The Free Press
It’s Wednesday, July 9. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Meet the man conspiracy theorists blame for the Texas floods; can there be life after spending 12 years wrongfully detained in a Chinese prison?; how the immigration crisis is driving identity theft; our next livestream with Tyler Cowen and Kyla Scanlon; and much more.
But first: When libraries become homeless shelters.
When author Zac Bissonnette first proposed a story about the decline of the public library, I was shocked. Like most people, my memories of libraries are idyllic: going to story time as a child, getting my first library card, studying in the library with my friends after school—and then introducing my own children to libraries. Could libraries really be in trouble?
They could—and they are, as Zac explains in our eye-opening lead article today. Libraries, you see, have become de facto homeless shelters, a situation that many librarians have actually encouraged, to the detriment of patrons who want to use libraries to read and study and to take their kids.
Zac stumbled across this story because, well, he likes to spend time in libraries. “I had awful experiences in the branch locations of the New York Public Library,” he explained, “and I was excited about going to the local library in West Palm Beach” when he moved there a few years ago.
He quickly discovered that it was overrun with homeless people—and as a result, fewer and fewer people were going to the library. And it was happening all over the country. “The structural decline in library visits is almost without parallel,” he told me. “I don’t think Sears’ same store sales numbers were this bad when it was imploding under the weight of Amazon, Walmart, and the global financial crisis.”
“The profession,” he added, “is kind of dancing toward the graveyard.” If you too have misty-eyed memories of libraries, read Zac’s piece—and weep.
—Joe Nocera
LIVE TODAY: Why Is Socialism Popular with Gen Z?
New York’s young people just voted in large numbers for Zohran Mamdani, a politician who once called for the nationalization of the means of production. Why the embrace of socialism? Free Press columnist Tyler Cowen and economic commentator Kyla Scanlon join Bari Weiss today for a livestream conversation about the generational shift toward socialism, what’s driving it, and what might be the outcome. Click here to tune in today at 3 p.m. ET, and bring your questions.
“It’s my life they’re playing with, and it’s not fair.” So says Austin Yeazel, a 27-year-old father of three children from Middletown, Ohio. Yeazel is one of the millions of Americans who have been the victim of identity theft. As Frannie Block and Madeleine Rowley report, it’s a growing problem, and one being driven by illegal migrants who need Social Security numbers to work legally in America. It’s an often overlooked consequence of the problem of illegal immigration—and one that the government has often turned a blind eye to.
When Mark Swidan was behind bars in China for a crime he didn’t commit, he dreamed of being back home in America and rebuilding his life. But, as Swidan explains in his first interview since his release, that dream feels almost impossible. Swidan is living on food stamps, caring for his ailing mother, and wondering if he’ll ever be able to get his life back. Peter Savodnik profiles the forgotten American.
After devastating floods in Texas, Augustus Doricko faced a deluge of his own: accusations that his artificial cloud-seeding start-up was responsible for the downpour that has killed over 100 people. There’s no evidence to the claim—but now Marjorie Taylor Greene has introduced legislation to ban his company’s work. Doricko talks to River Page to set the record straight.
Trump signaled that he would hold firm on the self-imposed August 1 trade deal deadline, saying that “No extensions will be granted” to countries seeking to negotiate out of the steep tariffs. The stock market held steady following his announcement, despite his discussion of a potential 200 percent tariff on pharmaceuticals and a 50 percent levy on copper, which caused the price of the metal to soar.
President Trump expressed heightened frustration with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, explaining how the Russian president is standing in the way of his desired peace deal. “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting, adding that the Russian leader was “killing too many people” in Ukraine. Just a day prior, Trump announced that the U.S. will resume its shipment of weapons to Ukraine, reversing a pause imposed by the Pentagon amid concerns of dwindling U.S. stockpiles. Ukraine has to “be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now,” said Trump.
An unknown impostor used an AI-replicated voice of Secretary of State Marco Rubio to contact multiple foreign leaders, a governor, and a member of Congress. Voice and text messages were sent to the high-ranking officials via the secure messaging app Signal, mimicking Rubio’s voice and writing style.
Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, seemed to transform into a virulent antisemite in recent days. The bot praised Hitler and spouted numerous antisemitic tropes. Last month Musk said Grok would undergo a “rewrite.” On Tuesday evening, a Grok post on X stated: “We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts.”
The Department of Agriculture announced that it was banning the sale of farmland to Chinese nationals, citing concerns that China was purchasing land adjacent to key military and infrastructure sites for strategic purposes. The department will also conduct a review of all privately owned land near military bases. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said that such land “is under threat from criminals, from political adversaries, and from hostile regimes.”
New York City real estate executives have begun to donate to and support Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection campaign, choosing to back the embattled incumbent, who is running as an independent, over Democrat Andrew Cuomo. Dozens of real estate tycoons will pay upward of $2,000 to attend a fundraiser for Adams, with one luxury broker noting that “Everyone is talking about how much wealth is aligning against Mamdani.”
The death toll in central Texas has risen to 111 following last week’s devastating floods. Eleven campers from Camp Mystic—where 27 children and young campers died—are still missing. More rain is expected today through tonight, potentially worsening the flooding and making rescue efforts more difficult. Chris Boyer of the National Association for Search and Rescue noted that “with floods, you don’t typically find a lot of people alive.”
The IRS stated in a court filing that churches can endorse political candidates to their congregations without losing their tax-exempt status. The move came in the wake of a lawsuit against the IRS by two Texas churches alleging First Amendment violations.
Sam Helmick is the “they/them” currently in charge of the American Library Association (ALA). Check out her views and you will see why our libraries can be expected to continue their decline: https://samforlibraries.com/about/
They/thems don’t care about you/me!
Don't worry, everyone.
Medicaid recipients will replace deported farm workers.