I’ve read several of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, like David and Goliath, Outliers and Blink. They’re fun books if you go into them thinking “this is not real science.” It’s a strange kind of anecdotal pseudoscience, where Gladwell throws theories around and uses cherrypicked stories to “prove” those theories. Instead of just thinking of Gladwell’s books as fun, harmless reads, there’s some kind of cult of Gladwell, and of course, a cult devoted to hating on Gladwell. He still works at the New Yorker, although he doesn’t seem to go into the office much, if anecdotal stories prove anything (to Gladwell, they prove everything). Still, Gladwell has surprisingly strong feelings about how people need to go into an office every day.

Author Malcolm Gladwell thinks that remote work is hurting society and that a recession will likely drive employees who are “sitting in their pajamas” back into the office. The bestselling author of “Blink” and “The Tipping Point” grew emotional and shed tears as he told the “Diary of a CEO” podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett that people need to come into the office in order to regain a “sense of belonging” and to feel part of something larger than themselves.

“It’s very hard to feel necessary when you’re physically disconnected,” the Canadian writer said. “As we face the battle that all organizations are facing now in getting people back into the office, it’s really hard to explain this core psychological truth, which is we want you to have a feeling of belonging and to feel necessary. And we want you to join our team,” Gladwell continued. “And if you’re not here it’s really hard to do that.”

“It’s not in your best interest to work at home,” he said. “I know it’s a hassle to come into the office, but if you’re just sitting in your pajamas in your bedroom, is that the work life you want to live? Don’t you want to feel part of something?”

Gladwell added: “I’m really getting very frustrated with the inability of people in positions of leadership to explain this effectively to their employees. If we don’t feel like we’re part of something important, what’s the point? If it’s just a paycheck, then it’s like what have you reduced your life to?”

[From The NY Post]

I’ve been working from home since 2008 and I love it. I can’t imagine going into an office to work at this point. I haven’t even seen CB in person in years, although we talk all the time. Working from home suits my personality though, I was always like this. I’m sure there are extroverts and social butterflies who love office environments and being around other people. But what the pandemic gave us, as a society, was the realization that so much work could be done from the comfort of home, that physical commuting f–king sucks, and that too much real estate has been taken up by commercial businesses.

When Gladwell says sh-t like “If it’s just a paycheck, then it’s like what have you reduced your life to?” – plenty of people work for the paycheck and it’s not the end of the f–king world. Employers treat employees like they’re disposable and interchangeable, so workers have resigned and looked for greener pastures or working arrangements which suit their situations. All of this breast-beating about “think of the poor employers and their precious commercial real estate” reeks of Gladwell being a corporate shill.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on Monday afternoon, and the news came out by Monday evening. The MAGA crew immediately went into meltdown mode, threatening violent civil war and promising to attack and destroy the FBI and Department of Justice. Their little terrorist hashtags were getting a workout for about 36 hours. What was interesting is that Law Twitter pointed out something pretty obvious: when the FBI executed a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago, then Trump would obviously have a copy of the warrant. That’s the way it works. It’s up to Trump to confirm what was searched and booked into evidence, and Trump knows exactly what was in the FBI’s warrant. So now #ReleasetheWarrant is the hashtag. Meanwhile, WaPo has some info about why the raid was almost certainly about Trump’s theft of classified material.

In the months before the FBI’s dramatic move to execute a search warrant at former president Donald Trump’s Florida home and open his safe to look for items, federal authorities grew increasingly concerned that Trump or his lawyers and aides had not, in fact, returned all the documents and other material that were government property, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Officials became suspicious that when Trump gave 15 boxes of items to the National Archives about seven months ago, either the former president or people close to him held on to key records — despite a Justice Department investigation into the handling of classified and other material that had been sent to the former president’s private club and residence in the waning days of his administration.

Over months of discussions about whether documents were still missing, some officials also came to suspect Trump’s representatives were not truthful at times, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

On Tuesday, a lawyer for Trump said the agents who brought the court-approved warrant to Mar-a-Lago a day earlier took about 12 more boxes after conducting their search.

People familiar with the investigation said that Justice Department and FBI officials traveled to Mar-a-Lago this spring, a meeting first reported by CNN. The officials spoke to Trump’s representatives, inspected the storage space where documents were held, and expressed concern that the former president or people close to him still had items that should be in government custody, these people said.

By that point, officials at the National Archives had been aggressively contacting people in Trump’s orbit to demand the return of documents they believed were covered by the Presidential Records Act, said two people familiar with those inquiries. Like the others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the investigation.

