2026-06-04 20:00:00
In his first miracle, he turned 120 gallons of water into wine. He was also seen walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee. With this kind of mastery over liquid, it was only a matter of time before Jesus got into the beverage business. While he was early to the miracle market, Jesus is hardly the first well-known name to back an energy drink. Kim Kardashian, Logan Paul, The Rock, Alex Cooper, Lionel Messi, and many others are already preaching to the masses to swallow their functional beverage pitch. But it wasn’t until some entrepreneurs decided that he had a branding problem that Jesus’ image was slapped onto the side of a can of Berry Blessed Yahweh energy drink. You get all the biblical associations with none of the calories! The Guardian: What would Jesus drink? Welcome to the age of Christian energy beverages. “Another mega-celeb has entered the beverage game. Or rather, beverage companies have enlisted him in an effort to spread the good word about their product. Jesus, it turns out, has a branding problem – at least according to the makers of these drinks. Too many people simply haven’t heard the message. ‘God put it on our hearts to specifically preach the gospel through an energy drink,’ the creator of Yahweh says in an Instagram video defending the company against accusations that it exists mainly to turn a profit.” But wait, Moses walked through a parted Red Sea and got water from a stone more than a thousand years before Jesus was even born. Shouldn’t he be the first to market drinks? Yes. In a twist that gives new meaning to holy spirits, Moses Vodka has been around for years (although there’s some debate about whether or not it’s actually kosher to drink it). You gotta hand it to Moses for prophesying that, in the year of our Lord 2026, we’d need something stronger than water or wine.
+ Scheduling note: NextDraft will be off tomorrow. I need a few cans of Jesus and a few shots of Moses to recharge. See you back here on Monday.
Iran says it won’t resume peace talks until there’s a real ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. But Hezbollah (an Iran proxy) in Lebanon won’t stop firing rockets and drones into northern Israel and is refusing to sign onto a ceasefire agreement. BBC: Hezbollah rejects renewed ceasefire agreed by Israel and Lebanon. Even during the best of times, dealmaking in the region is difficult. And now Trump has another challenge. House Votes to Rein In Trump on Iran War. “The House on Wednesday voted to direct President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict with Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war, after four Republicans sided with Democrats in a striking sign of growing opposition to a military campaign now in its fourth month.”
+ AP: With Trump in a holding pattern on Iran war, allies and critics worry he risks getting boxed in. Maybe more importantly to Trump, the oil industry is leaking the same message. Politico: Oil industry warns Trump administration of price spikes within weeks.
Even though they are definitely not addictive gambling platforms, industry players like Kalshi and Polymarket are hiring some political lobbyists from other addiction industries. “A trade group backed by some of the largest players in the prediction market industry, including Kalshi, Coinbase, Crypto dot com, Robinhood, and Underdog—has recruited a bipartisan dynamic duo of influential former congressmen to be the faces of the industry. In addition to the political firepower, CPM added an influential former gambling industry advocate and a former vaping executive to help manage the organization’s direction.” TNR: Prediction Markets Are Learning From the Addiction Industry. But they definitely don’t see themselves as, you know, part of the addiction industry. It’s like the old saying goes: I used to be addicted, but now I’m just a dick.
“Trust in science has plummeted. Can improv turn the tide? Scimemi is one of more than 35,000 scientists and researchers who have taken classes led by professional actors to help them earn their audiences’ trust and understanding. It’s the brainchild of Alan Alda, who helped start what is now called the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Long Island’s Stony Brook University more than 15 years ago.” WSJ (Gift Article): Alan Alda’s Solution to Eroding Trust in Science: More Improv.
+ I’m not sure any American scientists would have had the foresight to improvise a scene in which their own government was dismantling science. Trump Administration to Dismantle Ocean Monitoring System. Meanwhile, Trump to unveil $700 million coal support plan using emergency powers. Even if you’re an improv-trained scientist, America has become a tough room to get a laugh.
Slash and Learn: “After Elon Musk ‘spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper,’ as he put it last year, he and President Trump scoffed that American humanitarian aid was, in effect, woke nonsense. Yet in reality American humanitarian aid not only saved one life every 10 seconds but was also safeguarding the world from epidemics. So now we face a rapidly increasing outbreak of Ebola, and the Trump administration is finding that some of the things that went into the wood chipper were the very tools needed to tackle the virus.” NYT (Gift Article): This Is Why You Don’t Slash Humanitarian Aid. (As a punishment, Elon is about to become the richest person in history. That’ll teach him.)
+ Consumer Subjection: Polls are bad and everything seems chaotic. But the masterminds behind Project 2025 just keep on keeping on. Consumer protection agency deletes thousands of pages as Trump administration seeks to dismantle it.
+ Enemies List Twist: “Bolton described the national security information in question in an electronic diary entry that he shared with two members of his family, the two sources said.” Former Trump adviser John Bolton to plead guilty to retaining national security information. No one has worked harder to target Trump’s enemies and pay off his accomplices than Todd Blanche. So, perhaps this headline was predictable. President Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general.
