What I Read This Week - March 16, 2025

From DOGE to Chinese EVs the retirement of Jalin Turner, this week offered no shortage of noteworthy stories.

Combat Sports

A NY Post reporter says a) UFC and ESPN don’t seem to be loving their relationship with one another right now and b) PPV buys might be way down. He also believes UFC is likely headed to Netflix.

Jalin Turner explains to Submission Radio why he’s retiring still in his 20s.

The MMA Draw believes Dana White is telegraphing a draw down in his UFC role.

Donald Trump named Conor McGregor his favorite Irishman, which given their histories, fully tracks.

Bad Left Hook’s editorial calling UFC President Dana White an “invasive species” in the sport of boxing is worth your time.

World

Europe is moving on from cars just as the United States is leaning back into the combustion engine.

“Parts of the UK are now worse off than the poorest regions of Slovenia and Lithuania.”

U.S.

Elon Musk has received $38 billion from the U.S. government to prop up his businesses…and counting.

“The mayor of Miami Beach is proposing to terminate a lease agreement and discontinue thousands of dollars in financial support for an independent film theater after it screened an Oscar-winning documentary about the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank.”

The FTC can’t prosecute it’s antitrust cases against Amazon due to DOGE cuts.

DHS Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar tries to give a rationale for the deportation of Khalil Mahmoud and it doesn’t go great.

Biden pressured Harris before debating Trump to put no daylight between her views and his policies.

Entertainment

I watched the movie that won the Oscars this year for best foreign film. To say it’s worth your time is a massive understatement. It has sat with me for days. You can stream it now.

The evidence for superhero fatigue in movies might be overstated.

Cool competition where two guys try to eat all day in D.C. for $50 and see who has the best meals.

Tech

Elon Musk’s explanations for the DDoS attack on Twitter don’t add up, says Wired.

What China is doing with EVs is nothing short of transformative.

If you criticize tech oligarchs on Meta platforms, they’ll censor it.

Health

Why is GenZ drinking less than every other generation on earth?