Brendan Ruberry
@brendanruberry
fellow @semafor. bruberry (at) semafor (dot) com | words in @guardian @newlinesmag @GlobeIdeas @commonweal @joinpersuasion @CTMirror | DM for signal
This week, I talked to @JonathanDCohen1 about his new book, "Losing Big," the first great book on the US sports betting boom. We spoke about why he thinks FanDuel and DraftKings are more like tech companies than sportsbooks.
I'm stepping up from my deputy capacity and taking over 🟡Semafor Tech🟡 for the next two weeks. Read today's edition here: semafor.com/newsletter/07/…
Tapping the sign semafor.com/article/06/12/…
One aspect of Zohran’s campaign that actually is very replicable to Democratic nationally: the way in which he changed the issue environment to favor him. Over the course of his run, he managed to make his best issues (affordability and housing) more salient.
Feds Seeks to Deport 82-year-old Great-Grandpa Once Dubbed ‘the Leader of the IRA in America’ westsidespirit.com/news/feds-seek…
Talked to @RepBrandonGill about one of his Oversight projects: Reading back In This House We Believe language to liberal witnesses, watching them be unable to defend or explain it. (No witness can explain neopronouns, for example.) semafor.com/article/07/11/…
Shai Davidai "has decided to depart" Columbia Business School, according to a faculty note viewed by Semafor. semafor.com/article/07/09/…
Wrote about how Fortune and Axios are leaning heavily into AI, w/ @maxwelltani on @semafor semafor.com/article/07/06/…
Zohran Mamdani increased his vote share to 56% from an earlier count of 43.5% — a 12-point lead over his closest opponent, former state Gov. Andrew Cuomo. semafor.com/article/07/01/…
Thank you again to @eschor for getting me to write about this yesterday - an idea that Trump was destined to embrace semafor.com/article/06/30/…
Trump threatens to arrest Mamdani and then adds, "a lot of people are saying he's here illegally"
In last night’s @semafor Media: Tradpop takes over the charts
I am 100% using this framework by @MichaelLangeNYC for my class on NYC politics.
Always read @daveweigel Americana: Mamdani mindset | Semafor semafor.com/newsletter/06/… 🟡
Here's the letter NYT lead newsroom attorney David McCraw sent to Trump. The paper said: "No retraction is needed. No apology will be forthcoming. We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so."
NEW: Trump Threatens to Sue The New York Times and CNN Over Iran Reporting nytimes.com/2025/06/26/bus…
The devices, popular among teens, emit lead, nickel and antimony at concentrations that may exceed cancer and neurological risk thresholds. sfchronicle.com/health/article…
Adams saw a nice Polymarket surge on election night, but has stayed relatively flat since -- interestingly, especially in light of all the reports suggesting the biz community is rallying around him as a kind of last stand
Counter Adams protest at City Hall, behind this rally, is chanting "fuck you Eric!" The Adams crowd shoots back "four more years!"
Zohran essentially being a polyglot seems to be an important and underdiscussed (or entirely omitted) aspect in all post-game pieces I've read today
as a (diasporic) bengali speaker + linguistics prof, it has come to my attention that i'm obligated to weigh in on @ZohranKMamdani's bengali/bangla first off, really great job, to zohran + his whole team who got him to speak in a natural, comprehensible, approachable tone 1/
A comprehensive Politico story about Dems who urged Cuomo to resign in 2021 then endorsed him in this race. An orgy of self-inflicted humiliation. politico.com/news/2025/06/1…
Quite an assessment from one of Cuomo's top former aides, who fell out with him some time ago.
A grim and joyless campaign, as befits a battle for a prize never wanted, one long viewed with disdain and contempt as a trifle that only lesser men would debase themselves to seek….
Hüsker Dü The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill New Day Rising (1985) SST Records