+ Subsidized Housing: “The seller will consider Anthropic or OpenAI stock as payment. That single line in an otherwise typical luxury listing may be the most succinct summary of what’s been going on in San Francisco for the past two years.” Want to understand the economic power of the AI boom? Try to buy a house in the Bay Area. One Bay Area housing trend is becoming impossible to miss.
+ The Flamingo Kid: “Thousands took to the streets of Tirana for a third straight day on Wednesday, some of them brandishing inflatable flamingos in a nod to feared environmental damage, amid mounting calls for the project to be blocked.” Protests in Albania grow over Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort. Judd Legum has a great overview: Kushner’s Albanian resort faces corruption probe, mass protests.
+ Peak Experience: “Dawa Sherpa was last seen around May 29 descending the mountain, but he did not make it to base camp even though his client did. The pair were among the last climbers on the mountain as the climbing season came to an end and the route was dismantled. Dawa was located by a cleaning crew Thursday morning as he was crawling down the snowy slopes.” Sherpa guide missing for a week on Mount Everest rescued while crawling to base camp.
+ When You Need Stats, Stat: “It certainly helps that Langs, aided by the magic of modern technology, can quite literally watch every game at once. And so, from her desk, she sees it all, eyes darting ferociously among screens like a stocktrader on their 10th cup of coffee … That Langs singlehandedly produces so much compelling, informative content is all the more remarkable considering the difficult circumstances of her day-to-day life. In 2021, Sarah was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.” On Lou Gehrig Day, as always, Sarah Langs is working.
“The getaway car was parked just outside the Marina yoga studio, idling in the January night air as the burglar made his move. In under three minutes, the burglar was in and out of Hot 8 Yoga with an armload of activewear. He stuffed the loot in the car’s trunk, hopped inside and disappeared down the street, comfortably carried away by an autonomous Waymo vehicle.” We’re always on the cutting edge in SF! How a burglar used a robotaxi to flee the scene.
+ “Their annual emergence in the Great Smoky Mountains has become so popular that campsites sell out months in advance. This year’s lottery to get parking spots for the eight-night official viewing period attracted over 45,000 applicants. Only 960 slots were distributed.” The World Is Going Crazy Over Fireflies. (We’re all trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel…)
+ Reminder: NextDraft will be off tomorrow.
2026-06-03 20:00:00
Money talks. The question is whether or not people will listen. In several high-profile Tuesday elections, the answer was no, as voters gave money a run for its money. “Tuesday’s primary night was a poor showing for California’s tech billionaires and founders who viewed statewide politics as the next frontier for their ambitions.” Politico: Big Tech’s big flop on primary night. Is this indicative of a larger trend? Possibly, but there are some key reasons why candidates flush with cash flushed it right down the toilet. It could be the fact that many voters don’t pay attention to election choices until the last minute (and don’t want to). It could be that voters get turned off by a months-long onslaught of TV commercials during local programming. (In 2026, I’ve spent more time with California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer than I have with my own family.) It could be that the candidates themselves were weak, and that money is better spent on propositions, measures, and other elections where the human factor is less of an issue. Or, it could be that this was just a blip on the radar, and that the billionaire political winning streak will keep on keeping on. In these particularly deep-pocketed times, the lesson most likely to be taken away by bigly donors is that they need to spend even more. Expect to see the consequence of that insight playing out across your state and your screens as the midterms approach.
+ “Call it the billionaire bust. It underscores the limits of money’s influence on elections in a state as vast and diverse as California, where most voters don’t start paying attention until their ballot hits their mailbox and where the electorate has a historic populist streak.” SF Chronicle: Wealthy candidates and donors had a rough night.
+ “The contours of a premier Senate race took shape in Iowa, while President Donald Trump’s endorsement streak ran into a roadblock there. Democrats chose a nominee for a House race in New Jersey that could decide control of the chamber. But much of the focus was on California, home to Hollywood but not a governor’s race packing much star power.” California may be home to the most advanced computing in the world, but we sure count slow. Xavier Becerra leads the gubernatorial race and incumbent Karen Bass secured the top spot in the running for LA Mayor. Who will they be running against? We’re still counting. AP: Takeaways from primaries featuring Spencer Pratt, a missing congressman and a rare Trump setback.
Leave it to the Supreme Court to remind us, even on election day, that the votes of 6 people matter a lot more than the votes of everyone else. “On Tuesday evening, in an unsigned shadow-docket order, the Supreme Court awarded Alabama a massive victory in its long-running campaign to crush Black residents’ political representation. Under the guise of soberly reinstating Alabama’s elections as usual, and over the dissent of the three liberal justices, the Republican-appointed supermajority halted the latest in a lengthy line of judicial efforts to end blatant discrimination by the state Legislature against its own Black voters.” Slate (Gift Article): The Supreme Court Just Transformed Its Horrible Voting Rights Ruling Into Something More Calamitous. On election day in America, racism won the biggest race.
