The Free Press

There’s something surreal about writing a book about how social media companies exploited and cashed in on my generation’s vulnerabilities, then seeing the chapters play out in a courtroom.

On Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google negligent for designing addictive platforms that harmed a young woman’s mental health. Kaley, now 20, started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 11 and has since suffered from anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, and suicidal thoughts. The jury awarded $6 million in damages—$3 million compensatory and $3 million punitive—with Meta, which owns Instagram, responsible for 70 percent.

At first I felt vindicated, given the years of gaslighting. Growing up in the early 2010s, I thought I was going mad. Watching violent porn before having a first kiss, chatting to naked strangers on Omegle at sleepovers, marketing our developing bodies for Instagram—just a selection of my generation’s childhood memories. Girls like me who found it hard to cope with this new world were often told this was normal, that every generation feels anxious. So we withdrew inward, blamed and punished ourselves, decided there was something wrong with us.

A rare thing is happening in Texas: GOP senator John Cornyn, who has served for nearly 24 years, is facing a fierce primary challenge from state attorney general Ken Paxton. A runoff election in May will decide the nominee, and recent polls suggest that Democrats have a strong chance of claiming the seat in November. Today, former senator Phil Gramm describes how Texans’ choice will affect the country’s future. —The Editors

I am a strong supporter of John Cornyn, the GOP senator who is fending off a challenge from Ken Paxton in one of the biggest primary races in the history of the Senate. I admire and respect John, and I am appreciative of the job he has done in the Senate on behalf of Texas and America since he took office in 2002. I think it is fair to say that he has a job that I know something about, since I was privileged to represent Texas first in the House and then in the Senate for a quarter of a century, in the seat that John is now defending.

The first and most important decision I made when I was elected to the House in 1978 was that, when I was someday sitting on the front porch of a nursing home and one of my grandchildren asked me about what happened to America when I was in office, I wouldn’t tell them that things went to hell, with the excuse that I voted against it every step of the way. I decided that I wanted to be able to tell my grandchildren that I made a difference. I came to Washington to govern, not to protest; to change America, and not to give critical commentary on its decline. That is the pattern that John Cornyn has followed as a senator, and it is why I am so strongly committed to his reelection.

I am proud of what John has gotten done, of the leadership he has provided, and I also am proud of the image he has portrayed as a leader and a man. I can point to John Cornyn and tell my grandchildren that he is the kind of man I want them to grow up to be. John is a conservative and believes in free enterprise, individual freedom, and personal responsibility. He gets things done by being willing to work with other people. He goes out of his way to be sensitive to other people’s feelings in an era when ill will and hostility seem to dominate public life.

Let’s be honest: The news cycle is a lot.

So we’re trying something different.

Welcome to Free Press Sundays at the Comedy Cellar in NYC—a new series bringing Free Pressers together for an afternoon of stand-up from comedians who still believe in saying the wrong thing out loud.

These shows are intimate, a little unpredictable, and designed for our community. Which means two things:

1. They’re going to be very good.

2. They’re going to sell out fast.

Each show is emceed by Free Press favorite Judy Gold, who will keep things moving (and probably offend at least a few people—consider yourself warned). The lineup will change every time, but the goal stays the same: smart comedians, no sacred cows, and a room full of people who can take a joke.

April 19 Lineup

• Shafi Hossain

• Lynne Koplitz

• Aaron Chen

• Mark Normand

On Sale

• Paid subscriber presale: Monday, March 30, at noon ET

• General public: Wednesday, April 1, at noon ET

Can’t make it? We’ll be back Sunday, May 17.
Tickets drop for the May show on April 20—paid subscribers get first access.

Details

• Time: 4:00–5:30 p.m. (Doors open at 3:30—come early if you want the best seats.)

• Location: The Comedy Cellar, Village Underground
  Minimum: Two-item purchase (drink, snack, or otherwise—this is how comedy clubs survive)

And because this is The Free Press, the show isn’t the whole thing.

Afterward, we’ll head to a nearby spot for a Free Press meetup—drinks, conversation, and the increasingly rare experience of talking to strangers who are curious, engaged, and not glued to their phones. (Location will not be shared until the show for security reasons.)

Big thanks to our friends at the Comedy Cellar for making this series possible. There’s a two-item minimum—consider it part of the deal—and tip your servers well so they keep inviting us back.

We’ll be announcing more dates soon.

This is a small room. A great lineup. And a community worth showing up for.

Don’t wait.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

Paid subscribers get early access to tickets. If you want first dibs, become a paid subscriber now.

With war raging in the Middle East, we want to bring you as many trusted voices on the news as we can. One such voice is the Israeli journalist Amit Segal. He writes a daily newsletter, It’s Noon in Israel, which we’re pleased to publish in The Free Press.

