But first: Josh Code reports from Christian Men’s Camp.

When I first saw a promotional reel for 252 The Weekend, a retreat organized by the New Jersey megachurch Transform, I almost mistook it for a trailer for a new season of Survivor: dramatic music, stone-faced men staring into fire, men carrying logs, men climbing over walls and crawling under netting. And I wondered: Is this actually about getting in touch with God—or is it just a chance for dudes to be dudes?

There’s much talk that a religious revival is happening in America, especially within Gen Z, but some have questioned whether the newly holy are authentically interested in God, or just superficially attracted to the ever-multiplying influencers and apps and podcasts that are springing up to make Christianity hot again. Does packaging religion to appeal to a certain set of people make it any less meaningful?

That’s the question I set out to answer last weekend, at 252, which I attended alongside 580 men, most of whom were from suburban New Jersey—where a man can’t exactly roam a ranch on horseback or even pump his own gas. They were locksmiths, electricians, landscapers, jujitsu fighters, auto parts sales associates. They were also, it turned out, men who hadn’t cried in years, had never heard their fathers say they were proud of them, and had no idea how much they needed a weekend like this.

Together they danced, sang, prayed, and competed in a field day for grown-ups. One boy’s name was engraved on a sword. Men kept saying “iron sharpens iron.” A couple of them got baptized in iron tubs, but the Holy Spirit was often hard to discern. Nevertheless, there was something profound about it all. Because the obstacle course, the bench press, the sheer testosterone of it all, gave the men permission to be vulnerable. After all, it’s okay to cry when you’ve just benched your own body weight 28 times. —Josh Code

Second Thought

In the latest episode of Second Thought, Suzy Weiss sits down with the Roastmaster General, comedian Jeff Ross—who explains why a well-crafted insult is the ultimate sign of respect and the last bastion of truly free speech in our culture. In their conversation, he reflects on the best burns he issued to Joan Rivers, Justin Bieber, and Charlie Sheen—and tosses out a brand-new one for Suzy herself. Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the YouTube vid below. And if you want to keep up to date with everything Suzy does (this week, she gave a company that wants to train robots to do the cleaning full access to her apartment)—don’t miss her newsletter!

​​Knock Knock, It’s Cupid!

A new batch of ads from single Free Pressers is live on our site. Click here to meet a midwife in New Mexico; a vegan master of divinity in Virginia; or an athletic outdoorsman in Florida. Your special someone could be just one email away! If you’d like to take a chance at Free Press love, write a paragraph that defines you, including your age, where you live, and what you’re looking for, and send it over to Cupid@TheFP.com.

We’ve published a lot of stories worth catching up on this week, from Caitlin Flanagan’s review of Jill Biden’s memoir, to Larissa Phillips’s latest personal essay, about her summers spent working at restaurants in Nantucket . . .

How should you spend the rest of your weekend? We asked our colleague Danya Jacobs for her recommendations…

🏃Run. . . the Central Park loop before the city wakes up. As a born-and-bred New Yorker, it is mildly embarrassing to admit that I did this for the very first time this week, and it completely shifted my perspective on how peaceful the city can be. It turns out this city does sleep, but only between the hours of 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. If you’re not in New York, find a park nearby and get your run finished before anyone has the chance to hit snooze. It’s a meditative experience.

📺 Watch. . . Obsession, a supernatural thriller in theaters now. It’s buzzy, gory fun; I found myself laughing quite a bit between the jump scares. Some are reading this film as a cautionary tale about how dangerous men are to the women they love, but I saw it pretty differently. (And so did Kat Rosenfield: Read her recent review!)

🍦Skip. . . the two-hour line for whatever new, overhyped frozen yogurt spot is currently hijacking your Instagram feed. The obsession with queueing up has officially devolved into insanity. If you want froyo, do the sensible thing: Go to Pinkberry. You will wait approximately four seconds at the register, get your food, and actually enjoy your weekend.

Last but not least: When we asked our art director Clara Grusq for the most beautiful thing she saw this week, she chose this photo of David Hockney at work in his studio in the mid-’60s. The British artist, who died this week at age 88, was a pioneering force in the Pop Art movement and one of the most influential artists of the last century.

That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend.

The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article

But first: Maya Sulkin reports on the machines making people human again.

