On Thursday, Nvidia agreed to buy Hugging Face for $13B. But this isn’t just a deal to buy a startup’s business; it’s an effort to shape the future of AI development.

You may know Hugging Face as the platform that was recently the target of hacking efforts by a rogue autonomous OpenAI model. The company hosts the largest repository of open-source AI models and data, making it the go-to place for developers to share AI models so others can use, study, and modify them. More than 18M developers and researchers use Hugging Face, which hosts more than 3M AI models.

But buying Hugging Face isn’t just about getting these users. It’s about advancing an alternative to the Big Tech-led model of AI development.

In the age of AI, what constitutes copyright? The New York Times, OpenAI, and Microsoft are working to find out.

The Justice Department (DoJ) filed a statement of interest – a formal document sharing the DoJ’s legal view on a pending lawsuit – on Tuesday, backing OpenAI and Microsoft in a copyright lawsuit that the NYT brought against them.

The NYT sued in December 2023, alleging that OpenAI and Microsoft used millions of its articles to train ChatGPT and Copilot, and that both products draw on that material when answering user prompts. The paper wants damages and a court order stopping the practice and, while the government is not a party to the case, the DoJ is allowed to weigh in on pending litigation.

The DoJ’s filing urged the New York federal judge to rule that copying works to train a model does not infringe on copyright. The DoJ argued that training is “exceedingly transformative” because models learn statistical patterns rather than reproduce the exact way the article was written, and that the training process should be judged separately from what a chatbot outputs. The DoJ said a ruling against OpenAI and Microsoft would slow progress and hand an edge to foreign rivals: “Rules of law that make it significantly more difficult to develop a robust AI industry in the United States … threaten national security and give a competitive advantage to foreign adversaries who are not so encumbered.”

The NYT has countered that the models do sometimes reproduce or mimic expression – its suit includes examples of ChatGPT outputting passages that closely mirror the NYT’s articles.

The filing lands days before both sides are expected to seek summary judgment, ending the claim without a full trial. It is also the DoJ’s second intervention in an AI case in recent months – in June it asked a Mississippi judge to toss a suit against Elon Musk’s xAI over a data center. The judge in that case has not yet ruled.

–Max Hudgins

The NBA just levied the most severe penalties in league history against the Los Angeles Clippers over illicit payments to superstar Kawhi Leonard.

The league’s investigation found that the Clippers paid Kawhi Leonard under the table to circumvent salary cap rules. The NBA announced severe punishments: A $30M fine, forfeiture of five first-round draft picks, a year-long suspension for team owner Steve Ballmer, and the suspension of other league executives.

We recognize that some of you aren’t sports fans, so allow us to provide some context.

At the center of this scandal is Kawhi Leonard, a two-time NBA Finals MVP whom the LA Clippers signed to a three-year, $103M deal in 2019. At the time, Kawhi’s business manager was his uncle, Dennis Robertson, who allegedly pressured all the suitor teams to give his nephew $10M in guaranteed endorsement money off the books.

The Clippers’ president of business operations introduced Kawhi to Boingo Wireless, Daktronics, and Lockton Insurance, each of which signed Kawhi to an endorsement deal. When the Clippers re-signed Kawhi to a four-year, $176M extension in 2021, the sustainability financial firm Aspiration got involved.

A month after the Clippers re-signed Kawhi, the team’s owner, Steve Ballmer – the longtime CEO of Microsoft and one of the 15 wealthiest individuals in the world – invested $50M in Aspiration. The following spring, Aspiration paid Leonard $28M over four years, requiring little more than Kawhi remaining with the Clippers.

Investigative journalist Pablo Torre first reported this story on his podcast last September, which prompted an NBA investigation. The investigation found that Steve Ballmer was more hands-on than previously believed, and the league published its findings on Wednesday.

The Clippers have admitted to no wrongdoing, and Steve Ballmer said he will challenge the findings.

–Max Towey

The US and Iran have broken weeks of deadlock to exchange their most intense strikes in over a month.

The hot war restarted on August 30, when the US bombed Iranian coastal positions from which the Pentagon said Iran was preparing to mine the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with missile strikes on US facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, and Bahrain. On Tuesday, the US bombed more Iranian sites. Iran’s government and human rights groups said one of those strikes struck near a wedding, killing four Iranian civilians and injuring 67 others.

The strikes come as the US pursues a strategy of “asphyxiating” Iran’s economy through tightened sanctions enforcement in order to topple the regime or force its surrender. US officials say that allied countries are participating in this effort; however, its success will largely depend on China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, which has repeatedly defended its right to do business with Iran. Even so, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that he’s been holding “productive” and “quiet” talks with Iran.

Meanwhile, it’s unclear what’s happening inside Iran.

By most reports, the Iranian government is divided between “hardliners,” who believe conflict with the US is inevitable and want escalation, and other groups who are concerned about the state of the economy and want negotiations. Currently, the hardliners seem to be setting policy.

Then there’s the question of what Iranians think. Public expression is strictly curtailed within Iran, making it difficult to gauge public opinion. Reports indicate that some Iranians have become disillusioned with the US; however, the BBC reported this week that there is widespread anger among Iranians over the perception that their government has led them into an endless war that is crushing the economy. Seeking to tap into this, President Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday that the Iranian people should “rise up and fight.”

There’s also uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz: Oil prices remain high, fueling inflation and higher borrowing costs. But Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC this week that a wartime-record 17M barrels of oil transited Hormuz on Monday alone, which he said is a sign Iran is losing its ability to control the strait. Before the war, roughly 20M barrels passed the strait daily. Still, markets are betting on high oil prices for the foreseeable future.

Simply put, there’s no clear end to this ongoing conflict.

–Max Frost

Florida has banned Flock cameras and other license-plate readers from its roads.

Flock cameras have become a hot-button issue, particularly on social media over fears that Flock is ushering in an AI surveillance state. Unlike other license plate readers, Flock cameras automatically capture license plate information along with other details about cars, allowing law enforcement to track cars over time. They upload this information to a national database. According to the ACLU, 120,000 Flock cameras are currently installed nationwide.

On Monday, Florida announced it was banning Flock cameras from its state roads, and a growing number of Florida counties are banning them in their jurisdictions. In a press conference, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) declared:

If you want to get in your car and you want to go down to Buc-ee’s in St. Augustine, it’s really none of the government’s damn business if you’re doing that, right? What we don’t want in the state of Florida is to have a digital AI surveillance state where everything we’re doing is being tracked at all times.

DeSantis acknowledged that the cameras have provided some value to sheriffs but argued that the potential harm outweighs the short-term benefit. In some states, like Louisiana and Massachusetts, police officers have been accused of abusing Flock databases by looking up information about vehicles driven by people they personally know.

One Florida city that supports Flock cameras is Jacksonville. Its sheriff’s office claims that license plate readers like Flock have helped investigators solve 15 murders, 17 kidnappings, six forcible sex offenses, nearly 100 shootings, and 172 missing-persons cases over the last two years.

