The Free Press
It’s Tuesday, July 15. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Christopher Rufo on how to stop universities’ serial abuse of American taxpayers. Andrew Cuomo refuses to drop out. What dead birds have to do with the death of Europe. And much more.
But first: Crypto legislation could deliver a new era of financial freedom.
The price of Bitcoin keeps hitting one record high after another—topping $120,000 on Monday—but the price isn’t what makes this a momentous week in the history of crypto. The big news is that Congress is on the verge of passing broad legislation that deals exclusively with crypto. Even more remarkable is that the federal government is looking for ways to support, not outlaw, the technology.
The invention of Bitcoin in 2009 gave birth to a new era of financial freedom in this country. But its libertarian ethos has often been overshadowed by what seems like a never-ending cycle of booms and busts, scandals and arrests, and crypto heroes and villains. President Trump’s political foes love pointing out that his zeal for crypto coincides with his family’s deepening involvement in the industry.
Yet cryptocurrency is an issue on which Trump has governed exactly as he said he would, writes Max Raskin, who has been involved with cryptocurrencies since 2010. The three pieces of legislation that Congress is expected to pass aren’t perfect, but they will allow the market to begin building a structure around the core idea of money belonging to the individual and not the state.
Some people will never stop seeing cryptocurrency as a quirky fad, like Beanie Babies or a glorified Ponzi scheme. But for the 65 million Americans who own crypto, its political and economic legitimacy is arriving at last.
—The Editors
“If the election were tomorrow, he’d run away with it.” That’s how one billionaire summed up Mamdani’s lead just hours after Cuomo announced he’s staying in the race for New York City mayor. In her latest dispatch from the campaign trail, Olivia Reingold unpacks the new polling and a surprising shift among big-money donors—some of whom are quietly abandoning the former governor for his rivals.
Across Europe, plunging birth rates and brain drain are fueling a demographic unraveling. In Italy’s rural towns, dying traditions like taxidermy signal a deeper collapse—of livelihoods, identities, and ways of life. “All the traditional activities which are carried out outside of cities have profoundly changed in the course of the last decades, if they haven’t already disappeared,” one Italian politician told our Italy correspondent Josephine de La Bruyère. Now, locals wonder: What will vanish next? And is anyone even watching?
Since taking office, Trump has gone to war with elite universities—cutting funding and calling out their failures. In return, universities have pushed back. But behind the noise, there’s quiet agreement: Something is broken in academia. In this open letter, Christopher Rufo urges Trump to seize the moment—to draft a new contract with American universities, one that restores truth, merit, and the pursuit of knowledge at all costs.
The press tour for the new Superman reboot went exactly as you’d expect: James Gunn said the hero was an immigrant. Then the White House suggested Trump was the real Superman, and Gavin Newsom fired back: Superman was not only an immigrant but “an undocumented one.” Never mind the culture warriors, writes Will Rahn—the genius of 2025’s Superman is that its “politics don’t cohere and don’t need to.” He’s whatever you want him to be—“woke, rightist, centrist, patriotic, apolitical—what you see is a reflection of yourself, your own beliefs about the world.”
Why Young People Are Voting to Burn It All Down
How did 62 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 come to hold a “favorable view” of socialism? And is Zohran Mamdani the left’s answer to Trump? Free Press columnist Tyler Cowen and Gen Z economics guru Kyla Scanlon break down the viral populism reshaping the future of the American left.
At a private Democratic National Committee fundraiser on Friday night, Barack Obama urged fellow Democrats to “toughen up.” In remarks to party donors, the former president said defeating Trump would take “less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions.”
The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can fire nearly 1,400 Department of Education employees, effectively allowing the White House to dismantle the agency. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that only Congress has the authority to abolish the department.
A fire at a nursing home in Fall River, Massachusetts, killed at least nine people Sunday night. Around 50 firefighters responded to the scene at 10 p.m., and five were injured while working to rescue residents and contain the blaze, according to state officials.
Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington is calling for the Congressional ethics office to implement mental fitness standards for lawmakers. “What I’ve heard from my neighbors, my community, is that this place is being run by a bunch of staffers,” she told Axios, citing public concern over aging leadership.
A federal appeals court blocked a new “Click to Cancel” rule that would have required companies to let customers cancel subscriptions as easily as they sign up. But the “Click to Cancel” fight isn’t over—Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) introduced legislation Thursday to make the rule law.
Former president Joe Biden defended his use of the autopen to sign off on pardons and clemency, telling The New York Times that he gave verbal authorization for each decision. “I consciously made all those decisions,” he said.
President Donald Trump threatened increased tariffs on Russia yesterday if a peace deal with Ukraine does not materialize within 50 days. The trade threat came on the same day that Trump and NATO reached a deal to send new weapons worth about $10 billion to Ukraine this week, according to The Wall Street Journal.
JOIN US LIVE: Off the Record with Bari and Nellie
On Wednesday, July 16, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET, join Bari Weiss and Nellie Bowles for our very first video town hall, exclusively for Free Press premium subscribers.
This livestream will have no scripts. No agenda. Just your questions and an honest, unfiltered ask-me-anything with the founders of The Free Press. This is your chance to quiz Bari and Nellie about anything—from what’s happening behind the scenes at The Free Press to the big events shaping the world right now.
If you become a premium subscriber you will be able to submit your questions, and we’ll choose some of the best ones to answer during the livestream.
Upgrade today to ensure you don’t miss out.
We can’t wait to see you there.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this Front Page included the line ‘Chris Cuomo refuses to drop out’ in the introduction. It is his brother, Andrew Cuomo, who is continuing to run in New York’s mayoral race. This has been updated. The Free Press regrets the error.
On the Autopen scandal
“Such pardons may now become standard fare at the end of administrations, increasing the incentives for criminal conduct by presidential insiders.
That’s a bad thing for the country and for justice. But as of right now, there’s little the law can do about it.”
Very disappointed in This conclusion.
Everything about Biden’s term is a farce since he was indeed incapacitated
This is where Constitutional legal scholars should be putting their heads together to write briefs to make what was done in Borden’s name, illegal. Do what needs to be done to make the legal arguments that ofc the Framers couldn’t forese autopens, and therefore there is lots of room to at least make arguments .
Saying “ oh well nothing can be done” is unAmerican
Try
This was a disaster that mist never happen again
Re: "It’s a Fascist! It’s a Communist! No, It’s Superman!"
Instead of some wishy-washy comments, TFP ought to have reprinted Drew Pavlou's analysis, "The New Superman Movie is Basically Nazi Agitprop Against Jews."
https://drewpavlou.substack.com/p/the-new-superman-movie-is-nazi
The underserved blockbuster is so poorly made and written that, at first sight, we might remain blind to its implied content. But Drew Pavlou's insights will soon open anybody's eyes. Including those of dyed-in-the-wool antisemites, judging from some comments on the article.
The stupidity of the film's fabric is a perfect illustration of its putrescent substance. As Victor Hugo used to say: "La forme, c'est le fond qui remonte à la surface." Excuse my French, but the full import and wit of the saying ("Form is content rising to the surface") can not be conveyed in English. Apart from the alliteration, "fond" signifies at the same time "substance" and "sediment"... But even such considerations are mere cultured pearls for a pigsty of a film. And that's an insult to pigs.