1.
“Heartburn,” September 25–October 8
New York’s latest cover story — an excerpt from Michael Wolff’s The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty — revealed why the network decided to split with Tucker Carlson. Volts newsletter writer David Roberts said, “This story is remarkable for a number of reasons, but the main theme that jumps out is what an absolute pit of vipers the right is —horrible people scheming against other horrible people. Just a festival of terrible humans.” Former Obama spokesperson and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor wrote, “Always take anything Michael Wolff writes with a grain of salt (or a dash of libel), but this story suggests Murdoch fired @TuckerCarlson because Tucker was thinking about running for president.” Signaling her approval of Rupert Murdoch’s contemptuous statements about Donald Trump, conservative pundit Ann Coulter tweeted, “My esteem for the man deepens.” Many readers took note of Wolff’s reporting that during a meal at Carlson’s house, Florida governor Ron DeSantis might have shoved or even kicked Carlson’s dog. In a text to Insider, Carlson denied the incident took place, writing, “This is absurd. He never touched my dog, obviously.” DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo also called the story “absurd and false” and added that “the one thing he will squarely kick is the D.C. elitists in both parties either under or over the table, and that’s why they are so desperately fighting back.” But in an interview with Mediaite, Wolff revealed that his source for the incident was Carlson himself: “Maybe he exaggerated. Maybe he lied … Maybe he regrets saying that. I have no idea … I think what I am accurately reflecting is his feelings about Ron DeSantis, and at the moment, he seemed to have felt that he kicked the dog. I can’t tell you whether that happened or not. I can only tell you with the greatest authority that that’s what he said happened.” Vanity Fair’s Bess Levin noted that Carlson had apparently not “denied Wolff’s claim that he thinks DeSantis is a ‘fascist’ or that he and his wife were so repulsed by the governor that their takeaway from the lunch was that they never ‘want to be anywhere near anybody like that ever again.’ Which suggests that Wolff got that detail exactly right.” The day after the excerpt was published online, Murdoch announced that he was stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp. In an interview, Wolff claimed some credit, saying, “I think I probably did have a hand in it, in a sort of broader, ‘emperor’s new clothes’ thing … It was going to be hard to avoid this picture of a 92-year-old man running two significant public companies.”
2.
“The Oppenheimer of Our Age”
In her profile of Sam Altman, features writer Elizabeth Weil asked who the OpenAI founder really is and how much we should trust him. Bentley University mathematics and data-science professor Noah Giansiracusa called it a “fascinating, probing, engaging profile … that looks to the man, his family, his upbringing, etc., to help understand where he is taking his company @OpenAI — and the rest of society — and why.” “Riveting and deeply disturbing,” wrote Randy Gordon. “Altman is definitely not the person I want determining value systems for AI.” Futurism’s Maggie Harrison took issue with Altman’s use of the term median human, calling it a “disconcerting assertion, considering it really sounds like Altman is looking to replace the work of normal people.” Some readers were particularly surprised by what Weil revealed about Altman’s estranged sister, Annie. “Wild details,” wrote the San Francisco Standard’s Jonah Owen Lamb. “As he rises to riches and power his sister languishes in poverty.” Matt Schaar said he “nearly teared up” when he “saw how ghoulish the Altman brothers have been to their little sister. Just an absolutely awful way to treat a grieving sibling.” Taylor Majewski tweeted, “Context is truly everything. Reminds me of reading Small Fry to understand the layers of Steve Jobs.”
“Romeo and Juliet Was a Tragedy”
In “Romeo and Juliet Was a Tragedy,” Lila Shapiro chronicled how the stars of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 classic are still wrestling with its consequences. Writing for the A.V. Club, Emma Keates said that the story “reveals that these actors have been exploited more than anyone could have guessed — and it still seems to be happening today.” Dan Nguyen wrote, “Tragic story. I loved watching this in high school but knowing now how horribly the actors were treated definitely dampens any interest in rewatching it.” Book editor Devon Freeny added, “When the lawsuit news broke last year, the situation struck me as very sad and very weird. The full story is even sadder and much weirder.”
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