The Attention-Whore Index

It remains to be seen whether Donald Trump can outrun his legal woes, his financial woes, and, in a larger sense, some sort of overdue reckoning for a cruelly lived, manifestly appalling existence. But he did manage to slither out front for another victory in the Attention-Whore Index Poll. And a real nail-biter it was! Almost like scrambling to pay a nine-figure fine when the clock is ticking and your resources are depleted.

Last week’s top four finishers were separated by a relative handful of votes: Trump, 24.3 percent; the compulsive private-jet-setter Kim Kardashian, 23.8 percent; Don Lemon antagonist Elon Musk, 21.1 percent; and the governor with that newly dazzling smile, Kristi Noem, 16.8 percent.

The nominees in this week’s edition of the Attention-Whore Index Poll are …

1.

EMMANUEL MACRON

Released two black-and-white photos of himself working out at a gym with a punching bag, all biceps and perspiration and moody manliness. This boxing motif is nothing new—just google “Macron boxing”—but “the latest images generated mirth on French social media, where some users suggested that the president was trying to copy Robert De Niro in Raging Bull,” said The Times of London. He was also compared to Vladimir Putin riding a horse bare-chested. Macron’s most recent approval rating is 23 percent.

2.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE

“It’s not only idiotic, but … ” could be any sane person’s reaction to almost anything Greene says or does. In this case, it comes from her fellow Republican representative Mike Lawler, in response to Greene’s filing a motion to oust another fellow Republican, Mike Johnson, as Speaker of the House. (Lawler continued: “… it actually does not do anything to advance the conservative movement. And in fact, it undermines the country, and our majority.”)

3.

THE GARRICK CLUB

Suddenly the 193-year-old London gentlemen’s club single-sex policy (women are allowed only as guests) was all over the news after a list of members was indiscreetly leaked. Then came the headlines: Equality groups urge cultural elite to give up Garrick Club membership (The Guardian); UK civil service boss and spy chief quit male-only Garrick Club (Financial Times). On the other hand: [former BBC editor] Jon Sopel joins Garrick Club but plans to foment ‘change from within’ (The Times of London). And finally: ‘It’s beyond satire’: Tumultuous week at Garrick Club as members speak out (The Guardian).

4.

RONna M_cDaniel

Attention-wise, at least, the former Republican National Committee chair made the most of her four days as an NBC political analyst. She was hired, reporters and viewers squawked—something to do with McDaniel having repeatedly described the 2020 election as “rigged”—and NBC un-hired her. Even Liz Truss lasted longer than that! Still, “McDaniel expects to be fully paid out for her contract, two years at $300,000 annually, since she did not breach its terms,” Politico reported, “mean[ing] that her single, not-quite-20-minute interview Sunday could cost the Peacock more than $30,000 per minute, or $500 per second.”

5.

DONALD TRUMP

Was given an April date for his hush-money trial, and promptly denounced the judge’s decision as “election interference”—admittedly something he knows a thing or two about. In court, shared a “beautiful” message from Truth Social that compared him to Jesus. Which at any rate lends some heft to his endorsement this week of the “God Bless the USA Bible” ($59.99, plus shipping and tax)—the Bible being “my favorite book,” and which, in this iteration, will be providing him with royalties. In case that’s not enough, he’s still passing the MAGA hat around for anyone with $454 million to spare or, at least, following a temporary reprieve, $175 million. (“TRUMP TOWER REMAINS MINE!”) But he did have some good news: “It is my great honor to be at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach tonight, AWARDS NIGHT, to receive THE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY & THE SENIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY. I WON BOTH!”

6.

ANDREW HUBERMAN

The brainiac Stanford neurology professor and podcaster to millions was revealed by New York magazine to be equally accomplished at juggling half a dozen women, who eventually figured out what was going on. “There was a day in Texas when, after Sarah left his hotel, Andrew slept with Mary and texted Eve,” wrote Kerry Howley. “They realized that the day before he had moved in with Sarah in Berkeley, he had slept with Mary, and he had also been with her … the weekend before Sarah caught him on the couch with a sixth woman.... [On] a day of admittedly impressive logistical jujitsu, while Sarah was in Berkeley, Andrew had flown Mary from Texas to L.A. to stay with him in Topanga. While Mary was there, visiting from thousands of miles away, he left her with [his dog]. He drove to a coffee shop, where he met Eve … ” Etc.