The demolishing of 60 Minutes has become a metaphor for what’s happening at once-respected mainstays across the country. Clowns for hire are determined to ruin institutions from the inside, and people dedicated to upholding their values are eventually fired or forced to quit out of principle. After a heated staff meeting in which he accused the CBS editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of ‘murdering’ his news show, CBS News Fires Scott Pelley. And from Jim Acosta: When 60 Minutes is in Trouble, We are All in Trouble.
+ Because the 60 Minutes saga so closely mirrors what’s happening across government and media, it’s worth paying close attention to Pelley’s exit letter. Here are some outtakes: “Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration. The waste is heartbreaking … For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified … the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well. depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion—a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again—a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.” The destruction, the falsehoods, the collapse of values, the disappearing principles, and a prayer for sanity, competence, and courage to return. See what I mean by this story being a metaphor for the broader American story? In both cases, the clock is ticking.
“I found an antidote to my existential angst last week when I tuned into the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The 101-year-old competition might seem quaint and dated in the age of autocorrect and ChatGPT, but it is really a celebration of the crucial life skills that we should be teaching kids. They also happen to be many of the same ones AI has the potential to erode: focus and self-reliance, a tolerance for frustration and discomfort. When the contestants are alone at the microphone, there is no spellcheck or Google to call on, no Claude to give hints on how to parse Phthartolatrae or vaesite. (My spellcheck doesn’t even recognize these words.) ‘You cannot outsource your thinking up on the stage.'” Bloomberg (Gift Article): The Spelling Bee Restored My Faith in Humanity.
Ceasefiring Line: “Video footage verified by The New York Times showed fire inside Kuwait’s international airport. The attack was part of one of the biggest assaults on a Gulf nation since the U.S.-Iran cease-fire was announced in April.” As negotiations drag on, the cease is being blown out of the ceasefire. Here’s the latest from the NYT. And from Bloomberg (Gift Article): Iran Atomic Risk Seen Higher Than Before Trump Attacks Began.
+ Watch Your Six: WaPo (Gift Article): Pentagon hires convicted Jan. 6 rioter for sensitive counterterrorism job.
+ Immunity Impunity: NYT (Gift Article): Order Shielding Trump Family From I.R.S. Audits Will Remain, Blanche Says.
+ Wall, Street: “Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the investigation division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, first began surveilling a San Diego shop called ‘Buy 4 Less’ located near the Otay Mesa border crossing in December of last year.” One-ton cocaine bust reveals secret US-Mexico tunnel.
+ Ballroom Lancing: “If the language remained in, it would have required 60 votes to move forward, meaning Democrats would have been able to filibuster the bill — preventing the White House from receiving $70 billion for ICE and border patrol. Some GOP senators also had political concerns, worried that funding the ballroom as Americans wrestle with cost-of-living issues ahead of the midterms would portray them as out-of-touch.” Senate Republicans drop Trump ballroom funding from immigration bill.
Shawshank Dimension: “New York police are investigating a bizarre mystery involving groups of people emerging from the city’s manholes in recent weeks. The investigation follows the circulation of multiple social media videos showing people climbing out of sewer systems across the city, all in the middle of the night.” (I wonder if any of them emerged saying, “These pipes are clean.”)
+ “Ancient yeast living inside the 5,300-year-old frozen corpse of Ötzi the Iceman has been used to make a ‘very, very good sourdough.'” Sourdough made from yeast inside Europe’s oldest mummy. Until now, I’d never considered donating my body to science.
2026-06-02 20:00:00
For your next trip, you might want to have an air sickness bag ready a little earlier than usual; like while you’re pricing out your itinerary. Let’s start with the good news about your summer travel plans: Because of airlines’ perpetual problems related to fuel waste, scheduling complexity, flight controller shortages, and outdated technology, your vacation was probably going to be a little rough anyway. (Yes, in 2026, that’s the good news part of the equation.) The bad news is that the conflict that is putting increased pressure on just about every economic metric on Earth is having an even greater impact in the sky. And it could be a long summer. “Based on current conditions, U.S. airlines will probably pay some $25 billion more for jet fuel in 2026 than they expected to. That’s more than what the industry earned in 2024 and 2025 combined. It could be a bummer of a summer. And fall. And winter. Even if the oil starts flowing from the Middle East this month, jet fuel supply constraints and price increases will most likely extend into 2027.” NYT (Gift Article): Going Abroad This Summer? Good Luck. But at least once you arrive at your destination, from Greenland to Spain to Canada, you’re certain to be welcomed with open arms.
+ To save money, you can always get a job that requires international travel. The hottest job this summer is European ambassador for ranch dressing.
You’ve probably heard that the AI race is expensive. Like, really expensive. To give you some idea of how expensive, consider this. “Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has said it plans to raise up to $80bn in equity to fund its vast artificial intelligence infrastructure investments.” To put that number in perspective, if the funding is successful, “it would raise more than the world’s three largest initial public offerings put together.”
