Donald Trump posted a weird fake video about medbeds not because he believes what was in it, but because the people who are into conspiracy theories like medbeds are at the core of his movement. Also: I used a medbed! It was not good. open.substack.com/pub/thedayof...

Yeah I've been talking about medbeds for a while (quoted here in this excellent piece) and the whole thing's super depressing and weird www.bbc.com/news/blogs-t...

Forgot to tag @wendling.bsky.social here, who actually tried one popular version of the medbed "technology" for this BBC piece I did a "trial" of a different one, which instructed me to upload a picture of my regular bed to a website and then lay down and think real hard about medbeds or smth

Donald Trump has shared an AI video *of himself*, which includes a fake Fox report about medbeds, a hoax miracle cure truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT... h/t @internetthought.bsky.social

For anyone wanting to know more about President Trump's #medbed announcement, here are some relevant links. But first the original video from Trump truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

Via @wendling.bsky.social: Charlie Kirk hyped a conspiracy theory about a supposed "Day of Jihad." "Make sure you have a gun on you," Kirk said. Days later, a man obsessed with the conspiracy theory murdered a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy. thedayofreckoning.substack.com/p/charlie-ki...

In the debate about free speech after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, one story has been missing – how rumours of a “Global Day of Jihad” spread by Kirk and others suddenly led a deranged man to kill a six-year-old boy. My first post on a new blog explains all. open.substack.com/pub/thedayof...

Breaking down what we do and do not know about what might have motivated Charlie Kirk’s killer with @shayan86.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...

I feel like we could get aguest going as a verb. "I am aguesting on the morning news round." "I often aguest with family." "Farage is perennially aguesting on question time."

Sunday morning I will a guest on The Moral Maze, recorded at How The Light Gets In, a philosophy festival that’s happening at Kenwood House. The question: “Is democracy a failed experiment?” howthelightgetsin.org/events/the-m... I’ll put the case against monarchs and dictators.

Jimmy Kimmel is off air, people are getting fired for opinions about Charlie Kirk, so why is the White House worked up about free speech … in Britain? I tried to break it down with Asma Khalid @asmamk and Tristan Redman on the BBC’s Global Story podcast. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I was just thinking about how people on the left have researched, debunked, and categorized all the little tribes in the right wing grift-o-sphere, but people on the right think everyone but them is a blue haired art school barista with a nose piercing. The obsessively informed vs the alt reality.

Steve Bannon, Emerald Robinson and other MAGA influencers are spreading conspiracy theories about the Charlie Kirk killing www.mediaite.com/media/news/s...

Steve Bannon, Emerald Robinson and other MAGA influencers are spreading conspiracy theories about the Charlie Kirk killing www.mediaite.com/media/news/s...

At the very tail end of a Senate hearing, Tom Tillis just criticised Steve Bannon and Alex Jones (though not by name) for "war" language after the killing of Charlie Kirk. Few of either party seem to be willing to criticize those who are, broadly speaking, on their own side.

Support for political violence appears to depend mainly on whether a respondent's "side" is in power and who's being attacked, which is a bad place for a country to be in www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

The research in this area is very clear, right-wing radicals have been more likely in recent years to use violence. www.researchgate.net/publication/...

I know people who are absolutely convinced one way or another are not going to be happy about this but there’s still a lot we didn’t know about the motivations of Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer Tyler Robinson. Hopefully we will learn more soon. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...

Anybody pretending to have a confident read on the motive of this shooting because of reported inscriptions on bullet shells that included video game references and "If you're reading this, you're gay LMAO" is a fool

Many people are convinced, because of what they’ve seen online, that the know what motivated the accused killer of Charlie Kirk. The truth is we don’t have a motive and in some ways the picture is murkier than it was this morning. Powerful people have blamed the “Left” - without evidence…

"At least if you think the world is run by a cabal of dark forces, you can imagine that these evil doers could have not done that."

The White House denial of Donald Trump’s birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein, and the fact checking Community Note that X is currently *not* showing to the general public. You can check the signature yourself here: t.co/BCDjhRTJuO

The “Trump is dead” conspiracy theory is the latest echo of BlueAnon - the idea that last July’s assassination attempt was staged. Like OG QAnon, the political utility of this stuff is clear. In this case, it’s an attempt to portray Trump as weak as he increasingly tries to grab more hard power…

Police now say the couple involved was Bulgarian, which makes them much less likely to be Muslim and illegal immigrants than the far-right presumed.  As predicted this story is dropping off the radar, replaced by obsession over gender identity of the Minnesota killer. bsky.app/profile/wend...