[From WaPo]

LMAO @ “officials at the National Archives had been aggressively contacting people in Trump’s orbit to demand the return of documents” – aggressive archivists were contacting liars and terrorists who stole classified material! Jeez, WaPo. Anyway, the Post spoke to one of Trump’s lawyers, Christina Bobb, who said that DOJ officials came to Mar-a-Lago this spring to search through dozens of boxes in a Mar-a-Lago storage area. Then in June, the chief of the counterintelligence and export control section at the Justice Department came down to MAL and met with Trump’s people about the classified documents and Trump “stopped by the meeting” but was not interviewed.

Anyway, it sounds like the DOJ had gone above and beyond to settle this issue of stolen classified material quietly and without having to execute a search warrant, only to be largely rebuffed by Trump and his people. I also think there is a good chance that some of the missing/withheld classified material could be long gone by now, flushed down various MAL toilets. Which is a whole other issue.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Two Sundays ago, Football Association President Prince William attended the Women’s Euro final at Wembley. The Lionesses – the English team – won! They beat the German team. Prince William truly beamed with pride and he was happy to walk out onto the pitch to personally congratulate the Lionesses and present the trophy. Notably, he was not willing to do the same last year when the Three Lions lost in the Euro final – William skipped the trophy presentation and failed to congratulate the Italian team. During the trophy presentation, William shook hands or hugged every Lioness. He seemed… especially keen. Now it sounds like he’s been making a special effort with the Lionesses for a while. Interesting.

The Duke of Cambridge, who is the president of the Football Association (FA), showed to the world his happiness following the triumph of England female football team – known as the Lionesses – at the Women’s Euro. Following the final held at Wembley Stadium on July 31, Prince William wholeheartedly hugged the players as he handed out the medals.

Now, one of the victorious Lionesses has described just how sincere the second-in-line to the throne’s interest in the team has been over the past years.

Defender Lucy Bronze said the Duke had, on more than one occasion, visited the team while they were training for the Euro tournament.

She told OK! magazine: “He gets on really well with Jill Scott because he’s come to a couple of our camps and Jill is our longest serving player so they’ve built up a friendship. Jill said he basically jumped on top of her and hugged her so tight! It’s nice to know he’s a big fan and supporter. He’s not just handing out the medals, he’s been to see us play plenty of times.”

Speaking of William’s reaction to the victory of the Lionesses last month, Bronze added: “I think he was more excited than some of the players!”

[From The Daily Express]

On one side, I think the Lionesses see William as harmless and a true cheerleader for their team and for women’s sports. Like, whatever you think of this copykeening, incandescent mess of a man, he is “important” and it’s genuinely nice to see the future Prince of Wales beaming with joy over women’s football. That being said, there’s an edge to this story. The women didn’t do anything wrong, obviously. They’re existing, they’re thriving, they’re winning, they’re total badasses. But “Jill said he basically jumped on top of her and hugged her so tight” caused a major eye twitch. (Jill Scott is engaged to a woman, btw.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jill Scott MBE (@jillscottjs8)

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Here are some assorted photos of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck this week in LA. Following their Paris honeymoon/family vacation, Ben flew back to LA while Jennifer stayed in Europe for several more days. She was doing some kind of photoshoot or ad campaign. Then she flew back to LA. She’s been spotted going in and out of her favorite dance studio, and those are the photos in this post. Her tie-dye sweatsuit is… a lot. But it’s cute! If anyone can bring back tie-dye, it’s J.Lo. Meanwhile, Ben was seen out on the 7th – he stopped by a gas station with Samuel. You might wonder, now that “the honeymoon is over,” are J.Lo and Ben even spending time together? Luckily, Page Six got some shots of Bennifer at Dunkin Donuts:

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck grab coffee and donuts from Dunkin’ https://t.co/pCRMTEePE5 pic.twitter.com/YUBHwA0YFv

— Page Six (@PageSix) August 10, 2022

LOL. Ben was really like “baby, I have to take you somewhere very special to me. I’m taking you to Dunkin Donuts!” Imagine Ben introducing the Dunkin employees to his wife. He was probably so nervous! While Page Six claims that J.Lo had a bag of Dunkin goodies, the same as Ben, I do not see any photos of J.Lo carrying anything from Dunkin. Please, like J.Lo would even f–k with a frosted donut with sprinkles. Like she would f–king bother with a maple glaze.

