@ielprof.bsky.social
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Wrote a postmortem/update on tennis's enduringly complicated relationship with Alexander Zverev, for GQ: www.gq.com/story/alexan...
Alexander Zverev Won the US Open. What Are We to Do About His Personal History?
On Sunday afternoon, the 29-year-old German beat Ben Shelton to win his second Grand Slam. But allegations of domestic abuse continue to cast a dark shadow over his tennis resume.
www.gq.com
September 14, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Wrote a postmortem/update on tennis's enduringly complicated relationship with Alexander Zverev, for GQ: www.gq.com/story/alexan...
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Wrote another one on Ben Shelton for NY Mag, ft. an ill-timed double fault, heat, people not wanting to watch Zverev, too many ball bounces, Shelton losing because of a bad performance and not deficiencies in his game and thus reason to believe in end to Roddick curse
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
Ben Shelton Is Just Beginning
He fell to Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s U.S. Open final, but has a plausible chance to win here in the future.
nymag.com
September 14, 2026 at 3:35 AM
Wrote another one on Ben Shelton for NY Mag, ft. an ill-timed double fault, heat, people not wanting to watch Zverev, too many ball bounces, Shelton losing because of a bad performance and not deficiencies in his game and thus reason to believe in end to Roddick curse
nymag.com/intelligence...
nymag.com/intelligence...
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And there’s a reason choking is such a red flag. Abusers who choke are much more likely to kill their victims, and the victims can have medical issues years down the road.
Every word of this re #Zverev and today's #USOpen men's singles final.
The ATP, and ESPN/ABC, have been whistling on the porch hoping the parade goes by.
Meanwhile two women accused Zverev of physical violence, including choking, against them.
www.si.com/tennis/tenni...
The ATP, and ESPN/ABC, have been whistling on the porch hoping the parade goes by.
Meanwhile two women accused Zverev of physical violence, including choking, against them.
www.si.com/tennis/tenni...
Tennis Still Doesn’t Know How to Handle Alexander Zverev
The German star finally won his first major title at Roland Garros, bringing to light his complicated place in the sport.
www.si.com
September 13, 2026 at 8:29 PM
And there’s a reason choking is such a red flag. Abusers who choke are much more likely to kill their victims, and the victims can have medical issues years down the road.
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I resigned from ExxonMobil today. I spent the last three years doing fossil fuel extraction research at both BP and ExxonMobil. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing to maximize extraction while the window to act closes, and gambling with our lives. More below.
September 12, 2026 at 1:14 PM
I resigned from ExxonMobil today. I spent the last three years doing fossil fuel extraction research at both BP and ExxonMobil. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing to maximize extraction while the window to act closes, and gambling with our lives. More below.
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Ben Shelton needed every tool in his arsenal to beat Carlos Alcaraz in an instant U.S. Open classic that ended at the absurd hour of 3:33 a.m.
Ben Shelton Summited the Mountain at 3:33 a.m.
Ben Shelton needed every tool in his arsenal to beat Carlos Alcaraz in an instant U.S. Open classic that ended at the absurd hour of 3:33 a.m.
nymag.com
September 9, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Ben Shelton needed every tool in his arsenal to beat Carlos Alcaraz in an instant U.S. Open classic that ended at the absurd hour of 3:33 a.m.
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For Defector, I wrote about Ealamania from up close (gift link): defector.com/alex-eala-is...
Alex Eala Is The Best Show In Town | Defector
FLUSHING, N.Y. — As we waited for Alexandra Eala to walk into Louis Armstrong Stadium for the most anticipated first-round match of the tournament, the crowd whooping as a victorious 40-year-old Gael ...
defector.com
September 2, 2026 at 5:04 PM
For Defector, I wrote about Ealamania from up close (gift link): defector.com/alex-eala-is...
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Really grateful to Air Mail for inviting me to write a U.S. Open preview, in which I relate the event to "the humble croffle"
airmail.news/issues/2026-...
airmail.news/issues/2026-...
The U.S. Open is Decadent and Depraved
Weed smoke, $100 fried chicken and caviar, celebrity smoochers—and, somewhere amid it all, tennis.
airmail.news
August 29, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Really grateful to Air Mail for inviting me to write a U.S. Open preview, in which I relate the event to "the humble croffle"
airmail.news/issues/2026-...
airmail.news/issues/2026-...
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SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:
Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
www.404media.co
August 17, 2026 at 1:23 PM
SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:
Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:
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On that Shelton run: www.thesecondserve.com/big-ben-shel...
Big Ben Is Back - The Second Serve
Ben Shelton rights the ship in Montreal.
www.thesecondserve.com
August 14, 2026 at 2:49 PM
On that Shelton run: www.thesecondserve.com/big-ben-shel...
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I interviewed @mattfutterman.bsky.social about his new tennis book, The Cruelest Game, which is as thorough an account of the sport's bleak qualities as I've read: defector.com/the-cruelest...
