The unsolved murder of an unusual billionaire. Bloomberg Businessweek has this fascinating longform look at the mysterious murders of Barry and Honey Sherman.

“Just because the president said it doesn’t mean it’s news.” Politico’s Jack Shafer has this sound advice for journalists (and non-journalists) on how to mute President Trump’s boom box. The boom box is what you give him.

Now that baseball is over… Let’s take a look forward toward next year. It seems the new manager of the Minnesota Twins is REALLY into the band Phish. At the time of this writing, he’ll be the youngest manager in the bigs. And Manny Machado’s stock, after his World Series antics (which are nothing new …) seems to have depreciated.

To first responders… Thank you. A well-done ad by Google.

The Van Wilderification of American college life… While my alma mater might be one of the first to put Amazon’s Echo devices in all of its on-campus housing, one college is taking it a step further: New Mexico State University is creating a concierge program for students.

A Conversation worth revisiting. In light of this weekend’s horrific massacre in Pittsburgh, the folks at Conversations with Bill Kristol suggests revisiting this conversation with Ruth Wisse.

News Texans can use. Texans are probably aware of reports that the state's voting machines may be acting up. Luckily, the Texas Tribune has you covered if you want to make sure your vote isn’t messed up. (Hint: If you’re so quick to vote straight ticket for one party before all the choices render, well… maybe you shouldn’t make haste.)

Why the Pentagon couldn’t make a death star. Sad news for Star Wars fans (cc: Substandard Expanded Universe). The Pentagon—suffering from the blowback over its $1,300 coffee cups—would have a really hard time creating the death star, as Task and Purpose highlights.

Some answers would be nice… It’s not everyday that a bizarre police chase down a parkway run by the National Park Service ends with a dead driver in your neighborhood. But the lack of answers from the federal government in the death of Bijan Ghaisar is concerning. Thankfully, a FOIA request from the Washington Post to Fairfax County’s police department, which was part of the chase (but not the killing), has given us some more information. Perhaps the feds can provide some. Hopefully soon.

Afternoon Links are part of the Daily Standard newsletter, a free daily newsletter that goes out Monday through Friday. Sign up here!