‘The sport is still run on a shoestring’

‘How the world fell in love with climbing’

Josh Noble at the Financial Times

That “climbing has piqued the interest of the world’s largest subscription streaming service is a sign of how big the pursuit has become,” says Josh Noble. The “number of people climbing has exploded — fueled by the post-pandemic boom in exercise, the sport’s addition to the Olympic program and awe-inspiring achievements from daredevil climbers.” But “some in climbing are wary of how the most dangerous version — free solo climbing — is typically what garners the most attention.”

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‘T-maxxing has gone too far’

Yasmin Tayag at The Atlantic

American men are “attempting to increase their testosterone levels — whether they need to or not,” says Yasmin Tayag. Low testosterone “really can be debilitating,” but the “average decline in testosterone is not especially large.” Up to a “third of men on TRT don’t have a deficiency,” and this “maximalist approach to testosterone is risky.” Pumping the “body full of testosterone may not alleviate the problems that patients set out to solve,” as “every patient responds to testosterone differently.”

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‘The real “civilizational erasure” is happening in America’

Fareed Zakaria at Foreign Policy

Many “MAGA luminaries often proclaim that the grave danger facing the West is ‘civilizational erasure,’ which they claim is happening in Europe,” says Fareed Zakaria. But the “West’s defining character has not been tribal or religious solidarity — that describes most of the world.” The West’s “precious, almost unique, achievement has been the limitation of state power,” but the “second Trump administration has moved sharply to erode these traditions.” The “Trump administration has declared war on civil society.”

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‘When courts become quality control’

Ronell Smith at The Dallas Morning News

Competence is “usually invisible,” says Ronell Smith. People “notice it when it’s missing — when major decisions are made quickly, explained incompletely, then ‘resolved’ only after legal challenge.” The “Trump administration’s recent Title X reversal is a case study.” Reversals are “normal. What’s different is when reversal starts to feel like the governing method: act first, clarify later and let litigation serve as the cleanup step. It’s a method we might call churn governance.”

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