Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani
Wanted: A fabulous editor for Advisory
Our weekend edition—the Advisory—is all about helping our community get the best advice on what to watch, where to travel, what to buy etc. All of it served with wonderful essays on art, music, food, history and more. We are looking for someone who really gets what makes the Advisory special—and can take it to the next level. Requirements of the job include:
- At least five years experience in lifestyle/culture content.
- A well-informed taste in books, travel, movies and more—and the network to commission content across a range of categories.
- Impeccable writing and editing skills is a must.
- Ability to work closely with our partners—and forge new relationships with institutions and brands.
- Willingness to explore lifestyle & culture in new and innovative ways.
- A knowledge of and love for splainer is a huge plus—since we’re not the usual news product.
Please note this isn’t a job for someone who is looking to edit the standard lifestyle section of a newspaper or site. Our aim is to break new ground—and build something truly valuable for our subscribers.
As for the rest: There is a six-month probation period and the pay will be industry standard. We are an equal opportunity employer and work remotely. Please send your resumes and cover letter—telling us why you want this job—to talktous@splainer.in. We will reach out to you if you’re shortlisted.
War on Gaza: Yet another bloodbath
An air raid on a supposed ‘humanitarian zone’ has killed 90 people and injured over 300 in South Gaza. The Israelis claim they were targeting a senior Hamas commander named Muhammad Deif. There is “no certainty” that he was killed. But hey, they seem to have killed one of his Hamas lieutenants—so we presume this is considered a ‘win’. Al Jazeera has more.
A very big day for sports
The Euros: The trophy will not be coming home. England—and head coach Gareth Southgate—experienced heartbreak for the second Euros final. The team went down 2-1 to Spain. The two star kids—Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden—did not play a starring role. Spain instead relied on Mikel Oyarzabal and Nico Williams for the two goals—while substitute Cole Palmer scored the sole one for his side. The Guardian has the match analysis—and the heartbreak on the front pages of English papers. The Times’ editorial priorities are, well interesting:
Check out Oyarzabal’s title-winning goal below:
Wimbledon: Kate got a standing ovation as she returned to centre court—to witness Carlos Alcaraz retain his title. Once again, he beat seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. While last year’s match was a five-set thriller, this time Alcaraz absolutely thrashed Djokovic in straight sets—6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4). As for the women: Barbora Krejčíková defeated Jasmine Paolini in a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 on Saturday. You can see the princess of Wales’ tour de PR below. CNN has more on the women’s match. The Guardian has the game analysis of the men’s final.
Copa America: A weeping Lionel Messi had to leave the field in the 64th minute—during the final between Argentina and Colombia held in Miami. The match was 0-0 at the time of Messi’s injury. Argentina would go on to win 1-0 after extra time, with Lautaro Martinez scoring in the 112th minute. (USA Today)
Alec Baldwin’s big ‘Rust’ moment
The context: In November 2021, Alec Baldwin fired a gun while filming a scene for ‘Rust’. The bullet killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. The gun should not have had live bullets, and nothing in the script required Baldwin to actually pull the trigger. The tragedy has since triggered many legal battles—our Big Story has the details on Alec Baldwin's indictment in January.
What happened now: On Friday, a New Mexico judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin.The reason: prosecutors and the police concealed key evidence—specifically live ammunition. Baldwin’s lawyers said the bullets could be related to the case. The prosecution said ‘absolutely not’. The judge said it doesn’t matter—you should have shared the evidence with the defence.
What’s notable: The judge did not declare a mistrial—but dismissed the charges “with prejudice”—saying: “The state's wilful withholding of this information was intentional and deliberate. There is no way for the court to right this wrong.” This means Baldwin can not be tried again. BBC News has more on how the case imploded. Below is Baldwin weeping as he hears the word “dismissed”:
Whistleblowers call out OpenAI
A group of whistleblowers at OpenAI have filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They claim that the company forces its employees to sign an illegal NDA—which prevents them from alerting regulators to any misconduct:
OpenAI made staff sign employee agreements that required them to waive their federal rights to whistleblower compensation, the letter said. These agreements also required OpenAI staff to get prior consent from the company if they wished to disclose information to federal authorities. OpenAI did not create exemptions in its employee non-disparagement clauses for disclosing securities violations to the SEC.
If true, these requirements violate existing whistleblower laws—which OpenAI strongly denies. Washington Post (paywall) first reported the scoop. (TechCrunch)
Meanwhile, at Apple India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has accused the company of “abusive conduct” and “unfair terms.” A confidential report—accessed by Reuters—says the company misused its “dominant position in the apps market” to force developers to use the Apple Store to distribute their apps. Why this is interesting: The company has already been forced by the EU to allow companies to offer their apps outside Apple’s ecosystem. It may be forced by the Indian government to do the same. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, over at X: The EU is not happy with the changes made by Elon Musk to the blue tick program. The verification badge is now offered to anyone who pays for the premium service—which the EU says is misleading: “Back in the day, blue checks used to mean trustworthy sources of information. Now with X, our preliminary view is that they deceive users and infringe the DSA [Digital Services Act].” If the preliminary findings are held up, the company would be in violation of the DSA. Musk has already signalled that X will not back down. So it will be interesting to see what happens next. (CNN)
The first ‘shuddh vegetarian’ city…
In the world is Palitana. The Gujarati town has banned the sale and consumption of non-vegetarian food. The reason: 200 Jain monks protested 250 odd butcher shops— claiming that the display of meat in public spaces hurts their religious sensibilities. Palitana is an important pilgrimage site for Jains. FYI: Rajkot and Vadodara already ban the display of meat. Palitana is the first to ban it outright. (Times of India)
Narcissists get better with age
A narcissist is someone who has “exaggerated sense of self-importance, a strong need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others.” According to new research, these kinds of people mellow out with age. The big ‘but’: They are still more narcissistic than their peers—which is the bad news:
The fact that people's narcissism relative to that of their peers did not change significantly, [lead author Prof Ulrich] Orth said, “was true even across very long periods of time, which suggests that narcissism is a stable personality trait”.
BBC Science Focus has more on narcissism as a personality disorder.
Ambani wedding things to see
We’ve picked the photos and reels we found the most amusing. We start with the best of the worst: Boris Johnson:
Rajinikanth teetering on the edge of losing his Thalaivar status. No, Rajini can’t dance:
The sartorial act of violence committed on the lehenga—by the Kardashian mafia (Kimmy and Khloe):
Yes, Modi-ji was there—while Rahul supposedly hung out at a “pizzeria”?
The other prominent no-show was, of course, Virat Kohli. Even Rohit was busy hanging at Wimbledon, instead.
But, hey, John Cena had a good time:
