The Gist

Russia’s Lab Rat

Amateur cyclist Bryan Fogel asked a Russian scientist to help him dope himself. He wound up working with the man who would expose Russia’s anti-doping fraud.

Vials of urine samples in an anti-doping laboratory for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Oli Scarff/Getty Images

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Filmmaker Bryan Fogel had a simple hypothesis: The worldwide anti-doping system is a joke. To test his theory, Fogel wanted to dope himself and evade detection. A Russian anti-doping lab director agreed to help. Months later, Fogel’s personal doping coach was blowing the whistle on Russia’s piss-swapping scam to get around anti-doping rules. Fogel’s documentary, Icarus, is available on Netflix.

In the Spiel: The Instagram drama of Louise Linton, wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

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