Introducing The Matterboard: The news that's actually worth your time

Our new weekly feature separates news worth paying attention to from overhyped stuff you can safely ignore.

You can’t freak out about everything, all the time.

Okay sure, some people can, and do. But The Pinpoint Press is for normies, and a big part of our mission is telling you what matters and what doesn’t, to help optimize the fact-to-fluff ratio of the news you consume.

So we’ve created The Matterboard, our weekly assessment of what’s worth your attention and what isn’t. The Matterboard features four quadrants, as you’ll see below. We’re ranking the news based on how important we think it is—the stakes— and how long we think it will matter—the duration.

You might disagree with our assessments or feel like we missed something on the political-economic spectrum. Let us know! Sound off in the comments below, in the Substack notes app, or by sending an email.

We’ll summarize our entries each week by quadrant, starting with what’s most important. Here’s the list as of 7.7.2026, which includes the Graham Platner meltdown in Maine, Trump’s startling intervention in the World Cup, and the rise of the new Democratic socialists:

WORTH YOUR ATTENTION (upper right quadrant):

Ukraine pounding Russia. The Russia-Ukraine war was static for a long time, but Ukraine has found new ways to destroy energy infrastructure deep inside Russia and cause President Vladimir Putin a lot of domestic pain. It could mark a turning point.

Trump’s self-dealing. Roughly 1 million Trump supporters lost $3.8 billion buying the president’s scammy memecoin after he took office last year, demonstrating that Trump will dupe anybody. Even some diehard Trumpers are losing faith as his overall approval rating tanks.

[The Weekly WTF: Icky presidential bedroom]

Iran situationship. There’s a patchy ceasefire, but Iran has shown it is likely to harass ships targeting the Strait of Hormuz for a long time, as it seeks greater control over the whole Persian Gulf region. This could still be going on by the time the next president takes office.

WAIT AND SEE (upper-left quadrant):

Republican efforts to steal the midterm elections. Trump has sent FBI agents to intimidate election workers in Georgia and threatened many other moves to “take over” the November midterms. There are a lot of safeguards, but Trump may still attempt the most brazen election fraud in memory.

Fried oysterman. The Senate Democratic nominee in Maine, Graham Platner, is a plain-speaking oysterman who seemed like a rising star—until an ugly past caught up with him. Now, new allegations of rape have likely doomed his campaign. Dems thought they had a chance to flip the seat long held by Republican Susan Collins, but now they don’t even know who their candidate will be in November. If you’re a political geek, there will be no end of what-went-wrong analyses. For everybody else, the takeaway is: Collins’s reelection odds just went up, along with Republican odds of keeping control of the Senate in this year’s midterm elections.

The AI stock bubble. Is there one? Wall Street is split, but if it bursts and the stock market tanks, some worry about a replay of the dot-com bust of the early 2000s. The broader concern is that the huge AI buildout is holding up much of the economy at the moment.

[This is how the AI bubble could burst]

Birthright citizenship outrage. Some extremist Republicans are aghast that the Supreme Court recently upheld birthright citizenship, which has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1868. They want Congressional action to change this right, and some are calling for a ban on pregnant foreigners entering the country, to make sure they can’t give birth on US soil. We think these attack dogs have lost their minds and will soon find something else to bark at.

MEH (lower-right quadrant):

The Trump tariffs. They’ve fallen out of the news since the Iran war and the Trump energy crisis set the whole world on edge. But many Trump tariffs are still intact and his team of protectionists is plotting new ones. Trump will probably keep at it through his entire term.

[The Trump economy is barely improving]

The AI job apocalypse. It keeps not happening. We’re watching for it in every bit of data, but like many economists we also expect AI to create whole new categories of work and innovation.

Congressional housing bill. Congress passed a bipartisan bill meant to improve housing affordability on June 23, and it might actually do some good, over time. Trump, however, has refused to sign it, because he wants Congress to pass other legislation first. If Trump does nothing, the bill will become law soon—but Trump may not get any credit for it.

More Democratic socialists. A handful of Democrats identifying as “socialist” have won primary elections this year and are likely heading to Congress. We’re no fans of socialism, but the numbers are small and the real message these outsiders convey is anti-incumbency. Besides, the Democratic brand is such a wreck that an energized group of outsiders might make it better, not worse.

SAFELY IGNORE (lower-left quadrant):

Trumpflation. We think the rapid drop in energy prices during the last month will bring overall inflation lower and render market concerns about elevated inflation overblown. That won’t solve the affordability crisis, which is a long-term erosion in earning power for millions of Americans. That means Trump’s approval ratings on the economy will likely remain dismal, even if inflation falls—exactly the same thing that happened to President Joe Biden.

Hawkish Federal Reserve. See above. If inflation subsides, the Fed won’t have to raise interest rates this year, as the market currently expects. We think the Fed generates way too much chatter.

Elon Musk in your retirement plan. Musk’s company SpaceX is now part of the NASDAQ 100 index, which means it will be part of index funds that track the NASDAQ. Honestly, so what. If you own index funds, you also own shares of tobacco companies, fossil-fuel drillers and defense contractors. And the S&P 500 index, much more widely followed than that NASDAQ, won’t admit SpaceX for a long time.

[America 250 isn’t as grim as it seems]

World Cup bonhomie. There was poetic justice in Team USA’s loss to Belgium after Trump intervened with FIFA to overturn the one-game suspension of a star American player. The Americans lost anyway, which means the World Cup tournament can once again delight fans without the stench of political interference. The tourney is clearly a feel-good experience for everybody following it, and America, for once, seems like a gracious host. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Crypto winter. At around $64,000, bitcoin has fallen by 50% from its all-time high last October. Trump’s involvement in crypto may have been more like a kiss of death than any kind of endorsement, since it made the whole enterprise seem scammier than ever.

Apple price hikes. Apple stock fell 6% on June 25 after it announced price hikes of a couple hundred dollars on iMacs and iPads. Guess what: It has gained it all back, and then some. Underscores our point that financial media trumpets big moves and trends as they happen, but doesn’t always follow up to tell you what happened next.

Maxxing trends. First it was looks-maxxing, then came body-maxxing, sleep-maxxing, nonna-maxxing, vice-maxxing, and many other types of maxxing. Cliche alert: Too much maxxing. 86 maxxing.

Reflecting pool follies. We love the battle between Trump and the determined algae in the National Mall reflecting pool, who have become so famous that many tourists in the nation’s capital now stop by to see how they’re doing. We plan to milk this story for as long as it delivers delightful absurdity. But we know in our heart of hearts that this is news about nothing and when the weather cools in the fall, Trump will win. Still, the algae have already punched well above their weight. ^🫡

Enjoy a cartoon.

Cartoon by Leo Cullum

You can order this cartoon👆 and play cartoon-themed puzzles and word games at CartoonStock.com.