The real problem with Hasan Piker
The leftie twitch streamer has really hit the news cycle — and kept hitting it. Over the last few weeks, he’s received national attention for campaigning for a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan as well as for his commentary on a whole range of controversies – most recently, for saying he was pro-“micro-looting.” Piker is really good at stirring the pot, especially about Israel, which is his core issue. But it is his views on Israel that have pushed him into the limelight.
This piece from Vox’s Eric Levitz argues that Piker’s Israel takes are the least of his concerns. Or rather, they are the tipping point into a realm of spicy leftism that veers problematic for the Democratic Party writ large. This piece does a deep dive into Piker’s views on China, and they will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
🎧 Rubén Gallego on why he defended Eric Swalwell — and why he regrets it now
Recently Vox’s Astead Herndon chatted with Ruben Gallego, the US senator from Arizona, on the Hill. They were supposed to talk about immigration for America, Actually (Vox’s newest podcast), but by the time the interview came around, the latest controversy on the Hill had swept up Gallego and potentially undermined Gallego’s own anything-but-secret aims for higher office. That being the multiple sexual assault allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell. In his interview with Astead, Gallego claimed he’d been duped by the man he once called his best friend, in spite of recently publicly calling him “a fighter” and claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy.
🎧 The 1980s sex scandal that explains TMZ’s move to DC
Speaking of Congress…TMZ has moved in! They opened a DC bureau this month and if history is any guide, they will stay busy. That’s what the Today, Explained podcast discovered when started looking into TMZ’s arrival on the scene. Not only are the other (mainstream) news outlets like NOTUS and the Washington Post doing similar reporting on the Hill to what TMZ plans to do — if using different reporting tactics — but also, there’s a long and sordid history of this kind of reporting in DC. This looks back at Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado's failed bid for higher office in the 1980s. Caught in a sex scandal just as the 24-hour news cycle started to take over our lives, it's a telling conversation and I recommend listening to it in full.
Please don’t inject yourself with bootleg peptides
If your timelines and group chats reflect the new wellness influencer’s fascination with peptides, then this read is for you. And if you don't really know what peptides are, then it's definitely for you. Senior health correspondent Dylan Scott charts the unlikely progression of peptides in culture. They are naturally occurring strings of amino acids in our bodies which became known due to the GLP-1 craze, and now have become the darling of today’s brand of health influencer, the MAHA-flavored YouTubers who pick our poison for us.
And if you’d like a fun audio take on this story, check out the Today, Explained episode of a couple weeks ago, Pushing Peptides.