+ Google’s plan to release up to 32 million mosquitoes in California is not nearly as expensive. Wait, what? “The Debug Project is all about adding so-called ‘good bugs’ to the ‘bad bug’ population.”
+ Meanwhile, “President Donald Trump signed a landmark executive order Tuesday that asks AI companies to give the government early access to their most powerful models for review.” The key word is asks. “The testing would rely on voluntary collaboration from America’s leading AI companies, like Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. The order explicitly bars the government from creating a mandatory licensing or pre-clearance requirement for new AI models, making the government a request, not a rule.” (In other words, it’s not a landmark executive order; it’s the watered-down request pushed by AI companies.)
For a glimpse into the future of our warming world, take a virtual visit to the dusty district of Banda in India, where “temperatures hovered at 116-118F for more than a week.” ‘Mornings and nights no longer exist’: A day in the hottest place in India. One worker who walks 6km to work and 6km home with a packed lunch designed not to spoil by noon, “offered a sentence that could serve as the motto of Banda’s heatwave. ‘Poor people don’t have the luxury of worrying about the heat.'”
“Every generation, we see young people shoot and experiment with short films, but the big advantage today’s generation has is technology right at their fingertips with platforms like YouTube where they can upload their work and get instant feedback from viewers. This allows them to react instantly to what works and what doesn’t work and therefore hone their skills.” And boy, are they honing. A couple of indie horror films created by YouTube vets just beat Star Wars (and everyone else) at the box office. Variety: Why YouTubers Are Turning Hollywood Upside Down.
The House(builder) Always Wins: He has zero experience when it comes to intel or defense, but he has a lot of experience when it comes to housing and targeting Trump’s enemies with falsities. So, sure, why not? “As acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte will be the highest-ranking intelligence official, overseeing a vast network of 18 agencies, including the CIA and the National Security Agency. He will also be the president’s principal adviser on intelligence issues and will manage the daily intelligence briefing for the president.”
+ Stirring Crazy: “You’re f-cking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Trump seems mad at Bibi. Meanwhile, some Israelis are angry with Bibi for ceding too much ground to Trump. And Marco Rubio goes to Congress. Here’s the latest from the NYT.
+ Immunity Impunity: The Trump administration appears to be backing off on efforts to create a slush fund for accomplices. But the other part of the deal might still be alive. Trump to get audit immunity as $1.8 billion fund in doubt.
+ Patriot Games: Russia is not winning its war. But Putin is still trying to inflict as much civilian death as possible. Ukraine rescuers pull dead from rubble after Russian strikes kill 22 people. One of the reasons Russia can do this is because of a ‘window of vulnerability‘ created by the Patriot missile shortage.
+ California Teeming: A really silly primary system and the current state of politics have combined to leave California voters with a lot of reading to do on election day. “The state’s ballot is nineteen inches long, and lists sixty-one gubernatorial candidates.” Nathan Heller in The New Yorker: The Strange Emptiness of the Crowded Governor’s Race in California.
+ Our American Moment: Here are a couple of headlines that sum up our times. Pentagon Bars Reporters From Its Press Office. And, Minnesota Republicans Hold Moment of Silence for Ex-Officer Convicted of Murder.
+ No Whey: Bloomberg (Gift Article): Whey Protein Is Running Out as Food Companies Put It in Everything.
The place that calls itself ‘Baseball Heaven’ is now filled with a bunch of shirtless dudes. And women, in bare chest novelty tees. And kiddos, who needed permission from their moms to strip from the waist up. And those proudly showing off their hairy chests, and pimply backs, scars from surgeries and stretch marks from a life well lived. They all congregate here in the right-field bleachers of Busch Stadium. Every night, it starts with just a handful of the bravest, and youngest fans, but inning by inning, it spreads like a virus, infecting a crowd of all ages and body types.” MLB Tarps Off craze has awakened ‘Baseball Heaven’ with the bare truth. (The Giants’ season has already stripped me of my hope, pride, and dignity. I’m holding onto my shirt.)
2026-06-01 20:00:00
I spend most of my life alone in a room, talking to my laptop. So I can relate to Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s latest assignment: Writing a celebrity profile about Tilly Norwood. The subject identifies as a young woman, but you’d have to say Norwood’s pronoun is, it. After all, Tilly Norwood is a computer. A computer that is at the heart of a new-fangled and notorious Hollywood scandal, in which real people are worried that AI will be an unstoppable scene stealer. Norwood makes life easier for the paparazzi. They don’t have to stake out The Ivy, Craig’s, or Nobu Malibu. They can just do what civilian celebrity stalkers do. Scroll. But Brodesser-Akner decided the only way to do a real celebrity profile, even of an unreal celebrity, was an in-person meeting. “What that looked like was me sitting at the Groucho Club on a green couch, across from a laptop, as if I were talking to someone on Zoom … When we ordered lunch, we didn’t order for Tilly, as computers don’t eat, and Tilly is just a computer. That is the most important thing to remember: Tilly is just a computer.” NYT Magazine (Gift Article): I Profile Celebrities for a Living. Nothing Prepared Me for Tilly Norwood. “In our conversations — which are edited and condensed here — I told Tilly that I was a journalist and asked if she had ever spoken to one before … ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘They ask for honesty, then flinch when it arrives.’ Did I mention that in addition to being just a computer, she’s also kind of a bitch?”