–Max Towey

Bill Simmons, the host of the second-biggest sports podcast on Spotify, is under investigation by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission after admitting to a gambling violation on air.

For those of you who’ve never heard of Bill Simmons, he founded The Ringer, a podcast network he sold to Spotify for roughly $250M in 2020. He’s a Boston sports fanatic who’s published multiple NYT bestsellers on his New England sports fandom.

Last week, Simmons made a major gaffe on a podcast episode. He said he wanted to bet on the “overs” for UCLA’s college football team – which he now supports as an “unofficial booster,” aka donor – and the Houston Texans in the NFL. The only issue for Simmons is that sports betting is illegal in California, where he is based.

To make the bets, he asked his daughter’s boyfriend to do it. “I get the code to make sure it’s me to my phone, I give him the code, he logs in,” he said. “And I have all this money that I had from last year because I actually hit a bunch of futures last year. And he’s putting in bets for me. Simmons, whose network sponsors FanDuel, called it “a real bonding moment for us.”

However, making proxy bets is illegal, which spurred a formal review from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, where his daughter’s boyfriend placed the bets.

“The Commission is aware of the comments made on the Bill Simmons Podcast and staff are currently reviewing the matter,” an MGC spokesman said in a statement. Simmons claims he didn’t know about the “proxy rules” and said, “Yeah, there are some real rules with this stuff, and they’ve ruled that not only are the bets going to be voided — and I learned my lesson.”

–Max Towey

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The Roca Mag

A couple of months ago, we launched RocaSports — starting up a RocaSports YouTube channel and more recently hiring sports reporter Ryan Hinske. He’s been publishing mini-docs on our YouTube channel and writing articles here.

We recognize that not all of our long-term newsletter readers may be interested in sports, but we’re excited about this new division and want to feature Hinske’s most recent article here. If you’d like to support his work, you can upgrade your subscription here to read the full article below. And, as always, we’re curious to hear your thoughts — so send your takes here or leave a comment below! Let’s dive in.

My barber gives me the quintessential barbershop experience. A New Yorker and ball knower, he’s constantly bantering with the guy a chair over, a Philadelphian. Any sports topic is on the table, especially when it involves a New York team beating a Philly team. I look forward to getting my haircut just to hear them talk.

Last cut, we were deep in conversation about his team, the Mets, when I noticed his wealth of knowledge about the smallest details in the clubhouse.

“Do you watch every game?”

“This season I’ve tried to catch them all,” he said.

“Why?”

He suddenly stepped away from cutting my hair and looked me dead in the eyes.

“Because we’re not getting baseball next season, so enjoy it while it’s here.”

Uncertainty is clouding two of the most important functions of government: Defense and borrowing.

On Monday, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned after months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Driscoll had reportedly clashed with Hegseth over his personnel decisions, including the firing of Army Chief of Staff General Randy George.

George was the Army’s top uniformed leader; Driscoll its top civilian leader. The Army is now without a Congressionally-approved leader for both positions, raising questions about military preparedness and strategy. Driscoll had been the face of Army modernization efforts, including procuring cheaper drone and anti-drone technology, and it’s unclear where those efforts now stand.

Separately, persistent inflation is leading to higher borrowing rates, raising questions about the US’ and other governments’ ability to borrow and spend.

Iran war-related energy price hikes are driving higher-than-desired inflation, and investors are assuming this will lead central banks to raise interest rates. Consequently, they are charging governments higher rates to borrow. In recent weeks, the US, Japan, Germany, and the UK have all seen 10-year borrowing costs hit their highest levels in over a decade.

Higher rates mean more debt and restraints on borrowing, and raise questions about what governments will be able to do in the future.

Perhaps it’s a stretch to link these two topics, but they tell a similar story: Uncertainty that did not exist a year ago now hangs over government spending and defense.

–Max Frost

After less than three hours of deliberations, a Nevada jury convicted Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, of orchestrating the murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur on September 7, 1996.

Davis, the former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, was found guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. Prosecutors argued that Davis passed a gun to his nephew, Orlando Anderson, who fired from a white Cadillac at Shakur’s BMW on the night of September 7, 1996. Shakur, 25, died six days later. The motive was retaliation. Hours earlier, Shakur and his entourage had beaten Anderson at the MGM Grand after a Mike Tyson fight.

While Davis didn’t pull the trigger, Nevada law allows a murder charge for someone who orders or helps carry out a killing.

The case might’ve stayed cold forever if not for Davis’ own words. He described his role in a 2008 police interview – conducted as part of the investigation into the murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G. – in which Davis was protected with an agreement that his statements wouldn’t be used against him. But Davis wrote about his role in Tupac’s shooting in his 2019 memoir, Compton Street Legend. The memoir and subsequent promotional interviews voided the agreement that shielded him from prosecution.

The judge ordered Davis held without bail and set sentencing for October 13. He faces life in prison, but says he’ll appeal.

The case has also revived interest in a near-identical shooting of Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls. Wallace and Shakur were close friends in the early 1990s before a tragic falling out. On March 9, 1997 – almost exactly six months after Shakur was shot – a black Chevrolet pulled up alongside Wallace’s vehicle and opened fire. No one has ever been charged.

But as for Tupac, this week’s verdict ended one of America’s most famous cold cases nearly 30 years to the day after the shooting.

–Max Hudgins

Florida authorities rescued 163 missing children during a five-day operation in August, according to a newly released report.

From August 17-21, authorities conducted Operation Statewide Shield, a coordinated effort to locate and recover missing children. Officials described it as the first statewide child-recovery operation led by Florida rather than under federal oversight, and one of the largest such efforts in US history.

“This operation brought together state, local, and federal partners to safely return home 163 missing children,” Florida’s law enforcement commissioner said. The children ranged in age from two months to 17 years old.

Florida’s attorney general said many of the children had been “victimized by people who prey on the most vulnerable,” adding, “These children are now safe and receiving the care they deserve. Florida will continue leading the recovery of missing children, hunting down every predator, and prosecuting abusers to the fullest extent of the law.”

The operation extended beyond Florida, producing leads and recoveries in six other states – Alabama, California, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee – as well as Puerto Rico and 12 other countries.

Many of the investigations remain open. Authorities identified three alleged predators already in custody – including for lewd acts with a minor – and said additional arrests are expected.

While the circumstances behind this story are tragic, the safe recovery of 163 children is an undeniably positive development. If Florida can execute large-scale child recovery operations, other states should follow suit.

–Billy Carney

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The Roca Mag

When I stepped off the plane and into the terminal at Istanbul Airport, it looked as if all the men had been caught in a blaze. Scorched scalps and white bandages were everywhere, and I, en route to India, was delirious after a half-day in the air. Had there been a massive fire here – and if so, how hadn’t I heard about it?

I pulled out my phone and Googled “Burnt heads Istanbul Airport.” And that’s how I first learned of the international juggernaut that is Turkey’s hair transplant industry.

