Welcome back to the Weekend Press! Today, Kara Kennedy has two drinks with the mom who went viral for asking Trump if he’s going to help Americans pay for childcare. Former vice president Mike Pence reflects on why we’re all confused about what conservatism actually is. Joe Nocera on Rafael Nadal. Kat Rosenfield on a buzzy new horror film. And more!
But first: Maya Sulkin reports on the machines making people human again.
In October 2016, my family took a trip to Washington, D.C., with my mom’s best friend, who I call Aunt Lori—she was in the room when I was born, because my dad was so freaked out—and her husband Uncle Brian. We spent our days walking through Georgetown and taking pictures of cherry blossoms, but my always-athletic Uncle Brian started to complain that his shoulder was feeling weak.
We thought it was “tennis elbow,” or that he was being a diva. But then my aunt started to notice her husband was limping. In the months that followed, we learned Brian had ALS—a horrific disease that attacks the nerve cells that allow you to move your muscles, until you can no longer move, speak, swallow, or breathe. He was told he had five years to live, tops.
My aunt and uncle researched every medical trial, and traveled to see all the doctors and researchers who could give them any advice about treatment options. They helped launch I AM ALS, a patient-led advocacy organization that has since secured billions of dollars in research funding. I thank God every day that Uncle Brian’s deterioration, unlike most patients, has been slow. He can still walk and play with his grandchildren. He hasn’t lost his voice.
Earlier this year, I met two ALS patients who had: Brad Smith and Kenneth Stock. Or at least, they had lost their voices before they crossed paths with a company called Neuralink. Created by Elon Musk—who got the idea from a science fiction series—it makes devices that can be implanted into the brain and allow paralyzed people to control a computer with only their minds. And once they can do that, they can communicate—by rapidly typing words that can then be uttered by an AI that sounds just like them.
As of January 2026, Neuralink has implanted brain-computer interfaces in 21 human patients. Brad was the third. When I asked Brad what it was like to hear himself speak again, he didn’t miss a beat. “The truth is,” Brad told me, “nobody really likes to hear their own voice.” Brad is happiest when he’s telling jokes. ALS robbed him of his ability to do that, but AI has restored it.
While I was reporting, I kept thinking about what it would mean for my Uncle Brian to lose his voice—to be talked over, to have people assume that because he couldn’t speak he couldn’t understand what was happening around him. I would miss his favorite line at dinner: “If it tastes good, it’s good for you.”
We talk endlessly about what cutting-edge technology like AI might cost us. But this story is a reminder that it can also give us something back.
—Maya Sulkin
Two years ago, Reshma Saujani went viral for asking Donald Trump how he was going to make childcare cheaper—a question he didn’t have an answer to. “I’m more baffled by his most recent thing, where he said that he can’t pay for childcare because he’s got to pay for wars,” says the founder of the nonprofit Moms First. She met Kara Kennedy in the Hotel Chelsea, where they chatted about making life easier for mothers; the moral cowardice of tech bros; and how, when she sees “trad wives making fresh sourdough bread,” it makes her think: “Fuck, I suck.”
Where does the Republican Party go from here? The answer is not obvious—and in this week’s Things Worth Remembering, former vice president Mike Pence explains why. “Trump has not always governed as a conservative,” he writes of his old boss. “The result is that many Americans are confused about what it means to be a conservative.” For clarity, Pence urges the next generation of citizens to read Barry Goldwater’s classic, The Conscience of a Conservative—which he says is a reminder of the values the GOP was built on.
Like everything else in our culture, the buzzy new horror film Obsession has been immediately dragged into the culture war. It tells the story of a nice guy called Bear who wishes his friend Nikki would love him back—accidentally casting a spell on her that causes her to adore him to the point of doing dark and crazy things. Feminists point to Bear as the embodiment of the toxic Nice Guy who believes the universe owes him a girlfriend; manosphere types see Nikki as justification of their low opinion of women. But our culture critic Kat Rosenfield says the film is a lot deeper—and a lot better—than these interpretations.
