It’s Thursday, January 22. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Are microplastics really bad for you? A crash course on the First Amendment in Minneapolis. The unlikeliest hero of the American Revolution. And much more.

But first: Is the world order coming apart at the seams?

If one speech summed up the mood among the elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, it was the one Canadian prime minister Mark Carney gave a day before Donald Trump showed up, amid the sturm und drang about Greenland.

Carney warned of a “rupture in the world order, the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a harsh reality, where geopolitics, where the large, main power, geopolitics, is submitted to no limits, no constraints.”

For ringing the alarm, Carney received a standing ovation. And he echoed the prevailing view at the conference: that globalization—and the rules and institutions that came with it—is in retreat.

Not so fast, says our columnist Tyler Cowen today. He says that while the politicians at Davos might have their own reasons to argue otherwise, the world is still globalizing—and more quickly than you might think. Read his dissent from the prevailing view in the Swiss Alps:

What about the speech by the man who appears to be driving so many of these trends? Wednesday was a good day for subscribers to the TACO view of the world: Trump Always Chickens Out. The president lowered the temperature in Davos, first ruling out taking Greenland by force in his speech (that it even needs to be said is remarkable), then withdrawing his threat of punitive tariffs against European countries. For the latest on Trump’s speech, Greenland, and everything else from an extraordinary week, catch our latest livestream. Niall Ferguson in Davos spoke to Rafaela Siewert about a world order in the balance, why Trump thinks we need Greenland, and more:

And, for more on Greenland, tune in to the latest episode of Conversations with Coleman. His guest this week is Heather A. Conley, an authority on Europe, NATO, and Arctic security. He asks how Greenland became one of the most strategically important places on Earth—and how this will change our future. Hit the play button below to listen to their conversation, or catch it wherever you get your podcasts.

The Real Reasons Greenland Matters The Free Press Episode

Relax, Microplastics Aren’t Killing You

Faye Flam

In 2025, a shocking study concluded that plastic shards made up 0.48 percent of the brain—enough to make a plastic spoon. The finding went viral, and helped fuel a panic about the dangers of microplastics. But now that study has been debunked. So what does science really say about the health effects of these tiny particles? Faye Flam separates fact from fiction on America’s hottest toxin. Read full story

The Campaign to Crush Free Speech in Minnesota

Greg Lukianoff

In the two weeks since the killing of Renee Good, and with Minneapolis the site of the largest ICE operation in the agency’s history, the Twin Cities have given the country a crash course in the First Amendment, argues FIRE president Greg Lukianoff. Read his essay on what incitement is (and isn’t), when protesters and police crossed the line, and what Don Lemon doesn’t understand about the First Amendment. Read full story

This Week in American History: The Unlikeliest Hero of the American Revolution

Jonathan Horn

Self-taught, overweight, and missing two fingers. That doesn’t exactly sound like the story of an elite soldier. Still, Henry Knox overcame it all to become a formidable artillery commander and an essential part of America’s birth. In the latest installment of his newsletter celebrating this week in American history, Jonathan Horn remembers “Opportunity Knox,” the American Revolution’s greatest underdog. Read full story

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On Old School: Joseph Luzzi on the Most Famous, Least-Read Poet

While many have heard of Dante’s Inferno, few know that his masterpiece really contains three parts, forming a trilogy that charts the journey from despair to redemption. For literature professor Joseph Luzzi, this is a story he knows all too well: After his wife was tragically killed in a car accident while eight months’ pregnant, leaving him widowed and a father on the same day, Dante’s Divine Comedy helped him overcome his grief and build a new life. Listen to his conversation with Shilo Brooks wherever you get your podcasts, or by clicking the play button below.