The international alt-right is going ballistic today over the story of “Sophie from Dundee” a girl pictured in a video wielding a knife and some sort of small hatchet while defending her sister, allegedly from immigrants. What are the facts? Very thin atm

What a disgusting country

This is very important and timely. Give it a listen.

We've been trying to make a radio documentary on the Dark Enlightenment off and on for most of a decade... and it seems pretty apt right now. So how influential is it *really*? Producer: Lucy Proctor Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Audio mix: James Beard Wry delivery: me www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

This is a skilful, penetrating analysis from @wendling.bsky.social & BBCRadio4 on what troubled ‘accelerationist’ philosopher Nick Land popularised as The Dark Enlightenment. There is enough here for a series, as the programme offers a measured, admonitory overview www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Why the Epstein case looms large in MAGA world

Yeah but why Epstein? ... why is the case of a long-dead sex offender the *one thing* that has MAGA worked up? Epstein's very real and horrendous crimes are also connected to a long history which includes things like Pizzagate and QAnon... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Why are there are no think pieces on Ryan Trahan's 50 States in 50 Days. It is thoroughly mid (though imho oddly compelling) brand-friendly content with zero reference to Epstein or Trump, so you'd expect someone to write "Why Ryan Trahan is the hero America needs right now"...

This is a must-read ... even to a greater degree than other Garbage Day posts. And that is saying a lot... www.garbageday.email/p/maga-needs...

One of my last reports as the BBC's reporter in the Midwest ... the aftermath of a deadly shooting in Minnesota, where people are "nice" and there are no metal detectors at the entrance to the state capital building... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Extremists are emboldened right now, that's pretty clear. I'm wondering though, are there Dem lawmakers calling this guy - who calls himself antifa - a right-wing MAGA person? There is an imbalance here - not nec in violence but in political propaganda www.cbsnews.com/news/former-...

People in Minnesota are united by their shock and grief. But what comes next? www.bbc.com/news/article...

This morning in Brooklyn Park neighbours of Melissa Hortman described to me their shock - and how she got along with her colleagues and neighbours even if they differed on politics. Suspect is still at large. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Not only has the horse bolted, it's moved out of town, visited multiple countries, and is currently pretty lame and thinking about retiring to a nice meme pasture www.bbc.com/news/article...

This tweet from a Qanon conspiracy account making a vague unsubstantiated claim has been viewed more than many from legit reporters on the scene here in Chicago. If you want to know what’s causing trouble, part of the answer is this:

Errol Musk, George Galloway, Alex Jones and Alexander Dugin ... all together at a conference in Moscow bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/06/08/g...

The relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump is currently undergoing a rapid unscheduled disassembly www.bbc.com/news/live/cy...

Donald Trump has just nominated Paul Ingrassia, a lawyer for Andrew Tate (and beyond attorney-client relations, a huge Tate fan), to lead the US Office of Special Counsel. The OSC deals with whistleblower complaints from fed employees, among other things. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Here I was thinking the #billsmafia train to Kansas City was a tough journey... www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Several outlets, citing WH sources, saying Donald Trump pardoned Michael Harris today. However Michael Harris, founder of Death Row Records, was pardoned by Trump in Jan 2021. Either it's a different Michael Harris or the White House is confused? thehill.com/blogs/blog-b...

Fishy stuff like this is circulating re Liverpool. This post from an account from Tanzania, with little traction (posts usually less than 100 views). Obvious falsehood… and irony … while the man arrested appears white, the person behind this account definitely isn’t

This book came out a year ago and is the perfect Memorial Day gift for anyone wondering why they’re talking about “white genocide” in the White House

Headline translated to American English: Man United or Spurs: Whose season has been better? Let’s fight! www.nytimes.com/athletic/635...

Wow Chicago burbs Reddit does NOT like the Tim Pool billboard on I-294. www.reddit.com/r/ChicagoSub...

This is worth reading, not because Roger Stone is extremely delusional about Tucker Carlson and others he agrees with, but because he has accurately identified the fault lines on the American right. stonezone.com/in-defense-o...

“I’m not a Nazi” says podcaster who sounds indistinguishable from the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, in 2017.