The Free Press

The gender fever was supposed to have broken in Britain. But this summer, the government is launching an unethical experiment on children who believe they were born in the wrong bodies.

The UK government confirmed last week that children as young as 11 are going to be enrolled in a clinical trial of puberty blockers, called the Pathways trial, which was suspended in February after regulators raised concerns about “unquantified risk” of “long-term biological harms” to children taking part.

In response, the trial simply instituted new protocols: clearer guidance on when treatment should be stopped, more detailed information for participants about what it will do to their fertility and bone health, and a minimum age requirement.

And so, the way is cleared for the National Health Service (NHS) to use human children as guinea pigs—girls from the age of 11, boys from 12.

A judicial review—brought by a coalition of therapists, parents of trans-identified children, and detransitioners earlier this year—is scheduled to be heard in the High Court on July 26. But with recruitment for Pathways to begin on August 1, there is little chance the case will be concluded in time to stop it.

On Tuesday night, the democratic socialists swept New York.

In a series of closely watched congressional primaries, all three candidates endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated more moderate rivals, including two incumbents. Their victories, which in heavily blue districts all but guarantee their election to the House of Representatives come November, …

At the age of 16, she was running three plantations. At 18 she worked with a French expert in indigo processing and an enslaved carpenter named Quash to introduce large-scale production of the valued blue dye to South Carolina. Over the following decades, she developed markets for her products, taught herself law, wrote wills and other legal documents for her neighbors, kept a careful letter-book of all her business and personal correspondence, tutored her younger sister, and raised and educated three successful children. Her sons were officers in the Revolutionary War; one would be governor of South Carolina, the other a member of the Constitutional Convention. Her daughter went on to manage her own plantation.

Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722–1793) is an ideal figure to help us think through the meanings of independence. She forged a far more independent life than what we might imagine was possible for an 18th-century woman. Yet her life also reveals that no one, at any time, lives a truly independent life, whether a founding father or a 21st-century American.

Pinckney’s father did not intend to leave her in charge of the family’s South Carolina plantations, and a household that included an ailing mother and a 5-year-old sister. But after moving the family to South Carolina from Antigua in 1739, he was recalled into service in the British navy to fight the War of Jenkins’s Ear against Spain. As her correspondence shows, Pinckney at first depended on instructions from her father and advice from male neighbors. (Her letters are readily available in collections online and in print, and her words are beautifully deployed by her best modern biographer, Lorri Glover.) But before long, she developed her own expertise and confidence. Instructions from her father could be delayed for months, and she had to make decisions quickly. She came to understand the complexities of managing overseers and hundreds of enslaved laborers, of anticipating productivity and markets, and of negotiating with British merchants and creditors. She also came to realize that her father had run the family’s Antigua plantations into debt and that she was the better manager.

Generals don’t have lifetime tenure, but purging them is a serious business.

In the run-up to World War II, General George Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army and one of the key architects of victory in the great struggle to come, methodically purged many of the senior officers who had led the service during the prewar period. It was necessary work. Too old, too political, or otherwise unfit to command in battle, these generals had to go. Marshall replaced them with much younger, talented men whom he had made it his business to spot over the years. Dwight Eisenhower, for example, was a lieutenant colonel (a mid-ranking officer) and still in his 40s when Hitler invaded Poland. Within a few short years he would be a five-star general in supreme command of the Allied forces in Europe.

Given the U.S. military’s mixed record since 9/11—to be kind—it is far from crazy to make the case that similar measures are needed today. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth seems to have just such a goal in mind, with his interventions into officer promotions and personnel issues across the military. The qualities needed to manage deployments during the war on terror and navigate the Pentagon’s shifting politics are not what will be required to win a campaign defending the First Island Chain against Chinese attack. This will be a high-tech war of data and drone swarms, but also one demanding classic military toughness and an ability to lead our outnumbered and likely isolated troops through what will be extraordinary hardships.

As part of our celebration of America at 250, we’ve started a weekly newsletter by historian Jonathan Horn. Learn what happened this week in American history, why it matters, and what else you should see and read in The Free Press and beyond. Sign up here. This week, Jonathan looks at the day that the British fleet descended on New York. —The Editors

When John Adams pictured how future generations of Americans would celebrate the anniversary of their independence, he foresaw parades, shows, fireworks, and, yes, even sporting events (he had tried his hand at wrestling and boxing in his youth). What Adams couldn’t have imagined was that among the most anticipated spectacles a quarter of a millennium later would be the one that General George Washington and his soldiers most dreaded in June 1776: the arrival of a massive armada of tall-masted sail vessels in the waters around New York City.

