Justin Ellis
@justinellis.bsky.social
Projects & Podcast editor for Defector.com Order my book: The Cruelty of Nice Folks, here: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-cruelty-of-nice-folks-justin-ellis?variant=44065276493858
Had an great time talking with @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social about Minneapolis and liberal incrementalism, the problem with choosing to reform police and why Hubert Humphrey was the godfather of the modern moderate www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/i-dont-kno...
"I Don’t Know How You Can Look at Minneapolis and Say They Are Better for Choosing Reform Over Revolution"
A conversation with Justin Ellis about "The Cruelty of Nice Folks"
hamiltonnolan.com
A real heater from the one and only @maitreyiaa.bsky.social. Subscribe to Defector today, people! defector.com/sophie-cunni...
Well look at that! The Cruelty of Nice Folks got a shoutout in the New Yorker! www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Briefly Noted Book Reviews
Short review of recent releases.
newyorker.com
Phenomenal and damning writing about the cowardice of PEN America by @sohini.bsky.social! Defector truly has the best interns around and I will challenge anyone who says otherwise to a duel defector.com/pen-americas...
Today: @justinellis.bsky.social weaves together his family story and the history of Minneapolis for a stark look at the city's predominantly white liberal politics. Plus, we remember restauranteur Harry Singh, who forever changed our spice tolerance. twincities.citycast.fm/podcasts/the...
'The Cruelty of Nice Folks' in Minneapolis, Minnehaha Art Fair Tips, and Remembering Harry Singh - City Cast Twin Cities
Harry Singh brought previously unheard of levels of spice to Minnesota when he opened his Caribbean restaurant in Minneapolis over 40 years ago, an...
twincities.citycast.fm
Had a great time talking with @usefulnoise.bsky.social about how circular Minneapolis history can be, why well intentioned liberals fail and why police reform is a false choice. Whenever a Defector & Racket linkup can happen is a good time racketmn.com/when-nice-fo...
When Nice Folks Make Cruel Choices: Journalist Justin Ellis on MN's History of 'Unaccounted for Repression, Rage, Discrimination, and White Supremacy' - Racket
In his book, 'The Cruelty of Nice Folks,' Ellis looks at how when it comes to race, Minneapolis is trapped in cycles of good intentions and failure to follow through.
racketmn.com
The new racist double standard set up by Alito in the TPS ruling: if there’s any other motive in addition to the racism, the racism doesn’t count, but if the state wants to *prevent* discrimination against black people, that is racist and unconstitutional www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Thank you to everyone who came out to the Minneapolis debut of The Cruelty of Nice Folks! My conversation with Lissa Jones is now up on the Black Market Reads! Listen wherever you find your podcasts: blackmarketreads.com/2026/06/25/e...
The Cruelty of Nice: Unpacking Minnesota's Racial Disparities
Explore Justin Ellis' debut, 'The Cruelty of Nice Folks,' exposing racial disparities in Minneapolis and the cost of 'Minnesota Nice.'
blackmarketreads.com
What’s remarkable about all this stuff is the stolen valor. You didn’t build shit, you won a birth lottery. You are a podcaster not Emperor Vespasian. bsky.app/profile/just...
Justin Baragona@justinbaragona.bsky.social · last mo.9 years ago, NBC gave this woman $20 million a year to host a morning talk show and be one of the top faces of its news division.
Grateful to @maris.bsky.social and @lyz.bsky.social for putting The Cruelty of Nice Folks in great company on this list! A whole summer of good reads that doesn't involve the doorstop published by "that fascist couch fucker." lithub.com/40-great-new...
40 Great New Books You May Have Missed
It feels like JD Vance has been everywhere in the last few weeks, and haven’t we suffered enough? As much as I’m enjoying the universal disdain he’s receiving from a diverse array of publications, …
lithub.com
It’s almost like threats and intimidation are the defining tactics for an agency that can’t justify itself or why it exists
Taniel@taniel.bsky.social · last mo.Two ICE agents tracked down a woman *inside a polling place* yesterday. Why? They demanded that she take down an Instagram post in which she named Jonathan Ross as the man who shot & killed Renee Good (after the Star Tribune identified Ross). www.syracuse.com/news/2026/06...
Thank you to @literaryhub.bsky.social for running this excerpt from The Cruelty of Nice Folks! This chapter focused on the ways Minneapolis' history with segregation muddies the story of the coalition between labor, liberal politicians and black workers lithub.com/on-integrati...
