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Character test awaits Dundee Utd after Hearts humbling
What will we learn a lot about this newly assembled Dundee United squad over the next few weeks? Romanian left-back Kevin Ciubotaru last week became manager Jim Goodwin's 11th summer signing. While a lot of United's transfer business was done earlier in the window, given the size of the player overhaul it is still fair to assume it could take this new-look squad time to gel.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s pivot on ‘woke’ politics isn’t unreasonable
What Ocasio-Cortez’s viral ‘woke one was crazy’ remarks reveal about how the left is evolving.
Brewers Embarrassed as Padres Expose Harrison
Kyle Harrison’s disastrous outing and a mounting injury crisis have left the Milwaukee Brewers reeling.
Pep Chavarria to Chelsea transfer: Rayo Vallecano left-back is a late bloomer but could his mentality help Xabi Alonso?
Chelsea’s signing Pep Chavarria will have taken many by surprise so what is it about the 28-year-old Rayo Vallecano left-back that Xabi Alonso likes? Adam Bate speaks to Chavarria’s former coach at Zaragoza to find out why Chelsea think he is up to the task...
The far left hits a wall
The movement had been riding high off a string of primary victories this cycle. But Francesca Hong’s loss Wednesday led to an immediate round of finger-pointing.
Astros Waste Early Opportunities in 4-1 Loss to Giants
It was a costly night in the bay. Not only would Houston lose by a score of 4-1, but they’d also witness an early exit from Jose Altuve who was hit in the left foot on an errant pitch from Carson Whisenhunt during his first AB. Nick Allen would replace Altuve as a result. […]
Russia releases former US Marine reported in poor health
Robert Gilman, who was arrested in 2022, was left in "life-threatening condition" after being subjected to "harsh and abusive treatment", his family says.
What to watch in primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota and beyond
The left vs. center theme is on display in Democratic primaries in multiple states voting Tuesday, with other significant races in places like Alabama and South Carolina.
We’re reading less. And it’s making us stupid
Books have never been trendier, but studies show that as more and more things compete for our frazzled attention spans, we’re reading less and less. This is a problem because reading has a wealth of cognitive benefits that we’re in danger of missing out on.To find out why declining literacy could affect everything from memory to IQ, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s science editor, Ian Sample. She also hears from Prof Falk Huettig, an experimental psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and author of The Perks of Being a Bookworm
The U.S. Healthcare System is Already Mostly Socialized
Now that Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, the outcome of this crucial race will depend mainly on two things: Whether Republicans succeed in demonizing El-Sayed because he’s brown and a Muslim, and whether they succeed in demonizing him as a left-wing radical. I will defer for the now the question of whether bigotry will be effective this year, although I will address it another day. What I want to address instead is El-Sayed’s signature issue — healthcare. Yes, El-Sayed advocates Medicare for All, a position the usual suspects denounce as “socialism.” I will get to the politics of his stance soon. Today, however, I want to talk about the substance. We should be clear that El-Sayed doesn’t even call himself a socialist. On the contrary, he explicitly disavows the label, saying “I’m a capitalist who just knows about capitalism”. In fact, as I explained in a previous post, the policies that El-Sayed advocates qualify him as a social democrat, not a socialist. Still, El-Sayed advocates a system under which the government would pay almost all medical expenses. Isn’t that socialism? Well, if that is the criterion then much of U.S. healthcare is already socialist. In fact, the government’s role is so large that U.S. healthcare is better described as partially privatized socialism than as anything resembling a free market. Let’s start with the raw numbers on health insurance, which pays the bulk of Americans’ medical expenses. Americans receive health insurance either from private companies or from public programs, overwhelmingly Medicare and Medicaid. Here’s what the breakdown of coverage and spending between private and public looked like in 2024: While a majority of Americans with health insurance get it from private companies, well over 100 million of us are covered by government programs instead. And these government programs pay more total dollars for medical bills than the private insurers do. Why do government programs that cover a minority of the population account for a majority of health insurers’ outlays? Mainly because Medicare covers seniors, and we’re expensive. Also, while Medicaid covers many younger Americans, disabled and elderly beneficiaries account for most of its spending. Even by the raw numbers, then, U.S. health insurance looks as much public as private. But that understates the government’s role: Private health insurance in the U.S. is both highly regulated and heavily subsidized. This is obviously true for the insurance coverage purchased by tens of millions of Americans through the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. But employment-based health insurance, which covers 161 million Americans, is far more of a government creation than most people realize. For employment-based insurance exists largely because of huge implicit government subsidies that come with major strings attached. Here’s how that works. If your employer pays you $10,000, that’s taxable income. But if your employer pays $10,000 toward a company health insurance plan that meets certain criteria, it isn’t taxable. That’s a huge effective subsidy, running at more than $300 billion a year. Take that subsidy into account, along with the more than $100 billion per year spent subsidizing policies purchased under the ACA, as well as the outlays on Medicare and Medicaid, and net effect is that the government pays for more than two-thirds of Americans’ health insurance. Granted, there are strings attached. Roughly speaking, employment-based health plans can’t discriminate based on medical history — that is, they can’t deny coverage to employees with pre-existing conditions — and they also can’t offer the plans only to highly compensated employees — a health plan that is only for the C-suite is considered taxable income. So given the restrictions of the federal tax code, employer-based health insurance is a lot like Obamacare, which also prohibits discrimination based on medical history and provides subsidies to make insurance affordable to lower-paid workers. The fact is that virtually all of private healthcare insurance is already well under some form of government control through regulation and tax subsidies. How should we think about this system? First of all, is Medicare socialist? Don’t tell anyone, but the way Medicare operates — it covers every senior’s medical expenses, whatever they turn out to be, while being funded by taxes that depend on one’s income — could