Ketamine’s Long, Strange Trip

Biden’s Trouble in Hollywood • Trumpworld Eyes Landslide • Inside Project 2025 [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Ketamine’s Long, Strange Trip Well, we made it through another tumultuous week in American politics. Chris Smith [reported]( how Joe Biden is putting his legacy on the line by refusing to step aside, while over on the West Coast, Nick Bilton [captured]( Hollywood and Silicon Valley’s shared frustration with the president and his team. Meanwhile, Gabriel Sherman [found]( Donald Trump’s allies gleeful at the Democrats’ disarray and talking about a landslide in November. And over on Inside the Hive, Brian Stelter [spoke]( with Molly Jong-Fast and Jeff Sharlet about the dangers of [Project 2025](, a detailed, far-right agenda for a second Trump administration. Stepping away from presidential politics, science writer David Ewing Duncan reflected this week on his [2022 essay]( about how ketamine helped him grapple with long-haul COVID, discussing the ensuing praise and blowback around the drug. “What’s missing in this discussion are the large, long-term studies of how ketamine impacts users, including risky side effects,” he [wrote](. “They would go a long way in countering the hype-and-backlash cycle that, in the absence of long-term research, exists in a kind of information vacuum.” Speaking of busy weeks in politics, we’ll see you back Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention. —Michael Calderone, editor [Image may contain: Clothing, Glove, Jar, and Person]( [Ketamine’s Long, Strange Trip: The Cred of This Miracle Med Has Gotten Murkier and, Somehow, More Promising]( By [David Ewing Duncan]( [An assessment of K by a science writer who has used the drug to combat depression and long-haul COVID.]( [Read more button](   [Hollywood and Silicon Valley Are Out of Patience With Bidenworld: “I Genuinely Hope He Loses”]( By [Nick Bilton]( [The president’s staunch refusal to step aside has roiled leaders in two historical bastions of Democratic support. “They are selfish, selfish people,” one tech founder says of Biden’s circle, “who have chosen their job over country.”]( [Read more button](   [Trumpworld Is Reveling In the Biden Meltdown: “He’s Cooked”]( By [Gabriel Sherman]( [As Joe Biden clings to the top of the ticket, and chaos consumes the Democratic Party, Donald Trump’s allies envision a November landslide. “It will be an absolute bloodbath,” says one.]( [Read more button](   [How Donald Trump Will Mold America “in the Image of a Dictatorship”]( By [Brian Stelter]( [Reproductive rights crackdowns, mass deportations, and a fealty-based federal bureaucracy. The former president has disavowed Project 2025, but Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast and Jeff Sharlet say his prints are all over it.]( [Read more button](   [Image may contain: Tie, Accessories, Accessory, Electrical Device, Microphone, Human, Person, Suit, Coat, and Clothing]( [Joe Biden Is Putting His Legacy on the Line: “Everything Will Be Seen as His Fault”]( By [Chris Smith]( [Despite facing a chorus of pundits calling on him to step aside, the president has managed to maintain support from top congressional Democrats. The question now: Can Biden avoid another major mishap?]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2024 Condé Nast