Meanwhile, Ben has put his Pacific Palisades home on the market. He’s selling it for $30 million. I’m still not 100% sure that Ben and J.Lo have locked down a joint property yet, although they’ve spent a good chunk of time in recent months house-hunting all over LA.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

Olivia Newton John passed away at the age of 73. [Dlisted]
AMC & Nicole Kidman continue to be a match made in heaven. [OMG Blog]
Rihanna & A$AP Rocky went for a walk at 4 am? [LaineyGossip]
Tracee Ellis Ross wore The Row – a very strange outfit. [RCFA]
The Monse Fall ‘22 collection is… not great. [Tom & Lorenzo]
Review of Gatlopp, a “great little movie.” [Pajiba]
Katie Holmes & Bobby Wooten III are hanging out in NYC. [JustJared]
I know she’s problematic but Juliette Binoche looks great. [GFY]
Gabby Petito’s parents have sued the Moab police. [Buzzfeed]
Elton John previews Britney Spears’ comeback. [Towleroad]
Doctors are turning in patients for self-managing abortions. [Jezebel]

John Travolta pays tribute to #Grease co-star Olivia Newton-John: “Your impact was incredible. I love you so much.”https://t.co/J844ivkigf pic.twitter.com/YYGunmHYTZ

— Variety (@Variety) August 8, 2022

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anne Heche (@anneheche)

Anne Heche was in two car crashes on Friday, the second of which was really bad and put her in the ICU and destroyed the home she crashed into. The home’s tenant and her pets were able to escape uninjured (there’s a GoFundMe) and Anne is in the hospital with severe burns. It was first reported that Anne was in stable condition, however, that information was inaccurate and her spokesperson said so to CNN, adding: “She has always remained in critical condition, slipping into a coma following the accident. She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention.”

Before the second, more serious crash, Anne was involved in a hit-and-run with another property earlier that day. Because of the two crashes and potentially due to her podcast episode posted the same day as the crash, the LAPD has gotten a warrant to test Anne’s blood to determine if she was intoxicated while she was driving.

Anne Heche will have to give a blood sample to police after crashing her car into a home in Los Angeles.

The LAPD received a warrant to test the “Six Days, Seven Nights” star’s blood to see if she was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the crash, Page Six confirmed.

Officers believe Heche, 53, was intoxicated when she plowed her blue Mini Cooper into a house Friday and sustained severe burns after the vehicle caught fire, but her blood test results could take weeks, TMZ reported.

Sources also told the outlet that, at the minimum, the LAPD will refer Heche’s case to the LA City attorney, who could press hit-and-run charges, as she reportedly slammed into a garage and drove off before driving into the nearby house.

“The info we received this morning was a warrant was obtained the same day as the traffic collision, which was August 5. The warrant was to draw blood, and an investigation is ongoing pending the blood test results,” a rep for the LAPD told Page Six. “If found intoxicated, [Heche] could be charged with misdemeanor DUI hit and run. No arrests have been made so far.”

Officials with the LAPD West Traffic Division also confirmed that Heche hit another vehicle before taking off again and hitting the house.

[From Page Six]

LAPD got the warrant the day of the crash because the blood draw has to be done within hours. They’re still waiting for the results, but Anne hasn’t been able to talk with them at all due to her serious injuries. As mentioned in the previous post, Anne’s podcast had posted an episode earlier that day during which Anne was drinking vodka and wine. The podcast episode was pulled down after the car crash and her podcast producer has since denied it was taped on the same day, saying that it was recorded earlier that week and posted later. A hair salon owner told The LA Times that Anne was in his salon that morning, just two miles from the crash site. He said she seemed pleasant and not intoxicated, but did say she grabbed his face, which is definitely odd behavior. From the overall reporting, it doesn’t seem like Anne was rushing away from anything and it’s unclear whether the accidents happened in her neighborhood or close to her home.  This sounds like a very dangerous situation and it’s fortunate that no one was killed. Hopefully all involved are okay.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anne Heche (@anneheche)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Anne Heche (@anneheche)

For months/years, Prince Charles has been lucky. He’s lucky because most of his financial improprieties and crimes have been dull, unsexy and kind of hard to follow for the layperson. In recent months, those dry, unsexy stories got two big boosts. One, we learned that Prince Charles was accepting literal suitcases full of cash from a wealthy Qatari. Two, we learned that Chuck brokered a £1 million “charity donation” from the bin Laden family. Those two stories were easy enough for the most casual observer to follow. I suspect this will be pretty easy to follow too: Charles accepted donations from a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin:

Prince Charles met a Russian oligarch with links to Vladimir Putin the same year his charity accepted a £300,000 donation from the businessman. The Prince’s Foundation received the cash from a charity run by Moshe Kantor in 2020, despite the billionaire having been named on a ‘Putin list’ released by the US Treasury in 2018.