be summarized by the old Marxist slogan “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” And back in 1961, when Ronald Reagan was the face of a last-ditch effort by the American Medical Association to block the creation of Medicare, he denounced Medicare as “socialized medicine” and warned that it would destroy our freedom. In reality, American freedom survived until Jan. 20, 2025, while Medicare is immensely popular, with an 82 percent favorable rating in the most recent KFF survey. Medicaid, government health insurance for lower-income Americans, comes in at 73 percent. This is in sharp contrast to public views about private insurers, who are widely disliked if not hated and accused of denying essential care. Furthermore, if Medicare is socialism, then the whole U.S. health insurance system, with the government paying most of the bills and placing conditions on private insurers, is almost equally socialist. If you insist on calling any program the government pays for and regulates socialist, then U.S. healthcare would best be described as a partially privatized form of socialism. And one must ask, what is the point of the part that is privatized? Do private insurers add anything positive? Or are they simply parasites, skimming off money that could have been paying for care? The case for viewing insurers as parasites is strong. Many Medicare benefits are now delivered via Medicare Advantage, that is, plans paid for by the government but run through insurance companies. MedPAC, an independent advisory commission, estimates that last year Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by $84 billion, thanks to practices such as “upcoding,” in which patients’ health problems are overstated to get larger sums from Medicare. Assessing the waste from employer-based insurance is harder, but most evidence suggests that private insurers have substantially higher administrative costs than Medicare does. Furthermore, the complexity of private insurance, with multiple payers all trying to deny care when they can, is a huge burden both on providers — doctors, nurses, and hospitals — and on patients. What do private insurers offer to compensate for these costs? One must go through intellectual contortions to avoid the conclusion that they are, in fact, parasites. Which brings me back to El-Sayed. In supporting Medicare for All, he’s basically calling for an end to the partial, parasitic privatization of a healthcare system that is already hugely dependent on public funding. When one looks at it that way, it’s not at all a radical proposal. Admittedly, the political lift requires overcoming the opposition to higher taxes to pay for Medicare for All. Political realism rather than economics was the reason I and many other progressives supported Obamacare, with all its complexities, rather than demanding an immediate move to Medicare for All. But the political calculus may very well have shifted since the 2000s, as Americans are fed up with a system of unaffordable premiums, rampant claim denials, and byzantine claim administration. Moreover, funding healthcare insurance through taxation would allow for a much more progressive distribution of the cost. That is, compared to the present system, middle-income households would pay less as high-income households would pay more. And the U.S. would stop wasting large sums on pointless administrative costs. So let’s be clear: El-Sayed’s healthcare platform is perfectly reasonable on the merits of cost, fairness and health efficacy. And with private insurers never more hated, while millions of Americans are losing their health insurance, 2026 may be its time. MUSICAL CODA
Corporate Leaders Have Moved Left, But the Money Hasn’t Followed
In new research, Reilly S. Steel finds that corporate leaders’ individual political preferences are shifting left, but their aggregate spending remains skewed to the right.
Top Obama ally reveals which far-left candidate needs to lose to help progressives win
David Axelrod calls Francesca Hong a "font of zany liberal, faculty lounge exotica" and says her Wisconsin primary loss would help Abdul El-Sayed.
How democratic socialism became Democrats' new purity test
DSA candidates are reshaping the Democratic Party – but the pull left may have less to do with policy than with the psychology of group belonging.
Who for captain? Miley or Murphy?
Miley has jumped up the pecking order in midfield with the departure of Bruno and Tonali. The club's longest serving player and a long standing member of the dressing room's leadership team, Murphy will undoubtedly be part of the group of players setting the example in the new season. With Anthony Gordon's departure meaning Harvey Barnes is more likely to play on his favoured left-side, the right wing is a battle between Murphy and Anthony Elanga.
Browns’ Demoted Starter Now ‘Fighting’ to Keep Roster Spot
The Cleveland Browns moved rookie Spencer Fano ahead of Dawand Jones at left tackle. Now, Jones is in some trouble. The post Browns’ Demoted Starter Now ‘Fighting’ to Keep Roster Spot appeared first on HEAVY.
2 fatally shot while leaving business on Chicago's South Side, police say
Three suspects opened fire on two people as they left a business Monday evening on Chicago's South Side, killing both victims, authorities said.
Australian Athletes Who've Made Their Mark Across Bay Area Sports
As the 49ers prepare to open the 2026 season in Australia, here's a look at some of the Australian athletes who have left their mark on Bay Area sports.
Neil Leibman exits Texas Rangers chairman role to pursue new business opportunities
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Neil Leibman stepped down Monday from his role with the Texas Rangers as chairman of the company that oversees local television broadcasts of games, and the MLB team’s sports and entertainment group. The Rangers said Leibman, part of the ownership group that bought the team in 2010, left his position with the club to focus on…
Google’s base Pixel 11 probably won’t have ‘HiLight’ but will actually have enough RAM
With just hours left to go for Google’s Pixel 11 launch event, details keep on leaking out, with some clarification...
Defunding America’s ‘best idea’
Trump administration policies have left many national parks short on staff and money.
Democrats like AOC are trying to shrug off their ‘woke’ era. That’s bad for our politics
Democrats would very much like to figure out how to explain away some of the far-left things they said circa 2019 and 2020 — a period often referred to as “peak woke,” “woke 1.0” or “woke 1.”
Ted Cruz’s college sports bill left in limbo as U.S. Senate takes August recess
Sen. Ted Cruz’s bill to place new regulations on college sports failed to reach the floor this week, imperiling its chances to become law this year.
Forty Under 40: Andres Lazarte
Andres Lazarte’s cousin was working on a presidential candidate’s campaign in 2012 and told him some internships were available. He booked a flight to Boston, but before he left, he...
Tommy John, ex-Yankees pitcher and namesake of career-saving surgery, says goodbye amid health issues
The lefty didn’t attend Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium this past weekend, but instead penned a note thanking everyone who made his career possible.
