| MATTHEW LYNCH,
EXECUTIVE EDITOR |
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Hasan Piker was streaming on Twitch on Wednesday afternoon when a commenter posted news that Charlie Kirk had been shot. At first, Piker, a prominent left-wing influencer who had debated Kirk before and was due to do so again, thought it was a joke. Then Piker and his followers watched the news of Kirk’s death and reactions to it together in real time. While condemning such acts of political violence, Piker talks to VF’s Natalie Korach about not losing sight of the views and positions Kirk had so publicly staked out—and what they had done to the national discourse.
Elsewhere today, Erin Vanderhoof goes down a rabbit hole of rabbit-hole-length YouTube explainer essays; Vera Papisova investigates the existence of a nervous-system recalibration pod at the US Open; and Katie Nicholl provides a closer look at the state of William and Harry’s relationship. More Monday… |
Progressive influencer and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker had debated Charlie Kirk before, and he was eager to do it again. The two men had planned to square off at an event in two weeks. The pairing made sense, Piker has been considered somewhat of a peer of Kirk’s in the online commentary space, though ideologically opposed.
In an interview with VF, Piker discusses why he’s frustrated by the discourse in the wake of Kirk’s killing. |
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Seventy years after The Seven Year Itch premiered, a posthumous collection from Sam Shaw, the photographer behind the famous subway grate photo, offers an intimate glimpse of the star. |
The actor went all in for Blue Moon, his ninth film with longtime collaborator Richard Linklater. |
Why are audiences flocking to feature-length examinations of Joe Rogan with academic-quality citations? Creator Lindsay Ellis has some theories. |
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During the US Open, beneath Arthur Ashe Stadium, is a room so off-limits that it’s actually inside another room that is also very off-limits. In it, champions are recovering in a mind palace of cutting-edge technology. Officially, the only way to get in is with a player’s badge; unofficially, VF got one. (Don’t ask.)
The Ammortal Chamber, a high-tech tool for fast recovery, claims to be able to reset the nervous system, offering what feels like hours of restoration in 25-minute sessions. Ahead, an inside look at the hush-hush recovery room. |
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