Mr Kantor, who lives in a £31million mansion in Hampstead, north London, was sanctioned by the UK in April after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the Moscow-born oligarch had already spent years forging ties with Putin, while funnelling more than £15.5million into British institutions, including a £3million pledge to the Prince’s Foundation.

The revelations have sparked fresh concerns over Charles’s dealings with controversial donors after reports that he ‘brokered’ a donation from the family of Osama Bin Laden – which Clarence House has denied.

Mr Kantor, 68, who is worth an estimated £3.5billion, has met Putin on at least seven occasions. The Russian president was a keynote speaker at the World Holocaust Forum in January 2020, organised by Mr Kantor. Charles also delivered a speech and was pictured deep in conversation with the oligarch. The same year, the Prince’s Foundation accepted a second £300,000 donation from Mr Kantor’s charity. It followed a payment of the same amount in 2019, which was the first instalment of a £3million pledge to be paid over ten years.

Clarence House said: ‘As with all donations, the decision to accept this money would have rested with the charity’s trustees.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I’ll be honest, I think if this was just the first story we ever heard about Charles taking questionable donations, people would shrug. It’s clear that Moshe Kantor has bought his way into British society in a lot of different ways. What makes this different is that the story comes on the heels of the “suitcases full of cash” story and the bin Laden story. It also makes a difference that this comes after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Britain, America and the EU are cracking down on Russian money, specifically the Russian money of Putin’s oligarch friends and allies. So yeah… what will it be next week? “Charles personally accepted a suitcase full of rubles from Putin and quietly gave Putin a knighthood”?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

The Telegraph ran an interesting and bitter column from Celia Walden this week. Her column was all about Prince Harry’s memoir, which has become the British royal commentators’ favorite late-summer worrystone. Because those commentators don’t want to do a deeper dive on the Cambridges’ marriage and separate living situation, we’re getting this: endless made-up drama about what Harry’s memoir might cover. This isn’t just British people telling on themselves ahead of the memoir, they’re also trying to poison the well. They did the same thing in advance of the Oprah interview, only that smear campaign was thrown together in a matter of days and weeks (although they had prepared the oppo dump ahead of time). These people are trying to toxify everything about and around Harry to the point where the audience will be too exhausted to buy or read Harry’s book. They’re being incredibly obvious about it. Walden’s Telegraph column is sh-tty across the board, but she did drop in some news about how royal commentators are trying to publish some books ahead of Harry’s.

The release of Harry’s memoir: Which means Penguin is going for a “shock drop” game plan that, like a firework finale against a clear night sky, will involve a tantalising radio silence… followed by a bombardment of Hazza revelations so breathtaking that consumers will be dazzled into spending £16.99 on Yet Another Royal Opus (how’s that for a title?).

The other royal books: There’s a problem with this strategy, highlighted by a report in this paper at the weekend about the string of “insider accounts” being rushed out between now and the publication of Harry: Fear And Loathing In Kensington Palace. The tone has been set by Tom Bower, the author of last month’s headline-grabbing Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, and in a fortnight’s time bestselling writer Catherine Mayer will publish an updated version of her Prince Charles biography – Charles: The Heart of a King – promising readers “previously unpublished details” around “Harry and Meghan’s exit”.

Valentine Low is doing a book too: In September, another esteemed journalist will provide new insight into the Duke’s last period of royal life. Valentine Low broke the story about the Duchess of Sussex being accused of bullying staff while at Kensington Palace in 2018 (Meghan’s team have always vigorously denied the accusations) and his sources in Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown are likely to be impeccable.

Katie Nicholl & Angela Levin are doing books too: In November, comes a double whammy from two well-known royal experts. Katie Nicholl will publish a forensic examination of the firm in The New Royals, while Angela Levin will publish a biography of the Duchess of Cornwall. Again, both are expected to include versions of Megxit and, given Levin’s criticism of the Sussexes and rumours that Harry’s autobiography (My Journey to Me-Ville) will contain criticism of his stepmother, hers is unlikely to be favourable in their regard.

Harry Fatigue is what they’re aiming for: It’s enough to make me feel a stab of pity for the prince. Imagine having “your truth” drowned out by a load of other people, all telling different versions of that truth, all collectively prompting Harry Fatigue? And what if the other versions are – whisper it – more compelling? It wouldn’t be fair. Your own story should always be the most colourful and entrancing one out there, surely. But it’s also not beyond the realms of possibility. After all, the prince does now behave as though someone has suctioned every last vestige of charisma out of him with one of those nasal aspirators for babies. And the problem with worthiness is that it’s terribly boring to read about.

