Weekend edition—Coronavirus and censorship, deep acting, fecal dust

The death of a doctor and whistleblower at the front line of China’s fight against the Wuhan coronavirus has united the country in anger and grief. Social networks are flooded with candle emoji mourning 34-year-old Li Wenliang, people are making cryptic references to the Chernobyl disaster and Les Misérables, and there are even loud calls for free speech. In short, China’s coronavirus has its first martyr. [Quartz Daily Brief]( Good morning, Quartz readers! The[death of a doctor and whistleblower]( at the front line of China’s fight against the Wuhan coronavirus has united the country in anger and grief. Social networks are flooded with candle emoji mourning 34-year-old Li Wenliang, people are making [cryptic references to the Chernobyl disaster]( and Les Misérables, and there are even loud calls for[free speech](. In short, China’s coronavirus has its first martyr. The episode seems like an unprecedented challenge to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, and is predictably being [written about]( in such terms. But we have been here before, many times. Whether it was [the crash of a high-speed train]( in 2011 that left 40 dead, a[chemical explosion]( in a wealthy city in 2015 that killed almost 200, or even the repeated [food and vaccine scandals]( that harmed the lives of children, analysts posited each time whether that’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. In fact, just months before the coronavirus outbreak, the people of Wuhan staged[unusually large protests]( against a planned incinerator. All of those incidents petered out. Severe censorship made discussion of them almost impossible online. As the economy grew and life started getting better for many people in China, Xi Jinping, who took the reins in 2012 and is now[nearly all-powerful]( made sure none of those things threatened his authority. On top of that, the narrative that the rest of the world—particularly Western democracies—was chaotic, backward, and bent on halting China’s rise was a potent one. It’s of course possible that in a few weeks, Li’s name will barely be talked about. The party’s obsession with “[stability maintenance]( means more censorship is inevitable. Some lower-ranking officials may be pushed out as a performative display of punishment. But something is different about this crisis—the virus cannot be localized, contained, or “othered.” It is spreading around the country and the world with no end in sight. Nobody should ever be confident in their predictions about any authoritarian system. But everyone should be prepared to be surprised. —Isabella Steger FIVE THINGS ON QUARTZ WE ESPECIALLY LIKED Election security—there’s not an app for that. The Iowa caucuses, which officially kicked off the US presidential race this week, were a case study in how technology can make vote-tallying harder, not easier. Delays in reporting results were linked to the use of an app that hadn’t been properly tested. [Amrita Khalid checked in with]( computer science experts, who insisted on a paper trail and warned that for important elections, apps are too unreliable—and vulnerable to malware. Trump’s threat to Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. New restrictions imposed by the Trump administration mean Nigerians will no longer be issued US immigrant visas. But, as [Yomi Kazeem explains from Lagos]( the spillover effects of the increased scrutiny on Nigerian visa applicants in general could cut off local tech founders and personnel from funding and educational opportunities in America, while slowing the progress of the country’s fast-growing startup scene. An Indian fast-food brand takes on the giants. Competing against the likes of McDonald’s and Pizza Hut is never easy, but India’s homegrown Burger Singh is holding its own, having expanded to over 35 outlets across major cities since starting up in 2014. [Sangeeta Tanwar interviewed]( CEO and co-founder Kabir Jeet Singh to learn the company’s recipe for success, which includes constant experimentation and test-marketing. Desi fusion burger, anyone? The impeachment trial ends with a whimper. As expected, the US Senate acquitted Donald Trump on abuse of power charges. With Republicans—who all, with one exception, voted against the articles of impeachment—and Democrats interpreting the very same words, facts, and ideas in diametrically opposed ways, any hope that the partisan impasse in American politics can be bridged anytime soon is effectively squelched, [writes Ephrat Livni](. Is emotion management the key to making friends at work? Simply faking positivity leads to burnout, but appropriate feelings regulation can facilitate meaningful connections in the office, [writes Lila MacLellan]( on new research. The difference between so-called “deep acting” and inauthenticity is subtle yet significant. QUARTZ MEMBERSHIP By nearly every measure, the venture industry has boomed. Venture capital has evolved from small-scale, hyperlocal deals to a global industry that invests $250 billion each year. Quartz contributor Dave Edwards [reports on the forces that transformed VC]( lays out what the explosion of private investment means for all of us. FIVE THINGS ELSEWHERE THAT MADE US SMARTER Anyone can launch a ransomware attack. You would think that someone able to encrypt the data on your computer and demand payment for the decryption key would be not only malicious but also technically sophisticated. But that isn’t necessarily the case. For Bloomberg Businessweek, [Drake Bennett dives into]( “ransomware as a service,” easily found in dark-web chat rooms, and proves how easy it is to use—by targeting his own editor. ClassPass bends yoga studios out of shape. The decade’s first tech unicorn has built a business around offering discounted fitness classes to subscribers around the world. But many partner studios now complain that its service has devalued their product, and that the idea of ClassPass students converting to full-paying direct members has proved to be a fantasy, as [Maxwell Strachan writes in Vice](. Why are there so few female CEOs? To become a company’s chief executive, it helps to have held a role with profit-and-loss responsibilities, such as heading a division or brand. Unfortunately women rarely land such positions, and more often end up heading human resources, administration, or legal. For the Wall Street Journal, [Vanessa Fuhrmans examines]( the reasons for that, and highlights a company bucking the trend. Inside the mind-bending world of political disinformation. [Atlantic reporter McKay Coppins investigated]( pro-Trump propaganda on Facebook from the inside: Creating a fake profile and “liking” conservative-oriented pages quickly took him down the rabbit hole of how the US president’s re-election campaign combines microtargeting, sheer volume, and misleading content, among other tricks, to ignite his base and question the concept of truth. When “shust” is in the air. If you’ve ever eaten a hamburger in America, there’s a good chance the meat came from the Texas Panhandle, where cattle vastly outnumber people. You might not want to live there. As [Christopher Collins writes]( for the Texas Observer, fecal dust, often thick enough to strain breathing and limit highway visibility, is inescapable for many residents. That isn’t stopping plans for yet another giant feedlot. Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, yoga passes, and Indian fusion burgers to hi@qz.com. 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