So "Books" search on Google is just...gone?

Good news alert! "Exposure to lead—a dangerous heavy metal—has fallen by a factor of more than 100 since the 1960s." Beginning of the trend coincides with the establishment of the EPA. (h/t @semafor.com)

"The Predatory Hegemon:" Stephen Walt on Trump and American power. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Good video, and good that he wants to raise taxes on the ultrarich to raise more revenue. But has Mamdani discussed specific ideas for fostering widespread economic growth in the city's private sector, besides cutting regulations to encourage building? Have I missed that? bsky.app/profile/mayo...

In my view, this is the best take on Carney's speech: Matias Spektor on why the world will come to miss Western hypocrisy. "A world in which powerful states no longer feel compelled to justify themselves morally is not more honest—it is more dangerous." www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Aside from the shooting itself, the most upsetting thing in the Pretti video is the way that the ICE officer is trying to pull Pretti away from the woman whom the officer has just shoved and pepper-sprayed. “Stop interfering with my infliction of pain.”

This, to me, is one of the most damning bits in the NYT oral history of Trump's assault on the FBI. Attributed to a "Midwest case agent."

One year in, it's Hobbes all the way down. Me & @profsaunders.bsky.social in @foreignaffairs.com. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

This is true, but it also speaks to a truly difficult dynamic: in many areas (not all!) genAI can produce a result that is not entirely incompetent/unuseful. As the responses in the screenshot suggest, if you’re not an expert in a field, a 40-60% result might seem good, or at least good enough…

The postwar “rules-based order” is dead. A transactional world has taken its place, one where values, multilateralism, and liberalism have less influence, a world more suited for the 19th century instead of a multipolar order. My latest for @foreignaffairs.com. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

something I've wanted to do for a while: technical writing about songs (naming chords, etc) that is legible to non-technical readers, put together with more broadly interpretive criticism in hopes of getting to a deeper understanding of what the music is doing www.hearingthings.co/the-psycholo...

Interesting roundup of changes in media this year by @kang.bsky.social. I hadn't seen this revealing Pew report. Link to Kang's piece: www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...

A Steve Kotkin banger leads the new issue of FA: the Stalin biographer on "the five dimensions of authoritarianism" and how they create vulnerabilities. Maybe the most important one: for autocrats, "their loyalists are their true enemies within."

On the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” @kschake.bsky.social argues that the Trump administration’s approach to foreign policy is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of American power. Start listening here: https://fam.ag/494W62u

I’m so grateful to @jvogt.bsky.social and @foreignaffairs.com for the opportunity of this conversation on the new national security strategy:

Things would be better if more politicians were inspired by Fred Rogers.

Fascinating stories of Chinese workers who migrated from rural areas to Guangdong in 2006-15: skillfully collected by the poet Zheng Xiaoqiong, translated by Eleanor Goodman, insightfully introduced by @kaiserkuo.bsky.social—and, thankfully, published by @equatormag.bsky.social.

Andrew Miller was a senior official in the Biden administration, working on Israel-Palestine. Today, FA publishes his call for a dramatic reshaping of U.S.-Israeli relations: ending the "exceptional" relationship and replacing it with a "normal" one. www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/end-i...

Read @danblock.bsky.social on what Western media outlets can learn from The Caravan, an Indian magazine, about what to do when the state comes after the free press. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

I love this Patrick Leger illustration for this year's edition of FA's annual "Best of Books" list.

An update on the “American dream,” from NPR’s Scott Horsley:

Noriega got Rickrolled www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/u...

Surprising that none of these folks picked the song "Harvest," which would be my answer. Some other songs from the record with that title appear, as does "Harvest Moon." But no "Harvest." stereogum.com/2476602/80-a...

Has anyone ever made a strong case, grounded in data and empirical evidence, that Bill de Blasio's *pre-Covid* record as mayor was bad? Curious to know what metrics one would use to make that case.

Presidents have the right to fire general officers and have done so in the past. But there is no precedent for the rapid dismissal of so many senior officers without any real explanation, evidence of failings, or misconduct. This looks like an attempt to install compliant leaders. bit.ly/47aHw7J

I had a good convo about the prospects for peace in Gaza with Khaled Elgindy, Shira Efron, and Dan Shapiro. Each one makes a slightly different case for hope in the short term, and a slightly different case for doubt in the long term. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

My 7-year-old is reading "Charlotte's Web." My 13-year-old is reading "Animal Farm." In conclusion, animal husbandry is a land of contrasts.

Has anyone from OpenAI explained why a tool like Sora 2 should exist? What, in the developers’ view, are the benefits that outweigh the obvious costs?

A sweet appreciation of Rachel's, pegged to Touch and Go Records reissuing the group's albums, including "Music for Egon Schiele," a work I have cherished for 30 years. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/s...

Love this, @davecolon.bsky.social: like an exorcism to expel the spirit of John Rocker. bsky.app/profile/dave...

yarvin did the ISIS dril meme

The Animal Collective Effect

Seems like the anti-Mamdani forces have been focused on trying to push out the wrong candidate. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/n...

It’s the best detailed description of the benefits to the U.S. of the international order the Trump administration is destroying.

Today, @steveinskeep.bsky.social interviewed Ty Cobb, who led the White House response to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “What did you think when you heard about the FBI search of John Bolton’s house and office?” Inskeep asked. “Well, I went down and locked my door,” Cobb replied.

A truly incredible story. @katiehonan.bsky.social has reported on some crazy things, but this is just beyond. www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...

American officials "must spend less time worrying about how to weaken their rival and more time figuring out how to make their country the best and most vigorous version of itself." — Dan Wang and Arthur Kroeber www.foreignaffairs.com/china/real-c...

Highly relevant and useful to read today: Stacie Goddard's essay on Trump's vision of a concert of powers, which FA published back in April. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

dear lord flatbush farm is now a sweetgreen

trying to imagine explaining this to 2015 me

"Israel’s campaign in Gaza is the most lethal case of a Western democracy using the punishment of civilians as a tactic of war." — Robert A. Pape, author of "Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War" www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/unpar...

SAURONHENGE IS COMING nygroove.nyc/eye-of-sauro...

The long, sordid history of the tactics producing mass hunger in Gaza. "Throughout the twentieth century, starvation blockades were integral to Western strategic thinking—and, as many statesmen saw it, to the maintenance of international order itself." www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/israe...

"The coming wave of old and shrinking populations will fundamentally reshape geopolitics. In at least one way, that transformation will be for the better." — Mark Haas www.foreignaffairs.com/world/coming...

"Believing you can outfox a fox is how you become its prey." — David Pressman (ambpressman.bsky.social) with a stark warning about institutional acquiescence. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

I wrote something about dissent and the motive for speaking out. calebcrain.substack.com/p/the-motive...

A good idea, I think. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/n...

PWH Faculty Council member @sarahbush.bsky.social has a new piece in @foreignaffairs.com on the future of NGOs. Read here: www.foreignaffairs.com/world/end-ag...

Me, to every young journalist I ever meet.