The Trump Administration’s Plan for Protecting Consumers? Politely Ask Companies to Behave.
Russell Vought spent his first year atop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau trying to gut it — mass layoffs, a canceled lease, funding cut off — until courts stopped him. Now he’s touting a gentler approach: quietly asking companies like fintech darling Bilt to fix their own messes instead of enforcing penalties. Weeks after Vought held Bilt up as proof the strategy works, the company failed its customers again, with mistaken debt-collection notices and dinged credit scores.
Read the full story →He Spent 27 Years on Death Row as a Wrongfully Convicted Man. What Comes Next?
Jimmie “Chris” Duncan spent 27 years in Louisiana’s Angola prison — much of it on death row — for the death of his girlfriend’s toddler, a conviction built largely on bite-mark analysis now discredited by the scientific community. New evidence pointed to an accidental drowning rather than a murder, and in June the Louisiana Supreme Court threw out his conviction. ProPublica and Verite News trace what exoneration actually looks like after nearly three decades of wrongful incarceration.
Read more →Her Breast MRI Was Approved, But That Didn’t Mean Her Insurance Would Pay
When Stephanie Halver’s doctor flagged her elevated breast cancer risk, an annual MRI seemed like a reasonable safeguard alongside her mammogram. Her insurer apparently disagreed: after a $13.90 payment, Halver was billed $1,205 out of pocket for a scan meant to catch what mammograms miss. KFF Health News breaks down the bill line by line — and why breast MRIs, despite their diagnostic value, remain a coverage gray area.
Read more →Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan bring the White House access they’ve spent a decade building to bear on the first year of Trump’s second term. Built from hundreds of interviews with officials, aides, and allies, Regime Change tracks the administration’s biggest storylines — foreign policy shifts, agency overhauls, personnel churn — from inside the room where the decisions were made.
Read more →In Other News
- What’s in the Price of a Gallon of Gas? — A line-item breakdown of what you’re actually paying for at the pump. [Read]
- Radio Telescopes Help Scientists Map Molecules in Space and Uncover Where and How Stars Form — How astronomers are reading the chemistry of star formation. [Read]
- Oregon Leaders Are Trying to Save the Deschutes River. Here’s Why That’s So Hard. — Water rights, drought, and a river running short. [Read]
- Online Mental Healthcare Is Here to Stay: How to Find the Right Clinician — A practical guide to vetting telehealth therapists. [Read]
- Why Older Pedestrians Fare Worse in Car Crashes — The physiology and infrastructure gaps behind a grim statistic. [Read]
- The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett — The Help author returns after 17 years with a new ensemble novel. [Read]
- The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson — A darkly literal take on dangerous attraction. [Read]
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 Book Review Regime Change |  Book Review The Calamity Club |  Book Review The Poison Daughter |