Less than a decade later, it’s hard to fathom my naivete. Do a quick YouTube search and you’ll find an endless scroll of men talking about their journeys aboard “Turkish Hairlines” en route to a fresh beginning. Even in mainstream media, it’s impossible to avoid articles, thinkpieces, and social media posts about balding – from bald meetups, to bald positivity, to so-called “bald-maxxing.”

Not long ago, I considered going back to Turkey: I’ve been balding since my early 20s, but in the end I accepted my natural fate. Still, in my research I discovered a lesser-known, more sinister arm of the popular industry: A black market that rips off naive or desperate men, scarring many of them for life.

But to understand why a black market evolved in Turkey, it’s important to understand why so many men choose to go there in the first place. Since the Covid pandemic, Turkey’s medical tourism has mushroomed into a nearly $3B industry. In 2024 alone, it drew 1.5M people – 1M of them for hair transplants. Of these men, estimates suggest Americans account for 25-35%.

Why? Because it’s cheaper: A Turkish hair transplant costs $1,500-$5,000, versus $7,000-$25,000 in the US. Marketing has also made Turkey synonymous with the procedure: Once the algorithms know you’re an adult man, they push content about it; popular figures like boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., singer Akon, and Love Is Blind stars have talked about it; and clinics specifically target Americans by opening branches in cities like Miami and New York and offering packages that include limousine airport pick-ups, 5-star hotels, translators and hotel-to-clinic transportation.

In short, they offer an all-in-one experience that can make coming to Turkey seem as low-stakes and seamless as going to the barber, but with the chance to see the Hagia Sophia thrown in.

But what happens when it goes wrong?

If you took your dog to the vet a decade ago, there was a roughly 90% chance that someone in or near your community owned the practice. Today, it’s around 50%. And Mars – the company behind Snickers and M&M’s – is the most likely owner.

Mars is the biggest veterinary service provider in America. It owns 50% of all corporate-owned veterinary clinics, which account for up to 50% of the national total.

How this happened is a story of how America’s economy has changed in the last 10 years.

It’s no secret that AI isn’t popular. However, the major AI companies have a plan to change that.

Last month, the CEO of Anthropic posted this on X:

“I do agree that the public has a negative view of AI (and that this is a big problem), but I don’t think it is primarily caused by me or any other AI leader warning about AI’s risks…”

He continued:

“We are however doing our best to fix this: Anthropic is ramping up its efforts very quickly in biology and medicine, and we hope to have incredible results in the coming years and some early glimmers in the coming months.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that Anthropic is emphasizing this point in its private investor meetings. They view it as a way to improve AI’s PR nationwide, since most of the current narrative around AI is negative.

Anthropic isn’t alone in betting on healthcare. Nvidia and Eli Lilly are teaming up to build a $1B drug discovery lab in San Francisco. “AI is transforming every industry, and its most profound impact will be in life sciences,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia. “NVIDIA and Lilly are bringing together the best of our industries to invent a new blueprint for drug discovery – one where scientists can explore vast biological and chemical spaces in silico before a single molecule is made.”

Earlier this year, OpenAI introduced its own life sciences research tool called GPT‑Rosalind. Its press release described it as a model “built to support research across biology, drug discovery, and translational medicine.” In May, Sam Altman told tech reporter Kara Swisher that AI could “treat” or “mitigate” most diseases by 2035.

It’ll be interesting to see all this unfold, especially considering that AI’s health foray carries many of the safety and economic risks that AI has raised with data centers and other areas. Best of luck, Big AI!

–Max Towey

Former Representative George Santos continues to stack controversies after nearly three years out of office: Prediction market Kalshi banned the disgraced representative from its platform on Monday.

Santos, a Republican who assumed office in January 2023, was expelled from Congress later that year after a bipartisan investigation found he used campaign funds for personal expenses. In 2025, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft and was sentenced to over seven years, though Trump commuted his sentence after just four months.

Now, Kalshi banned Santos over bets he placed on his own attendance at Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address.

Santos had posted a video the day before the State of the Union address saying he would be in the gallery, sending the market’s odds that he would attend soaring. But he never showed. During Trump’s address, Santos posted that he was watching the speech from an airport, writing, “Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML.”

Regulators say he had bought contracts betting against his own attendance after bad weather threatened his travel plans, then sold them at a profit. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) opened an investigation into Santos in June and estimated that his earnings from the bet were around $17,000. Santos settled in July, agreeing to pay more than $35,000 and accept a three-year ban from all trading platforms.

But Kalshi took that three-year ban a step further.

The company fined Santos $71,000, alleging he didn’t fully cooperate with the company’s own investigation, and banned him for life. The move represents the first lifetime ban in the company’s history and comes amid wider controversies that have plagued the prediction market industry this year.

In April, a US Army Special Forces soldier was charged with insider trading and fraud for using classified information to win over $400,000 in bets on prediction market Polymarket regarding the January 2026 capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. On Friday, White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez agreed to pay a $65,000 penalty and forfeit over $107,000 in winnings for bets he made on Kalshi over what words Trump would use in his speeches.

Despite these controversies, Kalshi has spent the last year trying to convince Washington it can police itself, launching over 200 investigations in 2025 and over 200 in the first quarter of 2026.

Responding to his ban, Santos wrote on X: “Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for.”

–Max Hudgins

John Ternus will succeed Tim Cook today as CEO of Apple, ushering in the company’s first leadership change in 15 years.

Cook took over from Steve Jobs in 2011. During his tenure, Apple introduced the Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Pay, Apple Music, and its M-series chips. Meanwhile, Apple stock rose nearly 3,000%, while the company grew into a $4.6T giant – the world’s second-largest.

Ternus, 51, is a career hardware engineer who has spent more than 25 years climbing Apple’s ranks. He has served as the company’s hardware chief since 2021, overseeing development of products including the iPhone, Mac, and iPad. Cook said Ternus has “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor.”

While hardware still drives most of Apple’s revenue, Ternus takes the reins as the company faces pressure to catch up with competitors in the AI race. He’ll also have to determine the future of the struggling Vision Pro and navigate heightened regulatory scrutiny.

Cook, 65, sent employees a memo announcing the transition and thanking them for their work. He said he will remain involved with Apple outside the CEO role. Cook reportedly earned roughly $3B in compensation and realized stock gains during his 15 years at the helm.

In his opening memo, Ternus wrote that Cook’s “unprecedented and outstanding leadership has transformed Apple into the world’s best company.” Ternus is expected to make his first major public appearance as CEO on September 9, when Apple is set to unveil its first foldable iPhone – a product he helped oversee in his previous role.

–Billy Carney

The Roca Mag

You can scarcely open up the news nowadays without reading about the DSA, or Democratic Socialists of America. One of their members is running New York City; others are poised to enter the House and, perhaps, the Senate. They’ve got the momentum and are sending chills up the spine of American capitalists.

