Less looksmaxxing, more bespoke secret cabinet booksmaxxing.
Emerson
@erosemberg.bsky.social
chronic thinker, considering going pro (studying information environments and other fun things) US, CEE, Russia, Central Asia, the world
Carlos Dada's informed and superb advice to US journalists: "First, don’t quit because you’re necessary; then don’t make any concessions, because making concessions is even worse than quitting. I would also tell them... not to normalise what shouldn’t be normalised."
Carlos Dada, editor of El Faro: “The most important thing journalism can do in a dictatorship is to tell the truth”
The Salvadoran journalist will deliver the 2026 Reuters Memorial Lecture. In this interview, he discusses his work and the challenges of reporting from exile.
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk
Jameel Jaffer@jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 5mo agoHighly recommend this interview with Carlos Dada, whose work at El Faro should be a model and inspiration for independent journalists everywhere. reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/carlos-...
Another thing I love about Alysa is that her embracing joy, whimsy, artistry, authenticity and prioritizing having a healthy body and mind over aesthetic conformity and optimization blows a massive hole in much of the cultural messaging being pushed on women, esp young women, right now
Alysa Liu telling 60 Minutes “I love struggling, it makes me feel alive” is a legit revolutionary statement from a Bay Area native in a time when copious amounts of time and resources are being put toward convincing us to opt out of experiencing struggle, friction and self-actualization
we need a rom-com that unites the people in revolutionary struggle
Rare disclosure alert. My partner saw me arguing with men and sent me this to refocus my attention. Truly, not marrying an idiot is absolutely a huge improvement on my past behavior. Huge. www.currentaffairs.org/news/2019/04...
Jane McAlevey on How To Organize for Power
The veteran labor organizer on what it takes to actually win…
currentaffairs.org
"The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone."
Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 6mo agoLast week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
My latest newsletter is a response to @jerusalem.bsky.social on the politics of immigration, and why ticky-tack policy solutions won't save Democrats.
Policy Can't Solve a Propaganda Problem
On immigration and everything else, pundits are missing the point
stringinamaze.net
This is very good. I return to the illiberal's epistemic dishonesty: he wishes to participate in liberal discourse yet refuses to play by liberal rules upon which democracy is based: pluralism, empiricism, skepticism, philosophic doubt. For his ultimate authorities are predetermined traditionalisms.
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 11mo ago"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply." me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
Per DC Migrant Mutual Aid & Harriet's Wildest Dreams. They've created a new resource for photos & videos to protect our communities. Send photos, videos, & tips* to report@filmthepolicedc.org *For active enforcement call 2023351183 Include date/time, location, names etc #FreeDC
Interesting paper and helpful thread. Bottom line: publicly supported independent media and reducing uncertainty lead to positive cycles; lower quality media and perpetuating uncertainty lead to downward spirals in this Austrian study.
Jakob-Moritz Eberl@jamoeberl.bsky.social · 12mo ago13/ 🔍 Key takeaway: Belief change isn’t random. It’s shaped by predispositions, threat appraisals, & media environment. High-quality media can create virtuous circles; low-quality media (and particularly those that deliberately gave contrarians a stage) can lock people into vicious circles.
From the ACLU Washington, DC Chapter in case there are still laws:
Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 12mo agoNEW—Earlier this evening agents from ICE/other fed agencies were outside Rhode Island Ave metro in DC asking people exiting the station for their IDs, per someone who experienced it. When the person presented their Real ID license, an agent said that wasn't sufficient. Luckily they had secondary ID.
@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social, with all due disrespect, fuck off.
Ken Klippenstein@kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 12mo agoHakeem Jeffries says of Cuomo's attacks on Mamdani for living in a rent controlled apartment: "It's a legitimate issue that has been raised, and the [Mamdani] campaign is going to have to address it."
When you see a journalist ascribing human motivations to these energy-hoovering stochastic parrots they're baring their entire ass and loudly telling you they don't understand the technology they are writing about
Ars Technica@arstechnica.com · 12mo agoWhen AI acts up, it doesn't indicate some kind of awakening or rebellion—it's showing symptoms of a poorly understood system, as well as engineering failures we'd recognize as premature deployment in any other context.
5. Other signs of durability & commitment during this period include historic turnout at the One Million Rising online trainings, the first of which on 7/16 had over 130,000 sign-ups. This was probably the largest nonviolence training in U.S. history.
One Million Rising — No Kings
nokings.org
My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has finalized our participation estimates for No Kings Day on 6/14. Here are five key takeaways🧵:
New data shows No Kings was one of the largest days of protest in US history
The historic number of No Kings protesters and their expansive geographic spread are signs of a growing and durable pro-democracy movement.
wagingnonviolence.org
I can’t say it enough: U.S. culture is scam culture. It pervades everything we do. We don’t notice it because it’s the water we swim in. A party would do well to remind everybody how awful this is and propose to fix it.
Jason Kuznicki@jkuznicki.bsky.social · 12mo agoI think Democrats should offer voters a broadly defined anti-fraud platform. Yes, obviously, start with Trump’s influence peddling, but don’t stop there. Online fraud is massive, almost every phone call you get is a scam, and the solution has to be federal or it just won’t work.
This. Right here. Classic Fish maneuver. (Fish-esque? Fishistic?)
So reporters and editors should look to scholars of authoritarianism in covering these stories. The deal-making frame is playing right into the hands of these autocrats. @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social
Ruth Ben-Ghiat@ruthbenghiat.bsky.social · 12mo agoAnother shakedown, the more you cave to the autocrat the more empowered he feels.
Total 🦗 from the “socialism” crowd that spent the last 50 years accusing <checks notes> the Democrats of not respecting private property, free markets, limited government, the Marketplace Of Ideas, & the very sacred institution of Capitalism.
Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · 12mo agoThe Trump administration threatened to assume ownership of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of patents from Harvard University, accusing the Ivy League college of failing to comply with the law.
Someone needs to bear witness as masked agents of the government brutalize members of our community. It doesn’t surprise me that a Philosophy professor would do so. Be at least as brave as a Philosophy professor. (And demand that ICE release Prof. Caravello.)
also thrilled to see @assignedmedia.org shouted out in this @literaryhub.bsky.social roundup of independent media as well lithub.com/fed-up-with-...
Fed up with big legacy news? Here are 13 independent, worker-owned outlets to support.
It’s been a weird time for the papers of record. The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post have all made compromising to catastrophic judgment errors. Most recently, …
lithub.com
Ninety years ago, the Wagner Act was signed. Labor historian Joseph McCartin says it doesn't really exist anymore. prospect.org/labor/2025-0...
Requiem for the Wagner Act
Signed into law 90 years ago, labor’s onetime ‘magna carta’ is now a very dead letter.
prospect.org
The left better start figuring out how to weaponize today's decision rather than just (rightfully) criticizing it. - Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders. - Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
If youre in dc: the analogous venue is U St Saloon, Open Piano every Wednesday night
Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · last yr.Putting in my monthly plug for Green Room, the best venue in the Twin Cities for local music, and tonight especially for their ludicrously vibey Thursday open mic, where performers are supported by a full live band and backup singers
ideology helps candidates win not because voters are ideological, they’re not, but because voters don’t like frauds l. and believing in something more than the next election/poll gives you an air of authenticity
Will Stancil@whstancil.bsky.social · last yr.Yes, this is an extremely obvious and straightforward takeaway that people refuse to internalize, because everyone wants to argue that espousing their own ideology is the key to eternal victory