In October 2016, my family took a trip to Washington, D.C., with my mom’s best friend, who I call Aunt Lori—she was in the room when I was born, because my dad was so freaked out—and her husband Uncle Brian. We spent our days walking through Georgetown and taking pictures of cherry blossoms, but my always-athletic Uncle Brian started to complain that his shoulder was feeling weak.

We thought it was “tennis elbow,” or that he was being a diva. But then my aunt started to notice her husband was limping. In the months that followed, we learned Brian had ALS—a horrific disease that attacks the nerve cells that allow you to move your muscles, until you can no longer move, speak, swallow, or breathe. He was told he had five years to live, tops.

My aunt and uncle researched every medical trial, and traveled to see all the doctors and researchers who could give them any advice about treatment options. They helped launch I AM ALS, a patient-led advocacy organization that has since secured billions of dollars in research funding. I thank God every day that Uncle Brian’s deterioration, unlike most patients, has been slow. He can still walk and play with his grandchildren. He hasn’t lost his voice.

Earlier this year, I met two ALS patients who had: Brad Smith and Kenneth Shock. Or at least, they had lost their voices before they crossed paths with a company called Neuralink. Created by Elon Musk—who got the idea from a science fiction series—it makes devices that can be implanted into the brain and allow paralyzed people to control a computer with only their minds. And once they can do that, they can communicate—by rapidly typing words that can then be uttered by an AI that sounds just like them.

As of January 2026, Neuralink has implanted brain-computer interfaces in 21 human patients. Brad was the third. When I asked Brad what it was like to hear himself speak again, he didn’t miss a beat. “The truth is,” Brad told me, “nobody really likes to hear their own voice.” Brad is happiest when he’s telling jokes. ALS robbed him of his ability to do that, but AI has restored it.

While I was reporting, I kept thinking about what it would mean for my Uncle Brian to lose his voice—to be talked over, to have people assume that because he couldn’t speak he couldn’t understand what was happening around him. I would miss his favorite line at dinner: “If it tastes good, it’s good for you.”

We talk endlessly about what cutting-edge technology like AI might cost us. But this story is a reminder that it can also give us something back.

—Maya Sulkin

Second Thought

This week, Suzy sat down with tech writer Joanna Stern—who, for one year, let artificial intelligence into every corner of her life. She tested robot assistants, commuted in autonomous vehicles, read AI bedtime stories to her children, and even went on a road trip with her AI boyfriend, Evan. Listen to the episode—which shines a light on the brave new world that lies ahead—wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube below:

​​Knock Knock, It’s Cupid!

A new batch of ads from single Free Pressers is live on the site. Click here to meet a Don Quixote–loving bachelor in Tuscaloosa; an early riser in D.C. looking for true love; or a Chinese-Indian-Scottish cat-lover in Singapore. Your special someone could be just one email away! If you’d like to take a chance at Free Press love, write a paragraph that defines you including your age, where you live, and what you’re looking for, and send it over to Cupid@TheFP.com.

We’ve published plenty of other excellent culture pieces this week, including. . .

And don’t miss our new Great Americans series. So far we’ve had entries by Joseph Epstein on Sandy Koufax, Joe Nocera on Louis Armstrong, Major Garrett on John Steinbeck, and more.

How should you spend your weekend? We asked our publicist Catherine Morrissette for her recommendations.

🍋 Drink. . . an ice-cold Del’s Lemonade. For those lucky enough to live in the Ocean State, you know nothing beats the heat like a crisp lemonade slushy (with chunks of lemon peel) in a waxy paper cup. For the 99 percent of us not in Rhode Island on this hot Saturday, join me in blending up some ice, simple syrup, and lemon juice for a poor man’s copycat of this perfect beverage.

🦈 Listen. . . to “Fins,” by the one and only Jimmy Buffett. The keys, the steel drums, and the iconic guitar riff are the sounds of summer. The grill is hot, the coconut shrimp are crispy, and it’s five o’clock somewhere. ’Tis the season, folks.

📖 Read. . . this Free Press Forum thread where Free Press parents share their tips on raising good men. “I’m now acutely aware of the sedimented contradictions that run through the history of mothering advice,” one mom writes. “How do I excel at this?” The replies are heartening, and the advice is sage. (In case you haven’t been paying attention—it’s okay, it’s nearly summer!—we just launched the Forum, a new perk that gives subscribers a place to chat with other Free Pressers. We’ve already seen readers get job offers, life advice, and pitch stories that have made it to our editor’s room. It’s fun, and a perfect Sunday rabbit hole.)