How much do you have to suffer to be a great athlete? That’s the question at the heart of “Rafa,” a new Netflix docuseries dedicated to the legendary tennis player Rafael Nadal. During the course of his career, Nadal won 22 Grand Slams and was ranked in the top 10 for 912 consecutive weeks—that’s 18 years straight. But what we didn’t see, writes Joe Nocera, is the lifetime full of pain that wound up breeding a champion. Was it all worth it? Or will the price of his greatness cause Nadal years of regret? Read Joe’s piece to find out.
Second Thought
This week, Suzy sat down with tech writer Joanna Stern—who, for one year, let artificial intelligence into every corner of her life. She tested robot assistants, commuted in autonomous vehicles, read AI bedtime stories to her children, and even went on a road trip with her AI boyfriend, Evan. Listen to the episode—which shines a light on the brave new world that lies ahead—wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube below:
Knock Knock, It’s Cupid!
A new batch of ads from single Free Pressers is live on the site. Click here to meet a Don Quixote–loving bachelor in Tuscaloosa; an early riser in D.C. looking for true love; or a Chinese-Indian-Scottish cat-lover in Singapore. Your special someone could be just one email away! If you’d like to take a chance at Free Press love, write a paragraph that defines you including your age, where you live, and what you’re looking for, and send it over to Cupid@TheFP.com.
We’ve published plenty of other excellent culture pieces this week, including. . .
And don’t miss our new Great Americans series. So far we’ve had entries by Joseph Epstein on Sandy Koufax, Joe Nocera on Louis Armstrong, Major Garrett on John Steinbeck, and more.
How should you spend your weekend? We asked our publicist Catherine Morrissette for her recommendations.
🍋 Drink. . . an ice-cold Del’s Lemonade. For those lucky enough to live in the Ocean State, you know nothing beats the heat like a crisp lemonade slushy (with chunks of lemon peel) in a waxy paper cup. For the 99 percent of us not in Rhode Island on this hot Saturday, join me in blending up some ice, simple syrup, and lemon juice for a poor man’s copycat of this perfect beverage.
🦈 Listen. . . to “Fins,” by the one and only Jimmy Buffett. The keys, the steel drums, and the iconic guitar riff are the sounds of summer. The grill is hot, the coconut shrimp are crispy, and it’s five o’clock somewhere. ’Tis the season, folks.
📖 Read. . . this Free Press Forum thread where Free Press parents share their tips on raising good men. “I’m now acutely aware of the sedimented contradictions that run through the history of mothering advice,” one mom writes. “How do I excel at this?” The replies are heartening, and the advice is sage. (In case you haven’t been paying attention—it’s okay, it’s nearly summer!—we just launched the Forum, a new perk that gives subscribers a place to chat with other Free Pressers. We’ve already seen readers get job offers, life advice, and pitch stories that have made it to our editor’s room. It’s fun, and a perfect Sunday rabbit hole.)
Last but not least, in memory of the Iranian graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi, who died this week aged 56, feast your eyes on an excerpt from Persepolis, the dramatization of the Iranian revolution that made her famous:
That’s all, folks! Have a great weekend.
Continued good health for your uncle, Maya.
Italian lemonade is nice but how about a frozen gin and tonic?
Put the tonic in the refrigerator now. Cold tonic is a necessity for this.
Peel two limes. This is done by cutting the ends flat then cutting down the curved outsides removing as much pith as possible. Into the blender they go with a quarter cup of sugar and a quarter cup of water. Blend for a second or two.
Add a half cup of gin and two cups of cubed ice. This might require a bit of adjustment. Your cubes might be different and maybe your gin tolerance varies. Adjust accordingly.
Blend until you get the consistency of a fine slurry, a little thinner than gelato.
Pour the result to half fill a Tom Collins glass. Fill the remaining space with the chilled tonic water. Should make about four servings.