After a stunning rise, Stephen Miller has seen his influence quietly diminished in the White House, insiders tell @michaelscherer.bsky.social and @nickmiroff.bsky.social.

Stephen Miller in Retreat The once-powerful aide’s influence has quietly diminished. W/ @nickmiroff.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

this AI slop has the Lincoln Memorial backwards and tripled the width of the reflecting pool

Breaking news: Indiana University plant microbiologist Roger Innes has been locked out of his laboratory by the school in response to a request by one of his federal funders. The move comes after Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs. https://scim.ag/4tsDqRr

Virginia Supreme court has thrown out the voter-passed redistricting referendum, restoring the GOP's seats - the day after Tennessee legislators steamrolled Dems to eliminate the last Dem seat vacourts.gov/static/opini...

Multiple women serving sentences for nonviolent crimes at the minimum security prison where Ghislaine Maxwell is now serving time were punished for speaking to reporters about the special treatment Maxwell receives. At least two women were transferred to higher security facilities as punishment.

ofmd au where Stede wears one of these

A bottle of bourbon went missing, causing Patel to “lose his mind,” according to clients of Kurt Siuzdak, who has assisted FBI agents w/legal issues. Multiple agents contacted him after Patel threatened to polygraph & prosecute his staff over the missing bottle. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

U.S. intelligence says Iran can outlast Trump’s Hormuz blockade for months. Fantastic WaPo scoop from Warren Strobel, @johnphudson.bsky.social + @ellenwapo.bsky.social. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

“.. NY Fed Survey shows a gradual but clear upward sloping trend to inflation expectations.” - RB Advisors

“We must commit again to the basic national project—to disagree, even viciously, while maintaining respect for one another’s humanity and a desire for truth. We must discount much of the venom we see…pandering leaders, as a distortion of reality, not a mirror. If we do not, more people will die.”

Dr. Debby Day said her bosses at Cigna gave her a stark warning: Work faster, or the company might fire her. She said her bosses cared more about being fast than being right: “Deny, deny, deny. That’s how you hit your numbers.” (Published April 2024 w/ @capitolforum.bsky.social)

Excellent reporting from @sfifz787.bsky.social. A must-read: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

🥃🥃 Most officials hand out challenge coins, perhaps. But our FBI Director is partial to Ka$h Patel bourbon. Another MUST-READ from the fearless Sarah Fitzpatrick: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202... 🥃🥃

BREAKING from The Atlantic: Kash Patel has given out bottles of a personalized whiskey to FBI staff as well as civilians he encounters in his duties, according to eight people, including current and former FBI and Department of Justice employees and others who are familiar.

My Role as a ‘Complicit’ Journalist 🚩 Algorithms turn nuanced articles into rage bait that helps fuel political violence. By @michaelscherer.bsky.social archive.md/2026.05.05-1...

Thoughtful @michaelscherer.bsky.social on *news* in the age of social media, its relationship to political violence, and the challenge it presents to our society. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

"I worry that we are at the beginning of a cycle of political violence that is going to get much worse, that will threaten more journalists, more corporate leaders, more candidates, and more elected and appointed officials." A remarkable piece from @michaelscherer.bsky.social buff.ly/2A1qW99

Algorithms push rage-bait that helps fuel political violence—and “my work unintentionally provides raw material for this ecosystem,” writes Michael Scherer, who was at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when shots were fired.

Assigned reading before calling political leaders treasonous, traitor, Nazi, scum, criminal, piece of shit, or anything of the kind in the Bluesky comments. Argue their ideas instead. My thoughts on the WHCA shooting. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

We looked into Polymarket's presence in Panama, obtained its government paperwork and visited its headquarters in Panama City. There was no sign of Polymarket. Nobody had heard of Polymarket there. www.npr.org/2026/05/05/n...

OpenAI says ChatGPT has robust safeguards. That didn’t stop the chatbot from giving @markfollman.bsky.social extensive help as he simulated planning for a mass shooting. Don't believe us? Watch for yourself in our latest video ⬇️

The New York Times calling what is clearly an homage to post-Renaissance sculptures of the Virgin Mary "Greco-Roman" is why we used to fund art education

David Sacks helped bridge the MAGA-tech divide—but his efforts are exposing Donald Trump to accusations that the president is selling out his populist base on behalf of the country’s richest men, George Packer reports:

“Let me be clear: If you are taking psychiatric medication, we are not telling you to stop,” Mr. Kennedy said. “We are making sure you — and your clinician — have the information and support to make the right decision for you.”