Israel has invited the United States to relocate some of its regional bases from countries such as Qatar to Israel. But that raises a question: Why are the U.S. regional headquarters in a country that actively sponsors terrorism?

It’s a relatively recent development. For decades, Saudi Arabia served as the U.S.’s regional headquarters. It was from there—not Qatar—that the U.S. assembled forces and ultimately launched the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait. After 9/11 and the Iraq War, the U.S. sought a country with fewer political constraints and a location that would recruit fewer jihadists by being farther from Islam’s two holiest sites. Qatar fit the bill: no political complications, billions of dollars in subsidies, and the ready-to-use Al Udeid Air Base.

Now, more than 20 years later, Israel is positioning itself as the U.S.’s new home away from home in the region. The Israeli security establishment sees an opportunity to “reshape the map” of U.S. military positioning in the Middle East, reports Israel’s Channel 12.

There are several advantages to this move. For one, Israel has the strongest air defense systems in the region. The New York Times reported Wednesday that missile attacks on Qatar have forced “many American troops to relocate to hotels and office spaces throughout the region,” with much of the land-based military “fighting the war while working remotely, with the exception of fighter pilots and crews operating and maintaining warplanes and conducting strikes.” Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) haven’t missed a day of work.

They were “kidnapping our loved ones and replac[ing] them with a bitter hollow shell of what they once were.”

This sounds like a line from the campy 1978 sci-fi horror flick Invasion of the Body Snatchers, about aliens from a dying planet that come to Earth and replace humans with clones that are devoid of their old personality.

But it’s not.

It’s actually a quote from a recent study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships about the QAnon conspiracy theory, which alleges that the governing elite is dominated by a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic, deep-state pedophiles. Participants in the study described watching the theory take hold of their friends and family members, transforming them beyond recognition.

Perhaps this scenario sounds familiar. You too may know someone who started “doing his own research” on politics, science, or the economy—and then went down an internet rabbit hole of posts claiming that some event or phenomenon was plotted by a clandestine group of powerful people or organizations, usually with sinister or malevolent intentions. Before you know it, he seems like a different person. His new beliefs dominate conversations and ruin relationships.

It’s Monday, March 30. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: The future of war. How to fix air travel. The company promising man-made human eggs. Tyler Cowen on Conversations with Coleman. Ruy Teixeira on how Democrats learned to stop worrying and love losing. All that and much more.

But first: An unforced error in Jerusalem.

As a Free Press reader, you’re no doubt aware of an antisemitism problem within Catholicism. It’s an ancient issue turbocharged by social media algorithms and far-right Catholic influencers, who insist that Zionism and Catholicism are incompatible despite the Vatican’s insistence that antisemitism is a grave sin and Israel has a right to exist.

Gasoline was thrown onto this already flammable situation yesterday, when Israeli authorities blocked the top Catholic in the Jewish state from celebrating a Palm Sunday Mass. Police stopped Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from walking to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Christianity, where he was set to hold a livestreamed Mass.

Critics of Israel said that it was proof that Israel hates Christians. The Israeli government insisted that the police stopped Pizzaballa due to security concerns, as Iranian missiles continue to hit Jerusalem and damage holy sites; earlier this month, for example, a fragment of an Iranian missile landed within walking distance of the church.

Today, Avi Mayer, founder of Jerusalem Journal and former editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post, reports on the controversy for The Free Press. One well-connected Israeli rabbi who works on interfaith issues blamed the incident on “a perfect storm of clumsiness, closed-mindedness, and rosh katan,” a Hebrew phrase denoting a tendency to do the bare minimum without taking the bigger picture into account.

For his part, Pizzaballa is hitting a conciliatory note, saying there were “misunderstandings” and that “everything was done in a very polite manner.”

Meanwhile, Israeli president Isaac Herzog expressed his “great sorrow” that the Mass was prevented, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has directed authorities to “enable [Pizzaballa] to hold services as he wishes.”

Read Avi’s story on the messy reality of life during wartime, how an avoidable bureaucratic mishap turned into an international incident, and why the Israeli government’s unforced errors are so costly.

—Will Rahn

ANTROPIC, ANDURIL AND THE FUTURE OF DEFENSE TECH

February 27, 2026, was a flash point in the cold war between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. The AI giant Anthropic had drawn a red line with the Pentagon, forbidding the military from using its product for autonomous weapons or the mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon retaliated by ending their contract and designating Anthropic a supply-chain risk. Anthropic has since sued to overturn this designation.

• Israeli air strikes hit Tehran on Sunday, and the Iranian regime launched ballistic missiles into Israel. The exchange of fire comes as diplomats gathered in Pakistan, hoping to negotiate a peace deal.