But who are they really? Max Hudgins went to their “Socialism 101” course to find out. Read it here.

Max Frost’s story this week is based on reporting from small towns across America. Town after town is described as a “retirement community” — full of boarded up buildings and old, declining populations. What’s killing small-town America? Can anything stop it? He seeks to answer that here.

Next up, Max Towey interviews Connor Leahy, one of the country’s leading AI researchers. Towey asks: What would an AI takeover really look like? Leahy gives an answer.

Then Stefano Montali examines the dark side of the Turkish hair transplant market. Ever more balding Americans are flying to Istanbul to restore their hairlines, but what happens when it goes wrong? He has the answer.

Lastly, sports guy Ryan Hinske gives the reasons for the potential upcoming MLB lockout. As he reveals, it’s not just about baseball, but changes affecting society more broadly. Interesting piece; read it here.

Thanks for reading the Roca Mag. Let us know your thoughts on this week’s issue by emailing us here or leaving a comment below.

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Since the US toppled Nicolás Maduro in January, there’s been a looming question of what would happen to the country’s oil and leadership. After months of back-room negotiations, we got an answer on Friday.

On Friday, all eyes were on Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh was delivering a major speech.

Every summer, the Fed hosts a conference of central bankers, economists, and prominent policymakers in Jackson Hole. The most highly-awaited speech is typically the Fed chairman’s. That was particularly the case this year.

Not only was this the first Jackson Hole speech to be given by Warsh, who was nominated by Trump and took the position in May, but it came at a time of financial tension within the US: Trump has repeatedly made clear that he wants the Fed to cut interest rates, but inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2% target. What would Warsh say about inflation and interest rates, given the relationship with Trump?

The issue is particularly relevant right now, as the US has in recent weeks seen long-term borrowing rates hit their highest levels in nearly 20 years, raising concerns about the federal debt. Trump has called the US’ borrowing costs “ridiculous.” What did Warsh think?

On Friday, Warsh answered these and other questions.

Inflation levels were “concerning,” he said, so “the Fed’s predominant focus right now should be on prices.” He added: “We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed. Otherwise, we have work to do.”

Investors interpreted those statements as meaning that the Fed was likely to raise rates unless new data suggest inflation is falling. In the moments after the speech, investors started to bet that a September rate hike is more likely than not.

Warsh also dismissed Trump’s concerns about borrowing rates, saying that, “On balance, I would be hard pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive.”

There was more from the speech, but the upshot is roughly this: Investors entered Friday wondering what kind of Fed chairman Warsh would be, and specifically whether he’d tolerate higher inflation and be more pliant to Trump. Warsh more or less told them that he would be a typical Fed chairman, focused first of all on getting inflation back to 2%.

–Billy Carney

The media and White House are making diametrically opposed statements about whether the US military faces a dire munitions shortage.

On Thursday, the AP quoted two unnamed security officials to say that the US faces a “beyond critical” shortage of missile interceptors in Europe, due to the war in Iran. The situation was “raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack,” the outlet reported.

That came as details emerged about a secret visit by the CIA’s chief to Moscow, where he warned Russian officials not to attack any NATO countries.

Days later, The Wall Street Journal reported:

The US has rushed so many munitions to the Middle East to fight Iran that military planners are concerned the loss of firepower is diminishing America’s ability to defend against potential threats from China and Russia, said US officials.

The author went on to write that it could take years to refill “weapons stocks moved from countries like Japan, South Korea, and Germany,” and that as it stands, the US would struggle to execute contingency plans for situations including a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

But the White House refutes all of this.

“The United States Military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump’s strategic goals and beyond, and Operation Epic Fury has exposed what happens when you mess with the United States,” said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell added, “Claims of US munition shortages are false. When the Fake News media irresponsibly amplifies these lies, the real-world consequence is clear: our enemies are emboldened to provoke – or attack – American troops.”

So who’s telling the truth – the media or the government? We, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping are all left to guess.

–Max Frost

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The Roca Mag

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is gaining traction across the country — from local elections to the halls of Congress, and soon maybe the Senate.

Curious about the group and its members, Roca’s Max Hudgins attended a DSA meeting in NYC. He wrote about the experience in Issue 6 of the Roca Mag, which we published on Saturday. In case you missed it, here’s the cover story.

Just off 14 Jefferson Street in New York City’s Lower East Side sits a shuttered bunker with graffiti painted on the closed shutter.

There’s a man in his late 20s with curly black hair down to his waist and a rolled cigarette in his mouth when I arrive. He asks me if I’m here “for the one oh one.” I tell him I am. He ushers me inside.

Mamdani posters line the walls. Next to them are slogans, held up with blue masking tape, that declare, “We are the many” or “Property is theft.” Marxist theory lines the particle-board shelves. A Palestinian flag pokes out of a tower of Red Bulls.

I help set up the chairs and take my seat. I’m one of the first there but the crowd comes pouring in after I sit down. A 30-something Brit with a mullet and a lazy eye sits down in front of me. A fat Texan with greasy hair takes a seat to my left. One of the organizers, an older woman with a thousand-yard stare, is fumbling around with a printer while another, a portly Hispanic, wipes the sweat off his brow and stands up in front of the half-dozen people already seated.

“Afternoon, uh, everyone,” he says. “Welcome to Socialism 101, we’ll get started here in a moment as people trickle in.”

What happened in the Clancy home on the evening of January 24, 2023, is a matter of record.

Authorities found Lindsay Clancy on the ground outside her home with a broken back, bleeding from self-inflicted wounds on her wrists and neck after jumping from a second-story window. In the house, police found Clancy’s three children – Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months – strangled. Authorities pronounced Cora and Dawson dead at the scene. Callan died three days later.

Her trial, which has taken the internet by storm since it began in late July, wrapped up with closing arguments yesterday. Prosecutors have argued the killings were premeditated. No one, not even Clancy’s defense team, disputes the facts; Clancy herself admitted that she killed her children. Still, she formally pleaded not guilty.

The jury is now deliberating to decide not whether Clancy committed the act, but whether she can be held responsible. Despite admitting to killing her children, she and her lawyers argue she lacked criminal responsibility – an insanity plea – because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

Clancy’s defense called on a hospital chaplain and a psychologist, who both testified that Clancy described a male voice telling her to kill her children. Her lawyers say she sought treatment months before the killing, saw multiple providers, and received medication prescriptions between September 2022 and January 2023. She also checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for five days in January 2023 – the same month as the murders.

Prosecutors, however, described Clancy as a controlling mother who could no longer manage her life or her children. Psychiatrists for the prosecutors have argued that Clancy was fully aware of what she was doing. They’ve painted a picture of a controlling mother, suffering from a depressive episode, who no longer had control of her life.

The postpartum psychosis defense ignited a fierce debate on the internet, with many women rushing to Clancy’s defense as others say the focus on Clancy has distracted from the horrific murders.

