Surviving Halftime, Dark Side D
I survived the Great Super Bowl Halftime Scare of 2026. At least, I mostly survived. For some reason, from the time Bad Bunny got about 30 seconds into Tití Me Preguntó, I’ve only been able to write in Spanish. I’ve been forced to use Google and ChatGPT to translate today’s edition back into Inglés, so forgive me if some of my usually pithy, punny wordplay is no bueno. During my first day of high school Spanish, my teacher, Mrs. Martinez, asked, “Cómo te llamas?” And I nervously answered, “Bien, y tu?” So if anything, for me, the Bad Bunny halftime show arrived too late. Given the reaction of many of the critics, including our Complainer in Chief, the message of the show couldn’t come soon enough. Neither could the phrase written on the football he held up at the end of the performance: “Together, We Are America.” Only against the backdrop of today’s divisions could that statement be seen as a form of protest.
+ Featuring Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga (Hmm, that last name sounds a little foreign), a cast of celebrities, and a real wedding, “his entire performance rebuked the notion that he is some culture-war proxy being foisted upon an American public that wants its stars to shut up and sing. Yes, he filled this show with slogans and symbols signaling Puerto Rican and Latino pride at a time when federal agents are menacing Spanish speakers and President Trump has declared English to be the national language. But fundamentally, the halftime was a blast: an instant-classic, precisely detailed, relentlessly stimulating medley rooted in the good old-fashioned pleasure principle.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Bad Bunny’s critics said his Super Bowl halftime show would be divisive. They were totally wrong.
+ With messages like, “God bless America” and “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” it’s no wonder that Trump complained that, “Nobody understands a word this guy is saying…it makes no sense.” Hopefully, he had an easier time understanding Green Day’s pre-game rendition of American Idiot.
+ There are rough journalistic assignments, and then there are rough journalistic assignments. Chandelis Duster in NPR had one of the latter. Here’s what happened at Kid Rock’s alternative halftime show.
+ For the most part, the commercials played it as safe as the teams’ offenses. A guy whose most famous public meal was Evander Holyfield’s ear giving us dietary advice was certainly a choice. The most notable thing about the ads was that a whole lot of them were for AI companies or used a lot of AI to create. USA Today ranked all of the commercials.
+ And, yes, yes. There was a game. But you’d be forgiven for missing it. Everything, and I mean everything, went dark right from the start. The Ringer: How the Seahawks’ Dark Side Defense Turned Super Bowl LX Into a Blowout. The best stories on the other side of the ball included a rare MVP for a running back. Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker III becomes first RB to win award in 28 years. And the redemption of Sam Darnold was so sweet, I managed to completely forget he played for USC.
+ And maybe the only thing from Super Bowl week that was more absurd than the halftime controversy was the fact that sports reporters who traveled from around the country were shocked to find out that the most beautiful city in the world isn’t a hellscape. It’s just that right wing media has been lying about it for so long. (Guys, they’ve been lying about everything else, too.) Super Bowl Visitors Find San Francisco Better Than Its Apocalyptic Image.
Somewhere Out There
“A prince, an ambassador, senior diplomats, top politicians. All brought down by the Jeffrey Epstein files. And all in Europe, rather than the United States. The huge trove of Epstein documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice has sent shock waves through Europe’s political, economic and social elites — dominating headlines, ending careers and spurring political and criminal investigations.” Epstein revelations have toppled top figures in Europe while US fallout is more muted.
+ NBC News: Why the Epstein scandal is Keir Starmer’s most perilous moment yet after chief of staff resigns. (Yet, it doesn’t seem perilous at all for certain other world leaders who were best friends with Epstein.)
+ The Epstein scandal is taking down Europe’s political class. In the US, they’re getting a pass.
