10 Sunday Reads

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads: • How DraftKings Uses A.I. to Target the Gamblers Likeliest to Lose: Jenny Vrentas on the machine-learning model DraftKings built from customer betting records to aim its hundreds of millions in “free” promotional money. Data science helps determine who receives betting incentives, but the company has resisted using similar technology to protect gamblers at risk of addiction. (New York Times) • Happy Oligarch Day as Trump-Aligned Billionaires Take Over Hollywood: Matt Stoller on Larry Ellison, who now controls CNN, CBS, HBO, Paramount and Warner Brothers, and a host of other properties, now be under the control of Larry Ellison, who also owns Oracle and TikTok. (BIG by Matt Stoller) • The truth behind Donald Trump’s ‘biggest oil deal in world history’ The US’s oil deal with Venezuela faces multiple legal and logistical problems, including questions about whether it can be implemented. But virtually everything Trump and his cabinet have said about the deal is false and misleading, according to the experts and officials who spoke with the Guardian. The Venezuelan law governing oil development does not allow for 100-year deals, or anything over 25 years. The office of strategic capital isn’t authorized in US law, experts say, to own shares in companies. Moreover, they say, the deal as structured won’t bring new capital to Venezuela’s oil sector. (The Guardian) • Polling has become a playground for grifters, liars, and frauds: I’m a pollster and this is getting ridiculous. (The Argument) • ‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission: Apoorva Mandavilli on an agency that has lost its independence, nearly a third of its staff and its leadership as the Health Secretary and his associates tighten control. (New York Times) • A College Girl Was Exploited on Camera. A Network of Anonymous Men Got to Work: EJ Dickson’s investigation into the “burnerverse” that targeted a University of Florida sophomore. Maddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back. (Wired) • How MAGA Bewildered Voters Into Its Alternate Reality: Sarah Longwell on the years-long project to discredit fact-based media and replace it with MAGA slop has been disastrously successful. (The Bulwark) • Trump’s Media Ban Shows Steady Slide of His Regime Into Outright Dictatorship: Three banned news organizations sue the administration over the White House press exclusions. The US president has moved fast to create the conditions for an authoritarian regime. America can fight back, but is running out of time, explains world affairs editor Sam Kiley (The Independent) see also The Source Behind the Ban: Oliver Darcy’s scoop — the anonymous source behind a story the White House cited to justify banning Politico was JD Vance himself. (Status) • Men Who Allegedly Targeted Trump’s UFC Fight Converged Online. Most Never Met: Olivia George on an Ohio teenager and co-conspirators who amassed guns, ammunition and body armor without knowing each other’s real names. Prosecutors say the plan was coordinated between men in at least six states almost entirely online, and took shape in mere weeks ahead of the June 14 event at the White House. (Washington Post). • The Stalemate With Iran Is Not Sustainable: Richard Haass and Carolyn Kissane lay out a diplomatic strategy to end the war. (Foreign Affairs) Video of the day: Maggie Haberman: Trump’s ‘Unreality Bubble’ Meets the Midterms Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Adam Frank, Head of Wealth Planning and Advice at JPM, responsible for $1.3 trillion in client assets. Previously, he was head of Wealth Management for JP Morgan Securities. JPM’s combined total assets, including global, institutional, private bank, wealth, and retail, are over $7.7 trillion. The Cost of Living Problem is Partly Due to Our Own Ignorance Source: LinkedIn Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here. ~~~ To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.