Minnesota’s Democratic Senate Primary Pits Angie Craig Against Peggy Flanagan
The Senate primary race in Minnesota will be the latest test of left-wing energy in the party, in a state that was convulsed by the Trump administration’s deadly immigration crackdown this winter.
A new housing politics is taking shape on the left
Can democratic socialist Nithya Raman make Los Angeles build?
The left is winning the argument on aid to Israel. The next step will be harder.
What getting tough on Israel would actually mean.
Mirror cells could threaten life on Earth. Why are we building them?
For people with two hands, one is usually dominant. On a molecular level, earthly life takes this to the extreme. All of the DNA in living things twists to the right, whereas the protein building blocks favor a kind of left-handed chemistry.The rules of life are based on this chemistry.In recent years, scientists have worked toward a kind of mirror version of life. Currently, the technology doesn't exist to make mirror life at the cellular level — and likely won't for at least a decade. Still, a group of scientists is concerned enough about the possibility that they've published a 299-page technical report calling for a stop to the science.In this encore episode for our Tech Camp series, host Regina Barber talks to Carl Zimmer, a science reporter at The New York Times, about his reporting on mirror cells — and why creating them could lead to devastating consequences for life on Earth.Check out Carl's full article.Curious about other controversial research? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
He left his job to help farmers keep rural Japan alive through tourism
After seeing how venture capital transformed US cities, Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke Fujii found a new way to help farmers boost their income: agritourism.
Colorado Springs business thanks community for stepping up after burglary
A Colorado Springs business was left to pick up the pieces after a break-in on Saturday. And they weren’t alone.
Chargers Release Depth Chart With Interesting Decision at Left Guard
The Los Angeles Chargers have released their first depth chart of the season, which contains an interesting decision at the left guard spot.
Brian Schottenheimer’s challenge keeps door open in Cowboys’ LT competition
Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoke on the state of the team's battle for the left tackle starting job.
Bride-to-be sounds alarm after popular beauty treatment left her disfigured before the big day
Basketball world pays tribute to Hall of Famer Don Nelson
Don Nelson left an indelible mark on the NBA as both a player and coach. Here are some of the tributes that are flowing in remembrance.
Umpire ejects starting pitcher before Braves-Yankees game begins
The left-hander didn't like a balk call the day before he was ejected
Ted Cruz’s college sports bill left in limbo as U.S. Senate takes August recess
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s bill that would place sweeping new regulations on college sports failed to reach the floor this week before the Senate gaveled out for recess, imperiling its chances to become law this year as the midterm elections approach.
Four 49ers Position Battles Still Ongoing at Training Camp
The San Francisco 49ers have one of the most talented rosters in the league. There are a few interesting position battles going on, though, such as at left guard and free safety. A month ago, it was assumed that Mike Evans and Ricky Pearsall would be the top two options and it would be a solid room.
‘Decades in Sports’: How the 1980s Miami Hurricanes became one of the most hated teams in sports history
Many dominant teams have defined the 150-plus year history of college football, but few left a bigger mark than the 1980s Miami Hurricanes.
‘Decades in Sports’: How the 1980s Miami Hurricanes became one of the most hated teams in sports history
Many dominant teams have defined the 150-plus year history of college football, but few left a bigger mark than the 1980s Miami Hurricanes.
‘Decades in Sports’: How the 1980s Miami Hurricanes became one of the most hated teams in sports history
There have been plenty of dominant teams in the 150-plus-year history of college football, but few have left a bigger mark on the sport than the Miami Hurricanes did during
Poll: Voters See Political Parties as More Extreme Than Their Own Candidates
In a New York Times/Siena poll of battleground states, national parties were seen as too far to the right or the left, while nominees were viewed as more moderate.
Commanders OT Laremy Tunsil Suffers Devastating Training Camp Injury: Report
Washington Commanders All-Pro left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil will miss a "significant portion" of the regular season with torn triceps. The post Commanders OT Laremy Tunsil Suffers Devastating Training Camp Injury: Report appeared first on HEAVY.
Is Zach Edey a Cornerstone for the Memphis Grizzlies?
Zach Edey averaged 13.6 points and 11.1 rebounds before a left ankle injury ended his season after 11 games. Whether he is a cornerstone hinges on his health.
Laremy Tunsil to be evaluated after leaving Saturday's practice
The Commanders are waiting for word on left tackle Laremy Tunsil's condition after he picked up an injury on Saturday.
Mental health call turns into deputy shooting in Moreno Valley; man left in critical condition
A mental health call in a Moreno Valley neighborhood ended with deputies shooting a man and leaving him in critical condition.
Pixel 11 Pro XL shows up in hands-on leak days ahead of launch [Gallery]
With just a few days left to go before Google’s Pixel 11 launch event, a hands-on leak has shown off...
I left my marriage at 62 and moved to Greece alone
Kati Gyselinck traded her secure, but unfulfilled lifestyle for a fresh start in another country. She downsized and found joy in the simpler things.
The Top 10 New Cars We’re Most Excited for This Year (So Far)
Feeling left out of the loop in terms of new car reveals, announcements and launches this year? Don't worry, we got you covered.
Protect Your Business With This 2-Part AdGuard Bundle, on Sale for $40
Two days left: Get five years of VPN protect and a lifetime without ads.
Aston Villa closing in on €20m Matteo Ruggeri deal
The deal is not yet finalised, but Villa are close to agreeing personal terms with the Italian left-back.
Scientists create OnlyFans account for marmots to fund research
UCLA professor Daniel Blumstein and his team started an OnlyFans account to raise money for their research amid government funding cuts
Guardians' Travis Bazzana: Sitting against lefty Friday
Guardians' Travis Bazzana: Sitting against lefty Friday
Peru Heals Rift With Mexico by Freeing Leftist Politician
Peru’s government cleared an embattled former prime minister to leave the country and travel to Mexico in a move that eases diplomatic tensions between the two estranged Latin American countries.