+ Ghislaine Maxwell pleads the Fifth in House Oversight Epstein investigation
There’s Something Happening Here
“When federal agents swarmed the track on Oct. 19 — weapons drawn, a helicopter overhead, unmarked S.U.V.s screeching in on dirt roads — they did more than crack an alleged gambling ring and increase deportation numbers. They shattered Wilder’s innocent belief that its out-of-the-way location and deep-red politics could isolate the town from the raids overtaking other parts of the country. ‘We rely on Hispanic labor,’ said Chris Gross, a second-generation farmer who grows sweet corn seed and mint in Wilder. She added, ‘Nobody thought something like this could happen here.'” NYT (Gift Article): A Raid in a Small Town Brings Trump’s Deportations to Deep-Red Idaho.
+ WSJ (Gift Article): Immigration Raids in South Texas Are Starting to Hit the Economy.
Baby One More Time
“Most surrogacy contracts forbid disclosing the identities of the parties involved, but, when Elliott sent the author a private message, she confirmed that they were working with the same family. The other surrogate, who lived in Pennsylvania, also shared something else she’d heard about the couple: they already had thirteen children.” Ava Kofman in The New Yorker: The Babies Kept in a Mysterious Los Angeles Mansion.
Extra, Extra
Five Ring Circus: “For a nation that had become enraptured in Lindsey Vonn’s comeback story and the norm-defying attempt to win an Olympic medal without an ACL in her left knee, the helpless cries of pain as she lay on her back and as the mountain fell silent will be hard to erase from memory.” The event everyone was waiting for lasted 13 seconds and ended with Vonn being airlifted to the hospital. The injury to her teammate made the victory more muted, but no less impressive for Breezy Johnson, who called gold medal run ‘surreal’ after 2022 crash. Ilia Malinin did Ilia things to help win US figure skating team gold. (He’s known as the Quad God, but with that amazing hair, I think of him as the Mane Man.) The medals are having some technical difficulties. (“Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke.”) And yes, sadly, our dear leader is getting involved by calling some US athletes losers on social media. The crowds at the Games may have different ideas about who fits that description. NBC appears to cut crowd’s booing of JD Vance from Winter Olympics broadcast.
+ Train Dreams: Brain train game may help protect against dementia for up to 20 years. (It’s probably not quite that simple, but a lot of researchers are excited about this study). Meanwhile, a couple of teas or coffees a day could lower risk of dementia.
+ Deleting History: “The State Department is removing all posts on its public accounts on the social media platform X made before President Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025.”
+ Bannon Fodder: Justice Department moves to dismiss Steve Bannon’s criminal case. (The worse you are, the better it is with this Justice Dept.)
+ Um, That’s Not My Finger: “Proponents predict the new technology will help find cures for rare diseases, discover new drugs, enhance surgeons’ skill and empower patients.” But in the meantime, according to Reuters: As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts.
+ Crypto Night: “In the depths of Donald Trump’s interregnum, his eldest two sons huddled in a Mar-a-Lago conference room with boyhood pal Zach Witkoff to conjure up a new money machine. Two other would-be cryptocurrency entrepreneurs showed up, one in sweatpants.” WSJ (Gift Article): One Generation Runs the Country. The Next Cashed In on Crypto. (Remind me again. What’s the good part of crypto?)
+ Lobster Lady: “Her death, in a hospital not far from her home in Rockland, was confirmed by her sternman, Max Oliver Jr., who was also her son. On the frigid and crustacean-filled waters of Penobscot Bay, Mrs. Oliver was known as the Lobster Lady. She was a folk hero to Mainers — an enduring, if fading, emblem of the state’s hardy, matter-of-fact work ethic.” Virginia Oliver, Maine’s ‘Lobster Lady’ and Folk Hero, Dies at 105.
+ On the Job Training: Ultrarunners in secondhand trainers: the rickshaw drivers taking on the world’s toughest races – photo essay. This is awesome.
Bottom of the News
“While traditional Crocs are known as much for their comfort as their divisive design, the LEGO Crocs are all about style. If you’re planning to wear them for long periods, have an Epsom salt bath waiting for you at the end of the day.” We walked a mile in the LEGO Crocs so you don’t have to. (Some things are worth a little pain…)
