It’s Wednesday, April 1. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Kat Rosenfield asks, should we judge age-gap relationships? Peter Savodnik on the Republicans leading the polls in the Golden State. Patrick McGee on 50 years of Apple. David Patrikarakos on the European officials siding with Trump on Iran. All that and much more.
But first: Is the age of censorship really over?
Someday, when the history of the early 21st century is written, a big part of the story will be about information. As rapidly advancing technology has reached into nearly every corner of our lives, control over knowledge and opinions has become one of the great issues of our age. Think content erased for violating the wrong set of beliefs, and people fired for posting the wrong kind of content.
These are issues we’ve covered extensively here at The Free Press, because they get at some of the values we treasure the most: truth, trust, freedom. These questions are also the focus of a new book by Jacob Siegel, The Information State, in which he argues that over the past decade, a powerful new kind of censorship took hold in American public life—then finally came to an end.
Or did it?
Just a day after the book’s publication, Siegel found himself in a surreal position. His book about censorship was subjected to the very dynamic he describes in its pages when a review of it was purged from the website of left-wing magazine The Baffler after a person mentioned in the text requested a correction. Read his full, firsthand account of this strange tale, and what it says about how we get our information in 2026.
Then, consider the case of Logan Levkoff, a sex education teacher at a private K–8 school in New York City for more than two decades—until two weeks ago, when she was fired for reposting Brianna Wu, a transgender woman. “I am a sex ed teacher with an excellent 21-year record,” she writes, “and I was targeted, scrutinized, and ultimately dismissed for daring to deviate from the mob.”
A Republican might soon lead the state synonymous with American liberalism—California. How? Peter Savodnik describes the perfect storm hovering over the state’s Democrats: a wacky primary election format combined with tremendous discontent with progressive governance. These factors could lead to a Republican governor running the Golden State for the first time in 15 years.
Does taking a job as a therapist or dentist mean giving up your right to free speech? The Supreme Court just reversed a lower court ruling that upheld a Colorado law barring counselors from dissuading minors who wanted to transition genders. It’s a big win for First Amendment rights, according to Jed Rubenfeld: Whatever your thoughts of the merits of child transitions, “states should not be able to set up an orthodoxy of opinion and penalize people—including therapists—who dissent from it.”
Fifty years ago Apple created its first circuit board, which became the technological ancestor of the dozens of cutting-edge Apple devices we know today. There’s a good chance you are reading these words on an Apple product right now. But there’s more to these devices than browsing the web. Patrick McGee describes how the iPhone provides “a high-definition camera in every hand, and apps that track individuals 24-7”—tools of the modern surveillance state. Read McGee’s account of how one of the world’s largest tech companies also ended privacy as we knew it.
President Trump isn’t too pleased with Europe right now. He called the UK and France “unhelpful” yesterday after they continued to abstain from joining the war against Iran in the Middle East. But not all Europeans are pleased to be on the sidelines, David Patrikarakos reports. He talks to the European officials losing their patience with the continent’s timidity.
The new Netflix show, Age of Attraction, is addressing the taboo around age-gap relationships head-on, barring contestants looking for love, ages 20–60, from asking each other, “How old are you?” Kat Rosenfield watched it and offers an unfiltered account of the show. The show may be a “train wreck” in some ways, but it offers a glance at a world where age takes a backseat to love.
Few things mystify the American public more than the Church of Scientology. Beyond its ties to celebrities like Tom Cruise and Will Smith, very little about it is widely known. But, according to Claire Headley, who was born into the church, the mysterious details are darker than most would imagine. Maya Sulkin talked to Headley on a new episode of Confessions, describing her abuse while inside the church and her eventual escape from its clutches.
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Golf legend Tiger Woods announced he is “stepping away for a period of time” to “work toward lasting recovery.” The announcement came days after the five-time Masters champion was charged with a misdemeanor DUI after he crashed his car in Jupiter Island, Florida, on Friday.
Gasoline surpassed an average of $4 a gallon in the U.S. on Tuesday as the war in the Middle East continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively blocked, constricting global oil flows. The last time gasoline reached $4 a gallon was August 2022, months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A federal judge ordered the University of Pennsylvania to comply with a Trump administration subpoena seeking information on Jewish students, faculty, and campus groups, rejecting the school’s argument that the request violated constitutional rights and posed safety risks. The subpoena is part of an investigation into antisemitism at the university.
American journalist Shelly Kittleson was reportedly kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq, by unidentified individuals on Tuesday afternoon, the Iraqi interior ministry confirmed. Officials announced one arrest connected to the abduction, but have yet to locate Kittleson. Kittleson is a longtime war zone journalist based in Rome who has covered Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.
A federal judge blocked a Trump presidential directive to end federal funding for NPR and PBS, calling the order unlawful and unenforceable. “It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the president does not like and seeks to squelch,” Judge Randolph Moss wrote.
The Chicago Bulls released guard Jaden Ivey from the team after he posted videos calling the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations “unrighteousness.” He also referred to Catholicism as a “false religion” during his long rant. He has previously spoken about his struggle with depression.
If NPR pivoted to become an ISIS affiliated terrorism promoter, Judge Moss would presumably say the American taxpayer is obliged to continue funding them in perpetuity. Do the people not have the democratic right to decide what kind of speech to fund with their taxes? Where do Democrats even find these judges?
Our government has no business funding a news service. Period. However, PBS/CPB should fail for no other reason than it can’t manage its way out of a paper bag.
Passport, PBS’s streaming service is the best deal out there. For as little a $5 per month, subscribers can see all of the network’s best shows. In my state, subscribers also get a glossy monthly, surely a relic from a bygone era that costs a mint to produce.
Well, shortly after I subscribed, my credit card — the very one used to pay my monthly fee — was hacked. Upon receipt of my new card, dutifully updated my information for all my subscriptions except Passport. I searched the site high and low, and there is no place to change payment information, short of canceling the old account and opening anew. This was three months ago. You’d think I’d get a notice or they’d cut my service. Nope. Just binged on “Unforgotten” last night. Got the damn magazine on Monday. I do hate freeloaders, be they proprietors of Learing Academies or Passport poachers. In this case, though, given PBS’s ineptitude, I’m not losing any sleep over my moral transgression.