This was a really thoughtful episode of #PodSaveAmerica with Jon Lovett and Jonathan V. Last. Well worth your time.

A Unified Theory of Trumpism

Pod Save America · Episode

open.spotify.com

These kinds of claims are weaponized against victims of abuse all the time, including in court. And they completely ignore how many women behave when under threat. Women are socialized from birth to preserve community ties, to protect and defend the family unit. Their survival often depends on it.

The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 3d ago

Rep. Max Miller: "My former wife has claimed that during a custody exchange at my home that day, I assaulted her…If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?"

Chumps will buy this. Trump will still give away our money to his friends. There should be *no* IRS immunity. Blanche Gives G.O.P. Senators Written Assurances on Trump’s I.R.S. Deal www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...

Blanche Gives G.O.P. Senators Written Assurances on Trump’s I.R.S. Deal

Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general has been held up over concerns about a planned $1.8 billion fund for Trump allies and the president’s immunity from tax scrutiny.

nytimes.com

I just subscribed to this block list, and I really appreciate the public service provided here

Tess is Surviving the Horrors@mothmother.com · 4d ago

I started getting followed by some "film festivals" and "writing festivals" and thought "oh, these are cool!" Then I looked a little closer. They're all part of a network that preys on writers, charging us for reviews, and feeding our stuff into slop generators. So I made a list.👋🏻🖕🏻😠

Yesterday, @asanews.bsky.social announced that, due to cuts in funding from the National Science Foundation, it will no longer run its Dissertation Research Improvement Grants. The consequences of these funding cuts to science and the future research capacity of the US will be staggering.

"With his grab-bag of gambits, Kavanaugh mostly manages to avoid the more elaborate pretensions of other conservative justices, their conceits of originalism and textualism," writes Sidney Blumenthal. "He gets straight to the heart of achieving the desired political result."

Brett Kavanaugh has become Trump’s chief enabler on the supreme court | Sidney Blumenthal

theguardian.com

Ancient Greece & today: There's "fury & fretting over women in politics speaking…tone of voice—too high? too school-marmish? too much vocal fry? too this?too that?—that ignores what they’re saying,as if their job was to be aesthetically pleasing."@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social lithub.com/penelope-spe...

Penelope Speaks: Rebecca Solnit on the Western Literary Tradition of Silencing Women

The following first appeared via Rebecca Solnit’s Meditations in an Emergency. Last weekend, the film The Odyssey was released and the Tate brothers were arrested in Florida at the behest of the Br…

lithub.com

I really enjoyed these two multiple POV locked-room murder mysteries by #AndePliego. Love the touch of romance in each. Can’t wait to read what she writes next! #booksky

I’m just gonna say it. Jon Ossoff is hot AF.

fellow millennials, let's take a second to appreciate how great it feels to be in the prime marketing demographic catered to by all of the culture. I get now why boomers wanted it to last forever

Bloody Disgusting@bloody-disgusting.com · 2w ago

Gillian Anderson has officially revealed the upcoming 1,478-piece LEGO set for THE X-FILES. The set is centered on Mulder’s office, paired with a forest clearing scene and a hovering UFO. Includes 8 minifigures, featuring Mulder, Scully, The Flukeman & more. August 4.

Literally ignoring —violating—what Congress has the constitutional right and duty to do.

Josh Chafetz@joshchafetz.bsky.social · 2w ago

Very important piece by Cerin Lindgrensavage and @davidasuper.bsky.social. This behavior by the administration is not only illegal, it is anti-constitutional. thehill.com/opinion/cong...

I was unaware of this so sharing. I want what’s better for Dems!

David Schraub@schraubd.bsky.social · 2w ago

Once more: a non-functioning McConnell deprives the GOP of a Senate vote. Calling a special election would allow the GOP to replace him with someone who can actually cast votes. It is *better* for Democrats if McConnell holds his seat while lingering in the hospital indefinitely.

The FBI director is traveling to Russia weeks before the midterm elections. “His host is likely to be the FSB, the Russian security service that is heir to the Soviet-era KGB” www.politico.com/news/2026/07...

FBI Director Kash Patel plans Russia trip

The plans come as the U.S. and Russia have failed to come to terms on ending the war in Ukraine.

politico.com

@govandybeshear.bsky.social If you’ve been waiting for your moment to prove your mettle, this is it. Don’t let it pass you by.

