ICE is less visible in Chicago, but the threats to the safety and livelihoods of immigrant communities haven’t gone away—how are mutual aid organizations sustaining their efforts? https://youtube.com/shorts/ROMATHE5DZE?feature=share

Consumer sentiment sinks to all-time low, with Americans feeling worse now than they did during wars, 9/11, the Great Recession and Covid-19 pandemic. https://cnn.it/4a2sliS

Trump is using a "waste, fraud, and abuse" campaign to cut Medicaid: freezing federal payments, labeling home care and autism therapy as fraud, justifying cuts. Lew Blank and I polled voters on what works against it, free messaging briefing, 5/28 @ 1PM ET Register: live.zoho.com/hila-mwe-ufe

Great NYT essay by @linseymarr.bsky.social, framing the hantavirus story. Independently, the same key points and perspective from @donmilton.bsky.social in our conversation that day erictopol.substack.com/p/assessment...

REP. @votegloriaj.bsky.social: “I was like this can’t be real, but it is. I went to the website… House Republicans are just big ol’ racists and don’t care who knows it.” Gloria confirms what we said — White male Dems (except Powell) still have committees, Black & Female Dems were removed.

UPDATE: reportedly ALL Dems were stripped of committees… but white male house Dems are still listed. Only Black reps & women removed. Weird! Sexton + TN House Republicans not beating the “it’s about race” allegations. (P.S. It’s all standing committees. We have screenshots.)

Must read from @jamellebouie.net - gifted here. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/o...

This is bad.

Hungary’s parliament sings “Ode to Joy” — the anthem of Europe — after Péter Magyar is sworn in as prime minister. Hungary is once again a proud member of the European Union.

we don’t talk enough about how Chicago is the most gorgeous city in the country

Is anyone surprised? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

More than 8 in 10 Americans say that they're feeling the strain of higher gas prices, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll released Wednesday — and more than 6 in 10 blame Trump. to.pbs.org/4uuxCHZ

Unearthed reports reveal that RFK Jr. fired every full-time CDC cruise ship sanitation inspector ahead of the Hantavirus cruise ship outbreak. www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cru...

Someone asked a bunch of kids what the first thing was that cane to mind when they thought about Trump. Their answers are priceless. Check out the video.

Can we just admit at this point that the Trump Administration just hates black women in public life? Can we?

horrible. this country’s turn away from science based medicine in the name of “wellness” is killing children and will kill a lot more. www.propublica.org/article/more...

Having lived through some of these at a safety net hospital system I am not surprised.

Chicago! This Sunday, 5/10, come see the latest feature by @whitecitycinema.bsky.social, cut by yours truly ✂️🎞️

For @jewishcurrents.bsky.social I wrote about the decimation of the right to asylum. I went into the history of asylum, how it was formalized post the World Wars, how it was never properly implemented, and how its destruction paves the path for authoritarianism. jewishcurrents.org/the-death-of...

Chicago made it so every public school student can use their school ID as a #LibraryCard 📚. No forms, no extra steps. It gives over 300k students instant access to #books, #tutoring, and online resources 🙌

Friends, @defendpublichealth.bsky.social has developed a People’s Health Policy platform, and we’d like as many people as possible to endorse it! Please head over to the link below if you’re interested in joining this effort, we’d love to have your individual or group endorsements!

Even at the end of Reconstruction, the federal government was inexcusably PASSIVE — not actively attacking Black voters

There it is. Any questions?

This was completely predicted. The Congresspersons who voted for HR 1 had all the information needed to let them know they were betraying their districts.

The Republicans sole policy goal seems to be making life worse for everyone but billionaires. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/b...

⬇️ This Roosevelt guy might be on to something.

Justice Alito has one, and only one, judicial philosophy: Vote for what helps the Republican party. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has completed its decades-long project to destroy the Voting Rights Act. It has blessed racial discrimination and further encouraged partisan gerrymandering in the Callais ruling. 1/2

#BREAKING Federal prosecutors in Chicago say they are dismissing the conspiracy count against the remaining members of the Broadview Six.

Watch this memory of Bloody Sunday in Selma and remember why this country desperately needed the Voting Rights Act, effectively gutted by the majority on SCOTUS. youtu.be/00xojzOYdz8?...

A senior with Alzheimer's. A person with paralysis needing home care. A family spending its last dollars on a nursing home. This is who Medicaid cuts hurt. Not line items — REAL PEOPLE. #MedicaidAwarenessMonth

Amazing work by @propublica.org highlighting a vicious proposal from the administration that would penalize hundreds of thousands of individuals with disabilities and their families.

Really great read with no ranking so Dylan pals he’s on there with a thoughtful piece. Gifted here. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Fascinating article with Bob Dylan alert

The Bob and Joan kids debate story is worth the price of a paid subscription to @raypadgett.bsky.social newsletter all by itself.

Tesla. Disney. CVS Health. United Airlines. PayPal. Billions in profits. $0 in federal corporate income taxes. That money should be funding schools, healthcare, and public services. This is why people are mad as hell.

A little music in honor of Pope Leo being an Augustinian youtu.be/PKpd_6a13IU?...

H.R. 1’s unprecedented cost shift to states is already driving far deeper SNAP cuts than anticipated as states scramble to reduce costs. Congress must delay this unfunded mandate for all states before even more struggling families lose food assistance.

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin’ you better run” Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61”

An absolutely predictable outcome of HR1 with Medicaid work requirements and reporting on deck for the end of the year.

If you are into Dylan and you’re not yet a subscriber to @raypadgett.bsky.social ‘s amazing substack, read this to see what you’ve been missing and sign up.

God bless you @colsonwhitehead.com "Do you realize how much water and power it’d take to replicate the average writer’s narcissism, self-loathing and despair? It’d drain the Indian Ocean. You could light up Times Square for a year. We can’t afford it."

Great essay from Colson Whitehead. Don’t Use A.I. to Do This www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/o...

Viktor Orbán created the global blueprint for authoritarian populism and became a MAGA hero. Today, Hungarian voters sent him packing after 16 years in power. There is nothing inevitable about these guys. Organize. Vote. Fight back. It works.

The #BigUglyBill’s devastating cuts to nutrition programs are going into effect - and millions of kids and working families are going hungry because of it. www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

“We want to live in a free, European Democracy. After 16 years of sorrow, corruption and Russian influence. We have had enough” The organisers & singers at the massive Budapest concert told me why Orban has to go.

The four humans who have traveled the furthest from Earth. (Via NASA.)