Cartoons Monday!

Plus Wired goes political and Willie Nelson says "bullshit."

Greg Mitchell has authored 14 books and directed four PBS films in recent years. His latest film, “The Atomic Bowl: Football at Ground Zero—and Nuclear Peril Today” has been airing over PBS stations and now streaming for free (key links to watch now and more here). A companion book is available, and you can read more or order here. The New Yorker magazine this week has a piece about the PBS film, which you can read here. And subscribing to this newsletter is still somehow FREE.

Trump at the Charlie Kirk event yesterday: “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them.”

The scent of Musk: Thanks to my wife for forwarding this email notice to me. One of the key writers in this issue is Steve Levy, who wrote for us at Crawdaddy in the mid-70s.

At WIRED, we once saw ourselves as chroniclers, even champions, of an industry that seemed to transcend politics. This year, though, we’ve been clear about where we stand: We’re profoundly concerned about the United States’ authoritarian turn and the tech industry’s complicity in Trump’s actions. And we’re committed to continuing our coverage.

So committed that we decided to take to the streets: If you live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, New York, or Washington, DC, you might notice the cover of this issue as a mural, a digital billboard, or a wheatpasted poster. We wanted you to see what we saw, over many months of covering DOGE, ICE, and the rest of it. Tech leaders got what they wanted—a seat at the table with a would-be king, and a chance to haggle over the rules that govern their businesses. But remember: It’s your future that they just might gamble away.

A final selection from Saturday night’s Farm Aid, with the annual “Everything Is Bullshit” from Willie Nelson with his son taking the lead.

Year of the Cat? While many people recall, with great affection or complaint, that the early 1970s was the brief era of the “singer-songwriter” trend topping the charts, they think of James Taylor, Carole King, Joni Mitchell or many others. Cat Stevens, often forgotten, sold millions of records but faded quickly and then was shunned for comments about fatwas and Salman Rusdie. He’s bounced back since, as humble Yusuf, and defied Islam orders or requests by restoring his former name to his musical work. There’s an upcoming Yusuf/Cat Stevens memoir, “Cat on the Road to Find Out,” previewed by NY Times here and in print yesterday in the Arts & Leisure section, and new Best Of album. And he released last week a live “Peace Train”—when is the last time you heard it?—from 1971 here:

From Tunes to Toons for Today