It’s Wednesday, July 15. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Douglas Murray on what happened when a gay cruise ship tried to dock in Egypt. Will Democrats try to impeach Trump for the third time? Tyler Cowen on the rise of the “AI maniacs.” Kat Rosenfield on “The Invite.” And much more.
But first: The ICU without a doctor.
In August 2024, 26-year-old Conor Hylton was about to begin his second year of dental school when he came down with what his family assumed was a particularly nasty stomach bug. That night, he checked into the hospital.
The following morning, he was dead.
Later, state and federal investigators reached a striking conclusion: From the time Conor was transferred to the ICU until he went into cardiac arrest roughly four hours later, no physician ever examined him at his bedside.
How is that possible?
The search for an answer led me deep into one of the most consequential transformations of American healthcare today: the rise of the tele-ICU, where critically ill patients are monitored by physicians working from remote command centers, sometimes hundreds of miles away.
Over the past few months, I have spoken with the architects of the tele-ICU program at the hospital where Conor died as well as leading advocates and critics of remote critical care, to understand just what this transformation means. In the process, I have been able to reconstruct, minute by minute, exactly what happened inside the hospital that night.
This isn’t only a story about one grieving family—it’s about a healthcare system under financial strain, and what is lost when the doctors responsible for the sickest patients in the hospital are nowhere near their bedsides.
—Tanya Lukyanova
This week, a Virgin Voyages cruise ship carrying 2,000 gay Americans (and Patti LuPone) was barred from docking in both Turkey and Egypt. The media painted the travails of Scarlet Lady as a consequence of a global wave of anti-gay bigotry. “The strong insinuation of these reports is that the spurning of Scarlet Lady is a result of a world in which Donald Trump has been reelected and right-wing populism is on the march worldwide,” writes Douglas Murray today. The media, not for the first time, was deliberately avoiding the obvious truth staring them in the face.
If the Democratic Party is united on one issue, it is opposition to President Donald Trump. Yet as the 2028 election looms, and Democrats prepare to retake the House come November, they remain deeply divided over a crucial question: Should they try to impeach Trump for a third time? Audrey Fahlberg reports from inside the Democrats’ newest civil war: between an establishment eager to go after the president, and a young, growing faction that sees impeachment as a relic of a failed strategy—and may wish to go even further.
Olivia Wilde’s new thriller, “The Invite,” begins as so many horror movies do: A stranger stands at your door, waiting to be let in. This time, though, the stranger is a sexy psychotherapist who arrives to tell the protagonists that their marriage is dead, and that polyamory is the only way forward. At first it may seem like another millennial feminist ode to open marriage. But it’s not, says Kat Rosenfield. Read her piece to understand why the film is “neither feminist polemic nor political commentary,” but rather a “better, more tragic, more complicated portrait of sex and marriage” than most anything else we’ve seen in recent years.
Millions will tell you AI has transformed their lives: It helps them write, research, think, and more. But a select few have taken it much, much further and woven the technology into nearly every aspect of their lives, from having agents remind them to drink water to using them to build single-person, multimillion-dollar companies. Tyler Cowen calls that group the “AI maniacs.” In his piece today he breaks down who these people are, and why meeting them gives you a glimpse of the radical change that is just around the corner.
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THE NEWS
The U.S. inflation rate was 3.5 percent in June, down from 4.2 percent in May and below economists’ expectations of 3.8 percent. The decline is apparent across most sectors of the economy, though some fear renewed hostilities in Iran may reverse the trend.
The U.S. military reimposed its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, even as President Trump reversed his earlier pledge to charge a 20 percent fee on cargo passing through the strait. This comes amid further U.S. strikes on Iran, as tensions in the region continue to escalate.
New York governor Kathy Hochul announced a statewide moratorium on data centers on Tuesday. The ban is the nation’s first and would pause the construction of all data centers for one year, as the AI infrastructure becomes increasingly unpopular among Americans.
The Trump administration has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle raids, except when executing a criminal warrant or operating alongside another agency. The move comes after ICE officers fatally shot two motorists in the past week.
Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan testified before Congress Tuesday morning, fielding questions about the rise of the “shadow docket,” political criticism of the court, and the court’s $228 million budget request—which includes nearly $15 million for security. This marks the first time Supreme Court justices have appeared before the legislative branch since 2019.
Spain defeated France 2–0 in the World Cup semifinal on Tuesday afternoon, advancing to the World Cup final. The team will compete against either Argentina or England, who will face off later today.
When we passed Obamacare we greatly increased demand for medical services. Anyone who took Econ 101 would tell you that if you don't increase supply, either prices will rise or the service becomes more expensive, less available, and queues form. The Congress should have provided funding for medical schools to increase the numner of students graduating by 25% per year.
By the way, for any non Hollywood types, “The Invite” is not worth your valuable time. Shades of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?” with all the enjoyment of watching your neighbors’ marriage dissolve at full decibel. Poor pacing, poor acting, tired storyline.