But the truth of postpartum psychosis, what the condition actually is, has been lost in the controversy (as is often the case on the internet). To find out more about the mental disorder, I reached out to Dr. Sue Varma, board-certified psychiatrist and author of Practical Optimism.

Here’s our interview, edited lightly for readability.

Max Hudgins: What are the factors that cause postpartum psychosis?

Dr. Sue Varma: As psychiatrists, we don’t think there is one single cause…

One could scarcely imagine the numbers Nvidia just put up.

On Wednesday, the company reported revenue of $96.2B for the quarter ending in July, up 106% from the year prior. The company’s profit margin was around 75%, meaning it keeps 75% of every dollar it earns as profit. And the company only projects these figures to grow: Nvidia forecasted $108B in revenue for the current quarter. For context, that’s almost double Meta’s Q2 revenue, $61B.

The numbers reflect sky-high demand for chips to power data centers. $89B of Nvidia’s $96B in quarterly revenue came from data center demand, per a press release.

“AI has reached its inflection point. It’s doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable,” said founder and CEO Jensen Huang. “Now, compute is revenue.”

Huang is saying that investments in data centers are no longer hypothetical bets, but proven ways to generate revenue. But is that true?

A series of articles from The Wall Street Journal raises doubts. On Wednesday, WSJ tech writer Asa Fitch wrote:

When tech companies started amping up spending on AI about three years ago, David Cahn, a venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital, asked a simple question: What was the gap between AI investment and the revenue generated from AI?

Back then, he called it AI’s $200 billion question. That, he estimated, was roughly the total revenue needed for investments to make financial sense. It seemed like a lot. In 2024, it became a $600 billion question. In 2025, $840 billion. This year, it’s $1.5 trillion.

While AI models and data centers are generating significant revenue, it’s nowhere near enough to cover the spending on them. So seen this way, it looks like a zero-sum game: Nvidia’s earnings are another company’s losses, at least until AI models become profitable. Until then, no amount of Nvidia earnings can answer the most important question: Whether AI can generate the returns to pay off these data center investments.

–Max Frost

Goodbye, Lake Ontario, and hello... Lake America?

On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America. He declared the name change “effective immediately” and directed the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the US geographic naming service.

The move comes amid the White House’s escalating trade dispute with Canada. Over the weekend, President Trump announced 50% tariffs on $20B worth of Canadian goods, which Canada’s PM Mark Carney said they would match “dollar for dollar.” Then President Trump followed that with 50% tariffs on all Canadian vehicle imports.

In the press conference announcing the name change, President Trump said, “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade. They don’t pay for anything, and they want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state.”

PM Carney posted on X, “The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.” Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston responded, “We’re into some real foolishness now. It’s Lake Ontario, buddy.”

You may be next, Pacific Ocean!

–Max Towey

Last Wednesday, I wrote:

“A landmark federal trial began in California on Tuesday. At hand is the question of whether Meta’s app design violated federal child privacy and state consumer protection laws.”

This Wednesday, Meta settled the lawsuit for $17.1B.

As I summarized last week: “The trial, being held in a federal court in Oakland, bundles the complaints of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. The judge selected them among 29 states to proceed. All 29 states accuse Meta of intentionally designing apps like Facebook and Instagram to be addictive – through features like endless scroll, autoplay, and likes – and of having ignored signs that these and other features were harmful to children.”

States were looking for up to $200B in funds, plus the elimination of certain allegedly harmful features.

On Wednesday, Meta ended the courtroom drama by agreeing to pay up to $17.1B to 29 states and implement a range of features intended to protect children. Those features, applicable to teenage users, will include a default two-hour daily time limit; breaks in endless scrolling; limited usage between midnight and 6 AM; and silenced notifications during school hours (8 AM and 3 PM). The company will also limit beauty features and “like” counts. Only parents will have the ability to change the settings.

Meta agreed to pay 70% of the $17.1B up front. It will pay the remaining 30% only if Snap, TikTok, and YouTube also pay financial penalties and make product changes. Meta’s defense had argued that it was being scapegoated for issues affecting all social media companies.

“This framework will only work if all our peers join us,” Meta’s chief legal officer wrote in a blog post about the decision. “Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industrywide solution.”

While the settlement still needs to be approved by a federal judge, state officials called it a major step toward protecting kids from social media’s harms.

Yet Meta’s legal troubles aren’t over yet: The company, which spent $2B on legal expenses just last quarter, faces thousands more lawsuits brought by teenagers, schools, and other plaintiffs. One battle may be over, but the war remains.

–Max Frost

The US government approved a landmark drug to treat pancreatic cancer – a major step in fighting one of the deadliest forms of the disease.

Around 67,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. Despite the low numbers – only around 3.2% of cancer diagnoses – pancreatic cancer has a far larger share of deaths, since it’s usually caught late and has few effective treatments.

On Wednesday, the FDA approved Rasonque (daraxonrasib), a groundbreaking once-daily pill used to treat pancreatic cancer. Revolution Medicines’ treatment works by targeting RAS proteins, the protein family behind most pancreatic tumors, and is cleared for adults whose cancer has spread and who’ve already been through chemo, or who are too fragile for it. Still, the drug is far from a cure.

In a 500-patient trial, patients on Rasonque lived a median of 13.2 months, compared with 6.7 months on standard chemotherapy. Side effects include a rash across the body, diarrhea, mouth sores, nausea, vomiting, swelling, and bleeding.

Rasonque’s list price is $39,800 for a 30-day supply, or more than $477,000 a year, though Revolution said some commercially insured patients could pay as little as $0 with co-pay insurance.

The FDA cleared the drug 6.5 months ahead of its deadline under a new expedited review program. The director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence said in a press release that the drug “showed unprecedented results in an area of high unmet need.”

Over 2,000 patients had already received it through an early-access program that opened in May. Others received the drug earlier through the clinical trial, including former Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), who said in April that his tumors had shrunk. He’s called the drug “amazing” and said back in July, “We’re a couple days away from being seven months since my diagnosis at three to four months to live.”

–Max Hudgins

According to a report from the Institute for Family Studies, roughly one in eight young men gambles, watches porn, and plays video games daily.

This summer, the Institute for Family Studies released multiple reports on the declining happiness and increasing screen time of young Americans. Citing data from the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, reports of unhappiness among young adults have more than doubled since 2000. In the early 2000s, 11% of Americans ages 18-35 reported being “not too happy,” compared with 26% today.

In particular, the Institute for Family Studies notes that young men have “retreated from reality” with ever-increasing rates of social media use, pornography use, and gambling. The result is mass loneliness: Four in ten young men have “fewer than two friends” and one in five is currently experiencing depression.

The digital habits of this cohort – a cohort of which I was a member until yesterday (turned 30!) – are quite jarring. 27.4% watch pornography daily, 23.3% gamble daily, and 66% play video games daily. Nearly one in eight young men do all three every day.