Trump unbound: the making of an imperial presidency
Donald Trump’s second term is unlike his first. The politicians who challenged him are gone. The lawyers who once pushed back now choose their battles. What remains is an imperial president with almost no internal checks - using executive power to reshape everything from the economy to immigration and even the presidency itself.
House Democrats Demand Answers From Trump’s VA on Vets Struggling to Access Mental Healthcare
A letter from Democratic lawmakers to VA Secretary Doug Collins cites a recent ProPublica investigation that found hundreds of therapists have left the agency and vets often aren’t getting the help they need.
What the left’s Michigan breakthrough does – and doesn’t – mean: From the Politics Desk
Plus, Ohio GOP Rep. Max Miller faces growing calls to step aside.
Hemp bill and others left up in the air as N.C. lawmakers go on break
NC state lawmakers go on 3 month break, leaving some legislation not passed and Governor Josh Stein's vetoes are left alone, for now.
Brian Schottenheimer: Left tackle is still not decided
Schotty noted that left tackle is not decided yet
A socialist candidate criticized Thanksgiving — and unearthed a deeper debate on the left
Some of Francesca Hong’s fans are gently asking: Does she have a “woke 1.0” problem?
Health officials say lettuce, salad greens contaminated with cyclosporiasis have left the market
Braxton Jones, Montez Sweat left Bears practice early
The Bears had players on both sides of the line of scrimmage leave practice early on Thursday.
Insults, Expletives and Fat-Shaming: Vance Trolls Critics on the Right and Left
The vice president has dispensed with the decorum and restraint of his predecessors to directly take on opponents and journalists on social media with sometimes profane and often personal jabs.
Do leftovers taste better the next day? Sometimes, according to science
The widespread belief that some foods benefit from a night in the fridge has been put to the test, and it seems to be true for some curries, but not lasagne
Which type of thinker are you? + US explosive diarrhoea outbreak
Madeleine Finlay is joined by Ian Sample, Guardian science editor, to discuss three eye-catching science stories including an investigation that has identified four distinct types of thinker. Also on the agenda is the unprecedented cyclosporiasis outbreak in the US which has now been linked to two fatalities, and the funding cuts that threaten the iconic Jodrell Bank world heritage site, home to the Lovell telescope
Butterfly lilies wing their way to Science
Many animals and plants show left-right differences in how their bodies or organs are arranged, but we still know little about how such asymmetries evolve or how genes control them in natural populations. Mirror-image flowers, in which female and male sex organs are deflected to opposite sides in left- and right-handed forms, provide a notable example of such asymmetry. Here, we studied South African butterfly lilies, where individual plants produce only left- or right-handed flowers. Their mirror-image flowers promote outcrossing by depositing pollen from each floral form onto a specific region of a pollinator’s body that matches the stigma position of the opposite form. This suggests that selection for efficient pollen transfer between forms maintains this natural polymorphism. Our work uncovers a hemizygous supergene that coordinates the left-right orientation of female and male sex organs in mirror-image flowers by linking two independently acting genes for style and stamen handedness in a single, nonrecombining genomic segment. This architecture ensures the coinheritance of a matched pair of organ orientations that is essential for efficient cross-pollination between floral forms. At the developmental level, we show that floral handedness emerges from the interaction between an intrinsic tissue chirality and a gravitropic response that orients the style and median stamen relative to gravity. Together, these findings reveal how a supergene, hormone and microRNA signaling, tissue chirality, and an external physical cue combine to produce and maintain a stable left-right polymorphism in natural plant populations.
Schultz: Outside money is reshaping Minnesota politics ― and pushing it more left
Recent mailers that went out in support of Cedrick Frazier featured a New York return address ― the address of the national Working Families Party, an organization that has received large donations from billionaire George Soros’ Democracy PAC, Jim Schultz writes.
Still distance between Roma and Torino for Cacciamani
Roma continues to work on the left flank after reshaping the right flank with the arrival of Nahuel Molina. The name at the top of sporting director D’Amico’s list remains Alessio Cacciamani, a To...
Moderate Democrats Prepare for ‘War’ Against an Ascendant Left
One moderate group says the progressive wins are “deeply troubling” and is planning a $15 million effort against democratic socialism.
Medicaid Work Rule Leaves Homeless People in the Cold
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government’s list of exemptions left off homeless people.
Yankees’ offense quieted on a rainy night against Cardinals
The Yankees left the offense in the clubhouse after the rain delay.
Mike Macdonald provides update on Zach Charbonnet's rehab
Zach Charbonnet underwent surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Feb. 20.
Bears’ Left Tackle Battle Is All but Settled
Braxton Jones lined up with the first team offense at left tackle for a third straight practice on Monday, and the writing is on the wall for the Chicago Bears starting job at the position. The post Bears’ Left Tackle Battle Is All but Settled appeared first on HEAVY.
With nothing to run on, Republicans return to low road ‘gutter’ politics
Donald Trump's disastrous time in office has left campaigning Republicans with very little to boast about to constituents back home. What they are left with instead is their familiar playbook of culture war scare tactics and divisive distortions to try to scare voters into supporting them. Senator Ted Cruz wasted no time to resort to absurd smears when asked about Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed.
