For Love and Money: Desperate Housewives, Crypto Scammers, and More

Today in The Free Press: two weekend essays, one about love and the other about money. Well, not real love or real money, but synthetic imitations: dating-show romance and cryptocurrencies.

First up, Kat Rosenfield dissects two wild—and wildly popular—new TV shows. In Naked Attraction, contestants meet potential soulmates in a state of full-frontal nudity. In The Golden Bachelor, senior citizens compete for the affections of Gerry, a 71-year-old widower. Both shows are embarrassing, cringeworthy, and oddly freeing. Check out an excerpt below and click the link to read on.

Meanwhile, with the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried underway this week, our second offering is a review by Patrick McKenzie of two books that try to explain the crypto craziness of the last few years. (Patrick has one of the smartest accounts on Twitter. Follow him @patio11.) Patrick has always been a crypto-skeptic. But does that mean he feels vindicated by the collapse in crypto’s value and the downfall of FTX? If only, he writes: “Vindication would imply that the war is over and that something has won. We still spent tens of billions of dollars, our society has still received nothing of value, and we haven’t even purged the rot!” Click below for more.

More from The Free Press:

→ Weekend viewing: We’ve released a full video of our recent debate on the sexual revolution. Become a paid subscriber to watch Anna Khachiyan, Louise Perry, Grimes, and Sarah Haider duke it out over porn, the pill, feminism, liberalism, and liberation.

→ Weekend listening: Catch Bari’s conversation with legendary Democratic strategist James Carville on the latest episode of Honestly.

And if you’re hungry for more, check out some of our other stories from this week, including Freddie deBoer on how to save the left, Nate Silver on whether RFK Jr.’s run really will hurt Biden, and Rob Henderson on the lethal cost of luxury beliefs.

And to support independent journalism, become a Free Press subscriber today:

Subscribe now

May 19, 2021

our Comments

Use common sense here: disagree, debate, but don't be a .

Welcome to The FP Community!

Our comments are an editorial product for our readers to have smart, thoughtful conversations and debates — the sort we need more of in America today. The sort of debate we love.

We have standards in our comments section just as we do in our journalism. If you’re being a jerk, we might delete that one. And if you’re being a jerk for a long time, we might remove you from the comments section.

Common Sense was our original name, so please use some when posting. Here are some guidelines:

We have a simple rule for all Free Press staff: act online the way you act in real life. We think that’s a good rule for everyone.
We drop an occasional F-bomb ourselves, but try to keep your profanities in check. We’re proud to have Free Press readers of every age, and we want to model good behavior for them. (Hello to Intern Julia!)
Speaking of obscenities, don’t hurl them at each other. Harassment, threats, and derogatory comments that derail productive conversation are a hard no.
Criticizing and wrestling with what you read here is great. Our rule of thumb is that smart people debate ideas, dumb people debate identity. So keep it classy.
Don’t spam, solicit, or advertise here. Submit your recommendations to tips@thefp.com if you really think our audience needs to hear about it.

Onwards!

Close Guidelines