I thought so too, at first, but then I discovered it's just an odd site design.

There's a big X in the upper right corner that acts like a Close button. Clicking it hides the article and re-enables the rest of the page.

I don't see an X of any sort. Just the left hand sidebar, a white stripe at the top that says "Blog" and otherwise empty whitespace.

I guess I better get to work on my ideas for next-gen obnoxious ad and tracker blocking.