Science|Business summer reads of 2026
As most people in the European research and innovation policy bubble are going on a well-deserved summer break, we have come up with a list of our favourite books, podcasts and essays from the past year that ask deeper questions about science, technology and politics.BooksPasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, by Donald StokesIf you haven’t read Pasteur’s Quadrant yet, now is the time. In the EU and elsewhere, we’re living through a period of dwindling faith that curiosity-driven research automatically leads to economic growth and technological progress. Pasteur’s Quadrant, published in 1997 by the Princeton academic Donald Stokes, is the most influential critique of the standard “linear model” of R&D: the idea that new discoveries made in ivory-tower labs get neatly passed on for commercialisation by start-ups. In reality, Stokes argues, practical applications often inspire more theorical lines of inquiry. Of course, we have long known that things are more complex than the linear model, but even today, it’s still often assumed in Brussels discourse. The book is a useful corrective, and is being used now to argue for new types of scientific institutions. David MatthewsThe Weaponization of Expertise: How Elites Fuel Populism, by Jacob Hale Russel and Dennis PattersonAre society’s problems solvable by technical expertise alone? “If only the benighted would listen,” say Jacob Hale Russel and Dennis Patterson, two professors at Rutgers Law School who got frustrated with how scientists and politicians handled public health communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the book, they argue that clichéd mantras about scientific evidence and expertise perpetrated by academics, journalists and politicians have harmed public trust in the very institutions they were trying to defend. Paradoxically, slogans such as “we believe in science,” “follow the science” and “defer to the experts” can fuel mistrust in science, experts and democratic institutions. The authors criticise “condescension” and “technocratic paternalism” in the public discourse and make the case for a more nuanced approach to scientific and expert policy advice that rests on humility, doubt, scepticism and open dialogue. “Most complex social questions in fact revolve around values, not the recitation of unambiguous facts,” they say. Florin ZubascuBreakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, by Dan WangIn this book, Dan Wang compares the structural differences between the US and Chinese industrial policies, but raises a very timely question for innovation policy wonks: how can advanced manufacturing know-how contribute to technology-intensive economic growth? Wang says technology has three components: the tools, the blueprints and patents, and the process knowledge. The third component represents the “proficiency gained from practical experience, which isn’t easily communicated and requires years of implementation.” According to Wang, rather than seeing tools and blueprints as the ultimate ends of technological progress, policymakers should see them as milestones in the training of better scientists and manufacturers. Over the past decades, China has amassed “process knowledge” because capital flowed to complex fabrication facilities, while investors in the West have parked their money in capital-light businesses such as digital platforms or chip companies that focus on design. As it turns out, thanks to its oversized focus on manufacturing, China has gained remarkable advantages in the global technology race. Florin ZubascuBaltic: The Future of Europe, by Oliver MoodyWhat can Europe learn from the nine countries surrounding the Baltic Sea? Alongside the familiar stories about Estonia's digital transformation, the book examines how the region has used technology, resilience, education, governance and long-term thinking to respond to geopolitical, economic and security challenges. Innovation policy wonks might find fresh perspectives on how innovation can strengthen defence, societal resilience and Europe's capacity to adapt in an uncertain world. Whether or not you agree with all of Oliver Moody's conclusions, the book is a useful guide to a region that is increasingly shaping European debates on security, competitiveness and technology. Goda NaujokaityteThe Invention of Nature, by Andrea Wulf This book chronicles the wild and adventurous life of natural science pioneer Alexander von Humboldt who at some point in the 19th century seems to have been just about the most famous person in the world. Through scientific expeditions to the Andes Mountains and to the depths of Siberia, von Humboldt contributed a host of discoveries and concepts. During his life he met and formed relationships with historical figures as different as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Simon Bolivar, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles Darwin. He is also claimed to be the person in the world with most things named after him, a list that includes an ocean current, a penguin and a region of the Moon. Still venerated in Germany, with numerous scientific institutions named after him, von Humboldt has slipped out of public consciousness in most of the rest of the world. For anyone not familiar with him, this book does a good job of describing his fascinating life. Ole EllekrogCareless People, by Sarah Wynn-WilliamsYou may have heard this referred to as the book Meta doesn’t want you to read. The 2025 memoir from Sarah Wynn-Williams, former director of global public policy at Meta, then just called Facebook, includes explosive claims about everything from a toxic workplace culture to how the company worked with advertisers to target vulnerable teens, and the lengths it was prepared to go to in order to break into China. It’s a fascinating insight into how and why the tech company gradually shifted its approach to policy, whether in the US, Europe or Asia. Meta has denied the allegations in the book, and last year won an emergency ruling to prevent Wynn-Williams from promoting it. In response, the author is now suing her former employer. If that doesn’t make you want to read it. Martin GreenacrePodcastsThe Europeans: Europe’s anti-ElonThis podcast is a great choice for a light-hearted dose of European policy and culture news. Most of it has little to do with research, innovation and technology, but this particular podcast features an interview with Mastadon’s founder Eugen Rochko. He talks about his experience running an open-source, federated, European-made social media platform, and leaving it all behind. The conversation, which starts 14 minutes in, gently encourages us to reflect on what kind of technology we, as Europeans, want to make. Goda NaujokaityteSolarpunk and how we escape dystopiaNew technologies are very often taken from science fiction. Alberto Santos-Dumont, inventor the airship, was inspired as a child by the adventure stories of Jules Verne. OpenAI’s attempt to build a personal assistant with the voice of Scarlett Johansson was lifted from the 2013 film Her, completely ignoring the movie’s cautionary message. So if we want better tech, we need to imagine it first. Unfortunately, the state of current sci-fi is relentlessly dystopian, giving inventors precious few ideas or hope. However, a new genre, Solarpunk, which envisages a technologically advanced but ecologically harmonious future, is now taking off. The actual tech the genre imagines, such