Brad Wilcox, a UVA professor​ and a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, also notes that the trends are worse among unmarried young adults. ​From 1980 to 2020, the share of adults ages 22-35 who report themselves “pretty” or “very” happy barely fell from 91% to 90% among married respondents, but it fell from 83% to 68% for unmarried ones.

Not great.

–Max Towey

The Roca Mag

In December 1982, Archie Williams was walking from a friend’s house to his mother’s apartment in Baton Rouge when police cars surrounded him. Officers drew their guns. He was 22.

Williams asked why he was under arrest. The cops listed charges of aggravated burglary, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated rape. He asked who said he did that. They took him away.

A female detective rode in the back seat with him. “She told me, ‘Man, you don’t fit the description,’” Archie told me. “She said, ‘Don’t worry, they’re not going to do anything to you. Just go through the procedures.’”

He was convicted. For 36 years, he’d wrongfully sit in Angola, among America’s most notorious prisons.

I first heard about Angola – actually the Louisiana State Penitentiary – from season one of True Detective. In an interrogation scene, Marty Hart, played by Woody Harrelson, told one inmate sitting in a cell at the Avoyelles prison, “Give me a break. This is Avoyelles. It’s a g—damn day camp. Spend some time in Angola.”

In another scene, a preacher’s assistant became a suspect for a heinous crime. The assistant, who seemed mentally disturbed and possibly ill, refused to talk to the police. That made the police more suspicious until the preacher explained the assistant’s strange behavior with one simple detail: He spent two years in Angola for public indecency. No more questions followed.

Angola’s notoriety extends far beyond True Detective. It is the largest maximum security prison in the country and one of the most notorious prisons in the world. It got its name because of the plantation that used to sit there, which took a disproportionate number of its slaves from the African country of Angola.

The prison has since been subject to numerous controversies over the years, including extreme inmate violence, allegations of a “sexual slavery” system, and overall brutal conditions. Inmates used to pick cotton for hours every day without pay, and “death row” inmates spent their sentences in solitary confinement.

Here’s what it’s like being a free man there.

Here are some of the comments we received in reaction to this story:

Melanie from South Florida wrote:

What a great article and a subject rarely seen or acknowledged. I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and spent 45 years of my life there. I always heard how rough Angola is, even worse than our Parchmen prison here (where my uncle served time for cooking meth and other (true) charges.

Thank you for sharing Archie’s story. I wonder if there are programs to help with re-entry of prisoners wrongfully charged or paperwork that explains to a potential employer, the situation.

Wanted to take the time to say thanks for the thorough reporting on all you guys do. This one really tugged at my heartstrings. Does Archie have a support/donation page ?

Carrie said:

I wish more investigative journalist spent more time on uncovering corruption in our justice system than the fluff pieces they write now. Thank you for shining the light on what is still the dark underbelly of America. So much good work is being done to try to help so many Black men and poor White folks who have mistreated and abused by the system in the South. I wish more people talked about it.

And Andrew said:

The lack of accountability that the state players face is horribly disgusting

We’re curious to hear your thoughts on Archie’s story, too — let us know in the comments below.

If you’d like to read the full article, upgrade your subscription here. Your support enables us to meet people like Archie and share their important stories.

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According to new data, at least a quarter of NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE. And that’s an extremely conservative estimate.

CTE is a brain disease likely caused by repeated head injuries. Per the NIH, it eventually leads to cognitive dysfunction and neurodegeneration, and there’s no known cure. The high prevalence among NFL players has been known for years, though new data gives us a better sense of the scale.

The BMJ – previously known as the British Medical Journal – conducted a survey of the deaths of 1,712 NFL players who died between 2008 and 2021. 338 (19.7%) of the players’ brains were studied, 315 (93.2%) of which had CTE. That means at least 18.5% (315 of 1,712) had CTE, though the number could have been as high as 98%. Between 2016 and 2021, when brain donation was more frequent, the baseline was even higher at 24.5%, though, again, the actual number is likely much higher.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, said, “We know what’s causing it. It’s a neurodegenerative disease where we know and have complete control over the risk... We can change that cumulative force without changing the game of football.”

This is a damning report for the NFL. But we’re also old enough to remember how short-lived the reaction to the 2015 movie Concussion was and how wrong the “football will die out” crowd proved to be. Will there be change from this one?

–Max Towey

An apparent Apple leak showed next-generation AirPods with built-in cameras, igniting privacy concerns.

MacRumors discovered a video within a recent macOS showcase, in which Siri can be heard saying, “With visual intelligence, your world becomes savable. See something you like? Just ask me to save it for later.” The video shows a man wearing AirPods picking up a book and holding it up in front of his face for a couple of seconds.

The cameras would reportedly allow Siri and Apple Intelligence to “see” a user’s surroundings in real time, letting people search, save, or process visual information without pulling out their phones. If released, the technology could turn AirPods into one of the first mainstream wearable AI devices.

The apparent leak comes amid mounting privacy concerns surrounding Meta’s AI glasses. Mark Gurman – Bloomberg’s leading Apple reporter – has claimed that Apple’s AirPods cameras would not be designed to take photos or record video, but rather to identify objects and provide visual context to Siri.

Still, concerns are unlikely to subside. Discreet wearable cameras have already prompted backlash: Multiple venues in the UK – including pubs, restaurants, and courts – have banned Meta’s AI glasses. European regulators are working on similar restrictions.

The development also comes on the back of reports earlier this year that Meta subcontractors watched highly personal footage captured by users’ glasses, including videos of people using the bathroom, undressing, and having sex. AirPods – far more ubiquitous and less conspicuous than smart glasses – are already commonly worn in public spaces, bathrooms, and locker rooms.

Apple has not publicly commented on the apparent leak. The camera-equipped AirPods are reportedly not expected to hit the market until 2027.

Frankly, this feels like yet another AI “win” that would poll terribly with the public. Wearable technology may eventually become unavoidable – a necessary tool to keep pace in a workplace where others have adopted it. But I suspect few people actually want that future over one that still resembles regular human life.

–Billy Carney

Together with Incogni

When I’m out interviewing people on the street, the last thing I want is for my phone to be buzzing nonstop in my pocket. I used to get spam call after spam call. It’s distracting and annoying.

One wrong move, and falling for their trap could compromise all my personal data. Irritated by the constant spam calls and feeling increasingly at risk of phishing scams, I decided to try out Incogni’s data removal service.

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Not only does Incogni help keep me focused at work, it’s keeping my data and identity safe, too. I recommend Incogni’s service to all my friends. Give it a try today, and save 55% on your subscription using this link. You won’t regret it.

The Queen of Country, the Smoky Mountain Songbird, and country music icon Dolly Parton died on Tuesday in Nashville at the age of 80. Her nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, announced her death in a video posted on social media. He did not give a cause.

Parton was the fourth of 12 children born to a farmer father and homemaker mother in the Tennessee mountains. She sang on Knoxville radio and TV by the age of 10, appeared at the Grand Ole Opry as a teenager, and moved to Nashville the day after becoming the first in her family to finish high school.

