It’s the third annual Canadian wildfire pink-orange sun festival here in New York, complete with itchy eyes and a burning throat. What was once an odd, smoky divergence from the norm is now something we can mark on our calendars every year like Kwanzaa.
We've been quiet recently because Mark Goodwin and I have been working to write the most comprehensive investigation into Polymarket's origins and ambitions to date.
We found that Polymarket's "official" origin story, that Shayne Coplan founded the company alone in 2020 and then built "the company in his bathroom", is a lie. Polymarket really started years earlier as another company called TokenBnk that was deeply tied to Israeli interests, specifically a crypto company founded by Benjamin Netanyahu's niece and nephew. Coplan has actively tried to obfuscate this company from his story and it's not the only thing either.
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we unravel the real history of Polymarket, directly connecting the company to Peter Thiel's efforts to resurrect controversial DARPA programs from its now defunct Information Awareness Office. Polymarket appears to have been chosen by Thiel and his associates to succeed in resurrecting DARPA's Policy Analysis Market where another Thiel-linked company, Augur, had previously failed.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we explore the current influence of prediction markets and Polymarket, including how an insidious effort to have prediction markets replace representative democracy as a governance model is already being slowly implemented by the White House.
Read Part 1 here: https://t.co/xTmU5RzoZz
Every NYC Mayor dating back to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has asked New Yorkers to set their AC to around 78 degrees during heat waves to help protect the power grid from blackouts. Multiple governors, mayors, county executives, and even the U.S. Department of Energy have issued similar guidance just days ago.
But when NYC Mayor Mamdani tweets it, the bad-faith factory goes into overdrive, denouncing it like it is the end of democracy as we know it.
I get it, some people try to score political points, but New Yorkers are smart people. It takes a lot more than hypocrisy and childish manufactured outrage to move them one way or the other
URGENT: Please keep central air at 78°F when home, 85°F when away, and 82°F while sleeping for efficiency. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Oh, and I bet all you MAGA are about to call me a socialist.
This was the Trump's Administration recommendations during his first term.
@realDonaldTrump@cass_nguyen_ “Dr Trump” please pull the dangerous mRNA shots off the market before anyone else gets hurt. 7 million children have received one since you took office. We have over 4500 published studies showing how harmful they are.
New York’s electric grid is under heavy strain as this heat wave drives up energy demand.
We’re asking New Yorkers to voluntarily conserve power by setting your A/C between 75–78°, avoiding unnecessary appliance use, and turning off lights and electronics when they’re not needed.
These small steps can help prevent outages, keep the power on, and protect the most vulnerable members of our communities.
My team is coordinating with Con Edison, NYISO, and New York City leaders to reduce demand across the grid.
Let's just get a few things straight, because this is long overdue.
1. I have been a country music artist for years now. I have had a successful career in both music and commentary/strategy. People don't get to negate that for clicks or headlines. I was invited to sing this anthem on my own accord, as I have been many other places throughout my career
2. I am not accepting payment for this great honor.
3. The Freedom250 entire celebration is on a fundraising arm; neither UFC nor any National Mall celebrations are "taxpayer funded" (you would think, as a journalist, this would be something she would know or at least look into)
I'm no longer accepting false narratives and total sham accusations that diminish my hard work and earned accomplishments, so please expect this kind of response to continue.
Olivia Rodrigo tells Pitchfork that her upcoming Daisy Chain Fields festival was inspired by Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair:
“In, like, 2020 or something, it was really popular and cool for celebrities to talk about politics, and it’s not anymore. It’s not encouraged. But that’s what the original Lilith Fair was about.”