The Profile: The woman who championed a libido drug & the ultra-runner who had a mental breakdown

This edition of The Profile features Kid Rock, Cindy Eckert, Raf Willems, and others.

Good morning, friends!

When I interviewed war photojournalist Lynsey Addario in 2022, she mentioned she was working on a Disney+ documentary about her life and career.

A quick refresher on Addario: She has covered virtually every major conflict and humanitarian crisis of the last two decades. Through the destruction and grief she witnesses firsthand, her photographs carry that emotion to the rest of the world.

“I see myself as kind of a messenger,” she told me. “Someone who records people’s stories and lives and hardships. I try to bring their stories to the greater public with the goal of creating an understanding.”

Her work has come with real danger. Addario has been kidnapped in Libya, abducted in Iraq, and injured in a car accident in Pakistan. Through it all, one thing has remained constant: she never stops shooting — even when her life is on the line.

If there’s one truth she’s learned about the human experience, it’s this: no matter what is happening around us, life insists on going on. Even in war zones, she captures people celebrating birthdays, weddings, and graduations.

“It’s human nature to try to have fun, to laugh, to have some normalcy despite the disruptiveness and devastation that war brings,” she says. “People try to find some semblance of routine, peace, and happiness. I see those moments over and over in war, and it always gives me this reassurance. At the end of the day, we are all so similar.”

Here’s the trailer for her documentary, Love + War:

And you can check out my interview with Lynsey here:

— Polina

PROFILES.

— The ultra-runner who suffered a mental breakdown
— The woman who championed a libido drug
— The singer who created a MAGA business empire
— The $6-billion TikTok gadget factory
— The retailer that lost its cool factor

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The ultra-runner who suffered a mental breakdown: During the brutal 268-mile Winter Spine Race, Belgian runner Raf Willems pushed himself past exhaustion into hallucinations, seeing bodies in the snow and hearing voices as sleep deprivation and a whiteout storm overtook him. Though he’d trained for years and come agonizingly close to the finish, rescuers pulled him off the mountain just miles from the end. His story captures the strange pull of ultrarunning, a sport where suffering, failure, and obsession collide, and where racers return again and again not for medals but to test the limits of who they are. (Esquire; alternate link)

“Ultra running is always about seeking boundaries of personal ability. Who am I? What kind of person am I? In circumstances that are hard, what do I do?”

The woman who championed a libido drug: Cindy Eckert built an empire and a persona around pink, but behind the spectacle is the woman who fought a bruising, years-long battle to bring the first FDA-approved libido drug for women to market. After critics slammed Addyi as risky, unnecessary, or overhyped, and after her billion-dollar sale imploded, she won her company back and quietly rebuilt it amid a cultural shift that now openly prioritizes women’s sexual health. A decade after being dismissed as a gimmick, Eckert’s “little pink pill” has found its moment, and so has she. (The New York Times; alternate link)

“We played the long game. Culture caught up.”

The singer who created a MAGA business empire: Kid Rock has reinvented himself as the loudest performer of Trump’s America, turning MAGA identity into a full-blown business model. Once a fading ’90s rap-rock star, he’s now a cultural gatekeeper for conservative audiences — running festivals, restaurants, and rodeos tailor-made for Trump’s base. His “Rock the Country” tour has become a patriotic refuge for fans who feel alienated by mainstream music, cementing his role as the president’s favorite entertainer. Today, Kid Rock’s brand is a full-blown MAGA empire. (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“I feel like a lot of festivals are being built for one side of this country. We wanted to build a festival for the other side.”

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The $6-billion TikTok gadget factory: SharkNinja has morphed from a late-night infomercial hustler into a $6 billion gadget factory engineered for the TikTok era. Fueled by a churn of flashy, “did-you-see-that?” products and an obsession with making every unboxing go viral, the company has mastered the art of turning mundane appliances into internet catnip. Its relentless output, cultlike fan base, and ability to straddle both the bargain and premium markets have sent sales soaring. (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“There’s nothing we make that you actually need.”

The retailer that lost its cool factor: Target’s annual employee pep rally doubles as a farewell tour for longtime CEO Brian Cornell, whose tenure mixed bold wins with mounting controversies, political backlash, and a sharp sales slump. Once the darling of mass-market design, the retailer is now wrestling with cultural missteps, declining morale, and investor frustration, even as it retreats from DEI commitments that once defined its brand. Has Target’s aura faded for good? (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“At what point do you say we have to start closing stores?”

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