Certainty Faces Challenges
Certainty has been experiencing difficulties. Those who have been the most vocal about culture, crime, or punishment during this cycle seem to have missed the mark, while quieter individuals around them have picked up what was overlooked. Loud confidence continues to lose out to persistent steadiness.
Elon Musk
Musk called for a boycott of The Odyssey due to Nolan’s casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, labeling it as “woke.” However, the film debuted with an impressive $124.5 million domestically, showing that Musk’s influence couldn’t affect the success of a prominent Hollywood director.
Joseph Aoun
Lebanon’s president left his White House meeting with the reversal of a 41-year-old ban on direct U.S.-Lebanon flights. Despite seeking a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Trump did not meet this request. Similarly, the State Department continued its warning against Americans traveling to Lebanon.
Tucker Carlson
The former Fox News host described Andrew Tate’s 2023 detention in Romania as a “set-up” and suggested a conspiracy against him. British prosecutors have authorized 38 more charges against Tate and his brother Tristan, arrested in Miami under extradition proceedings. Carlson’s claim is becoming increasingly international.
Katie Porter
Former congresswoman and unsuccessful California gubernatorial candidate Porter announced her departure from electoral politics to establish a career as a book influencer. She aims to devote more time directing her written works.
Rebel Wilson
Charlotte MacInnes’s defamation suit against Rebel Wilson over Instagram posts about a bathtub disagreement on the set of Wilson’s film, The Deb, was dismissed. The judge confirmed Wilson’s account and ordered MacInnes to cover legal fees, branding her an “unreliable historian.”
Roustan Hockey
Canada’s last factory manufacturing traditional wooden hockey sticks faced a blow from President Trump’s tariff on Canadian goods, including hockey sticks. However, composite sticks used by NHL professionals, mainly made in China, remain unaffected. The NHL moved on from wooden sticks, but Trump’s tariff targeted them regardless.
Conventional Wisdom
Originally featured in Newsweek’s print edition, Conventional Wisdom used arrows to indicate changes in political trends. It’s being revived online as hyperbole and partisan certainty have intensified. CW uses arrows—up, down, or sideways—to depict figures and forces affecting current events without making future predictions or claiming special insights. In an era when partisan media tends to reinforce rather than question beliefs, CW maintains a centrist approach, skeptical of both the left and right, committed to challenging inflated reputations and acknowledging overlooked truths.
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