as permaculture, renewable energy or community repair workshops, while nice, isn’t all that inspiring or ambitious. But it’s a first step towards rescuing sci-fi from its pessimistic Blade Runner rut. David MatthewsEveryday AbundanceLaunched in June, Everyday Abundance is a podcast that tells the stories of the inventions we now take so for granted that we barely given them a second thought. For example, the washing machine, which liberated women from a lifetime “bent over washtubs and washboards.” Or modern dentistry, which ended the reality that “tooth pain was simply part of human life.” Historians of technology, Virginia Postrel and Charles C Mann are very much on the optimistic end of the spectrum when it comes to the capacity of invention to improve human life. Here, they set out their case: if it wasn’t for progress, you might be hunched over a washtub with toothache rather than reading these words. David Matthews‘We will not know what we lost’: Conservation fallout a year after USAID shutdownSince his return to the White House, Donald Trump has been on a mission to undermine science. He slashed jobs at federal agencies, terminated grants in some research areas, took unprecedented control over university affairs and, within hours of his inauguration, suspended the US Agency for International Development. While its initial focus was to administer health and food aid around the world, it had since expanded to conservation projects. The result? Some of these projects were stopped abruptly. In this Mongabay podcast, environmental reporter Michelle Nijhuis tells the story of the EcoGuard conservation programme in Liberia, whose local patrols had helped protect rainforests, monitor endangered wildlife and track illegal threats. From one day to the next, these were left without salaries. Luckily, she notes, the initiative was able to get emergency funding from international NGOs, but its future remains “incredibly uncertain.” Juliette PortalaEssaysThe Mars Delusion, by Henry WismayerWhy is humankind so fixated on establishing a colony on Mars? asks London-based writer Henry Wismayer. From space evangelists promoting Martian settlement as an insurance policy, to billionaire Jeff Bezos, who said humans should settle on Mars “because it’s cool,” the mission is not running short of advocates. However, in this essay, Wismayer reminds us that some critics expect any future Mars pioneer to end up “irradiated, sick, mad and dead.” Scientists have already looked into the possible effects of prolonged exposure to Martian gravity, and it’s not pretty: muscle shrinking, bones weakening, changes to the central nervous system and other biological modifications to make us all reconsider the journey. “Some researchers have forecast that the future settler, after generations of evolutionary conditioning, will look less like an Übermensch and more like ET,” Wismayer writes. Juliette Portala
Nationals outlast Phillies after Painter exits post-deadline start early
Andrew Painter, who looked strong, exited early with left hamstring tightness as the Phillies’ post-deadline rotation picture grew more uncertain.
Progressive Victory in Michigan Senate Primary Deepens Democratic Divide
Abdul El-Sayed showed the far left can win a battleground state, but the fight for control of the party is far from over.
Left-wing political outsider Abdul El-Sayed wins Democratic Senate primary in Michigan
Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, would be the first Muslim US senator if elected in November.
Abdul El-Sayed's victory sends tremors through Democratic Party
His win in Michigan sets up a high-stakes contest in November, testing a left-wing candidate's popularity in a swing state.
Fox 10 reporter tired of covering politics joins Ruben Gallego's team
Why Ashlie Rodriguez, a former reporter for Fox 10 in Phoenix, left TV to join the staff of U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego as his Arizona press secretary.
Five Things to Know About Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed
The 41-year-old progressive won the state’s hotly contested Democratic Senate primary, the most significant 2026 win for the party’s far left.
Michigan Democratic rivals Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed duel in Senate primary
Left-wing outsider Abdul El-Sayed is narrowly ahead of establishment-backed congresswoman Haley Stevens.
Pediatricians and Health Departments Sidestep Trump’s CDC on Vaccine Guidance
When the Trump administration upended years of vaccine advice, it left pediatricians in a quandary. Many say they can no longer direct families to the CDC as a trusted source of information. So some are creating their own.
Official | Bayer Leverkusen seal Miguel Gutiérrez capture
Bayer Leverkusen have officially confirmed the signing of Spanish left-back Miguel Gutiérrez from Napoli. The 25-year-old has signed a contract through 2031 and will wear the No. 3 shirt for die Werk...
Hamer and defensive upgrades - fan views on transfer business
The three we currently have at the club are not of Premier League quality, so it is important to bring in a player with proven ability, so strengthen in this position. Ian: Get Gustavo Hamer's deal done. It will be a good squad player, and then we need a left-back and a centre-forward will be essential.
Hamer and defensive upgrades - fan views on transfer business
The three we currently have at the club are not of Premier League quality, so it is important to bring in a player with proven ability, so strengthen in this position. Ian: Get Gustavo Hamer's deal done. It will be a good squad player, and then we need a left-back and a centre-forward will be essential.
Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, notching a Midwest victory for the left
The former public health official has defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, NBC News projects, despite facing a huge advertising disadvantage.
'Brazilian blow-drying treatments ruined my life'
Former hairdresser Louisa Curtis says exposure to formaldehyde gas left her unable to work.
Jays Lose To Astros
Blue Jays 2 Astros 7 Not a good night. The Jays lost the game and Trey Yesavage came out the game with, what the Jays are calling left knee discomfort. It looked like more than discomfort. He was warming up for the third inning, and his left knee seemed to buckle on two warm up […]
‘I didn’t want this.’ Baton Rouge business owner stuck in regulatory loophole after crater left in driveway
No one has claimed responsibility for the damage left at Empire Roofing 18 months ago
Michigan Senate Primary Puts Democratic Party’s Leftward Shift to the Test
Moderate Democrats see the race as a chance to try to slow a groundswell of Democratic socialist victories.
OnePlus is sold out in the US and Canada - there are no more phones on the official site
You might still find a few leftover units at third-party retailers, but the brand is officially out of the North American market.
The Michigan Senate Race is a Microcosm of National Politics
The Senate primary in Michigan pits establishment candidate Haley Stevens against populist El-Sayed. The race reflects growing tensions in the Democratic Party and national political changes.
Ames Science Stars of the Month - August 2026
The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Danielle Lopez, Jennifer Claudio, and Duncan Mifsud.
MrBeast Sales Slow, Angel Stock Falls, MUBI and Neon Look for Hits, and Will an NBA Franchise Set a Sales Record?
