Avignon-gate, the scandal blowing up MAGA-Catholic relations, explained. www.vox.com/politics/485...

The best-case scenario for the Iran crisis is still pretty bad. www.vox.com/politics/485...

"Let’s cut to the chase: Trump is about as likely to be removed via the 25th Amendment as he is to be deposed by an army of unicorn-riding elves." www.vox.com/politics/485...

Toward a new unified TACO theory www.vox.com/politics/485...

We're about to find out whether an authoritarian can lose at the ballot box. www.vox.com/politics/485...

“A whole civilization will die tonight”: How Trump is threatening war crimes My latest for @voxdotcom.bsky.social www.vox.com/politics/484...

People often say we're in a "Manhattan Project" moment with AI. So when I visited Los Alamos recently, I was curious what that looked like where the actual Manhattan project happened. I found there are some very surprising things happening with the computers on the mesa www.vox.com/technology/4...

The MAGA civil war over the Iran war is opening up new and old religious and political feuds. www.vox.com/politics/484...

The internet fractured reality. Chatbots might put it back together. www.vox.com/technology/4...

Why the US wants to protect Iran’s oil and gas www.vox.com/politics/483...

“Iran doesn’t want to become one of these countries in which the US and Israel take military action based on a Google Calendar reminder every six months” www.vox.com/politics/483...

Online betting has grown so prominent among teen boys, there are now scared straight-style speakers traveling to schools across the country to warn kids about the dangers of gambling addiction. (Free PSA idea: This is your brain on DraftKings.)

Joe Kent's resignation letter is an antisemitic tract — the ur-text of a "stabbed in the back" myth that could do enormous damage to American Jews www.vox.com/politics/482...

The spiraling conflict is a lifeline for Vladimir Putin. www.vox.com/politics/482...

“One thing people forget,” he said, “is that we haven’t even reached the PTSD part yet. We’re still in the trauma part.” Voices from inside Iran on facing bombs above and bullets below. www.vox.com/politics/482...

The Trump administration's war memes are not merely grotesque — they are symptomatic of an administration that experiences the online-media world as more real than reality www.vox.com/politics/482...

Based memes, real blood. www.vox.com/politics/482...

How long can Iran keep shooting missiles? How long can everyone else keep shooting them down? www.vox.com/politics/482...

The killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could usher in a new age of assassination. www.vox.com/politics/481...

Iran's Khamenei was the first recognized head of state killed by a foreign power in decades. @joshuakeating.bsky.social digs into why these killings have become so rare, whether it was legal, and if it's an omen of more assassinations to come. www.vox.com/politics/481...

Donald Trump says US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader. He was the biggest target in a “decapitation” mission. The theory is familiar: take out the leadership, avoid a ground war, force change from the air. But history says it rarely works. www.vox.com/politics/481...

When presidents order airstrikes aimed at debilitating an enemy’s leadership, the logic feels compelling: Strike senior figures. Shock the system. Avoid a costly ground invasion. It is a recurring promise of modern warfare. But history suggests it's far more complicated.

My latest for @vox.com on a Mideast regime change war with Trumpian characteristics www.vox.com/politics/481...

Trump's foreign policy has come full circle. www.vox.com/politics/481...

I wrote in 2016 that Trump’s Mideast policy was incomprehensible because he’d already lied and flip flopped about so many positions, and there was no consistent throughline. Many tried to convince themselves otherwise to co-opt him for factional fights. www.nbcnews.com/politics/201...

Why did the US strike Iran? @joshuakeating.bsky.social answers some of your biggest questions about the conflict.

The nuclear nightmare at the heart of the Trump-Anthropic fight My latest for @vox.com www.vox.com/politics/480...

A major shift, via Gallup. More from @joshuakeating.bsky.social www.vox.com/politics/480...

Want to threaten Iran? You're going to need a bigger boat. www.vox.com/politics/480...

Aircraft carriers can't keep up with World War Trump. Ships still stuck near Venezuela likely influenced decision NOT to strike Iran in Jan. Now that they're in place, high cost of leaving them there could push him TO strike. More from @joshuakeating.bsky.social www.vox.com/politics/480...

I wrote about how ICE is forcing families into lockdown, in a painful echo of the pandemic

Sheltering in place, missed school, families skipping doctor visits, neighbors delivering supplies to the vulnerable — “It’s impossible not to compare this to the pandemic" www.vox.com/policy/47966...

Will Trump be able to reimpose some tariffs, at least for awhile? Probably, yeah. But the age of credibly threatening to slap giant tariffs on allies over Greenland, or for prosecuting a corrupt Trump ally, is probably over, @joshuakeating.bsky.social writes www.vox.com/politics/479...

From Venezuelan oil to the Board of Peace, Trump is constantly looking for new sources of cash he can control. www.vox.com/politics/479...

Don't expect a war to end as quickly this time. www.vox.com/politics/479...

*rubs temples* As I've spent the better part of the day explaining why I don't think Newsom should be the Democratic nominee for president, it pains me to "defend" this, but... The governor of California is legally obligated to proclaim each Feb 6 Reagan Day per a 2010 state law.

Why did the US bomb Somalia more than 100 times last year? www.vox.com/politics/478...

Is the war on terror on auto-pilot? Trump has bombed Somalia more than any other country, across two terms. He barely ever mentions it and it’s unclear how much he’s even involved. www.vox.com/politics/478...

“This is not just an issue for immigrant families,” one expert said. “It's an issue for all families.” www.vox.com/life/478770/...

If you saw the bizarre El Paso airport closure overnight, then saw it was lifted and moved on — it's a lot more insane than that and we still don't really know why it happened www.vox.com/politics/478...

How Britain ended up the new Epstein's Island, via @joshuakeating.bsky.social www.vox.com/politics/478...

Continue to think this @benjysarlin.bsky.social piece is not just insightful about what Trump's GOP rivals should have (and didn't) do, but about the failure mode of so much modern political communication more broadly.

Light blue independence flag, Ricky Martin singing an anti-statehood banger — Bad Bunny’s halftime show highlighted his ties to Puerto Rico’s independence movement www.vox.com/politics/478...

The president falsely accused Haitians in Ohio of eating pets. Now he’s trying to deport them. www.vox.com/politics/478...

Bad Bunny's taking over the US. Does he want Puerto Rico to leave it? Great dive into the singer's ties to the newly-relevant Puerto Rico independence movement, and how his life, music, and activism embodies a generational shift there www.vox.com/politics/478...

Seven years ago yesterday, this ad ran during the Super Bowl.

If you're one of the Washington Post staff laid off (or leaving), feel free to email me at benjy dot sarlin at voxmedia dot com. Would love to hear about what you're interested in.

They wanted fewer wars. He didn’t deliver. www.vox.com/politics/477...

A brief history of First Ladies cashing in, via Alyssa Rosenberg www.vox.com/culture/4775...