+ In the end, Brodesser-Akner finds that the humanoid comes up short as an interview subject because it fails to provide the one thing people actually want from artist interviews. “They want to know who exactly it was that recognized their human wounds, who recognized them and made them feel less alone. That is what great art inspires in people. That is why I wrote all these profiles, why people even read them. To understand the person who made the art, which is just as essential as the art itself. There’s an entire conversation about separating the art from the artist, but maybe the conversation persists because we know we can’t do it. The art is the person.” That really captures the heart of the issue. At least until Tilly Norwood gets an upgrade…
Here are a few of the big problems with the US boat strikes in the waters of South America. First, we’ve been given little or no evidence that those killed are actually running drugs. Second, even if they were transporting drugs, “the military is prohibited from deliberately targeting civilians, even if they are believed to have committed a crime, unless they pose an immediate threat.” Third, the strikes have had no meaningful impact on the amount of cocaine coming to the US. And fourth, “coastal communities in Colombia and Ecuador, where most of the boats are thought to have begun their journeys, are counting the losses not just in relatives who never returned, but in how the attacks have upended the lives of those who make their living from the ocean and now fear it.” There’s a very good chance that some of those killed were forced by drug traffickers to transport drugs and an even better chance that some of them were just fishing. Which brings us to the fifth problem. These boat bombings are one of many reasons our former allies no longer trust our ethics or actions. NYT (Gift Article): The U.S. Boat Strike Campaign Has Now Killed Over 200 People.
+ Oh, and the sixth problem. These boat bombings are yet another reason for military service personnel to doubt their leaders. There are many of those. Hegseth Strikes Female and Black Navy Officers From Promotion List.
“This money is flowing in the direction of politicians that can be influential in defining the regulatory agenda for the next five years. Reinforcing the cycle of economic power produces political power, and political power further establishes economic power. So, this cycle is ongoing.” Tech billionaires are spending unprecedented sums in California races. And this trend is coming to a state near you.
“Kimmel insists that ‘there are far more people watching late-night TV than there ever were, if you look at the number of views me and my colleagues get online every day and add in our linear-television ratings,’ and that it’s ‘silly’ to call the format less relevant: ‘We’re not just dying of natural causes. We’re being poisoned.’ He points to reports that, in 2023, CBS encouraged Colbert to sign a five-year contract. Colbert opted for three years instead. When CBS pulled his show two years into that contract, the explanation given was that it was losing significant amounts of money — reportedly $40 million a year. Why, Kimmel asks, would the network offer him a five-year deal in the first place if the show were hemorrhaging money? … ‘These are just made-up numbers.'” NY Mag: Jimmy Kimmel Would Stop If He Could. (I can’t imagine what it must be like to wake up every morning and know you have to absorb, reflect upon, and joke about every horrible Trump story of the day. And you can’t really quit, even if you planned to by now, because it would be like giving up the good fight at the worst possible time. Oh wait, I can imagine what that’s like.) Kimmel: “Professionally, I have no idea what I’m going to do after this … Freedom is what I want more than anything. I want to be able to go fishing because the fishing’s good.” Alas, for now, we’ve got bigger fish to fry.
Peace Through Posts: “‘I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,’ Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. He added that he also had a ‘very good call’ with Hezbollah through representatives and that ‘they agreed that all shooting will stop.’ ‘Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.'” Here’s the latest on the Iran peace talks which are either on or off and depend on a Hezbollah/Israel battle that is either happening or not happening.
+ You Don’t Want Fries With That: Last week, we explained the American economy with tomatoes. This week, we’ll take a crack at explaining the European economy through French Fries. The World Capital of French Fries Has a Problem: Too Many Potatoes. “This month, he dumped the crop back into his fields in eastern Belgium, the cheapest way to dispose of enough potatoes to make 200 million French fries.” (I feel like this is an area where I can help.)
+ FIFA Fo Fum: “To anyone familiar with FIFA, the cost of this tournament should come as little surprise. Ever since the tournament hosting rights were awarded to the U.S., Canada and Mexico in 2018—with three-quarters of the games to be played in the U.S.—the organization has viewed America as a potential cash cow.” WSJ (Gift Article): How FIFA’s Biggest World Cup Unleashed a Summer of Price Gouging. (I mean, come on, it’s FIFA…)
+ Hammer Time: Trump’s name must come off of the Kennedy Center, judge rules. (If the Dems win the midterms, I’m putting all my money into jackhammers.)
+ Intel Outside? Nvidia has a new chip for Windows users. And Anthropic is laying the groundwork for a massive IPO.
+ Will LA Face a Pratt Fall: “Spencer Pratt, the reality star people love to hate-watch, is running for office—and betting that infamy can be political currency.” (What could give anyone that idea?) The Atlantic (Gift Article): Hope, Change, Troll.
