner. It turned out to be the last time I ever saw him alive." James Dolan: My Father, the Hitman.

We'll start this Feel Good Friday with news that could only feel good to the sickest, saddest, most sadistic people on Earth: Dodgers fans. In one of the great games in a great series following a great season-long race, the Dodgers ousted my Giants by a margin as small as a terrible check swing call. I've never attended a sporting event that tense in my life. Thankfully, Adele has a new single out today, so at least I have a good explanation for why I'm crying.

+ Applications to US nursing schools rise as students want to ‘join the frontline.'

+ Good news: You don't need to rake your leaves. (I've been living this reality my whole adult life.)

+ A half-mile installation just took 20,000 pounds of plastic out of the Pacific - proof that ocean garbage can be cleaned. (So what do we have, like a couple hundred pounds to go?)

+ WaPo: An unvaccinated man met a doctor at a bar. He left agreeing to get his first dose. (I once met a doctor at a bar and I woke up in an alley under a pile of colonoscopy results.)

+ At this Fort Worth lunch spot, customers pay what they can and everyone gets fed.

+ DC Comics reveal that latest Superman character is bisexual. (Unfortunately, I hear he's faster than a speeding bullet.)