All Bets Are On
From Trump Convictions to Assassination Attempts: How Prediction Markets Have Turned American Politics Into a Casino
Start-ups like Polymarket and PredictIt want to let people put their money where their mouth is. But offering Vegas-style odds tied to real-world events could also have dangerous real-world consequences.
By Jacob Silverman
fill-in-the-blank Elon Musk
Cards Against Humanity Sues Elon Musk’s SpaceX “With Great Vengeance and Furious Anger” For Trespassing
“He figured he could just dump his shit all over our gorgeous plot of land without asking,” the company wrote. “We said, ‘Go fuck yourself, Elon Musk. We’ll see you in court.’”
By Katie Herchenroeder
THE BILLIONAIRE’S SECRET
The Richest Man in Germany Is Worth $44 Billion. The Source of His Family Fortune? The Nazis Know.
Klaus-Michael Kuehne, born in 1937, has more money than Ken Griffin, MacKenzie Scott, or François Pinault. Just don’t ask him how he got so rich.
By David de Jong
excerpt
“Are You Saying No to Elon Musk?”: Scenes from the Slash-and-Burn Buyout of Twitter
In an excerpt from their new book, Character Limit, Kate Conger and Ryan Mac detail how Musk’s “goons” instilled fear and uncertainty among the rank and file, while his inner circle employed hardball tactics in a touch-and-go transaction.
By Kate Conger and Ryan Mac
Sports
The US Open Approaches a New Milestone: 1 Million Fans
More spectators than ever are flocking to Flushing for this year’s Grand Slam tournament, which manages to draw throngs of tennis fans while remaining a magnet for the chic and fashionable. It’s an event, says USTA chief Lew Sherr, that strives to offer “accessible luxury.”
By Tom Kludt
Sports
Bill Belichick’s Unexpected Second Act: Media Star
The NFL’s most celebrated coach is gabbing with Pat McAfee and the Manning brothers, hosting a web show, and posting on Instagram. Mike Tirico thinks “he’s going to be great” as a TV talker, but is Belichick’s future in the studio—or back on the sidelines?
By Tom Kludt
Sports
National Women’s Soccer League Eliminates Draft in Historic New Agreement
The collective bargaining agreement unveiled Thursday will also require players’ consent for trades. Such changes, says one union leader, mark “tectonic shifts in the American sports landscape.”
By Tom Kludt
Q&A
The Story Behind Aaron Rodgers’s Path From Beloved NFL Star to Most Polarizing Player
Biographer Ian O’Connor talks to Vanity Fair about the roots of Rodgers’s family estrangement—“death by a thousand cuts”—and the Jets QB’s regret over claiming he had been “immunized” against COVID-19: “He told me, I should have told the truth.”
By Tom Kludt
SUCCESSION DRAMA
Rupert Murdoch’s Family Battle Proves He’s Losing Control
The media mogul is scrambling to protect Fox News from three of his politically moderate heirs. It’s a sign of Rupert’s waning influence. “Murdoch is no longer the pope,” one political vet says.
By Clive Irving
Boys and Their Toys
Inside California’s Freedom-Loving, Bible-Thumping Hub of Hard Tech
Many cities have aspired to be the next Silicon Valley. But here in El Segundo—home to an upstart, male-dominated defense tech enclave—the founders are defining themselves in opposition to it. “This is not ‘San Francisco lite,’” says one, “or ‘San Francisco plus a little bit of hardware.’”
By Zoë Bernard
Sports
Why Serena Williams Isn’t Watching Wimbledon
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the GOAT of women’s tennis talks about the struggle of becoming a spectator, hosting this week’s ESPYs, and why a comeback is always in the “back, back, back of my mind.”
By Tom Kludt
Media
“I’m Not Naive”: Inside Emma Tucker’s Rocky Wall Street Journal Reboot
The British-born editor has injected America’s business paper of record with ambition and verve, while unnerving the newsroom with unapologetic cuts. The restructuring “may look callous,” she says. “But it’s so that we get it right, so I don’t have to do it over again.”
By Charlotte Klein
From the Magazine
How Art Mogul Louise Blouin Lost Her Fabled Hamptons Estate
Louise Blouin lost La Dune, the Hamptons estate where she once entertained Prince Andrew and Calvin Klein, but she’s not letting go quietly.
By Jennifer Gould
Sports
“It Was Astonishing”: How NBC Convinced Al Michaels to Embrace His AI Voice for Olympics Coverage
The network will use an artificial clone of the legendary broadcaster’s voice to narrate its daily recaps of the summer event. “It was not only close,” he says of the technology, “it was almost 2% off perfect.”
By Tom Kludt
Media
The Moral Panic Around the “British Invasion” of US Newsrooms
Will Lewis’s ethical imbroglio has led to caricatures of British editors. But the Washington Post publisher should be held accountable as a powerful news executive—not a national stereotype.
By Jon Allsop
MEDIA
Washington Post Publisher Will Lewis and Incoming Executive Editor Robert Winnett Used Stolen Records While Reporting in Britain: NYT
The bombshell article, released on Saturday night, comes during a tumultuous time for the legacy news organization.
By Katie Herchenroeder
Big Tech
Apple’s AI Approach Is a Welcome Break From the Industry Arms Race
The tech giant took some heat this week for its “uninspired” foray into AI, but a more measured pace is just what Silicon Valley needs.
By Nick Bilton
WallStreetBets, GameStop, and the “Swirl of Distrust” That’s Electrifying the Stock Market
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Nathaniel Popper traces the origins of an unprecedented financial saga—and explains how it’s given rise to a new class of retail investors that are keeping institutional investors on their toes: “They very much realize the power of this young online world.”
By Jon Skolnik
Media
“I Can’t Sugarcoat It Anymore”: Will Lewis Bluntly Defends Washington Post Shake-Up
Addressing a rattled newsroom in the wake of Sally Buzbee’s resignation, the Post’s CEO and publisher stressed the need for taking “decisive, urgent action to set us on a different path.”
By Charlotte Klein
take five
Rupert Murdoch Marries Elena Zhukova
Fifth time's the charm, isn't that what they say?
By Kase Wickman