• A 26-year-old man has been arrested for planning to violently attack pro-Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani. Authorities said Alexander Heifler was arrested in Hoboken, New Jersey, with eight Molotov cocktails. According to CBS News, police said Heifler is an “extremist with no criminal record with the NYPD.”

• The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launched a missile attack into Israel on Saturday. The attack raises concerns that the Houthis could block Red Sea shipping routes, further constraining global trade.

• Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned the U.S. against launching a ground invasion into the region. According to Ghalibaf, Iranian forces are “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever.”

• Thousands of protesters gathered across the country on Saturday for a series of “No Kings” rallies, protesting President Trump. This weekend’s marches were the first since last October, and came just as this year’s midterms are beginning to take shape.

• The United States Coast Guard is allowing a Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba. The ship, expected to arrive Tuesday, will supply the island with a critical energy source after the Trump administration imposed an effective oil blockade on the country for the past several months.

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio told G7 leaders on Friday that the war in Iran will last another 2–4 weeks. Rubio’s comments mark the first time a senior U.S. official has indicated the conflict could last longer than President Trump’s initial 4–6 week timeline.

• FBI director Kash Patel’s personal email was reportedly hacked by cyber criminals linked to Iran. The attack raises serious concerns about cybersecurity as the war continues to heat up on multiple fronts.

• President Trump signed a memo on Friday ordering the Department of Homeland Security to restore pay for airport screeners across the country. The order came after TSA employees had missed two full paychecks, and were beginning to call out of work in record numbers.

• The House of Representatives passed a short-term bill funding every agency under the Department of Homeland Security on Friday. While the vote offered a bit of daylight for government employees, the shutdown will likely drag on as the bill awaits approval in the Senate.

• Figure skater Ilia Malinin, known affectionately as the “Quad god,” won his third consecutive world championship on Saturday. The win comes as a sorely needed redemption for Malinin, who made headlines for underperforming at the Winter Olympics.

• CORRECTION: A previous version of The Front Page said the diplomats were reportedly gathering in Iran to negotiate a peace deal to end the U.S.-Israel-Iran war. They are reportedly gathering in Pakistan. This has been updated. The Free Press regrets the error.

Tyler Cowen is an economist at George Mason University, co-founder of my favorite blog, Marginal Revolution, and a contributor to The Free Press. A true polymath known for his short but extremely substantive answers to questions, Tyler is one of my favorite people with whom to have a long conversation. On the show this week, I got to do the kind of inte…

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump was subjected to some of the most brazen examples of weaponized government I’ve ever seen. As president, he’s returned that favor in spades. His latest target is AI giant Anthropic, which just won a major injunction in federal court.

If turnabout is fair play, Trump must be the fairest president in history. During the 2024 campaign, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg tried to jail Trump under criminal charges so opaque and tortuous few people could understand them. At the same time, New York attorney general Letitia James tried to bankrupt him through an unprecedented civil fraud prosecution and a $500 million judgment that an appellate court has now found unconstitutional. These and other cases were classic examples of politically motivated, unconstitutional selective prosecution.

All of this stoked Trump’s desire to hit back against his critics—which is key to understanding his fight with Anthropic. Having been on the receiving end of lawfare, President Trump could conceivably have forsworn using governmental power against political enemies. Not on your life. Trump turned the tables on day one, when he began targeting elite law firms.

February 27, 2026, was a flash point in the cold war between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.

The AI giant Anthropic had drawn a red line with the Pentagon, forbidding the military from using its product for autonomous weapons or the mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon retaliated by ending their contract and designating Anthropic a supply-chain risk. Anthropic has since sued to overturn this designation.

The feud-turned-legal battle is an acute example of a long-festering dynamic: technologists who want control over the use of their creations and who do not trust the government to understand or regulate their products, and policymakers wary of an unelected tech oligarchy that has become its own power center in American society.

Trae Stephens is no stranger to this dynamic.

On Sunday morning, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was stopped by Israeli police officers as he led a small entourage from his residence at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem’s Old City to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a seven-minute walk away.

Accompanied by Father Francesco Ielpo, the church official responsible for overseeing Catholic religious sites in the Holy Land, Pizzaballa was on his way to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass at the magnificently domed church, revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. The Mass is part of a tradition stretching back at least 1,700 years, but upon his arrival, Pizzaballa was informed that he could not enter the site due to wartime safety restrictions put in place in response to the threat of Iranian missiles.

Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command directives currently limit gatherings to 50 people and require that a concrete bomb shelter be easily accessible in the event of a missile siren. There is no fortified shelter in the ancient church complex, and it—along with the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, sacred to Jews and Muslims—has been closed to worshippers since the start of the war.