+ You Can’t Hand(le) the Truth: “While it’s become undeniable that the humanoid boom has legs, the real test now is whether it has fingers.” Humanoid Hands Are Physical AI’s Anti-Hype Test. And maybe related: “A Florida woman was cited for driving with her phone in her right hand. This may seem perfectly reasonable, except there’s one problem — she doesn’t have a right hand.”
United Airlines flight to Spain pulls U-turn, apparently over Bluetooth device name. (It makes more sense when you learn that the name was b-o-m-b.)
+ “Bird keepers are often advised to discourage and even punish birds for masturbating, but the study found the activity was more common in the wild than in captivity, with researchers concluding it is part of a bird’s natural behavior.” Masturbation among birds is ‘natural’ and should not be punished, say experts. (So people are holding birds in captivity and punishing them for ruffling their own feathers? No wonder humans have such a bad reputation.)
2026-05-29 20:00:00
Hold the tomatoes. I’ve said that a thousand times in part because, despite my proclivity toward a nice Arrabiata sauce, I’m just not into tomatoes on their own, and in part because of definitional issues like the one exemplified in Wikipedia: “The tomato is a plant whose fruit is an edible berry that is eaten as a vegetable.” But these days, people are throwing nightshade at the old Solanum lycopersicum less for reasons of personal taste and more for reasons related to remaining financially solvent. A combination of crop yields, tariffs, and the Iran war has left restaurants and consumers slicing tomatoes out of their recipes. “Tomatoes, ubiquitous in everything from fast-food burgers to haute cuisine, are taking on a new role beyond the plate: A nagging reminder of rising costs. Prices for those red orbs have soared more than any other food product over the past year to cement a spot as one of the consumer headaches du jour.” AP: Tomatoes become latest symbol of America’s affordability squeeze.
+ For one segment of America, stories like this one are interesting asides with potential political ramifications; a dinner party topic to slice and dice over Bruschetta, Gazpacho, and Caprese. For a larger segment of people, it’s a serious bottom-line issue. And those two segments have never been more divided. WSJ (Gift Article): The Record Divide Between Corporate Profits and Worker Pay. “Labor’s share of economic output just hit an all-time low, while the profit share hit a near record. It helps explain why consumers feel so glum.” They’d probably be throwing tomatoes, if they could afford them.
In before times, America’s use of the military to perform relentless bombing on small boats that may or may not be transporting drugs would be an endlessly covered scandal that calls into question whether murder has at times been committed. In these times, it gets lost among endless waves of outrageous acts. But it’s worth noting that if you really wanted to hamper the drug trade, you’re gonna need (to target) a bigger boat. NYT (Gift Article): Blowing Up Boats Hasn’t Slowed Cocaine Traffic to U.S., Experts Say. It’s a cruel and expensive policy that damages our international status and results in a suboptimal outcome. In other words, it’s entirely on brand.
Everyone wants to live a longer and healthier life. But no one wants to live forever as much as really bad, really rich guys with absolutely no regard for human lives other than their own. “When Vladimir Putin was captured by a hot mic telling Xi Jinping that humans could achieve immortality by replacing their organs, some dismissed the exchange as eccentric small talk between aging autocrats. In fact, during the conversation at a Beijing military parade last September, Putin appeared to be describing a Kremlin-backed longevity initiative that has become one of Russia’s flagship scientific projects.” WSJ (Gift Article): Inside Putin’s $26 Billion Quest for Longevity. (I’m not a doctor, but for longevity, I still recommend the old stalwarts: Diet, exercise, and not murdering innocent civilians for years on end.)
What to Watch: Mixing humor with horror is all the rage these days. You may get enough of it in this newsletter, but if you’re in the mood for a little more, there are two new shows worth checking out. Widow’s Bay on Apple TV follows Matthew Rhys as the mayor of a small island looking to boost tourism, despite a lot of bad things hidden in the fog. And The Boroughs on Netflix features a group of retirees investigating a deadly, supernatural mystery. Think: Stranger Things meets Cocoon.
+ What to Doc: “In this true-crime documentary series, a cult expert and filmmaker infiltrate a polygamist sect to expose a self-proclaimed prophet and bring him down.” Trust Me: The False Prophet. These filmmakers go way beyond just documenting a tragedy.
+ What to Pod: “He’s wowed presidents, pro athletes and podcasters. But magicians tell us Oz Pearlman’s viral act has crossed an ethical line. Stevie Baskin, after obsessively studying Pearlman’s tricks, explains to Pablo Torre how influencers from Charles Barkley to the White House were in on the act — and why he thinks this brand of ‘mind-reading’ amounts to fraud.” On YouTube: Pablo Torre Finds Out: Debunking Oz Pearlman’s Tricks: Is He a Fraud?
On the Verge: We either have a deal, are really close to a deal, or there’s not yet a deal, that may or may not include the opening of the Strait. Trump claims to be on verge of approving peace deal with major Iranian concessions.