As scores of ships make their way to the Big Apple for this year’s Sail4th 250 celebration (organizers are billing it as “the largest-ever flotilla of tall ships from around the world”), be sure to spare a thought for the patriots manning lookouts around the city 250 years ago this June when the British fleet came into view.

More than three months had passed since the Continental Army had forced British general William Howe and his men to evacuate Boston. They had sailed north for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they had stayed aboard their ships in conditions historian Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy describes as “cramped and freezing,” except when Howe took soldiers ashore to drill for their next mission: an offensive against New York City. When it came time for the fleet to sail there in early June, the redcoats were well-trained and bent on revenge. “It is become highly necessary that the first exertion of the army should be directed to the most important purposes: to check the spirit which the evacuation of Boston will naturally raise among the rebels,” Howe wrote. The destruction of the Continental Army, he believed, would serve the purpose nicely.

It’s Wednesday, June 24. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Reihan Salam on Islam in America. Casey Babb on the elephant in the room after a shooting in Canada. How to actually fix the reflecting pool. All that and more.

But first: Socialism and the city.

Whether you hate it or love it, New York still sets the trends that America follows. That’s why the results of Tuesday’s primaries are national news. In a trio of House races in America’s biggest city, left-wing candidates backed by Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders came out on top.

Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier all won primary challenges against incumbent representatives, promising to tax the rich and spread the spoils among the masses.

How did the Democratic establishment fold so easily against the left-wing insurgents? And what does this say about the state of the party nationwide? Olivia Reingold and Peter Savodnik report on how leftists who want to abolish prisons, ban billionaires, and cut U.S. ties to Israel are spearheading a nationwide hostile takeover of the Democratic Party.

In New York’s 12th district, the Democratic establishment was dealt another blow when Jack Schlossberg, a scion of the Kennedy family, suffered a crushing defeat, coming in third. Some have called the loss the end of the Kennedy dynasty. Not so fast, argues Will Rahn in our second piece on the results today.

—The Editors

Today’s Great American is Ty Cobb—the man who mastered the art of America’s pastime, becoming Major League baseball’s best pure hitter in the early 20th century. But perhaps even more American than his success, argues Will Rahn, is the pain it took to get there. “We often speak of America as the land of opportunity, the one place where you can really make it regardless of your background,” Will writes. “That’s all splendidly true. But what’s also true is that America will probably try to kill you first.” Read his piece on what Cobb’s career teaches us about the American dream—and how overcoming pain became a core part of our national identity for decades to come.

• In negotiations on Tuesday, President Trump and Iranian officials continued to disagree about whether Iran had committed to open its nuclear facilities to United Nations’ inspections. The nuclear aspect of the deal will likely be a key point as the two countries push for a permanent settlement.

• At least 40 people in France have drowned in the past five days, French officials said in an emergency cabinet meeting Tuesday. The deaths come amid a scorching heat wave, and likely stem from a rise in swimming in unauthorized areas.

• The United States Treasury waived sanctions preventing Iran from selling oil in U.S. dollars for the first time in decades. The deal comes as a major concession, as the United States continues to negotiate a postwar settlement with Iran.

• The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a Rastafarian cannot sue prison officials over their decision to shave his dreadlocks. While the defendant argued his dreadlocks were a reflection of his religious identity, the court decided in a 6–3 split that he could not claim religious persecution in this matter.

• Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is reportedly seeking to borrow $20 billion in bonds. The move comes as a surprise to many, after the company secured $86 billion just weeks ago in a record IPO.

• President Trump said on Monday that he has definitive proof that vandals “cut” the paint in D.C.’s reflecting pool. He claimed that the proof will soon come out in court, and has begun stepping up law enforcement in the area to prevent further incidents.

• Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson announced Monday that he is officially leaving the GOP behind. The declaration comes after rising tensions between Carlson and the traditional wing of the party, which he accused of having “betraying” voters by prioritizing Israel’s interests over America’s.

Leftists who want to abolish prisons, billionaires, and U.S. aid to Israel are spearheading a nationwide “hostile takeover,” as their critics put it, of the Democratic Party.