Her big break came in 1967, when singer Porter Wagoner hired her for his syndicated TV show. She topped the country chart on her own with the song “Joshua” in 1971, and went on to write two of the most covered songs in American music history: “Jolene” (1973) – inspired by a bank teller who flirted with Parton’s husband, Carl Dean – and “I Will Always Love You,” written as a farewell to Wagoner (1974).

She crossed into pop with “Here You Come Again” (1977), into film with 9 to 5 (1980), and into business with Dollywood, her Smoky Mountains theme park. Over the course of her career, she wrote over 3,000 songs, won 10 Grammys, and entered the country, songwriters, and rock and roll halls of fame. Her Imagination Library, a book-gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until their fifth birthday, has sent more than 200M books to children, inspired by her father, who never learned to read.

Parton’s husband died in March 2025, and she postponed a Las Vegas life performance that September due to a variety of health challenges. She ultimately canceled that show in May this year, and said that she was responding well to treatment for immune and digestive issues, kidney stones, dizziness, and dehydration.

The stars were a little dimmer in the Smoky Mountains last night. Rest in peace, Dolly.

–Max Hudgins

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Stills from America

Below is a snapshot of the second installment of our weekly Stills from America series. You’ll find some great photos and stories from Roca’s on-the-ground reporting trips. Read the full article here.

To start, here are some photos from Max Frost’s journey through southern Indiana and Kentucky:

Plus a handful from Max Towey’s travels to his home state of Florida:

And the last three are from Missouri and Kansas, where sports writer Ryan Hinske documented the small towns grappling with shrinking organized sports:

Read the full article here! It’s free for all readers.

Until 2016, Ohio was the quintessential swing state. By 2024, it was among the country’s reddest, with President Trump winning here by a bigger margin than Harris did in New Jersey or Minnesota, and almost the same as she did in New York.

Reporting from Ohio over the last week, though, I’d say that the tides are shifting.

Self-identified conservatives, of whom I’ve met many, still support the president. Almost all I’ve spoken to have said things are better than if a Democrat were in office. One pointed to curbs on illegal immigration; another celebrated Trump’s tariffs and limits on political correctness. But even they had complaints, including about prices, the war in Iran, and data centers.

Speaking to, I’d guess, 100 people around the state, I’ve met no one who is happy with energy prices or inflation. Not one person has defended the war with Iran, or even articulated a reason for why it’s happening.

Reporting from Ohio in November 2024, the week after Trump’s election, people were extremely optimistic that change was coming, particularly in an ever-more-expensive economy. Two years later, forget it. Even conservatives are voicing concerns about the economy, and everybody else – the majority – says things are pretty bad. They point to fuel and grocery prices, war, and concerns about data centers (which are going up all over the place here).

The stakes are high: Ohio has both a gubernatorial and Senate election this November. In the governor’s race, polls show Republican Vivek Ramaswamy neck-and-neck with his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. Polls also show Democrat Sherrod Brown leading incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted. In the House, an abuse scandal has put Republicans at risk of losing a should-win seat.

I take polls with a massive grain of salt, and given how red Ohio got two years ago, I still wouldn’t expect it to flip blue. If it does, though, I wouldn’t be shocked.

–Max Frost

Over the weekend, the White House turned up the economic pressure on both Canada and Iran.

On Saturday, President Trump escalated tariffs with Canada after the two sides failed to reach a new deal. He announced that the US would impose 50% tariffs on $20B of Canada’s exports. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney responded that they would match the US “dollar for dollar” in the trade war and would release specifics on Tuesday.

In response to Carney, President Trump announced on Monday the US would levy 50% tariffs on all Canadian automobiles. He posted on Truth Social, “On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%.” Later he posted, “Someone should get these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!”

Also on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “Operation Economic Outcast” against Iran. The goal of the campaign is “economic asphyxiation” of the Iranian regime. The methods of this asphyxiation encompass the strangling of all of Iran’s “secondary” economic activity. Bessent said it identified more than 60 entities across the world that help the regime earn revenue from oil, secure nuclear and missile technology, and execute cyber operations; all will face sanctions.

President Trump described the new sanctions as “economic D-Day” for Iran. Whether this D-Day is victorious for the US remains to be seen.

–Max Towey

Authorities restored power over the weekend to many Indiana residents who had been in the dark for nearly two weeks, though 10,000+ remain without power.

On August 11, a series of severe storms tore through northwest Indiana, with winds topping 100 mph in some areas and knocking out power for around 375,000 people. Many residents were left without refrigeration, air conditioning, running water, medical equipment, and other essentials. Seven people died in connection with the storms and ensuing flooding.

Politicians and residents have blasted Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO)’s response, accusing the utility of moving too slowly to restore power. As of Friday – nearly two weeks after the storms – more than 40,000 customers remained without electricity, including over 20,000 of Gary’s ~65,000 residents. NIPSCO accelerated restoration efforts over the weekend, though 10,000+ customers remain without power.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun (R) called the response “unacceptable” and called for an investigation into NIPSCO, questioning whether the utility had adequately maintained vegetation and properly used state funds earmarked for infrastructure and reliability improvements. His comments follow a proposed class action lawsuit against NIPSCO alleging improper tree trimming.

NIPSCO defended its response, noting that the storms caused nearly 10x as many outages as its previous four major storms combined and that crews were rebuilding large sections of the electrical system rather than making individual repairs. The storm caused the largest outage in the utility’s history.

–Billy Carney

The Roca Mag

Walking through downtown Kansas City, the Chiefs are inescapable. The murals and homages to Patrick Mahomes and the back-to-back Super Bowl runs concentrate the block between Grand Blvd. and Main St., culminating in a two-story cluster of restaurants facing a performance space with a massive TV for Chiefs gamedays.

It’s San Francisco’s Pier 39 of America’s Heartland, but all for sports teams and their corporate sponsors, whose advertisements hang from the walkways above the screen.

But 13 miles away, Lakeside Speedway is fading into obscurity. The dirt track, within Kansas City limits, is part of a racing culture stuck in the county fair aesthetic. It feels more like a memory than a thriving sport, despite dirt racing being the largest and most participated-in form of auto racing in America. Sitting in the stands, it’s hard to believe that more than 600 tracks are still operating across the country.

At first glance, it’s far more old timers than youth. Even the race car drivers were aging. One told us, “I’ve got a lot of friends that finally quit. They just got tired. I have to work that hard to pay for it.”

Like most at the track, that driver, Dustin Walker, has a second job. Several drivers told us it’s now impossible to be a full-timer on the dirt track. Despite decking his car out with local sponsors and getting maintenance help from his oldest daughter, Walker says rising costs are making the self-sustained life of a race car driver nearly impossible.

“Somebody somewhere is making a whole bunch of money, and it isn’t the racers on the track,” Walker said.