7.

SEAN COMBS

The Los Angeles home belonging to Combs/Diddy/Puff Daddy was raided, part of “an ongoing investigation” by the F.B.I. Last November, Combs was sued for sexual assault by his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura (the performing artist Cassie). That was resolved “amicably,” but “Ms. Ventura’s suit was followed by several more cases, each accusing Mr. Combs of sexual assault,” said The New York Times. “In one case filed last month, a music producer, Rodney Jones, said that Mr. Combs had made unwanted sexual contact with him, and forced him to hire prostitutes and participate in sex acts with them.” As the rapper 50 Cent observed this week, “S*** just got real.... Now it’s not Diddy do it, it’s Diddy done. They don’t come like that unless they got a case.”

8.

Jared kushner

You remember him—the Trump administration’s senior policy adviser who accomplished what no one in history had been able to do and brought peace to the Middle East? Well, his ideas for the region didn’t stop there. Last month, in remarks at Harvard University that were surprisingly under-reported, Kushner acknowledged that Gaza was in “a little bit of an unfortunate situation,” but naturally he had a solution: “I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.... Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable.”

And now for this week’s Diary …

Stamina-seeking ravers in India are abandoning chemicals and “turning to snake venom, as its effects can last for several days,” reported The Times of London. During a raid at a party here, “officers found cobras and a plastic bottle containing 20ml” of the stuff, arrested a social-media influencer, and charged him with providing the venom. “Snake charmers are usually needed to coax out the snakes to perform the dangerous procedure,” said the newspaper. “The snakes are either made to spit out venom, which is saved and ingested,” or they are “induced to bite the person on the tongue or foot.” Party on!

After one of China’s top table-tennis players was eliminated at a tournament here, a video emerged of him singing along at a Taylor Swift concert. “Many online observers said [Fan Zhendong] should have been doing more training before the matches instead of going out and enjoying himself,” reported the South China Morning Post. Fan “defended the three hours of his leisure time he spent going to the show.... ‘In my off hours, I am just an ordinary young man.’”

The government-funded organization U.K. Research and Innovation is underwriting a three-year University of Edinburgh project called Remediating Stevenson: Decolonising Robert Louis Stevenson’s Pacific Fiction Through Graphic Adaptation, Arts Education and Community Engagement. In conferring the million-dollar award, the U.K.R.I. acknowledged that, O.K., sure, Stevenson—who studied at Edinburgh but lived his last years on Samoa and was buried there—“became actively involved in supporting Samoan and Hawaiian indigenous sovereignty movements.” And yes, fine, in his writing he “featur[ed] indigenous protagonists with considerable agency and dignity.” But, nevertheless, his work “upholds many of the colonial stereotypes typical of fin-de-siècle western literature.” Uh-oh. Let the remediating begin.

The stunning, monastery-festooned rock formation of Meteora, in northwestern Greece, has a new attraction. “Squeezed within the dark crevice between two stony escarpments was an object that appeared [to two hikers] to be a giant human skull,” said Greek Reporter. A video was duly posted, and went viral, but opinion on social media remained divided. “That is a giant humanoid skull. And the little bit underneath it could be the rest of the skeleton,” went one post. Then again: “It’s not a skull … the bottom jaw would have dropped off a long time ago.”

Tours of architecturally significant public toilets are being offered here to “dispel the traditional perception of the facilities as being dirty and smelly, giving visitors from home and abroad a unique lens with which to view the city,” Japan Today reported. “A total of 17 public toilets have been redesigned by notable architects under The Tokyo Toilet project, turning the often neglected spaces to safer and more fashionable structures.” At $33 per person, the two-hour tours aren’t cheap, but at least “participants [are] allowed to use the facilities.” —George Kalogerakis

George Kalogerakis, a Writer at Large at AIR MAIL, worked at Spy, Vanity Fair, and The New York Times, where he was deputy op-ed editor. He is a co-author of Spy: The Funny Years and a co-editor of Disunion: A History of the Civil War