'The Cruelest Game' Examines Tennis As Torture | Defector
Professional tennis has a way of breeding misery. It begins with the dream of reaching the No. 1 ranking, but almost everybody falls short. Those who find the promised land feel puzzlingly empty once ...
defector.com
August 12, 2026 at 3:00 PM
I interviewed @mattfutterman.bsky.social about his new tennis book, The Cruelest Game, which is as thorough an account of the sport's bleak qualities as I've read: defector.com/the-cruelest...
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I spent the last few weeks writing this piece about the end of tennis.com -- what it was like during the peak of the blog days, how it influenced young writers, how it changed in tandem with the Internet, and the void that's left now that it's gone.
Gift link: defector.com/tennis-com-l...
Gift link: defector.com/tennis-com-l...
Tennis.com Lived And Died With The Internet | Defector
A day after the French Open ended in May, the website tennis.com shut down its editorial operation. The brand dates back to the founding of Tennis magazine in 1965, and though the mag folded in 2022, ...
defector.com
July 21, 2026 at 6:04 PM
I spent the last few weeks writing this piece about the end of tennis.com -- what it was like during the peak of the blog days, how it influenced young writers, how it changed in tandem with the Internet, and the void that's left now that it's gone.
Gift link: defector.com/tennis-com-l...
Gift link: defector.com/tennis-com-l...
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Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche, who is facing his Senate confirmation hearing, previously shut down DOJ crypto investigations while holding more than $150,000 in crypto investments.
From our Dec. 2025 investigation:
From our Dec. 2025 investigation:
Top DOJ Official Todd Blanche Shut Down Crypto Enforcement While Holding Crypto Assets
The second-highest official at the DOJ, Todd Blanche rose to prominence as Trump’s personal defense attorney. His actions violated the federal conflicts of interest law and his ethics agreement, exper...
www.propublica.org
July 15, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche, who is facing his Senate confirmation hearing, previously shut down DOJ crypto investigations while holding more than $150,000 in crypto investments.
From our Dec. 2025 investigation:
From our Dec. 2025 investigation:
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Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts
June 24, 2026 at 12:15 PM
Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts
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A cool thing! Very grateful to Tom Perrotta's family, those who judged the entries, my editors, and the many writers whose work helped me learn that tennis can be a vehicle for types of writing much more weird and wonderful than I ever thought before.
June 23, 2026 at 2:26 PM
A cool thing! Very grateful to Tom Perrotta's family, those who judged the entries, my editors, and the many writers whose work helped me learn that tennis can be a vehicle for types of writing much more weird and wonderful than I ever thought before.
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I reviewed the Nadal documentary, which I thought was gripping but didn't really take on the dark questions it raised:
www.thesecondserve.com/rafael-nadal...
www.thesecondserve.com/rafael-nadal...
Rafael Nadal: How To Stop Fighting - The Second Serve
Netflix's "Rafa" docuseries takes the viewer inside Nadals pain chamber.
www.thesecondserve.com
June 2, 2026 at 6:37 PM
I reviewed the Nadal documentary, which I thought was gripping but didn't really take on the dark questions it raised:
www.thesecondserve.com/rafael-nadal...
www.thesecondserve.com/rafael-nadal...
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truth matters!!
May 11, 2026 at 4:51 AM
truth matters!!
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Murder, oppressive heat, a Cowboys Super Bowl afterglow—the 1994 tournament was nothing if not chaotic. https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/world-cup-in-texas/
The World Cup Is Coming Back to Texas. The First Time, It Got Weird.
The World Cup is coming back to Texas. What happened the first time? Murder, oppressive heat, and a Cowboys Super Bowl afterglow, to start.
www.texasmonthly.com
March 12, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Murder, oppressive heat, a Cowboys Super Bowl afterglow—the 1994 tournament was nothing if not chaotic. https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/world-cup-in-texas/
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If America still had the rule of law, this would be the easiest prosecution ever, but we all know absolutely nothing will happen.
March 1, 2026 at 1:15 AM
If America still had the rule of law, this would be the easiest prosecution ever, but we all know absolutely nothing will happen.
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The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions!
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell
Somewhat devastating news today from the CIA: One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. There's not even a hint as to why they …
simonwillison.net
February 5, 2026 at 12:25 AM
The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions!
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
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A pure tennis boy:
A Pure Tennis Boy | Defector
MELBOURNE — “I just want him to be a pure tennis boy,” the journalist behind me said to their neighbor as we waited for Carlos Alcaraz to come to the main interview room. They were saying how they…
defector.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:51 PM
A pure tennis boy:
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I'll be doing some work for The Athletic during the Australian Open! I asked Jannik Sinner to reflect on the moment he considered quitting tennis today, and spun that into my first piece for them:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...
'It’s tough to say because I know the ending': Jannik Sinner's return to a tournament of triumph and turmoil
www.nytimes.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:25 AM
I'll be doing some work for The Athletic during the Australian Open! I asked Jannik Sinner to reflect on the moment he considered quitting tennis today, and spun that into my first piece for them:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/697...
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This is insane. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
www.whitehouse.gov
January 8, 2026 at 1:39 AM
This is insane. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...