(Welcome to the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a newsletter on the entertainment industry and business strategy. I write a weekly Streaming Ratings Report and a bi-weekly strategy column, along with occasional deep dives into other topics, like today’s article. Please subscribe.) You probably remember egg prices spiking a few years ago. This led to a lot of debate between the pro-market/pro-competition/antitrust/Neo-Brandesian crowd and the center/center-right/center-left/abundance/libertarian crowd over the cause, whether it was the avian flu outbreak or whether industry consolidation led to price fixing, using avian flu as a convenient cover. Basel Musharbash wrote a whole investigation at BIG looking at it. Well, two years later, we have our answer: it was price fixing. The Justice Department found proof, via emails, of price fixing. Indeed, just the threat of an investigation brought prices down two years ago: I bring this up because at least half a dozen of my favorite political writers and pundits, who were skeptical about price fixing at the time, haven’t written any mea culpas on this issue. It’s really dispiriting and makes it much, much harder to trust their work on other issues. If you take a hard stand on an issue, then you get it wrong, you need to explain how and why you got it wrong. Or update your priors. This is how epistemological bubbles are formed! All of which is to say, it’s time for another installment of “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong”. Last issue, I mostly focused on the “wrong” side of the equation, so today’s is a bit more balanced, but with one big mea culpa (though I still stand by my original concerns). Let’s dive right in! Subscribe CORRECTION: UFC Didn’t Release Subscriber Data (But Seems to Have Bragged About It Internally) In my analysis of the viewership of UFC Freedom 250, I wrote... “Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers.” Well, that datecdote did not come from a PR rep, but from great reporting from James Faris at Business Insider. The actual quote was this: “Paramount’s flagship streaming service generated about a million new subscribers on the day of its first-ever UFC event, Paramount product chief Dane Glasgow told employees in a town hall on Tuesday morning, three staffers who attended the meeting told Business Insider.“ This wasn’t the biggest goof in the world; even Faris emphasized to me that this is more a “clarification” than a correction. Still, it sounds like, internally, the folks at Paramount were very happy about this result—and I’m guessing they were happy with this news getting out—even though the gains didn’t last through the quarter, dropping to 700K adds. RIGHT: MrBeast’s Struggles Continue... I’m very skeptical about MrBeast’s burgeoning media “empire” and, in particular, its $5 billion valuation, as I wrote earlier this year and last year. Sure enough, according to Business Insider, regarding its “booming” consumer products division_:_ “US sales volume grew 13% year-over-year in 2025, following a 33% leap the previous year, according to a presentation deck dated May 2026....A February 2025 investor deck viewed by Business Insider showed Feastables’ net revenue more than doubled in 2024 from 2023, to $215 million, and was forecast to grow 74% in 2025, to $375 million.” [Emphasis mine.] If you told investors that you projected 74% growth but delivered 13%,1 that’s not ideal. But it’s not just MrBeast. Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime had sales drop in half for their energy drinks. It’s one thing to build a successful entertainment company and an entirely different thing to succeed in the heavily-consolidated-but-also-very-competitive consumer packaged goods space! CPGs are dominated by a few firms with very wide moats compared to YouTube, which has few barriers to entry. These businesses require different skill sets and have completely different business environments. WRONG: Does the NBA Have an $8 Billion Bidder? Almost as soon as I published my article about the NBA’s finances, casting skepticism on NBA expansion, I saw this Front Office Sports headline: One group “claims to have already raised $8 billion” for the Vegas expansion team. I mean, wow. That’s just $2 billion less than what the Los Angeles Lakers were valued at when they were sold just last year. And they’re arguably the most popular team in the NBA. (Side note: the new owner is now under an investigation for fraud in how he went about financing the Lakers and the Dodgers purchases.) So much for the “dried up” language I used in that article. (This is why I usually stick to my “Entertainment Nuance Guy” tone in articles...) I went off old information—from April, when I read/heard about the NBA downplaying expansion efforts—instead of doing a quick double-check for new news. That said...if you read the article, the market for Seattle is “slow”, with just one reported bidder. So I wasn’t entirely off. This goof has annoyed me since I first published it, mainly because it undercut that article’s real point, which I stand by: NBA franchises are really overvalued right now. Now, I get why NBA teams are overvalued. When it comes to owning sports teams, it’s basically never wrong to assume that some rich person somewhere will care more about owning a team (or just being part of a group since they’re so expensive) than the actual financials. There are only so many teams to own, and opportunities to buy in preferred markets don’t come along very often. This explains why the teams sell for such high multiples (usually above a 10 to 12.5 revenue multiple, which is very high). You only need one person to overpay! Beyond the ultra-wealthy luxury good explanation, I worry NBA teams are becoming speculative assets. More and more private equity investors are buying into NBA teams. But the value, in owning a team, comes from selling it later, not any meaningful relationship to revenue or profit growth. In other words, the newer NBA owners are increasingly expecting someone later to buy their inflated asset. That’s not sound economics; that’s the “greater fool” theory at work.2 At some point, actually making money has to matter. Especially since revenue growth is now below the growth of the stock market. (And this matters because the NBA doesn’t have easy levers to pull to drastically lower their costs—half of their revenue has to go to players and then you actually have to run a team, including coaching, training, travel, media expenses, and more—or raise revenues aside from one-off expansions in America and overseas.) I just don’t see how investors make their money back buying NBA teams, except for selling at a higher price later on down the line. But if revenue/profit growth continues to slow, at some point, someone will be left holding the bag. RIGHT: Baseball and Basketball are about equally popular. Related to the above, I wanted to cite two quick pieces of evidence for one of my other theories: that the NBA and MLB are about as popular as each other, but the NBA gets much, much better media coverage. One YouGov survey has that