+ Pop Goes the Populism: “A year ago, the Trump administration withdrew from a global effort to curb offshore tax-dodging by multinational companies. That decision has been a huge gift to corporate America, enabling companies to avoid at least $40 billion in income taxes since the beginning of 2025.” Don’t get me wrong. Corporations aren’t the only ones benefiting these days. Dell Gets a $9.7 Billion Defense Contract. Trump’s Portfolio Stands to Benefit.
+ Failure to Launch: “A rocket belonging to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin exploded during a test at the launch pad Thursday night, shaking nearby homes and briefly painting the sky orange.” Amazingly, no one was hurt. But it’s a major setback, and not just for Blue Origin. Ars Technica: Here’s why the failure of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is so catastrophic.
+ Drone Zone: “It was the first known time that a Russian drone had caused damage and injuries in a major urban area on the territory of the Western military alliance.” Russian Drone Hits Romanian Apartment Building.
+ Emotional Roller Coaster: “Eight riders were stranded nearly 100 feet in the air on Thursday evening after a roller coaster in Texas stopped during its vertical climb.”
+ Caffeine For All: “Many Americans likely haven’t heard of 7 Brew, which has only been around since 2017 when it opened its first location in Rogers, Arkansas. The chain has since grown to over 700 locations in 38 states, with about 340 more on the way, but can’t be found in airports, indoor shopping malls or busy street corners in major US cities. Instead, it operates through drive-thrus and walk-up windows in parts of the country with little-to-no coffee competition.” Private equity-backed coffee. Talk about a business of the era. This drive-thru coffee chain is pushing into undercaffeinated parts of America.
+ Uncle Sam Wants You: Pentagon recruiting troops to watch White House UFC fights. (Tickets not included. Those who attend are required to “pay their own way and meet height and weight requirements.” Happy Birthday, ‘Merica!)
+ Shrinking is Growing: “He’s got five television shows on the air this year: the first-season HBO series “Rooster,” “Shrinking” on Apple TV (which recently dropped Season 3) and ABC’s rebooted “Scrubs,” all of which are in the running for Emmys, plus the upcoming “Ted Lasso” (entering Season 4) and “Bad Monkey” (back for Season 2), both on Apple.” How Bill Lawrence Became TV’s Most Prolific Showrunner. (You could spend all your TV time just keeping up with him and Taylor Sheridan.)
“The decline of physical bookstores remains so embedded in popular culture that the man dating Anne Hathaway’s character in The Devil Wears Prada 2 laments that bookstores are “getting downsized and consolidated.” But the decline actually ended years ago, and the latest numbers from the American Booksellers Association show independent stores expanding at a pace not seen this century.”
+ “Researchers say the new drug, called VERVE-102, could be administered to patients with a one-time infusion over the course of approximately four hours instead of having patients take a daily pill or regular shots.” New drug to treat high cholesterol could be 1-time therapy. And, A New, Powerful Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Is on the Horizon.
+ Rescue divers in Laos on Friday night safely evacuated the first of five local villagers who had been trapped in a cave for more than a week by floodwaters.
+ This High Schooler Developed an A.I. Tool to Diagnose Autism and ADHD Using the Retina.
+ Paul McCartney Doesn’t Need to Make Music Anymore. He Just Loves To. (He also seems pretty good at it.)
+ Shrey Parikh, 14, wins the Scripps Spelling Bee after a nail-biting spell-off.
2026-05-28 20:00:00
If you’re anything like me, when your mind boggles, your stomach gurgles. That’s why, when I’m suffering from anxiety, I’m just as likely to reach for the Imodium as the Xanax. The connection between your brain and body can often be felt in your gut. So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that GLP-1 drugs are having a major impact on your head, your habits, your hunger, and your general health. These drugs were introduced as a tool to help control blood sugar. We then learned they could also lead to major weight loss. Needless to say, that made these drugs popular, placing millions of humans into one of history’s largest petri dishes. “Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs were initially understood as a metabolism breakthrough: medicines that act like hormones to control hunger, blood sugar and weight. But as researchers probe deeper into how the drugs work, early evidence suggests that GLP-1s may also be reshaping parts of the brain. Tens of millions of people are now taking the medications worldwide, turning what began as an obesity and diabetes treatment into what could be modern medicine’s largest unplanned neuroscience experiments.” WaPo (Gift Article): Ozempic may be reshaping the brain, scientists say. (Alt link.) This grand experiment has led to many unexpected health benefits and will lead to many discoveries. Of course, there are also risks. “If GLP-1s alter the brain systems involved in reward, craving and motivation, researchers wonder, where is the line between quieting a person’s destructive impulses and reshaping personality itself?” (I’ve been on one of these drugs for high blood sugar for quite a while. My wife and kids report no luck when it comes to personality reshaping.) One benefit of our experience with these drugs is that we may finally drop the habit of telling sick people that an illness is all in your mind. Of course it is, because the brain is part of the body. I’ve always believed in a strong mind/body connection. It’s called the neck.