While dirt racing goes by the “day at the ballpark” model that the MLB has traditionally relied on (tickets, pit passes, concession sales), it missed the mark on what has allowed mainstream sports to build massive, inflation-proof enterprises.

Competitions did not expand beyond a regional scope, which led to a lack of national advertisers. Organizers also did not pursue national TV rights. Dirt racing sustains itself through family-owned tracks, local sponsors, and local TV.

Add in rising land values and cars that, unlike NASCAR, don’t look like those you or I would want to own, and you’ve got an insular, domestic pastime boxed out of the modern financial playbook.

Election polls touted by LA Mayor Karen Bass and cited in the media were completely made up, a report from The Guardian reveals.

The person behind this scheme was 21-year-old recent college grad Rahil Prakash. He came clean in an interview with The Guardian, claiming it was a social experiment. “I wanted to see if fake polls could really penetrate the ecosystem that easily,” he told The Guardian. He published them under the banner of the fictional firm “Median Strategies.” One of his polls made waves.

It showed LA Mayor Karen Bass leading in the general election by 12 percentage points. Karen Bass’ campaign posted the poll to tout its allegedly growing lead. The California Post, a sister publication to the New York Post, cited the poll, as well. On Polymarket, the line moved in Karen Bass’ favor by two cents; roughly twenty separate accounts traded thousands of contracts within six minutes of Bass’ tweet going out.

In addition to the LA mayoral race, Median Strategies published fake polls on the Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor – showing Francesca Hong +23 – and the Nevada gubernatorial race, though neither one made waves.

Chris Wilson, a veteran Republican pollster, claims the fake polling problem is bigger than Median Strategies. As reported by the AP, he said, “It’s never been easier to make invented numbers look legitimate, and campaigns and outside groups have every incentive to amplify anything favorable before anyone verifies it.”

With bettors trading billions on Polymarket and Kalshi, the financial incentives to fabricate polling results are greater than ever. Although, in fairness to Median Strategies, the non-fake polls haven’t been much better.

–Max Towey

Lindsay Clancy’s defense rested its case on Friday – the 18th day of testimony in a murder trial that has gripped the nation.

Clancy, 36, is facing three counts of first-degree murder in the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her children – Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months – at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. She has pleaded not guilty, but her lawyers do not dispute that she killed the children.

Instead, Clancy’s lawyers argued that Clancy lacked criminal responsibility – the Massachusetts version of an insanity defense – due to her suffering from postpartum psychosis, an extreme mental illness and medical emergency which they argue went untreated. Her defense also cited bipolar disorder and overmedication as factors in the crime. Her attorney called 10 witnesses over five days, closing with a forensic psychiatrist who told jurors that Clancy was listening to a hallucination and could not stop herself from following it.

A psychologist and a hospital chaplain both testified that Clancy described a male voice telling her that she had to kill her children, then herself, and that none of them would be safe unless she obeyed. Her lawyers say she repeatedly sought treatment in the months before the killings, seeing multiple providers and receiving medication prescriptions from at least three of them between September 2022 and January 2023. They also say she checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for five days in January 2023 and was discharged roughly two weeks before the killing.

Prosecutors, however, paint a different picture.

They described Clancy as a controlling mother who could no longer manage her life or her children, and allege she sent her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, out for takeout and medicine, strangled the children, cut her wrists and neck, then jumped from a second-story window, which left her paralyzed. Prosecutors called on a different forensic psychiatrist, who said Clancy had suffered from a major depressive episode and anxiety, but knew that what she was doing was wrong.

Clancy’s family members testified that her mental state deteriorated after Callan’s birth. Clancy’s mother, Paula Musgrove, said Clancy lost weight and became paranoid, telling her and Patrick in December 2022 that “she had thoughts of harming the children.” Her former mother-in-law said, “She was begging for help.”

The case has become a fixation on social media, with over 160,000 TikTok videos posted about the trial, as many users appeared to side with the defense. Hundreds of women in pink gathered outside the courthouse last Thursday holding signs in support of Clancy. The support has drawn a backlash of its own, as critics say the attention on Clancy’s suffering has shifted the focus away from the deaths of the three children.

Closing arguments are expected on Tuesday, and the case should reach the jury next week. A conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole. A finding of no criminal responsibility would keep Clancy committed to a state psychiatric hospital – she’s been held at Tewksbury Hospital since May 2023 – with periodic reviews to determine if she can be released.

–Max Hudgins

A hacker has leaked Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) footage for six straight days, setting the internet ablaze.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is the third-most popular video game in history, behind Tetris and Minecraft. Its successor – GTA 6 – has already generated almost $500M in pre-orders and is expected to more than triple GTA 5’s first-week sales. It is arguably the most anticipated video game in history.

The leaker – an online persona known as “CyberLeek” – has released new footage from the game for six consecutive days, embedding advertisements for a meme coin of the same name in the leaks. The coin has surged more than 1,000% since the leaks began.

CyberLeek also posted a manifesto framing the leaks as a protest against the developer’s plans for a digital-only release. Many fans are upset that Rockstar Games won’t sell physical copies, meaning buyers won’t be able to resell or lend the game.

Rockstar’s parent company has subpoenaed Microsoft, Discord, and X in an effort to uncover the hacker’s identity.

As of print, it remains unclear how CyberLeek gained access to the game. Analysts do not expect the leaks to materially affect sales. Rockstar plans to release an extended-look GTA 6 trailer later this week – an announcement that was scheduled before the leaks began.

The game is set for a November 19 release.

–Billy Carney

The Roca Mag

Here’s Issue 5 of the Roca Mag.

Since I (Roca Co-founder Max Frost) was a kid, one of my greatest fears was being wrongfully convicted of a crime. I mean, what could be worse? Particularly when the crime is horrific, and the punishment severe? How would that feel?

Now, you can find out. In our cover story, Max Towey interviews Archie Williams, who spent 36 years in Louisiana’s most notorious prison for a crime he did not commit. It’s powerful. Read it here.

Nearby, I ask: Why does the leftist streamer Hasan Piker get so much media attention, when there’s another, more popular streamer with very different politics, who has never gotten any? I break it down – and interview that other streamer – in my article, Why the Media Loves Hasan Piker.

Beneath that, Max Hudgins answers another pressing question: Why do celebrities suck now? Why do they no longer have the aura that stars of the past – from Muhammad Ali to Marlon Brando and Paul Newman – once had? Read Why Celebrities Suck to find out.

And if you want some more on-the-ground reporting, we’ve got it: Stefano Montali reports from one of Vermont’s disappearing dairy farms. Why’re the farms going away? He has the answer.

Lastly, our sportswriter Ryan Hinske has a report from a dirt racing track in Kansas City. Like the dairy farms, these old-time local competitions are going away. He explains why right here.

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoy. Our goal is to make the Roca Mag the best bundle of weekly reporting you can get anywhere. If you have thoughts on any of the stories, let us know here or in the comments!

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