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This week: we discuss President Trump’s gross and remarkably self-centered response to the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner, and the strangely candid interview that Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles granted to Vanity Fair. We look at reporting from The New York Times on how Jeffrey Epstein rose to prominence and success on Wall Street, despite very early signs that he shouldn’t be trusted, and we consider an essay in Compact arguing that diversity mandates at academic, arts and media institutions have been designed by older generations to fall solely on the backs of white men who are millennial and younger, producing institutions staffed by old white guys and very few young white guys. Plus: bad ideas about backyard gardening, and our predictions for 2026.

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