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Welcome back to The Best & The Brightest. Hi everyone. It’s Peter Hamby here, popping in for The Best & The Brightest this week while some of my colleagues take a much-needed vacation. I felt compelled to write about something I noticed during a busy news cycle last week, in between the macabre coverage of the Titanic submersible and the whiplash we all witnessed in Russia after Yevgeny Prigozhin suddenly decided not to stage a coup after all. (Before you ask, yes, Julia Ioffe will be in your inbox tomorrow and will join me on Tuesday’s podcast to break it all down.)
Hi everyone. It’s Peter Hamby here, popping in for The Best & The Brightest this week while some of my colleagues take a much-needed vacation. I felt compelled to write about something I noticed during a busy news cycle last week, in between the macabre coverage of the Titanic submersible and the whiplash we all witnessed in Russia after Yevgeny Prigozhin suddenly decided not to stage a coup after all. (Before you ask, yes, Julia Ioffe will be in your inbox tomorrow and will join me on Tuesday’s podcast to break it all down.)
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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Welcome back to The Best & The Brightest.

Hi everyone. It’s Peter Hamby here, popping in for The Best & The Brightest this week while some of my colleagues take a much-needed vacation. I felt compelled to write about something I noticed during a busy news cycle last week, in between the macabre coverage of the Titanic submersible and the whiplash we all witnessed in Russia after Yevgeny Prigozhin suddenly decided not to stage a coup after all. (Before you ask, yes, Julia Ioffe will be in your inbox tomorrow and will join me on Tuesday’s podcast to break it all down.)

What caught my eye was the coverage of Hunter Biden’s plea deal on tax evasion and a gun possession charge. Conservatives whined about the plea agreement, of course, but one thing jumped out at me White House press briefing on Friday was that the Hunter story is no longer just a fixation of the right wing. The mainstream media is putting a new kind of pressure...

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Hunter Splatter Analysis
Hunter Splatter Analysis
The president’s sad, delusional, haunted son is no longer a mere fixation for Republican house members and MAGA podcasters. Hunter Biden’s scandal has gone mainstream. Is it a legit ’24 problem?
PETER HAMBY PETER HAMBY
Last week should have been a solid one for Joe Biden. Inflation, still the top concern for voters, started to show signs of slowing down. The conservative Supreme Court blocked a Republican-led challenge to Biden’s immigration policies. And the White House hosted a vegetarian state dinner, this one with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, boosting economic ties with the world’s most populous country and giving Biden a chance to bend Modi’s ear about the dangers of Moscow and Beijing. But in Washington, stories about diplomacy or the falling price of eggs are simply no match for a juicy personal scandal. So, instead, the headlines were dominated by the latest chapter in a sordid drama that...
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FOUR STORIES WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
Pharrell’s Vision
Pharrell’s Vision
An incisive look at Men’s Fashion Week.
LAUREN SHERMAN
Delicate Strike Dance
Delicate Strike Dance
Updates from the picket line.
JONATHAN HANDEL
The Kennedy Curse
The Kennedy Curse
Parsing the rise of R.F.K. Jr.
BARATUNDE THURSTON
Iger’s Sophomore Slump
Iger’s Sophomore Slump
Two Disney-watchers debate Bob’s second act.
MATTHEW BELLONI & BILL COHAN
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Welcome back to The Best & The Brightest. Hi everyone. It’s Peter Hamby here, popping in for The Best & The Brightest this week while some of my colleagues take a much-needed vacation. I felt compelled to write about something I noticed during a busy news cycle last week, in between the macabre coverage of […]
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Welcome back to The Best & The Brightest. Hi everyone. It’s Peter Hamby here, popping in for The Best & The Brightest this week while some of my colleagues take a much-needed vacation. I felt compelled to write about something I noticed during a busy news cycle last week, in between the macabre coverage of […]
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Welcome back to The Best & The Brightest. Hi everyone. It’s Peter Hamby here, popping in for The Best & The Brightest this week while some of my colleagues take a much-needed vacation. I felt compelled to write about something I noticed during a busy news cycle last week, in between the macabre coverage of […]


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