Their latest and most high-profile victory came Tuesday in New York, where New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “team” of House candidates all won Democratic primaries—bolstering the party’s anti-Zionist, defund-the-police wing.

One of the candidates—Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer—has refused to condemn Hamas. Another candidate—Claire Valdez, a state assembly member—featured anti-Israel demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil, who the Trump administration has tried to deport, at her campaign launch party; “Free Palestine” appears on Valdez’s campaign signs.

Both are emblematic of the new breed of radical candidates: They have elite credentials—including Chevalier’s undergraduate degree from Columbia—but call themselves working-class, and they are women of color, which appeals to the Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) overwhelmingly white, urban, well-credentialed but downwardly mobile base.

In New York’s 13th Congressional District, which encompasses much of upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, Chevalier narrowly defeated longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

For the second time in two weeks, a Canadian police officer has been killed. Both incidents were connected to attacks against Canada’s Jewish community.

On Monday morning, police responded to reports that a lone gunman had carried out an attack in Côte-des-Neiges, a prominent hub for Montreal’s Jewish community. The attack, near several kosher restaurants, Jewish schools, and community centers, led to the deaths of Montreal police officer Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, 34, and bystander Michel Mizrahi, 68. Mizrahi was a Jewish civilian and a member of the local Chabad chapter. Alleged shooter Seth Hatfield, 25, of Lethbridge, Alberta, was also killed, while another police officer was seriously injured.

The attack came just 11 days after Toronto police officer Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was killed while executing a high-risk search warrant connected to dozens of shootings in the greater Toronto area, including one at the U.S. Consulate last March and others on multiple synagogues and Jewish day schools. Reports indicate those shootings may have been part of a guns-for-hire plot, connected to Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia—a violent Islamist group backed by Iran.

Together, these incidents have heightened tensions amid what Canadian prime minister Mark Carney recently described as a “crisis of antisemitism in Canada.”

So why isn’t the media reporting on the antisemitic elements of Monday’s shooting?

Picture this: A young Kennedy is leading in the polls. He’s handsome, telegenic. The Democratic Party has been keen on promoting him with plum speaking spots on national TV. But he stumbles when forced to articulate a message, losing his primary to another Democrat who had a more conventional, which is to say less name-driven, rise in politics.

I’m talking about Joe Kennedy III, who decided to run a primary campaign against incumbent senator Ed Markey in Massachusetts six years ago and lost in rather disastrous fashion. Then again, I could be talking about his great-uncle, Ted Kennedy, who looked like he could take down Jimmy Carter in 1980 until CBS News’ Roger Mudd tripped him up with a famous softball: “Why do you want to be president?”

Teddy either didn’t know or didn’t want voters to know, and there was a glimmer of terror in his eyes before he launched into a long, rambling response that didn’t answer the question. Kennedy’s subsequent loss to Carter was quickly framed as the end of his family’s dynasty, as has just about every subsequent Kennedy defeat, of which there have been many.

Now that John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg, who we fondly call Jack, has lost his bid for a New York House seat on Tuesday night, we wonder again if the most famous name in Democratic politics has finally lost its appeal.

The reflecting pool, nestled between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, has been around for over a century. But it has never been the subject of this much intrigue, nor this many political potshots.

“It was filthy, dirty, and it leaked like a sieve for many years,” said President Donald Trump in April, when he announced a rapid renovation of the reflecting pool. Within eight or nine weeks, the entire floor was painted “American flag blue,” and the pool was refilled with water, as deep as a kiddie pool and nearly as long as seven football fields, finally clear enough again to reflect the Washington Monument. Mission accomplished.

Or maybe not. A few days later, people began to notice that the pool was turning green, and that sheets of the material lining the bottom were peeling. A dead duckling floated lifelessly to the edge of the pool. And questions began to swirl, including: How did this happen? Is this a metaphor for Trump’s presidency? Is he the victim of some kind of sabotage operation? And can the pool’s problems be fixed?

To get some answers, I spoke on Tuesday with Rudy Stankowitz, a swimming pool and aquatic design consultant who also hosts a podcast called Talking Pools. While Stankowitz has no connection to the reflecting pool renovation, he is very familiar with the materials and processes that were used during the job. His answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Tanner Nau: As somebody whose career is spent building and maintaining pools, what stood out when you saw pictures of the renovations?