The financial impact of the Iran war has followed a similar theme. The investor class hasn’t been much affected as the market continues to pile up gains. The Americans who were living on the edge are getting pushed over it. “Affordability has been a politically potent word, but an ill-defined measure of financial pain, often used as a reference to inflated prices. But new research from the Brookings Institution released Wednesday describes affordability by comparing the rising costs of essentials against family incomes. By that measure, the report found, in 2024, 45.5% of U.S. households did not earn enough to cover their necessities.” And that was before gas and other costs shot up. “The report concluded that a mere $1,000 hike in the annual cost of living would leave another 3 million households unable to make ends meet.” This is how close American households are to the financial edge.
+ “The New York Fed report is the latest set of findings from a series of releases detailing the so-called K-shaped economy, where the economic fates of the wealthy and those who are not have been diverging.” NY Fed finds ‘remarkable increase’ in food insecurity for many Americans.
+ “The U.S. economy has weathered a series of events that have raised prices, including the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Mr. Trump’s global trade war.” And now a fighting war. NYT (Gift Article): Prices in the U.S. Are Rising at the Fastest Pace in Years.
+ “High gas prices, rising interest rates and stubborn inflation are keeping buyers at home and cars on the lots.” WSJ (Gift Article): One Million New-Car Buyers Are Gone and They’re Not Coming Back Soon.
“U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and start negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.” So we have a deal to work on a deal. With this minor caveat. “Iran did not immediately confirm any deal, and the official noted that President Donald Trump has yet to sign off on it.” Meanwhile, Oman seems bummed that Trump threatened to blow them up. Here’s the latest from The Guardian and NBC.
“After decades where the dominant expectation for high-achieving parents was to intensively helicopter, a new generation of moms is saying ‘enough.’ They’re reclaiming date night, saying no to schlepping to 17 different after-school activities and making peace with dirty dishes in the sink. These acts of giving up—or giving in—are beginning to add up to something of a feminist revolution, albeit a very low-key one.” WSJ (Gift Article): The Era of the Tiger Mom Is Over. Enter the Beta Mom. (The only people who have less of an impact on a child’s personality than parents are parent influencers.)
Dept of Injustice: Justice Department opens criminal probe involving E. Jean Carroll testimony in Trump sexual abuse lawsuit. A predator is using the power of our justice system to further target one of his sexual assault victims. And not a single person thinks that move will even dent his support among GOP leaders. This kind of ass-kissing will continue apace. Trump appointees push $250 banknote with his portrait. So will the DOJ’s corruption. DOJ Tries to Unmask Reddit and X Users Who Criticized ICE.
+ School Bullies: “Officers in Texas displayed startling belligerence at times, grabbing or tackling students a fraction of their size over misconduct that often appeared to be minor. Children in elementary school, including one as young as 6, were handcuffed. Teenagers were arrested, charged with crimes and even jailed. In the most extreme cases, they wound up in hospitals, bruised or concussed, after being body-slammed or shocked by Tasers, which are prohibited in the state’s juvenile detention facilities but allowed in its public schools.” NYT (Gift Article): Texas School Police Pepper-Sprayed, Tackled and Tasered Students.
+ Valuation Inflation: Anthropic Tops OpenAI to Become the World’s Most Valuable A.I. Start-Up. (Its valuation is more than double what it was just 3 months ago. Forget AI, we’re gonna need a bigger calculator…)
+ Graft Craft: Tired: The art of the deal. Wired: The craft of the graft. The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr. (I guess this makes up for dad skipping Jr’s wedding…)
+ Free Milli: “Day and Young MC issued statements on social media disputing Wednesday’s announcement from Freedom 250, while Milli Vanilli singer Jodie Rocco told The Associated Press that neither she, her sister Linda Rocco nor any of the other group members had been asked to come.” Milli Vanilli and Morris Day say they won’t perform at Trump-linked Freedom 250’s DC shows. They’ve still got Vanilla ICE. Our lineup seems better. Bruce Springsteen calls out the White House and announces a protest festival.
+ Search for Hire Meaning: “Bari Weiss, CBS’s editor in chief, named Nick Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker, as the show’s executive producer. The network also fired two on-air correspondents.” (Editor’s note: Wait, what?)
+ Sinner Can’t Take the Heat: “As the match wore on, Sinner bent over on the clay court in apparent exhaustion multiple times and was hardly even running, resorting to drop shots and serve-and-volley tactics to try to shorten the points.” In a shocker, No. 1 Jannik Sinner falls apart, eliminated from French Open. Novak now has his opening for major win 25. (If you’re not into tennis, there’s still a story of interest here. Heat isn’t even supposed to be a factor at the French Open. This year, players, like many Europeans, are melting in May.)
“Joi AI, an AI companion startup that markets itself as providing ‘AI-lationships that satisfy you emotionally, intellectually, and intimately,’ is hiring 10 ‘masturbation consultants.'” (I applied, but I was told I was overqualified.)