The President of the United States posted a racist video depicting the Obamas as monkeys in what seemed to be an AI-generated parody of The Lion King. After first defending the video (”Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public”), the White House eventually removed the video. The news here is not Trump’s toddler on cocaine-like lack of social media impulse control. Nor is it his overt racism. That, after all, is his most consistent trait, spanning time (his opening salvo in his first successful presidential run centered on birtherism) and geography (from the masked thugs patrolling the streets of Minneapolis to the funding cuts robbing black and brown kids of food and medicine in “sh-thole“ countries). The combination of these personality defects means that one can hardly be surprised that another day brought us yet another adult diaper-full of rancid, racist, social media bile spewed across the internet. What’s notable here is that, at least this once, the media didn’t sugar coat the reality of the story (it was racism, period), even some of Trump’s ardent enablers didn’t try to write off the racism as just Donald being Donald (South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott called it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” which is really saying something), and that the White House, at long last, finally deleted something instead of defending it. No one expects this to teach the president, his defenders, or his social media team a lasting lesson, and we’re not bracing ourselves for a return of dignity to the Oval Office. But at least when it comes to this one incident and this one moment in time, the lyin sleeps tonight.
The Super Bowl used to stand out as a big betting day. But in 2026, it’s more of a representation of every other day (or every other minute). We are betting on anything and everything, and the gamified casinos are in our pockets 24/7. What could possibly go wrong? The Atlantic (Gift Article): Prediction markets are turbocharging America’s obsession with sports gambling. (How turbocharged will it get? Well, you can lay a bet on that, too.) “Thanks to a loophole, Americans have effectively been able to bet on sports no matter where they live. All they have to do is turn to prediction markets. Platforms such as Kalshi let people wager on lots of things: Who will win the Oscar for Best Actor? How much snow will New York City get this month? Prediction markets say that they are more akin to the stock market than gambling. Rather than betting on odds set by bookmakers, users trade contracts that pay out according to the outcome of a given event. This distinction may not mean much for someone betting on the Seahawks over the Patriots, but it does allow prediction markets to operate even in places where sports betting is illegal.”
A British “athlete has launched a stinging attack on the ICE agency ahead of the opening ceremony at the Winter Games, urinating the words ‘F--- ICE’ into the snow.” In addition to having some pretty remarkable aim, Gus Kenworthy represents what could be a somewhat uncomfortable Olympics for the American brand. Protesters have already taken to the streets of Milan to protest the presence of ICE at the Games. And what’s happening in Milan isn’t staying in Milan. Stephen Marche in the NYT (Gift Article): The Globalization of Canadian Rage. “Throughout last year, the consensus among many European policymakers in the face of Donald Trump’s bombast was to wait out the nonsense and appease when possible. Mr. Carney’s speech arrived at the exact point at which that position proved untenable: Mr. Trump’s intensifying threats to forcibly annex Greenland, not to mention his insults to NATO troops who fought and died alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. ‘They stayed a little back, little off the front lines’ is a statement that will be remembered in Europe alongside ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ and ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall’ as a presidential remark that embodies the American spirit of its moment.”
What to Watch: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kingsley star in a Marvel superhero show that focuses more on struggling actors than superhero stuff. It’s a solid show. Check out Wonder Man on Disney.
+ What to Book: Don Winslow retired from writing new books. Luckily, that retirement didn’t hold, and he’s back with an excellent collection of short stories that Stephen King calls “The best crime fiction I’ve read in twenty years.” The Final Score.
+ What to Doc: If you’re looking for a good way to get into the Olympic spirit, check out the new doc about one of the games’ greatest moments and maybe the greatest commentator moment ever. On Netflix: Miracle: The Boys of ‘80.
Plumb Jobs: “The unemployment gap between workers with bachelor’s degrees and those with occupational associate’s degrees — such as plumbers, electricians and pipe fitters — flipped in 2025.” For the first time in 50 years, college grads are losing their edge.
+ Quiet, Riggie: “A decade ago, in the America of the Before Times, this would have been a ridiculous discussion, given that it is ‘not constitutional or legal’ to federalize elections as Trump wants, as the Republican election lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg put it this week. But we live in the post-January 6th world, so the better question to ask is this: With a President who is already the first in our history to try to overturn the results of an election he decisively lost, what more will it take for us to finally acknowledge that, when he says this stuff, he actually means to follow through with it?” The New Yorker: Donald Trump Already Knows the 2026 Election Is “Rigged”.
+ Assad Sack: “Many describe a detached ruler, obsessed with sex and video games, who probably could have saved his regime at any time in the past few years if he hadn’t been so stubborn and vain.” Robert F. Worth in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Fall of the House of Assad.
+ What the World Needs Now: “Imagine you’re the leader of a nation, and you face a dilemma. Half a million or so people who are crucial to everyone’s daily lives inhabit your country. They care for aging parents, work at small and large companies, harvest the food that’s on the table. They are also part of your community. On weekends, they walk in the parks, go to restaurants and play on the local amateur soccer team. But one crucial thing makes these half a million people different from other people in your country: They don’t have the legal documents that allow them to live there.” I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants.
+ All Narcissism and No Play Makes Don a Dulles Boy:Trump wanted Dulles Airport and Penn Station named after him — in exchange for releasing federal funds. He already has a prescription drug site named after him.
+ Vaccine But Not Heard: “Over two days of questioning during his Senate confirmation hearings last year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeated the same answer. He said the closely scrutinized 2019 trip he took to Samoa, which came before a devastating measles outbreak, had ‘nothing to do with vaccines.’” Surprise! It had to do with vaccines.
+ Prime Spree: WSJ (Gift Article): Trump’s New Tax Law Saved Amazon Billions.
“A division of the U.S. Agency for International Development eliminated by Trump administration cuts last year was reborn Thursday as an independent nonprofit, allowing its international work to continue in a new form.”
+ “Statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs taken by 200 million people worldwide, are safer than previously believed, new research suggested. A review of previous studies totalling 123,000 patients found that only four of 66 potential side effects listed on statins’ packaging were actually caused by the drugs.”
+ These Kansas City students run a credit union from inside their high school. Yes, with real money.
+ An Australian 13-year-old who swam 2.49 miles to shore and then ran 1.24 miles to get help for his stranded family has been described as superhuman.
+ “Noah Winter brags he’s been to way more Super Bowls than Tom Brady. Brady competed in 10 — more than any other player. But Winter will be part of the Super Bowl spectacle for his 30th straight year this year, not in uniform but as the guy in charge of the celebratory confetti after the game ends.”