Last but not least, in memory of the Iranian graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi, who died this week aged 56, feast your eyes on an excerpt from Persepolis, the dramatization of the Iranian revolution that made her famous:

That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend.

But first: a school’s-out special.

Summer is fast approaching, which means parents across the country will be faced with the age-old question: What are your kids going to do when the school year ends?

Gone are the days when children played outside until dusk, left to fend for themselves in the great outdoors. In its place has come hypervigilant parenting: chaperoned play dates, cell phones tucked into summer camp bags, and endless résumé-building activities. At the other extreme, some parents opt out of oversight altogether: handing their children an iPad and letting them scroll the days away.

It’s not hard to see how we got here. A world saturated with technology and alarming headlines can make real life feel riskier than anything behind a screen. The problem is: That perception is entirely backward. Screen time makes kids depressed and anxious, while micromanagement leaves them with no independence at all.

So, what’s a modern parent to do? Today, we bring you two pieces answering that question.

For years, NPR reporter Michaeleen Doucleff struggled to pry her daughter away from screens as bedtime approached. Eventually, she hit a breaking point, and two summers ago, she eliminated screens entirely—hiding devices and steering her daughter toward biking, crocheting, and other hands-on activities. The results, she writes, exceeded her wildest expectations. Read her piece on how her family embarked upon a screen-free summer—and how you can, too.

As for those risk-averse parents who can’t stop micromanaging, primary care physician Charlotte Grinberg has some news for you: If you think a sheltered child is a safer child, think again. “Modern parenting seems saturated with the language of safety and the avoidance of immediate risk,” she writes. But allowing kids to encounter everyday messiness—from scraped knees to shared germs—is the key to building resilience that lasts a lifetime.

Second Thought

This week, Suzy sat down with Scooter Braun, once one of music’s most powerful kingmakers, who helped define pop culture in the internet age. He reflects on discovering Justin Bieber, discusses how Kanye West’s antisemitic spiral ended their relationship, and reveals exclusive new details about becoming the villain in Taylor Swift’s fairy tale: “I legitimately don’t know her,” he said. And wait till you hear what he says about his new girlfriend.

Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the YouTube vid below. And if you want to keep up-to-date with everything Suzy does, don’t miss her newsletter!

​​Knock Knock, It’s Cupid!

A new batch of ads from single Free Pressers is live on our site. Click here to meet a cello-playing Southern belle in Philadelphia; an espresso-making Rolling Stones fan; or a Hawaiian Israeli who has dual citizenship and three cats! If you’d like to take a chance at Free Press love, write a short paragraph that defines you, including your age, where you live, and what you’re looking for, and send it over to Cupid@TheFP.com.

We’ve published plenty of other excellent culture pieces this week, including Caitlin Flanagan on Pratt Daddy’s revenge, Alex Sasse on how her father, Ben Sasse, raised her, and Kat Rosenfield on why Belle Burden’s fan base isn’t going anywhere . . .

How should you spend your weekend? We asked Free Press fellow Tanner Nau for his recommendations . . .

🚶Walk . . . to a park. I’ve never fancied myself a walker, but late afternoon and early morning strolls have become a godsend for me. It’s the best way to clear a busy or worried mind and prepare for the week ahead. Living in Washington, D.C., I am fortunate to have dozens of parks, but if you don’t have one close by, walk to the closest patch of open grass or bench. My thoughts are clearer when I’m breathing fresh air, taking in the sun (or sunset), and listening to birds chirping. Bring a book, too, preferably a novel. (I just finished Norman Mailer’s An American Dream after reading it during my visits to Lincoln Park just east of the U.S. Capitol.)

🎵 Listen . . . to one of my favorite non-Free Press podcasts, How I Write, with David Perell. Tom Segura—arguably the funniest person in the world—joined the show last week to talk about the craft of comedy, and how random observations about day-to-day life are typically the genesis of his best jokes. It’s fascinating to see how he does it, and, of course, the episode is full of classic Segura wit.

🚗Ride . . . in a Waymo, or any other self-driving car, to mark National Autonomous Vehicle Day on Sunday. The (real, I promise) holiday comes as self-driving taxis expand into large cities around the country—and soon the world. Kick back, relax, and let a robot take the wheel.

Last but not least: Feast your eyes on one of Hilma af Klint’s greatest creations . . . 

That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend.

The Free Press earns a commission from any purchases made through all book links in this article.

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