What I Read This Week - April 13, 2025
Meta's antitrust trial starts soon, tourism from Europe to the U.S. is plummeting and the Minecraft movie is doing far better than anyone expected.
SPOTLIGHT:
This feature from the NY Times on how Gen Xers with careers in creative pursuits - ad work, journalism, design, etc. - are all finding their jobs disappearing as their industries contract or disappear altogether is where I’d like to start this week. This emerging reality is something I’ve had to witness not merely happen to my peers, but to me. Media, generally, is contracting as a business and sports media is no exception. Some stability remains in the industry, but that is precarious and it’s not clear how much longer older generation jobs focused on page views will last. Even if you do manage to hold onto some of those jobs, many require doing the opposite of holding power to account.
That said, I’ve been lucky in two ways. First, my current employer has put no restrictions on me to speak my mind whatsoever. They’ve been extremely supportive, to put it mildly. Hard to overstate what an invaluable gift this is, one I am extremely grateful to have. Second, I’ve been able to protect myself by spending years cultivating my own audiences on places like YouTube or Substack. These efforts take time and require significant resource investment, but they’ve helped me to continue my work with little impediment.
But am I really going to be able to do this for another 20 years? Is anyone except for the most elite media stars? What is digital media going to even look like in another two decades? These are questions where I must eventually find an answer, but currently seem intractable or opaque…or, in certain cases, uncomfortable.
As it stands, we march on. Having a place like Substack to try something new and reach different audiences gives me hope. But for all of us of this age cohort, the road ahead is as unknowable as it has ever been. The further we walk it, the less we seem to know where it is going.
U.S.
Rolling Stone partnered with David Sirota to take Ezra Klein’s and Derek Thompson’s new Abundance book to task as a giveaway to oligarchs and neoliberalism.
Don’t look now, but Facebook’s antitrust trial starts Monday. Here’s what to know about it.
The list of Elon Musk’s Tesla lies are growing considerably.
Interesting piece arguing fealty to primary voters continues to doom both major U.S. political parties.
A federal judge declared the climate conditions in Texas prisons to be unconstitutional, but the legislative efforts to address the court order aren’t exactly moving very quickly.
I’m sure it will come as great surprise that the overwhelming majority of the 238 immigrants the Trump admin sent to die in a dungeon in El Salvador had no criminal record whatsoever.
Florida is considering legislation that would “allow employers to schedule workers as young as 14 to work an unlimited number of hours per week, including overnight shifts” to help deal with missing labor from immigration crackdowns.
Ben Thompson of Stratechery thinks targeted tariffs could be useful as a way to move the U.S. economy towards 2050, but we’re doing it with an eye toward 1950.
Here’s a good piece on how the U.S. sending what appear to be largely innocent men to rot in a gulag in El Salvador is such an insane betrayal of the ethical basis by which our laws were created.
WORLD
For the millionth time, it’s a bad idea to try to run governments like a private business or a startup.
Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes is a controversial figure, but this is one the better articles to capture his thoughts and motivations.
Travel from Europe to the U.S. is plummeting:
TECH/SCIENCE
Scientists have recreated “dire wolves,” a species that went extinct approximately 10,000 years ago.
States are trying to find ways to put bans in place to reduce forever chemicals in our food and, of course, chemical companies aren’t thrilled with this.
STUDY: “Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being”
SPORTS
This obit about Buvaisar Saitiev from a wrestling perspective is worth your time.
Is it possible Conor McGregor has burned through his generational wealth?
The UFC’s parent company is officially trying to repeal key protections for boxers from the Ali Act.
ENTERTAINMENT
The Minecraft movie is killing it at the box office, pulling $163 million in its opening weekend.
The entertainment industry isn’t being challenged by streaming, but by young people flocking to social media and the personalities who dominate those platforms.
MISCELLANEOUS
Apparently porn addiction isn’t a real thing.
I joined media friend Rick Strom to talk the state and future of the UFC:
I spoke to Counter Punch about the UFC-MAGA connection.
Remember, everyone: What I Read This Week is free and open to all, so please consider sending this to someone who doesn’t subscribe.
I wonder how Markwayne Mullin will vote when the bill to kill the Ali Act hits the senate. I mean, we know what he'll do... I hope he feels ashamed when he does it.