[From The Telegraph]

I honestly didn’t know that Katie Nicholl, Valentine Low and Catherine Meyer will all have books out this fall. The Meyer book is likely a sanctioned biography of Charles, endlessly preparing the nation for his kingship and trying to avoid the blame for Sussexit and everything else. Nicholl’s book will be heavy, HEAVY on the Middleton propaganda, because that’s Nicholl’s bread and butter. Nicholl has always had sources deep within Camp Middleton. Valentine Low’s book will be fascinating and probably quite horrible for the Sussexes, likely a high-level coordinated campaign against them. Low has sources deep within the Tory network, aka the men who are managing Prince William as their convenient idiot. As for Walden’s column… imagine believing that Tom Bower’s idiotic book did anything.

Also: Walden and the royal book writers have made a fundamental miscalculation. Yes, those books will get a lot of play… in the UK. Within the British media. Their mistake is that they believe Harry’s audience is the same as Valentine Low’s audience. That’s not the case. Same with the Oprah interview – the audience was America and the world. These people can’t shake their parochial, nativist worldview.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images and Instar.

Senate Republicans refused to pass a $35 cap on insulin. Remember to vote these douchebags out in the midterms. [WaPo]
A rare (!) sighting of LeAnn Rimes & Eddie Cibrian – they were out and about in LA. I haven’t seen photos of them in a while. [Just Jared]
Senate Democrats passed a massive climate bill! [Jezebel]
Nicola Peltz slams people for making her feel bad…? [Dlisted]
Keanu Reeves in The Devil in the White City? Yes! [LaineyGossip]
Ashley Tisdale loves stocking shelves at Target. [Seriously OMG]
Issa Rae has really upped her style game in the past year. [Go Fug Yourself]
Blind item about a pop star with a temper. [Gawker]
A review of Bodies Bodies Bodies. [Pajiba]
Indiana Republicans banned abortion. [Buzzfeed]
Sister Wives’ Cody Brown cut his hair? [Starcasm]
Um, what’s up with the sinkhole in Chile? [Towleroad]
Addison Rae tried to recreate a famous Angelina Jolie photo, to sad results. [Egotastic]

We always try to note the many times the Duchess of Cambridge “copykeens” the Duchess of Sussex. Kate is a longtime copykeener – the people around her pretend that she’s simply doing harmless “homages” to Diana or the Queen, but no one wants to talk about Kate’s Meghan Lookbook or how often she style-stalks her sister-in-law. Prince William certainly can’t say anything to Kate about it either, because he’s obsessed with copykeening and “one-upping” his brother as well. William just doesn’t take the same kind of hit for it. If Harry and Meghan visit Afghani refugees, then William has to do the same. If Harry plays polo for charity, then William has to do the same. If Harry gets a big-month contract with Netflix, William has to make a deal with Discovery+. And if Harry is invited to speak at the United Nations for Mandela Day, then suddenly William is going to barge into the UN and demand to speak too! Literally.

The Duke of Cambridge is expected to travel to New York next month as he prepares to take his climate change message to the United States. During the trip, Prince William plans to meet Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City Mayor and American philanthropist who sits on the board of the Duke’s Earthshot Prize.

It is thought William could also address the United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders convene to discuss the biggest issues of the day. A source said: ‘William is planning to go over to the US for some big meetings with Bloomberg’s team who are getting it all ready. It’s going to put his Earthshot Prize on a global footing and get some real interest going in the States ahead of the next awards.’

Kensington Palace has previously announced that the second annual awards ceremony for the environmental prize will be hosted in Boston in December. It was inspired by John F Kennedy’s Moonshot award in the 1960s, when the US President pledged to put a man on the Moon within a decade.

Prince William’s initiative aims to promote inventions over the next decade that help the planet.

Mr Bloomberg, who is also a UN special envoy on climate change, is now a global adviser to the Earthshot Prize and co-wrote an article for USA Today with Prince William last year. They wrote: ‘The science tells us that this is the decade to act – and that waiting is not an option.

[From Mail Plus]

So… William will make a trip to New York in September to spread some Earthshot keenery and hype ahead of the December trip to Boston? If William is eyeing a visit to the UN, he’ll probably time his visit to the big opening week of the United Nations, when hundreds of international delegations come to New York. The UN opens its new session on September 13th. Will Baldemort travel alone? Will the UN allow him to speak at the General Assembly? Will he flop? Will anyone call him out for being a sad desperado pathetically copying his younger brother?

The last time William was in New York, Kate wore hot pink to the 9/11 Memorial. This was the year after Prince Charles accepted more than a million dollars from the Bin Laden family.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.