Slashed tires, moved bookcases, a dead dog. For years, U.S. diplomats posted to Russia have experienced some strange things. WSJ’s Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw report on the little-known spy unit, which U.S. officials believe is responsible for the surveillance and harassment of Americans in Russia, including WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich.

Further Reading:

- Inside the Secretive Russian Security Force That Targets Americans 

- Putin, Isolated and Distrustful, Leans on Handful of Hard-Line Advisers 

Further Listening:

- A WSJ Reporter Arrested in Russia 

- Russian Court Upholds WSJ Reporter’s Detention 

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For decades, telecom companies have known that lead in their networks posed risks to workers, and did little about it. Lead can cause a variety of ailments in adults, affecting the kidney, heart and reproductive systems, and it is classified as a probable human carcinogen. WSJ’s Shalini Ramachandran explains the danger of lead cables -- and what telephone companies knew.

Further Reading:

- America Is Wrapped in Miles of Toxic Lead Cables 

- What AT&T and Verizon Knew About Toxic Lead Cables 

-​​ Workers Exposed to Toxic Lead Cables Wrestle With the Aftermath 

- How the Journal Investigated Hidden Lead Cables Circling the U.S. 

Further Listening:

- Part 1: America Is Wrapped in Toxic Lead Cables  

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In an 18-month investigation, The Wall Street Journal found thousands of lead covered cables across America, some leaching the toxic metal into places where people live, work and play. We travel with the team across the country to test the soil and water around these cables and speak to families living near them. WSJ’s Susan Pulliam and Shalini Ramachandran explain what these high levels of lead in The Journal's sampling could mean for people across the country.

Further Reading:

- America Is Wrapped in Miles of Toxic Lead Cables 

- How the Journal Investigated Hidden Lead Cables Circling the U.S. 

- Bayou Teche Is an Epicenter of America’s Lead Cable Problem 

Further Listening:

- Part 2: What AT&T and Verizon Knew About Toxic Lead Cables 

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Microsoft has cleared a big hurdle to purchase Activision Blizzard, the publisher of popular videogame franchises like “Call of Duty, “World of Warcraft” and “Candy Crush.” The Federal Trade Commission had tried to block the roughly $75 billion acquisition, but a federal judge has allowed the deal to move forward. WSJ’s Jan Wolfe explains what the ruling means for Microsoft and for the FTC. 

Further Reading:

-Microsoft Can Close Its $75 Billion Buy of Activision Blizzard, Judge Rules 

-Lina Khan Is Taking on the World’s Biggest Tech Companies—and Losing 

Further Listening:

-Why Microsoft is Paying $75 Billion for Activision Blizzard 

-Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s Big Bet on AI 

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ChatGPT is one of the most successful tech products ever launched. And crucial to that success is a group of largely unknown data workers in Kenya. By reviewing disturbing, grotesque content, often for wages of just two to three dollars an hour, they helped make the viral chatbot safe. WSJ’s Karen Hao traveled to Kenya to meet those workers and hear about what the job cost them. 

Further Reading:

- What Is ChatGPT? What to Know About the AI Chatbot 

- The Contradictions of Sam Altman, AI Crusader 

Further Listening:

- The Company Behind ChatGPT 

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Meta recently launched a new app that's a direct competitor to Twitter. It's called Threads, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg said it has garnered 50 million sign-ups in its first five days. WSJ's Salvador Rodriguez says the new app poses the biggest threat to Twitter, fanning the flames of a long rivalry between Twitter’s Elon Musk and Meta’s Zuckerberg.

Further Reading:

- Day After Threads Launches, Twitter Accuses Meta of Using Its Trade Secrets 

Further Listening:

- Twitter’s New CEO: The Velvet Hammer 

- What’s allowed on Elon Musk’s Twitter? 

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Behind the scenes of Hollywood’s most successful studio, Marvel’s Ike Perlmutter and Kevin Feige clash over budgets and creative control. Marvel lawyer John Turitzin and screenwriter Stephen McFeely share new details of a corporate civil war. 

Plus, a look at the future of superhero cinema, featuring interviews with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” actor Chukwudi Iwuji and with Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson from The Ringer.

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Meet Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios and the man who weaves all its films into one cinematic universe. The idea proves so popular that Feige becomes the most successful producer in modern Hollywood history. Meanwhile, rival DC Comics launches its own cinematic universe, led by director Zack Snyder. But can DC’s “Justice League” match Marvel’s “The Avengers”?

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In a meeting at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Marvel’s Ike Perlmutter is pitched an unusual idea: That a small comic book publisher should make its own movies. 

A ragtag crew working above a car dealership borrows $525 million, hires Jon Favreau and Robert Downey, Jr., and makes “Iron Man.” After its surprise success, Disney buys Marvel. 

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Marvel Studios is the most dominant film studio on the planet today. But 25 years ago, it was bankrupt and selling furniture for cash. Its astonishing revival begins with two men: Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad. 

Industry insiders like comics writer Brian Michael Bendis and film producer Amy Pascal recount how Marvel went from its lowest point to its first big-screen blockbuster, Sony’s “Spider-Man” in 2002. 

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