By The Free Press | Created at 2026-09-08 10:17:06 | Updated at 2026-09-08 11:07:28
1 hour ago
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It’s Tuesday, September 8. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Mike Doran asks, what is Trump thinking about Iran? Arthur Brooks tells students how to be happy at college. Why did a woman get convicted for letting her son go on a walk? And more.
But first: Inside the day Charlie Kirk was killed.
A year ago this week, on September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was speaking onstage at Utah Valley University when a crack splintered the air. A 31-year-old father of two was shot dead in front of millions.
Most of us remember where we were that day, but few know the behind-the-scenes story of what happened next. Spencer Cox does. The Utah governor was at the scene just hours after the shooting, and at the center of the effort to find the man responsible. He emerged as a powerful voice after the tragedy, calling on Americans to mend a politics that sometimes feels broken.
In an interview with our Peter Savodnik days after the shooting, Cox spoke about “which direction he thought Americans, and America, would choose” in the aftermath of the murder. Today, we know something about the answer: Kirk’s death was not the wake-up call some hoped it would be. Instead, the killing unleashed deranged conspiracy theories, fueled radicalization, and deepened the rage that threatens to define our politics.
That’s why, as we approach the anniversary of the murder, it’s worth returning to what actually happened that day, and what Cox saw firsthand. In today’s lead story—an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Off Ramp: How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt—Cox pulls back the curtain on those 48 hours. It’s a gripping account of a moment that changed the country—and a reminder of just how far we still have to go to find our way back.
—The Editors
Michael Doran • International
The war with Iran has now passed its six-month mark. Hostilities abate, then flare up again—most recently over the weekend, with American forces striking two Iranian tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for attempted attacks on U.S. ships. As the war turns hot, then cold, then hot again, one question is on everyone’s minds: What is the president thinking? Today, Michael Doran offers an incisive answer: Trump is not attempting retreat or conquest in Iran, he writes, but a siege. Read Michael on the president’s strategy—and its chances of success.
Arthur Brooks • The Pursuit of Happiness with Arthur Brooks
Right now, across America, 2.7 million adolescents are leaving their families to be raised instead by other adolescents. It’s called “going off to college,” and many parents consider it one of the most exciting and happiest moments of their children’s lives. The problem is, the data doesn’t bear that out. College students are struggling with unprecedented rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, and nearly a quarter drop out during their first year. So, what gives? In his latest column, Arthur Brooks explains the gap—and offers students (and their parents) a blueprint for flourishing in college.
Jonathan Adler • Parenting
On a sunny day in June, Karyann Parkinson made a fateful choice that could affect her life for years to come: She let her 5-year-old son, Sam, walk alone to a neighborhood pond to collect goose feathers. Two months later, she was convicted of a first-degree misdemeanor. “How, exactly, can a mother be given a suspended jail sentence for simply letting her son go for a walk?” asks Jonathan Adler, a law professor and friend of Parkinson’s, who sat in on her trial. Read his piece to understand the controversy—and what it reveals about how the state can stifle parental freedom.
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THE NEWS
Germany’s far right Alternative for Germany party won a landmark landslide victory in a regional election on Sunday. The party pulled in 43.8 percent of the vote, marking its highest finish in history, but falling short of the number required to give them exclusive control of the legislature.
President Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, arrived in Kyiv for peace talks on Sunday, immediately after talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The visit marks the pair’s first diplomatic visit to Ukraine.
Canada’s new tariff of up to 50 percent on American goods is set to take hold on Tuesday. The move comes as a response to President Trump’s previous tariff threats against the country, and could affect roughly 700 kinds of imports.
U.S. gas prices hit a Labor Day weekend record on Monday. The average price of regular gas was $4.14 a gallon, and diesel reached an all-time high of $5.85.
An Amazon cargo plane overshot the runway in Miami this weekend. The accident killed at least five people and injured five more, with the investigation ongoing.
An armed man lunged at Ohio’s Democratic nominee for governor, Amy Acton, at her campaign event on Saturday, injuring several people as he rushed the stage. Police found him in possession of a taser and two pistols.
President Trump suggested renaming New Mexico “New America” in social media posts on Sunday. The change would be the latest in Trump’s long campaign of renaming landmarks, though the president does not have the legal authority to rename states.
