Crushing news. � @PostBaron ⁩, a monumental force in American journalism who led the Post’s renaissance, is retiring. Marty made us all smarter journalists and pushed us collectively to exciting new heights.

In first call with Putin, Biden marks a return to skepticism from the top, � @agearan ⁩ and � @karendeyoung1 ⁩ report

“It is all plotted and planned. Little room is left for the unscripted or the unusual.” — � @mviser ⁩ on Biden’s first week of deliberate order and routine in public, which masks the messiness of governing.

10 days of struggle: Inside Biden’s early coronavirus vaccine effort, by @AshleyRParker  @isaacstanbecker  @AnnieLinskey 

Trump’s lie about the election has cost taxpayers $519 million and counting — remarkable and essential reporting from � @ToluseO ⁩ + � @myhlee ⁩

“The idea of objectivity—I should make clear—it’s not neutrality, it’s not both-sides-ism, it’s not so-called balance. It’s never been that....It’s to tell people in an unflinching way what we have learned, what we have discovered.” — � @PostBaron ⁩

“Usually, it takes at least one full day in Cancun to do something embarrassing you’ll never live down. But for Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), it took just 10 hours...” An � @AshleyRParker ⁩ special

RIP Charles Hill, a Cold War diplomat and legendary Yale professor who confounded the Grand Strategy program. Charlie was a student, practitioner and teacher of statecraft. � @harrisondsmith ⁩ captures his life here:

Trump wanted overweight Secret Service agents removed, saying get “these fat guys off my detail” and asking: “How are they going to protect me and my family if they can’t run down the street?” —> scoooy details in � @CarolLeonnig ⁩’s new book