fans prefer basketball to baseball by 52% to 48%, which I’m guessing is within the margin of error for that poll. That’s virtually even, meaning they’re about the same popularity. Over on NBC, a recent Red Sox-Yankees game averaged 4 million viewers, higher than Sunday Night Basketball’s average of 3.4 million on the same network. A Yankees-Dodgers game averaged 3.9 million two weeks ago. Not every game averages this much, but it shows you that baseball isn’t far off from basketball, depending on the matchup. Altogether, the NBA is just slightly more popular than baseball, but NBC is paying MLB a fraction of what they pay the NBA, a point I’ve made before. RIGHT: Angel, MUBI and Neon Updates... I’ve long been skeptical about many of Hollywood’s buzziest startups/smaller indie studios. It’s not that they don’t make great movies—films like Anora and Everything Everywhere All at Once are amazing—or that they’re not (rightfully) pushing the majors to make better films, but...they get a ton of hype, and that hype often doesn’t live up to the reality or difficulty in scaling up. Starting with MUBI, well, The Wall Street Journal wrote a feature on MUBI’s struggles last April, best summarized by the subheader “After Sequoia valued Mubi at $1 billion, a left-wing revolt sent the indie film company into a tailspin”. MUBI lost $7.3 million on $200 million in revenue in Q4 2025, but reportedly hit a record 1.7 million subscribers at the end of Q1. As for Neon, Department M purchased a “significant stake” in the company earlier this year. How much is that “stake” worth? According to Deadline, “No financial figures for the Neon-Department M deal were disclosed.” So...that’s not great! If it was a big valuation, we’d hear about. Also, I found this curious: “Both Neon and Department M already have separate partnerships with Qatar. The Qatar Film Committee has a slate deal in place with the former, and a biopic production pact with the latter.” Color me skeptical about much Middle Eastern investment dollars. See: LIV Golf. Finally, as for Angel (formerly Angel Studios), their stock very, very slightly popped last month after Young Washington ($20 million budget) which made $45 million in the US, but their stock is still way down from its opening. Smaller Updates RIGHT: The WGA should focus on antitrust concerns! I’ve been on this for years. Post-WGA/AMTPT deal in 2023, I wrote an article for the Ankler calling on the WGA to focus and organize against industry consolidation. Sure enough, the WGA filed a lawsuit against the Paramount-WBD merger, and people are organizing around this issue now. I wish this energy had coalesced earlier (specifically to lobby Washington much earlier), but better late than never! WRONG: Actually, the chip shortage might be due to market manipulation. In my last “Long Reads for the Long Summer” article, I shared an article about how LLMs are causing memory chip prices to spike, which will make all electronics more expensive. Well, turns out, three RAM manufacturers control 90% of the market, and now a private lawsuit accuses them of price-fixing. So yeah. WRONG/UPDATE: The Odyssey will hold! Two weeks ago, I wrote, “As of this moment, we haven’t had a super-blockbuster, though The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday could all cross the $500 million mark. (At this point, The Odyssey would need a very strong hold to get there.)” Well, it’s safe to say it’s going to have that hold! It only dropped 30% in weekend two and IMAX screenings are sold out all month. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is also off to a great start. RIGHT: People are rushing to get shows out yearly. I’ve long been bullish on yearly, weekly-released shows, and Leslie Goldberg at The Ankler wrote about how many people in town are now listening. WRONG: Mark Carney reverses Canada’s stance on homegrown production. After writing about Canada installing domestic production quotas, Canada has backed off. WRONG: I don’t trust Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s online “views”. When I originally wrote about the latest Spider-Man film’s record-breaking trailer, I thought this was just YouTube views, but after watching this Corridor Crew video and doing more research, well, it’s all social views of the trailer globally. Really? That stat includes TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts views. Basically, I don’t trust it anymore. (This film will probably set record, but I trust the pre-sales data more.) RIGHT: Celebrity Production companies are still struggling. I’ve written about this for years, but the company that I didn’t track was Kevin Hart’s HartBeat, which was valued at $650 million but is struggling now and might just end soon, especially after Kevin Hart pulled his endorsement deals. And Bad Robot is moving to NYC. CORRECTION: SpongeBob is a “second run” title. In my 2025 recap article, I had _SpongeBob SquarePants_labelled as a “library” title, when it is still a “second run” show, with new episodes still coming out on Nickelodeon. CORRECTION: In my last “What I Got Right, What I Got Wrong” update, I offered a correction from Doug Creutz and misspelled TD Cowen. Thanks, Grammarly! 1 Though he could have increased prices to make up for the gap, he couldn’t have increased them that much. 2 There’s a theory, which I think that Daryl Morey created and Bill Simmons popularized, that, to be successful building your team, you only need a handful of bad GMs in the league to take advantage of. To be clear, Daryl Morey’s theory was also for signing bad contracts, that you could always get out of bad contracts. Basically, there’s always someone who will make a bad trade. It’s not the same exact thing, but similar enough to the Greater Fool Theory that I really like it.
Detroit Lions LB Malcolm Rodriquez Suffers Injury at Training Camp
Malcolm Rodriguez left Lions practice early Tuesday with an ankle injury. The setback comes as Detroit is already managing another significant absence in its linebacker room.
Princeton Fant leaves practice early after apparently suffering knee injury
Fant took a knee-on-knee hit to his left leg after being blocked backward into running back Israel Abanikanda during a team period as the Cowboys were in full pads for the first time in training camp.
Thorne to Join P&G Health Care Portfolio
P&G shares intention to acquire Thorne, expanding Health Care's science-backed, practitioner-trusted wellness solutions for today's consumers.
Shifting left, Democrats see universal health care, taxing the rich as 'essential,' Reuters/Ipsos poll finds
Liberal Democrats now make up a clear majority of their party and view universal healthcare, greater abortion access and higher taxes on the rich as essential political positions, underscoring how Democrats have moved leftward in recent years, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Medicaid work rule leaves homeless people in the cold
Conservatives who have long pushed for Medicaid work requirements often said vulnerable people would get a pass. But the federal government's list of exemptions left off homeless people.