Franklin Leonard

2-1 heartbreak to England in the Round of 32. Sadly, we now know the end of DR Congo's extraordinary World Cup story. Take a moment to read how it began: the improbable road, and the faith, it took just to get here. My piece for @vanityfair.com www.vanityfair.com/preview/arti...

Narratively speaking, the tightest ending to this screenplay is probably the freed J6 protestors storming the White House to demand the release of the Epstein files.

Andrew Cuomo announcing his independent campaign on Twitter and immediately getting murderously ratioed by Mamdani's fundraising link response to the tweet is absolute comedy hours. Never seen anything like it.

So it turns out that our authoritarians are very bad at authoritarian pageantry.

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/04/n...

Got an unpublished or self-published horror novel? lithub.com/the-black-li...

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As I post this right now, 44 spots remain. Now or never if you’re interested.

The Black List’s public portal for submissions opened last Monday. It stays open until July 6 or until we hit 2500 submissions, and it looks like the latter will be the constraint. Just FYI if you plan to submit that way. blcklst.com/programs/the...

I wrote 4,500 words on the 2026 World Cup qualification playoff for the current issue of Vanity Fair Today, DR Congo opens its World Cup against Portugal You may have seen the photos of their iconic arrival, but this is the story of how they got here. www.vanityfair.com/preview/arti...

Last year, @theblcklst.bsky.social recommended 25 scripts for Nicholl Fellowship consideration from its public portal, <25% of the scripts considered by the Academy. 5 of the 10 finalists were Black List recommendations. Submissions are open for 2026-2027 now. blcklst.com/nicholl

They tried to break up her district to bury her. She won the new district in a walk. And now she’s overperformed every expectation in the Mayoral primary.

Conversation with WSJ Live is available now wherever you crazy kids get your podcast conversations about labor market economics. open.spotify.com/episode/66bc...

Not the Arsenal thobe! My mayor, your smoke too strong. Your swag too different.