Volv Concierge #55

Hey guys,

Priyanka here.

The Israel-Hamas war is officially a year old now, and we’ve been following its trajectory as it spilled beyond Gaza and into Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, and Syria. Gaza’s been absolutely flattened; Israel’s military marked the ‘anniversary’ with a tally of the targets it bombed and how many they lost. It’s hard to imagine how much worse it will get, but it sure seems like everyone’s losing.

In the US, with less than a month left until Election Day, Trump’s “close relationship” with Putin is under scrutiny. And everyone had LOTS to say about Kamala Harris going on the Call Her Daddy podcast (here’s why it was great for her). It seems like a great time to compare their policies on education, so I’ll be doing a deep dive into that. Stay tuned.

The Diddy scandal isn’t going anywhere, either, with claims of a secret underground tunnel from his home to the Playboy Mansion being the talk of the town this week. Everyone’s saying Beyoncé and Jay-Z might be the next to fall, with the Blu Cantrell conspiracy coming to light. Did Jay-Z sabotage rival R&B artists to elevate Beyoncé? The story is wild!

Just as I was about to send this out, the Met Gala 2025 theme was revealed. Fashion’s biggest night will be back, nay “black,” in no time.

👍👎 What’s trending

What’s in: Superfan focus groups, wine bars (for the vibes), bagmaxxing
What’s out: Hyperpop, DIY, Brazilian wax (it's ruining sex), dupes

• This black card lets influencers pay with content

• You’re not watching TV, it’s actually watching YOU — here’s the scary truth

• This startup disappeared after raising $170 million — everyone’s confused about what’s going on

• TikTok is swiping left on ‘ugly’ people and suppressing them

• Zara’s website is annoying, confusing, and surprisingly genius

• Gear up — it’s time to create (your brand) cinematic universe

📌 Tips from building Volv:

Publicity is key, especially in the early stages. It boosts your credibility, increases brand awareness, and attracts new customers. For us, mentions in Forbes and Business Insider have been game changers. A friend recently suggested I try HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to connect with journalists, but honestly, it didn’t live up to the hype—it’s not what it used to be since it was bought out. Instead, I found Pressflow, a startup offering real-time journalist requests, and it’s FREE! (Not sponsored, just a great tool for getting the right media exposure).

🗞️ Comparing Trump and Harris’ education policies

Donald Trump’s policies on Education:

1. He proposes to shut down the Department of Education. He said, “We will move everything back to the states, where it belongs.”

2. He believes the states would do a better job at lower costs. However, dismantling the DOE would be a complex process.

3. He wants to give parents control, calling for a ‘Parents Bill of Rights.’ He wants parents to have control over hiring and firing school principals. 

4. He also wants to make it easier to fire ‘bad’ teachers by ending tenure protections and rewarding ‘better’ ones with merit-based pay.

5. He backs universal school choice programs, which would allow a student’s allotment of public school funds to be transferred to non-public schools — including private, religious, and homeschooling.

6. He supports the right to pray and read the Bible in school.

7. His platform promotes patriotism within the curriculum, which should focus on “America’s Founding Principles” and “fundamentals like Reading, History, Science, and Math.”

8. He wants to defund schools with programs that feature “critical race theory, gender ideology or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content.”

9. He would overturn new Title IX protections against gender and sex-based discrimination.

10. He has previously suggested eliminating the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and cutting funding to the Pell Grant.

11. He wants to create the American Academy, a free university endowed with “billions of dollars that we will collect by taxing, fining, and suing excessively large private university endowments.”

Kamala Harris’ policies on Education:

1. She has criticized Trump for wanting to shut down the DOE — “We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools.”

2. Her platform is against diverting funds from public education and weakening public schools.

3. She previously proposed closing the “teacher pay gap.”

4. She has spoken out against book bans and restrictions on LGBTQ+ books.

5. She is opposed to attempts to limit how race is taught in schools. 

6. The Biden-Harris administration helped expand Title IX protections for gender and sex-based discrimination — protecting LGBTQ+ students.

7. She is opposed to laws denying transgender students access to bathrooms matching their gender identity.

8. While she supports trans rights, she has not taken a stance on transgender students in sports.

9. The Biden-Harris administration has forgiven billions in student debt for millions.

10. Her platform promises she will work to end the “unreasonable burden of student loan debt and fight to make higher education more affordable.”

11. The Biden-Harris administration has increased the maximum Pell Grant award by its highest amount in over a decade.

And that’s a wrap. We appreciate you sticking with us and we would love to hear from you! Please give us your feedback here.

If somebody shared this newsletter with you, this is where you need to go to sign up. See y’all soon.

This newsletter was edited by Ishita Sen.