It’s Thursday, May 28. 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, is Belle Burden telling the truth? Patrick McGee on how Intel saved itself, and may soon save America. Joe Nocera on Old School. And much more.
But first: The Pentagon official defending the kind of war he once opposed.
In Washington, they say personnel is policy. That’s why Donald Trump’s appointment of influential foreign policy guru Elbridge Colby to a top Pentagon job last year was seen as a big deal. Colby is in the vanguard of MAGA thinkers who reject the bipartisan interventions that have defined U.S. foreign policy for the last quarter century. Anti-war populists saw in Colby’s rise a sign that Donald Trump would govern as a “restrainer” in his second term.
With Trump having toppled Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, prosecuting a war with Iran, and eyeing Cuba, that prediction aged like milk.
Now Colby finds himself having to defend the kind of conflict with Iran that he has spent most of his career warning against. Colby’s story is a way into a bigger tale, about the worldview governing Donald Trump’s unconventional and potentially era-defining foreign policy in his second term.
Which is why we asked Eli Lake to profile him. Eli speaks to Colby, and dives into the backstory of this unlikely populist with impeccable Washington credentials and a controversial grandfather. Read Eli on the MAGA guru whose influence and resolve is being tested by the Iran war.
—The Editors
When Belle Burden released “Strangers” earlier this year, it was an instant bestseller that took over book clubs nationwide. The memoir told a familiar story: the high-flying woman who had it all, blindsided by a cheating scandal that sent her 20-year marriage crashing down. This week, new reporting revealed that Burden’s tale might be built on a lie—but her fans don’t seem to care one bit. Our critic Kat Rosenfield explains the strange stranglehold of “Strangers,” and why even the most damning facts aren’t enough to shatter its feminist illusion.
Last summer, the American tech giant Intel was left for dead. Now it’s the hottest stock on Wall Street, gaining more than 500 percent in 10 months; its valuation this month surpassed $600 billion, a new peak in its 58-year history. But, as Patrick McGee explains, the stock’s rise is only a hint at an even bigger story: how Intel could very well hold the key to the AI boom, and even serve as our final line of defense against China. Read his piece on the high stakes of one of the great business comebacks of our time.
The Republican Party has a new crusade: fighting fraud. The trend started with YouTuber Nick Shirley’s viral videos alleging widespread abuse of federal funding in Minnesota’s Somali-run childcare centers. Now it is becoming one of the top issues in our politics, with Democrats still figuring out how to react. Jonas Du reports on their conflicting strategies: loudly opposing the GOP’s anti-fraud push, while quietly taking action on the problem.
In recent years, if you walked onto almost any American college campus, you would have found an office and staff dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The number of DEI officers at higher education institutions tripled after July 2020. At the University of Michigan alone, DEI staff grew to 241 people at an annual cost of over $30 million. At face value, those missions—diversity, equity, inclusion—seemed pretty noble. But DEI as implemented was a very different story. In this week’s episode of Confessions, Maya Sulkin sits down with former DEI administrator Michael Yassa to discuss what went wrong with these programs, and why they failed to make good on their promise.
Last week, Joe Nocera launched a brand-new investigative podcast in which he reopens the files for the Lindbergh kidnapping and dives deeply into one of history’s most infamous crimes. Years later, that case became a key inspiration behind Agatha Christie’s iconic thriller, “Murder on the Orient Express,” and we couldn’t think of a better person to break down that book than Joe. On this week’s episode of Old School, he sits down with Shilo Brooks for an exploration into Lindbergh, Christie, and how a crime that captivated America inspired the most best-selling novelist in history.
And, ICYMI: Check out Joe’s introduction to The Lindbergh Conspiracies, and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
At 12 p.m. EST, Suzy Weiss will hop on our new Free Press Forum for her first AMA. She’ll be around for an hour to talk about all things culture—so click here to drop your questions about the latest books, movies, summer trends, or anything else, and don’t forget to tune in this afternoon for her answers.
Claude, the AI without ads
Anthropic keeps conversations with Claude ad-free: no sponsored links, no advertisers shaping answers, no paid product placements you didn’t ask for.
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THE NEWS
Israel launched another round of attacks against Hezbollah on Tuesday, striking several targets across Lebanon. The renewed offensive comes at a particularly volatile moment, as the U.S. continues to push for a peace deal with Iran.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday morning, as the temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran remains largely intact. The S&P 500 ended Wednesday slightly higher, but will be closely watched as diplomacy continues in the Middle East.
After 88 days of large-scale shutdown, the Iranian government is reportedly restoring internet access across the country. If it holds, the change would mean the end of one of the longest nationwide internet blackouts in history, and the ability for Iranians to finally return to reading news and communicating with friends and family online.
Former president Joe Biden filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on Tuesday. The action came as part of Biden’s attempt to block the release of audio files and transcripts from interviews he gave to a biographer in 2016 and 2017, which eventually became part of the investigation into the then-president’s handling of classified documents.
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to send U.S. citizens who are exposed to Ebola to Kenya for treatment. The program would be a stark contrast to previous public-health policies, which returned Americans to specialized domestic facilities.
The financial app Robinhood launched a new feature that will allow AI agents to trade stocks and make credit-card purchases. The addition will let users directly connect programs like Anthropic’s Claude or coding software like Cursor to their profile, and even provide the agent with its own dedicated trading account.
A chemical tank at a paper mill in Washington State imploded on Wednesday. The accident killed at least two people, and nine more workers remain unaccounted for.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has purchased a stake in the Cleveland Guardians baseball team. Kelce has long dreamed of a career in Major League Baseball, and his investment in the Guardians will officially make him part of his hometown team.
Claude, the AI without ads
Anthropic keeps conversations with Claude ad-free: no sponsored links, no advertisers shaping answers, no paid product placements you didn’t ask for.
I want to give praise to Maya Sulkin for her interviews. I have watched/listened to several of her interviews now. I noticed that she always comes to these interviews well prepared with backgrounds understanding and insightful questions for the guests. Keep up the good works.
One comment on this DEI topics as it pertains to Asian American student admissions to IVY League universities. The reality is that there are only so many spots each year for admissions (i.e., the pie is only so big). When you want to admit some other disadvantaged groups, you are forced to refused other equally qualified and even more qualified students. In that sense, equity and fairness are mutually exclusive.
Kudos to The Free Press for publishing the story about the state of DEI in America. That DEI's shortcomings and failure to produce the desired results in not unexpected but the will and courage to discuss these issues is refreshing. Thank you.