It’s Friday, February 13. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: A retired FBI official on the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping. A Harvard student who is happy about tougher grading. Hadley Freeman on why it’s okay to wait to have kids. Rupa Subramanya on a mass shooting in Canada. Gabe Kaminsky on why a top Trump administration antitrust official got the boot. And much more.
But first: Kara Kennedy investigates why everyone is having less sex.
Every Valentine’s Day, we tell ourselves the same story: That everyone else must be having more sex than we are.
But the data suggests something else. One in four American couples now have sex once a month or less. Weekly sex among adults has plummeted since the 1990s. And it’s not just singles who aren’t hooking up—even couples who share beds are opting out.
So I set out to find out why.
I spoke to men and women of different ages who insist they’re still attracted to their partners—but that they’re just “tired.” Or they don’t want to “perform.” Or it’s just not a priority.
I dug into research on testosterone decline, hormonal birth control, social media addiction, and porn. And I spoke to Debra Soh, whose new book Sextinction: The Decline of Sex and the Future of Intimacy—an excerpt of which we are publishing today—argues that what we’re witnessing isn’t just a dry spell but a cultural shift. She told me that before writing her new book, she was among those who thought all the talk about a “sex recession” were overblown. But, she added, she’s come to believe that the lack of sex is a serious issue, and suggestive of a large problem. “We, as a society, are on the way to becoming more disconnected from one another.”
Read my dispatch on America’s sex recession, and Debra’s piece on the decline in human intimacy and the alarming rise of artificial intelligence-powered sex dolls.
—Kara Kennedy
It’s no secret that women are having children later, a fact that has inspired heated debate across the political spectrum. The right says women should have children in their 20s, when it’s safest and easiest, and while it’s true that there is a biologically optimal age range, it may not be socially optimal for all women, writes Hadley Freeman. Read her take on why it’s important for women to “become an adult” and build their own identity before trying for a baby.
Grade inflation has spiraled out of control at Harvard, and the median grade is now an A. But Harvard senior Isaac Mansell argues that this system erases distinctions between students, substitutes effort for excellence, and discourages true learning. Read why—unlike 85 percent of Harvard undergraduates—Isaac supports the hard cap on A grades that the administration has proposed.
Canadians have long thought of school shootings as an American problem—until this week, when a transgender shooter killed eight people and injured 25 in a small town in British Columbia. Rupa Subramanya reports on the Canadians who see a connection between transgenderism and mental health in the aftermath of the shooting, and how the country failed to prevent this tragedy.
It’s been 13 days since Nancy Guthrie, mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Arizona. Retired FBI agent Danny Coulson, who founded the agency’s Hostage Rescue Team, spoke to Tanner Nau about the strategies the FBI uses in a kidnapping, what agents are gleaning from the video of the kidnapper, and whether all the media attention is helping or hurting.
Disagreements inside the Trump administration over antitrust policy came to a head yesterday when Gail Slater, the Department of Justice’s tough-minded antitrust chief, was pushed out, Gabe Kaminsky reports. Even though Slater was confirmed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate, the infighting within the DOJ over whether to block big mergers or give them a pass was nonstop. “Good riddance,” one corporate lobbyist posted on X upon hearing the news of her ouster.
Editor’s Picks
This week’s biggest story was Tanya Lukyanova’s blockbuster dive into the Epstein tapes. She unearthed the hard-to-access videos from the DOJ’s latest release of Jeffrey Epstein-related material and watched some 14 hours of footage. Her disturbing report is the most vivid look yet at Epstein’s private world.
This week, we profiled two Republican politicians. Peter Savodnik interviewed libertarian Senator Rand Paul, who is charting his own course in an age where loyalty to President Donald Trump has been his party’s sine qua non. Meanwhile, River Page traveled to Florida to follow James Fishback, a very online young candidate who is courting the Groyper vote in a bid for the governor’s mansion. He is almost certainly not going to win—but his rise is nonetheless a sign of things to come for his party, argues River. For a look at a party in the midst of an identity crisis, read these two profiles.
Remember the Afrikaner refugees? Trump triggered outrage by opening the door to them even as he shut the door to many others. Well, now that they’re in America, things aren’t exactly going smoothly. For her latest investigation, Madeleine Rowley spoke to the migrants who describe a woefully inadequate system for helping them settle in the country. Her reporting sheds light not just on this group of controversial newcomers, but on a system of government-funded nonprofits that is not fit for service:
Jonathan Haidt is not tired of winning. The social psychologist’s anti-screen crusade has led to real policy changes both in the U.S. and around the world. In his latest essay for The Free Press, he recounts the latest flurry of victories—on social media bans for teens—and how they came so thick and fast. “The tide is turning,” writes Jonathan. “But I have been shocked by how quickly it is happening. Social media has been dominating kids’ attention for decades. Now, in the span of just a few weeks, the landscape has been transformed. What happened?” Here’s the answer:
When we look back on the most important thing that happened in 2026, it may well have nothing to do with politics or foreign affairs. Instead, this could be remembered as the year the artificial intelligence revolution truly arrived—and turned our world upside down. In his column this week, Tyler Cowen explained why this month’s AI advances are nothing short of historic. Read his piece, and then check out two accounts by Free Press staffers Will Rahn and Maya Sulkin about how this great leap forward has affected their lives:
This Sunday: A CBS News Town Hall with Governor Wes Moore
Maryland governor Wes Moore, a rising star in the Democratic Party, will join senior correspondent Norah O’Donnell to talk about key issues affecting America and the future of his party. Tune into CBS or Paramount+ this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT to hear their discussion on affordability, immigration, and more, brought to you by Bank of America.
The Front Page will be back on Monday morning. Until then, look out for The Weekend Press—our Valentine’s Day special featuring the relaunch of Free Press Cupid, Suzy Weiss on “Wuthering Heights,” and more.
Ask an incel. Maybe the "sex space" is saturated? Just a thought.
I musta missed the memo about TGIF shutting down. Really, why let readers know anyway? So it's Friday Leftovers...