- Biden marks start of presidency with flurry of executive orders
- Five key takeaways from Biden’s historic inauguration
- US records second-highest daily toll of Covid deaths at 4,229
- Sign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email
One of the star turns of the inauguration ceremony itself was the performance of Amanda Gorman, delivering a poem called The Hill We Climb.
With her strong and poignant words, @TheAmandaGorman reminds us of the power we each hold in upholding our democracy. Keep shining, Amanda! I can't wait to see what you do next. #BlackGirlMagic
Photo credit: Rob Carr pic.twitter.com/C2cf0U5iEj
Related: The Hill We Climb: the Amanda Gorman poem that stole the inauguration show
If you didn’t see the inauguration TV special last night, then Adrian Horton has reviewed it, and found it “dull yet competent”. A verdict, you suspect, that many people would be happy to see delivered on the whole term of president Joe Biden. Horton writes:
The special benefitted from perhaps the perfect choice as host: Tom Hanks, the beloved everyman actor and one of the few cultural figures on whom most Americans can agree (and also the celebrity whose coronavirus diagnosis on 11 March 2020 was, for many, the moment the direness of the pandemic really sank in). In front of the Lincoln Memorial, the actor most associated with bone-deep decency and ordinary heroism held together a staccato and still-surreal pandemic mix of socially distanced live footage and desktop webcam aesthetics.
Related: The star-packed inauguration special: a dull yet competent plea for unity
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2KxBc3F
