September 9, 2026 - Jia Tolentino

Overview

Michael Kosta covers Trump’s Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas and the GOP candidates scrambling for excuses to skip it. J.D. Vance “celebrates” the 25th anniversary of 9/11, while Jordan Klepper investigates Mayor Mamdani’s commemorations and his symbolic—and HIGHLY suspicious—pen antics. Josh Johnson unpacks Daejon Love’s alleged $1.3 million scam posing as a San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, complete with sloppy “training” videos and a beach helmet, then proposes a punishment to fit the crime. Kosta also talks with best-selling author and New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino about “Our Plastic-Surgery Nightmare,” “Instagram face,” and how algorithms, AI, and big tech warp our perception of beauty.