Shane Harris

Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88 A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter

😔 www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/n...

It’s that time of year again. Let’s make bacon! www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/pos... Post Reports is repeating our James Beard Award-winning podcast about my ten-year quest to find a secret recipe for candied bacon. Recipe at the end. (It goes perfectly with cocktails.) Happy Thanksgiving!

Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right? How an outsider, once ignored by the public-health establishment, became the most powerful man in science

Over several interviews, RFK Jr. told @michaelscherer.bsky.social about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he has crusaded against? www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

The Ghislaine Maxwell Emails Extra toilet paper is just one of the privileges the former Epstein associate is enjoying in prison.

A cache of emails from the longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell shows her prison conditions improving dramatically as a crisis grew for Trump, @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social reports.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”

This is some lede: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

President Piggy This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.

"The fish rots from the head. The pig is in the Oval Office." www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025... You should always read @sophiegilbert.bsky.social, particularly this month.

The two are not mutually exclusive!

You have to admit, the ineptitude is impressive.

When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

And David Ellison, the new owner of CBS.

Even if it IS a da Vinci, it's a bad one.

Good Wednesday morning!

TIME magazine owner Marc Benioff was among the dignitaries dining last night with Mohammed bin Salman, who approved the murder of a journalist. e.ejewishphilanthropy.com/deliveries/d...

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Identified as Buyer of Record-Breaking da Vinci Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman used a distant relative as a proxy to purchase the 500-year-old “Salvator Mundi,” according to U.S. government intelligence and a Middle East art-world figure.

A Klimt sold last night for the second-highest price ever paid at auction. Who paid the highest price? www.wsj.com/articles/sau... (Debatable whether it’s actually a da Vinci)

Opinion | ‘Things happen’ Setting the record straight about our murdered colleague.

“Forgetting Mohammed’s brutality and Khashoggi’s warnings is a choice, and Trump made the wrong one.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Saudi Embassy has helped its citizens facing criminal charges flee the United States The FBI warns that Saudi government officials have undermined the U.S. judicial process.

Worth remembering today that two citizens of Saudi Arabia remain wanted for the murder of a North Carolina man. They are among dozens who have fled justice in the U.S., often with the help of the Saudi government.

wapo.st/44b6nY9

"But he knew nothing about it," Trump says. False: The CIA (under Trump) concluded that Mohammed bin Salman ordered the operation that killed Jamal Khashoggi. Trump has long resisted that fact. But it's a fact. www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...

Epstein Returns at the Worst Time for Trump The president is desperate to make the questions go away, but there is no sign they will.

Trump is not acting like someone who has nothing to hide, one of the president’s allies told @jonlemire.bsky.social. bhttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2025/11/jeffrey-epstein-trump-emails/684926/?gift=kPTlqn0J1iP9IBZcsdI5IRlpytBzII6okvuEm422iA4

Ew.

Devoured.

Inside the Sandwich Guy’s Jury Deliberations Can a flung sandwich cause bodily harm?

A juror in The Sandwich Guy's trial in D.C. told @ashleyrparker.bsky.social: “We’re supposed to be looking at the evidence, but a clear majority felt it was nonsensical, like 'Don’t waste our time or money.'" www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

That this memo, as reported, is relying on such an assertion, for which there is no known evidence, and that runs counter to common sense, kinda tells you what you need to know.

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In 2014, he approached me about writing a book. I wasn’t interested, but he suggested we have conversations to see if I became interested, and I did find them fascinating. At some point, I began recording. In 2015, as Trump started his campaign, Epstein became a source; I had no idea about his relationship with Trump until he began to tell me stories, which were useful. Then Bannon entered the picture. I was privy to both Epstein and Bannon discussing Trump in revealing ways.

FWIW in 2025, Wolff described Epstein as becoming a "source" in 2015, the year he sent the email giving Epstein advice washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/20/t...

U.S. troops not liable in boat strikes, classified Justice Dept. memo says In a classified memo, the Trump administration’s Office of Legal Counsel said that U.S. troops would not be liable for participating in boat strikes on alleged narco-traffickers.

"The opinion also states that drug cartels are selling drugs to finance a campaign of violence and extortion, according to four people." That would be remarkable, since it's not how drug cartels work. They use violence to protect their business--selling drugs. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Inside the CIA’s secret mission to sabotage Afghanistan’s opium In a decade-long operation, the CIA modified poppy seeds and dropped them by the billions from aircraft over Afghanistan in an attempt to weaken the potency of the country’s opium crop.

The CIA conducted an audacious highly classified program to covertly manipulate Afghanistan’s lucrative poppy crop, blanketing Afghan farmers’ fields with specially modified seeds. An extraordinary story from Warren Strobel. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Spending Bill Would Pave Way for Senators to Sue Over Phone Searches

And how about when they seize reporters’ phone records without telling us?

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...

Israeli Spyware Maker NSO Gets New Owners, Leadership and Seeks to Mend Reputation Investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds have taken a controlling stake in the company behind Pegasus, and former Trump official David Friedman has been named executive chairman.

"NSO Group, the Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware, says a group of investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds has acquired a controlling stake in the firm, which has named a former Trump official to lead an effort to restore its battered reputation." www.wsj.com/tech/israeli...

Laura Loomer’s Endless Payback The President’s self-appointed loyalty enforcer inspires fear and vexation across Washington. What’s behind her vetting crusades?

“Hell, yeah, she’s getting paid!” the lobbyist said."

Antonia Hitchens on the mystery of Laura Loomer's many vendettas
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The Washington Post Got 21,000 Emails After It Didn't Endorse. I Read Them All. Reading and editing letters gave me a theory about what is wrong with America — and how it could be fixed.

"...while Americans today have more opportunities than ever to speak, they have fewer opportunities than ever to be truly heard." This reflection from the Post's former letters editor--who read all 21,000 she got after the paper didn't endorse--is worth listening to. www.notus.org/perspectives...

Just When It Looked Like the Shutdown Might End Election Day happened.

Trump said he was "honored” to hear that his name not appearing on the ballot had contributed to Republican defeats. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...