photo credit: Inter Miami CFInter Miami’s first foray into the CONCACAF Champions Cup was a pleasant surprise. Though Monterrey is a powerhouse in Mexican football, Miami largely held its own in a heated quarterfinal. Messi-less and with a squad filled to the brim with injuries, Tata Martino rolled out his team in a 4-3-3, something Inter Miami fans will be pleased to see again. After a few nervy moments in the first 45, the Herons eventually scored first through a Tomas Avilés goal in the 19th minute.

Hello and welcome to Gossip Time, a weekly guide to the stars by Allie Jones. Today, we have a very special Q&A with Matt James, the genius behind the storied celebrity blog Pop Culture Died in 2009.  I want to start by thanking everyone who subscribed to Gossip Time in the last week — you are all my best friends now. Going forward, I’m going to make bonus posts like this one just for paid subscribers, but I’m releasing it to everybody today to give you a sample of what to expect in the future.

New York World, 1917 I’ve observed from a safe distance the war between popularism, a word coined (or at least popularized) by the Democratic political consultant Sean McElwee, and deliverism, a word coined by the antitrust policy wonk Matt Stoller. There’s much to be said for both sides of this argument, which is as old as representative democracy itself. Should politicians follow their constituencies (popularism) or lead them (deliverism)? Um, yes.

The Portland Timbers announced today the signing of Jonathan Rodriguez, who is also known by his nickname “Cabecita”. Rodriguez, an Uruguayan international who has 31 appearances, three goals, and four assists for his country, signed as a Designated Player through 2026 with a club option for 2027. While no official numbers were released, reports suggested that the transfer fee the Timbers paid was around $4.3 million. “We are delighted to announce the signing of Jonathan Rodríguez, and we are pleased to welcome him and his family to the Rose City.

Today we announced that Portrait Analytics raised a seed round of $7M led by Unusual Ventures, with participation from .406 Ventures and other investors (you can read more details about our seed round at this link).  I want to take a few moments to share a bit about our vision for our product and company, and in particular, the “why” that drives us. And as we start to broaden access to our platform in the coming months, I’ll use this Substack as a way of sharing more about our product and thoughts on how AI will transform the process of conducting world-class investment research.