We see you: Kathryn Hufschmid Murdoch

Why we’re watching her: Kathryn, the wife of Rupert’s youngest son, James, is making waves as a major philanthropist concentrating her brain power and big bucks on progressive causes from voting rights to climate change. (No, that’s not exactly winning her points with her father-in-law.) 

Pedigree: Kathryn and James married in 2000 and live with their three children, daughters Anneka and Emerson, and son, Walter, in New York City. According to the New York Times, they also have a farm in Connecticut, where they keep chickens and sheep. In 2014, the former marketing executive started a foundation with her husband. Quadrivium, which they run jointly, is “working to restore the health of our US democracy at a time of increasing polarization and dysfunction within the system.” 

Succession crash course: Rupert recently tried—and failed—to wrest control of his media empire from James and his two sisters to ensure his older son, Lachlan (the conservative one), would run the whole show. He was outfoxed. Rumor has it all parties checked episodes of Succession for tips. (Meta, much?)

It’s getting hot in here: Kathryn, who served as executive director of the Clinton Climate Initiative for five years, has become increasingly outspoken. She told the New York Times, that after working behind the scenes, “I’m very comfortable staying in the background and continuing to work quietly, but I’ve decided doing that means I’m not working hard enough. I wanted to be able to look my children in the eye and say, ‘I did everything I could.’ ” She calls herself a “radical centrist.”

A woman of influence: According to Influence Watch, Kathryn is also member of the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, which was created to track right-wing “disinformation.” Other prominent members include Prince Harry and Katie Couric. (That’s one Zoom meeting we wouldn’t mind attending.)

Party spirit animal: The elk, prized for its strength, self-reliance, cleverness, and dignity.

Prediction: There aren’t enough family therapists in the world to sort through the Murdoch mess, but we feel better knowing that Kathryn the Brave is out there fighting the good fight.