A deal, which isn’t finalized, would go through Murdoch’s Lupa Systems investment firm. on.wsj.com/4wicIO7

Great piece by Tom Edsall about the midterms www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/o...

Good morning nerds!

Want a break from gerrymandering discourse? There really might be enough states to institute a national popular vote by the 2028 presidential election. But as @awprokop.bsky.social writes, there are risks to an attempted Constitutional end-run by blue states www.vox.com/politics/487...

Assigned reading before calling political leaders treasonous, traitor, Nazi, scum, criminal, piece of shit, or anything of the kind in the Bluesky comments. Argue their ideas instead. My thoughts on the WHCA shooting. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

A challenge to Bluesky and people like me who feed the content: My Role as a ‘Complicit’ Journalist—Algorithms turn nuanced articles into rage bait that helps fuel political violence. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Possum Mom Doing her Best!

What the public thinks—and the consequences it may face—matters less to Trump than his designs to remake the world, @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @michaelscherer.bsky.social report. theatln.tc/LQB36eU1 🎨: Anthony Gerace. Source: Brendan Smialowksi / Getty.

The very funny Jonah Goldberg on Trump, Hegel and the lack of good Hegels in DC: "We could spend the next thousand words arguing about Francis Fukuyama, but that would be a futile gesture that would cost millions of lives, so let’s keep going." w/ HT to John Judis thedispatch.com/newsletter/g...

President Trump has depicted himself as a figure for the ages, @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @michaelscherer.bsky.social report. In “Radio Atlantic,” they discuss with @hannarosin.bsky.social what this evolution in Trump’s state of mind means and how it’s affecting world events:

IS DONALD TRUMP A SECRET HEGEL SCHOLAR?! Probably not! But he has begun likening himself to the German philosopher’s “Great Men” trifecta—Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Napoleon. W the (also immortal) @michaelscherer: www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

NEW: Trump has begun talking about how he “is the most powerful person to ever live.” Our look at how Trump’s view of himself as one of history’s Great Men is shaping the second term of what has now become his YOLO Presidency. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Reporting.

President Trump has decided what really matters during his remaining time in office, @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @michaelscherer.bsky.social report: “Ascending to become one of history’s so-called great men and leaving an enduring—and, in many cases, physical—imprint.”

TUDOR JONES: “.. We're 252% of stock market cap-to-GDP. In 1929 we were 65%. In 1987 we got to ~85-90%. In 2000, 170%. “.. Since 1970, we get a mean reversion about every 10 years. Let's say mean revert to the past 25 or 30-year PE. That would be a 30, 35% decline.” youtu.be/S31J5ACsOqU?...

Conspiracies about WHCA shooting did not just "spread online" or begin to "swirl on social media." The passive voice misses the story. Large companies built machines that magnify falsehood because it triggers more emotion than verified fact, hacking human attention for profit.

The shooting at the correspondents’ dinner made clear who gets saved first, @michaelscherer.bsky.social and @ashleyrparker.bsky.social report. “The question now is what, if anything, needs to change.”

EXCLUSIVE: J. D. Vance has privately questioned the Pentagon’s depiction of the Iran war and raised concerns that it has understated the depletion of U.S. missile stockpiles, Missy Ryan, Vivian Salama, @michaelscherer.bsky.social , and Nancy A. Youssef report.

The shooting at the correspondents’ dinner made clear who gets saved first, @michaelscherer.bsky.social and @ashleyrparker.bsky.social report. “The question now is what, if anything, needs to change.” theatln.tc/JdlD56jG

The shooting at the correspondents’ dinner made clear who gets saved first, @michaelscherer.bsky.social and @AshleyRParker report. “The question now is what, if anything, needs to change.”

NEW: A bullet that hit a U.S. Secret Service agent was halted, in part, by the officer’s phone and bulletproof vest, according to a law-enforcement summary report w/ @ashleyrparker.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

NEW: Last night's attack at WHCA dinner targeted junior administration officials without individual protection. That is new territory that has advisors unsettled. w/ @ashleyrparker.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The iPhone was once the most glamorous object anyone could own—but now some people see it as a dull necessity, Kaitlyn Tiffany argues. She reports on the growing smartphone backlash:

Robots advance on man.

Montana Democrats thought an independent could help them take back the Senate—then their own party started fighting back, @michaelscherer.bsky.social reports.