On Integrating Unions and Finding “Good White People” in Midcentury Minnesota
The black-and-white booklet is meant to fit easily in a pocket or slip into the palm of a polite stranger, anyone whose willingness to make eye contact left them open to learning about race relatio…
lithub.com
I was on NPR! Thank you to @pien-huang.bsky.social for the great conversation about Minneapolis and The Cruelty of Nice Folks. I personally cannot listen to the sound of my own voice, but you can hear the interview here www.npr.org/2026/06/20/n...
The cruelty behind 'Minnesota nice'
George Floyd's murder put Minneapolis in the spotlight. Justin Ellis' new book, 'The Cruelty of Nice Folks: Why Minneapolis is the Story of America,' says the city embodies a contradiction - liberal i...
npr.org
Hey, it’s @defector.com ‘s own @justinellis.bsky.social with an article about his book in the Minneapolis paper. (yes, i still get the physical newspaper on sundays).
Sat down for the coveted Defector Books interview with @maitreyiaa.bsky.social, who somehow in talking about The Cruelty of Nice Folks got me to talk cheese curds, Wolves players, and how the book looks at the legacy of moderate liberalism Minnesota gave to the country defector.com/justin-ellis...
really great @maitreyiaa.bsky.social interview with @justinellis.bsky.social about his brilliant new book THE CRUELTY OF NICE FOLKS (which is out now, buy buy buy!) defector.com/justin-ellis...
It's pub week for The Cruelty of Nice Folks! I started off writing a book about the death of George Floyd and the treatment of black life in Minneapolis. It took five years to bring this book into the world, and I never knew where it would take me. Let's talk about it:
Minneapolis! We’re launching The Cruelty of Nice Folks at Magers & Quinn in uptown on June 22! Excited to talk with Lissa Jones about the book, the past and the future of the city
magersandquinn.com
New York! The Cruelty of Nice Folks arrives next week and on June 17 I'll be talking with my friend @sorayanadiamcdonald.com about the book at McNally Jackson in the seaport! Come join us!
Justin Ellis & Soraya McDonald
McNally Jackson is an independent bookstore with five New York locations.
mcnallyjackson.com
When i wrote this yesterday I forgot one simple rule with this man: he can and will always make shit worse for other people, often for the most asinine reasons
The President Has Arrived To Fuck Up The Hottest Party In New York | Defector
The skies have never been more blue over the city of New York, the sun never more warm, and the Knicks merch more profound and ubiquitous. The other day my daughter had her first basketball lesson on ...
defector.com
Free Speech Champion(tm) Bari Weiss demanding CBS News smear an American executed by her government for protesting bsky.app/profile/elio...
Eliot Higgins@eliothiggins.bsky.social · 2mo agoBari Weiss not beating the bootlicking propagandist allegations here:
You've got to be fucking kidding me www.startribune.com/jacob-frey-c...
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council have entered couples counseling
The city has hired a consultant for up to $1.4 million to, among other things, help the leaders get along. They met privately last week and set ground rules.
startribune.com
So proud to be on this list! @literaryhub.bsky.social says The Cruelty of Nice Folks:"deftly situates the state’s paradoxical history of outwardly progressive politics and quietly regressive policies within the epoch-making tumult of the past six years"
Ten Great Nonfiction Titles to Read in June
If you’re the kind of reader who prefers some heft in your beach reads, than June is the month for you. This month’s picks feature natural histories of American megafauna, domestic memoirs of paren…
lithub.com
i think it is probably difficult to pull the “this guy isn’t manly” gambit when you look like someone aged up the boss baby
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo agoStephen Miller: "It's very bold that Democrats would choose Texas to nominate their first transgender Senate candidate who's transitioning into a female. When Talarico goes in for a blood test, blood doesn't come out, instead soy milk comes out. This man has less testosterone than Jasmine Crockett."
I said this at the time but during the first 3 months of the year I rarely saw MPD in South Minneapolis.. it felt like a very noticeable absence. It almost seemed like they were hiding so they weren't forced to have to act on at minimum the out of control ICE driving that was happening every day?
Minnesota Star Tribune@startribune.com · 2mo agoMinneapolis police rarely responded to immigration-related emergency calls during Operation Metro Surge, even as the department spent $10 million on overtime and standby pay preparing for unrest that largely never materialized.
The WNBA is back, and so is @defector.com's TEN MINUTE QUARTERS at Littlefield in Brooklyn on Monday May 18. We’ll have giveaways, games, goofs, and as always a lineup of hilarious comics. Go to defector.com/wnbashow for tickets, use code LETSGOLIBS for 10% off
