Michael Balter

1 week ago | michaelbalter.substack.com | Michael Balter

Étienne-Émile Baulieu has died at his home in Paris, at age 98. Twenty-five years ago, within two hours of receiving notice that the FDA had at long last approved RU-486, I was in Baulieu’s office interviewing him for Science. I was the Paris correspondent for the journal (a position I held for 25 years), and moving fast on stories like this was part of the job. I am reproducing the article here, as it is still timely in many ways.

1 week ago | michaelbalter.substack.com | Michael Balter

U.S. District Judge Michael E. Farbiarz. Since President Donald Trump took office on January 20 of this year, at least 60 judges and appeals courts have ruled against various aspects of his executive orders. A number of them have been threatened, along with their families. At the very least, they can expect to be branded “judicial activists” by Trump and his henchmen and women, even though they run the gamut between liberal and conservative and were appointed by presidents Ronald Reagan, George W.

1 week ago | michaelbalter.substack.com | Michael Balter

Questions about why the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris lost the presidential election to Donald Trump have been subject to debate for months. I don’t intend to weigh in on them at the moment, other than to say that readers of this newsletter will not be surprised to learn that I don’t think it was because the party did not tack hard enough to the political right. Understanding the past is, of course, a potential guide to what to do in the future.

1 week ago | michaelbalter.substack.com | Michael Balter

Note: On this Memorial Day, I am republishing a piece I first posted here in 2021. I hope readers will appreciate it. I was born on Flag Day (June 14), but I’ve never considered myself very patriotic.

2 weeks ago | michaelbalter.substack.com | Michael Balter

I have no idea how many readers here might be familiar with the Fleetwood Mac tribute ban “Rumours of Fleetwood Mac,” but they do a lot of touring and get around quite a bit, mostly in Europe—although they do have some U.S. dates coming up later this year. (Eager to hear from readers in the Comments section below.) Also, they are sensational.