Hey, Plus members! As you know, the Slate News Quiz invites you to compete against a designated Slatester every week as you test your knowledge of current events. You should definitely just skip it this week, OK? It’s really hard, and the questions are dumb. The promo line says “Think You’re Smarter Than a Slate Senior Editor?” and in this specific case you almost certainly are.
From Slate, Trump-Related
- We’re out of the Paris Agreement. Is that maybe … good? Or if that’s too Slatepitch-y for you: At least it’s “an honest reflection of where we stand, where we have stood for many years in this fight: We are not the leaders. We are the problem.” Still, the main thing is, it serves the short-term needs of Donald J. Trump.
- After the attacks in Portland, Oregon, last week, many of us are losing our sense of safety in numbers. That and the other brutal hate crimes committed this year are intrinsically connected to the rise of Trump, Jamelle Bouie argues.
- As a geopolitical matter, Trump’s antagonism toward Germany is stupid and dangerous. His insistence that Germany’s trade policy is selfish and destructive is … broadly accurate? But his temper tantrum will only make the problem worse.
- Remember when we were going to have a female president? Given how that went, will we ever nominate a woman again?
From Slate, Other
- It’s the NBA Finals! And we have a blog about it, by Nick Greene. Here’s his write-up of Game 1.
- It’s also summer blockbuster season! The good news: Dana Stevens, not usually a fan of superhero movies, found Wonder Woman surprisingly nuanced and ultimately thrilling. The bad news: According to lifeguard Jim McCrady, Baywatch contains “many inaccuracies with respect to our profession.”
- What’s the matter with Connecticut?
Not From Slate
- Writing a lyric essay about Donald Trump the Man is a high-wire endeavor, and Rebecca Solnit’s “The Loneliness of Donald Trump” is a bravura performance.
- A fascinating look at how one Greenwich Village block went from Jane Jacobs–ian paradise to high-fashion strip mall to luxury blightscape.
- Adam Serwer puts Greg Gianforte, who body-slammed a reporter the day before being elected to Congress, in the ignoble tradition of “the politics of a false valor forged by fear.”
- To Americans, Rodrigo Duterte looks like a murderous despot. What does he look like to Filipinos—and why have they rallied around him?
- A calm, measured argument with large implications: Is Donald Trump’s presidency illegitimate?
Remember, 118 is a very respectable score in basketball,
Gabriel Roth
Senior editor and News Quiz failure
