Whether or not you care about comics, this is a very instructive history of the dynamics and mechanics of one of America's most notorious and authoritarian moral panics, which has warped our entire culture to this day
David Hajdu
@dhajdu.bsky.social
Writer, professor at Columbia Journalism School, National Council for the Humanities
Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Trilogy, which concludes with his new novel ‘Cool Machine,’ is both unapologetic crime fiction and a grand statement on the laws of the universe. David Hajdu on Whitehead’s moral vision:
‘Who Are You Now and Who Do You Want to Be?’
Colson’s Whitehead’s crime-fiction trilogy concludes with big questions about the moral universe.
bit.ly
In which I consider how it could be that the concert I remember most fondly is one I didn’t really go to.
Philip Leventhal@philipleventhal.bsky.social · 2w agoComing this November! THE NIGHT BEFORE: ESSAYS ON MUSIC, COMICS, AND CULTURE, by David Hajdu. Preoder now using the code CUP20 and save 20%! bit.ly/4vJtNPm @dhajdu.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social
Now this is news: Reported NYT story — not opinion piece — opens by describing statements by the President of the United States as “tenacious lies.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/u...
Trump Pushes Chinese Election Threat, but Files Show Russia’s Heavy Hand
Intelligence documents that the White House released to back up President Trump’s claims about China highlight Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections.
nytimes.com
ICE claims that Araujo drove into one of their SUVs with his van and then tried to run over an agent. There were no marks on the van and KHOU11's Jeremy Rogalski found surveillance footage showing ICE chasing Araujo and cutting him off. Renee Good all over again.
An agreement between between the U.S. and Kazakhstan has given President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s sons access to one of the world’s largest untapped reserves of tungsten, continuing a pattern of self-enrichment in the second Trump administration. trib.al/TDMlCHG
Early in his career, Bessie Head* called Abdullah Ibrahim, who died today, "a powerful, vitally alive and creative man” who stood out like “a complete and perfect flower in this desert. ...He hurls a challenge at you; disturbs you; teaches and expects perfection from you.” Whew. She got that right.
The New York Review of Books@nybooks.com · 2mo agoSean Jacobs on the life and music of Abdullah Ibrahim
As horrifying as this campaign of premeditated murder is, what might be even more disturbing is the utter indifference of Congress, the public and our allies to such a shocking and unapologetic obliteration of the many laws and norms against targeting civilians. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/w...
The U.S. Boat Strike Campaign Has Now Killed Over 200 People
nytimes.com
BREAKING: we just won our Kennedy Center case! Both the renaming & the closure of the Kennedy Center are enjoined Kudos to our wonderful client @repbeatty.bsky.social & my colleagues @democracydefendersaction.org & Washington Litigation Group This is a 1-2 punch against Trump's corruption
Congrats to superb critic Mark Lamster for winning Pulitzer for Criticism!
If you're wondering what's happening with the US Forest Service and why it matters, read this:
BREAKING: Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service
The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed.
substack.com
For about a year I've been working with some of the best reporters and editors in L.A. to build a brand new city news outlet. It launches tomorrow. Is it possible to operate a sustainable local journalism business in 2026? Let me know! lamaterial.com
Home | L.A. Material
News for Los Angeles.
lamaterial.com
Great piece on the lawsuit producing all these insane DOGE boy depositions, if you’re looking for a deeper dive that will infuriate you: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
How DOGE Gutted the NEH in 22 Days
Internal documents show how leadership at the National Endowment for the Humanities handed over the grant termination process to DOGE and ChatGPT.
insidehighered.com
Retired British couple in their 60's detained by ICE for 8 weeks, sleeping on a mat on a concrete floor. No reason.
‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks
Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...
theguardian.com
notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich
Today is the 100th anniversary of Black History Month. Am I in trouble for mentioning this? substack.com/home/post/p-...
History as an Inalienable Right
Why Every Month Should Be Black History Month
substack.com
Video before it happens is showing this guy they shot in the head in Minneapolis was just standing there videoing them before and they got out to push him back and then murder him.
Compare this thread analyzing the video footage with DHS’s statement stating that the man approached officers with a gun and “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Bellingcat@bellingcat.com · 6mo agoFootage taken moments before a struggle shows that the man was filming, holding a phone in his right hand, backing up. His left hand is up, visible, palm facing out, as he backs away from the area. An agent uses his right hand, on the torso of the victim, pushing him back, while the man complies.
He was a nurse with a phone trying to help someone and he was murdered by ICE. We need another Nuremberg.
Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 6mo agoVideos analyzed by NYT appear to contradict accounts given by Homeland Security. They said the man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and the intent to "massacre" them. Footage of the encounter shows the man holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, when agents take him to the ground.
“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” - Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail Silence is not neutral. It is a choice.
Danish Parliament Deputy Speaker Lars-Christian Brask: "If I could come with some advice, it would be for the Senate & House to start to take control of political power in America because with this erratic & mad behaviour, you have to ask the question, is the President capable of running the US?"
A statement from Columbia Journalism School faculty on the federal raid of a @washingtonpost.com reporter’s home: https://journalism.columbia.edu/news/faculty-statement-washington-post
Pew Research Institute (2023): • Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants • Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants • Blue State Minnesota has 130,000. And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration." It's *not* about immigration.
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to: * 8 people shot * 5 of which were U.S. citizens * 2 died * no victims drew a weapon The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.
wsj.com
The WNO is just the latest to say they will no longer perform at the Kennedy Center since Trump took over last year. n.pr/4pRgdXr
Washington National Opera leaves Kennedy Center, joining slew of artist exits
The WNO is just the latest to say they will no longer perform at the Kennedy Center since Trump took over last year.
n.pr
We’re hosting a national rapid response call tomorrow night to go over concrete next steps. Please circulate - we need a national response. More details to come. www.mobilize.us/indivisible/...
Rapid Response Call: ICE Killing and Lawlessness in Minneapolis · Indivisible
Join us tomorrow, Thursday, January 8th, at 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT to discuss the killing and lawlessness by ICE in Minneapolis. We will talk with leaders and provide concrete next steps on how you...
mobilize.us