This video of a woman telling an anti-abortion asshole to, "Shut the fuck up" is exactly what I needed to see on a Monday morning

Beshear needs to do what Mitch would do in his shoes. The law they made to stop Beshear from appointing a replacement violates the state constitution. Make the friggin' appointment!!! Make them prove he's alive or take you to court (which will prove he's not alive).

Gov. Beshear suggests he received information suggesting McConnell ‘passed’ in new interview

The governor said he received the information from diffrent agencies but did not say which during the July 15 interview.

wkyt.com

Call Sen. Mitch McConnell's office today: 202-224-2541 (DC) 502-582-6304 (Louisville, KY) 606-864-2026 (London, KY) 859-224-8286 (Lexington, KY) Demand he appear on camera – conscious, alert and oriented x 4, and answering questions. If he won't or can't, demand McConnell's immediate resignation.

Who better to promulgate racism and white supremacy than an unalloyed misogynist, with the requisite commitment to violently enforcing unjust hierarchies? katemanne.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...

This is What Happens When You Empower Domestic Abusers

A snapshot of ICE killer David Brouillette’s abusive and violent history

katemanne.substack.com

Thread. Rapists running a coercive sex ring AND transmitting CSAM AND inducing other men to abuse women and girls in turn. The alleged behavior is legitimately monstrous and it’s a HUGE deal that the Trump regime is undermining law enforcement to help/free them. Epstein in real time

Professa Murray@kalimurray.bsky.social · 2w ago

The fact that VP JD Vance and Richard Grenell went to Romania—on behalf of the Trump Administration— to advocate for Andrew and Tristan Tate, who by all accounts, were rapists running a coercive sex ring, then permitted them to come to Florida, should be a crazy, crazy scandal.

The Trump family and administration's embrace of the Tate brothers and intervention on their behalf shows that whatever Donald Trump doesn't want us to know about his association with Jeffrey Epstein, the same vicious misogyny persists. The Tates are the new Epstein.

We should not have to live this way. He has stolen 11 years of our lives. We should not have to live every day under assault psychologically by a deeply disturbed POTUS. This is all happening because REPUBLICANS will not do a thing to check his insanity and destruction.

If Andy Beshear doesn’t call for a special election before August 3rd and force Mitch McConnell to prove he can speak in a video, then Andy Beshear becomes the new Merrick Garland. I’m sorry but I make the rules.

One of my least favorite threads of our current moment is old white “conservative” men standing at podiums obsessing about women’s menstrual cycles.

Aleksandra Vaca@transiticsnews.com · 3w ago

1. After pushing anti-trans laws to ‘protect women’s sports’, Project 2025’s Heritage Foundation now wants women’s sports gone to ‘assist fertility.’ Turns out it was about women’s sports all along—if getting rid of women's sports counts, that is.

We all know this still stinks to high heaven. Gov. Andy Beshear says he still hasn’t received an official update from Sen. Mitch McConnell. “I’ve had no official response. Nothing sent to our office, no letter, no email.”

Donald Trump is weaponizing the full force of the United States government to punish, intimidate, and crush his political enemies. Meanwhile, the official House Democrats account is going with this messaging.

Trump claimed during the 2024 campaign that he wanted to leave abortion to the states. His pick for Attorney General, and his former personal lawyer, just said a nationwide abortion ban is on the table

Susan Rinkunas@susanrinkunas.com · 3w ago

NEW: Under questioning from Senator Ted Cruz, acting AG Todd Blanche said he would review Biden-era DOJ guidance on the Comstock Act if confirmed to the role. Comstock is an 1873 anti-obscenity law that conservatives want to use to stop the mailing of abortion pills in all 50 states @autonomynews.co

Really pleased to share that my third play, “Scorched-Earth Mother,” will be produced by Emerald Theatre Company in Memphis, TN, in September 2026!

Ted Cruz is the latest of a string of Republican senators to push an agreeing Blanche to ban the mailing of mifepristone. They're coming for abortion pills next.

An incredible euphemism here for “the government is doing illegal discrimination”

Kentucky’s Democratic Governor Andy Beshear says he is willing to launch a legal challenge to allow him to choose Mitch McConnell’s replacement if the senator cannot return to office. GOOD. Time to play some hardball.

Kentucky’s Dem Governor Threatens Nuclear Option on Mitch Crisis

Kentucky Republicans have worked hard to reduce Andy Beshear’s power to fill vacant Senate seats.

thedailybeast.com