This is a really hard day and I want to just add as WIRED's politics editor -- WIRED's politics reporting isn't going anywhere. We are very much here and won't stop. Please continue to read and support us - canceling your subscription to WIRED is not standing in solidarity with our journalists.

SCOOP (free, as it's FOIA-based!): I obtained 1,665 pgs of documents about "Bicken Ben," a growing private school the Zuckerbergs ran illegally out of their Palo Alto compound Neighbors complained the school for years. Then, in 2024, they reached their breaking point: www.wired.com/story/mark-z...

The second in my trilogy on Mamdani & the NYPD. The department’s mass surveillance programs and intelligence division may face their first serious reckoning in decades - or not, if the De Blasio/mainstream Dems climbing onto Zohran’s bandwagon have their way

NEW: NYC's mayor-elect must now grapple with the sweeping NYPD surveillance apparatus that has historically targeted Muslims and other minority groups. @awinston.bsky.social reports for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/welcom...

Alvin Bragg has won a second term race for DA of Manhattan. The Democrat, who prosecuted Trump last year, was facing two challengers who were targeting him for going too far toward criminal justice reforms. (The Republican nominee here was a prominent anti-trans voice.)

new bluesky growth strategy: hold an election in the United States weekly

Repro wins so far: - Virginia protected its status as the last abortion access haven in the South - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court retained the three Democratic justices needed to protect abortion - New Jersey elected a Dem governor (vital as one of the few states w/zero abortion restrictions)

Today marks 30 days of the government shutdown and federal workers -- 750,000 were furloughed -- are barely making ends meet. @telliotter.bsky.social + @makenakelly.bsky.social spoke to federal workers struggling to pay bills, working side gigs, and relying on free food programs to get by:

To everyone considering a Staten Island thinkpiece, you’re off the hook.

i want to repeat this: mamdani and spanberger have run similar campaigns tailored to their respective electorates and it is maddening to watch political journalists attempt to create some broad contrast where none exist

POST THE BEST CRASHOUTS PLLLLEASE 🙏🙏🙏🥰

whew, per the Board of Elections, we've hit 2M votes in New York City

Pro tip: You can watch the @hellgatenyc.com livestream on your smart TV via the YouTube app (or here: www.youtube.com/live/fKA4Vpk...)

well, well, well...

What we know so far, 8:30pm —Democrats flip VA-Gov & VA-LG. —Also means Dems take VA trifecta. —Dems in good shape to win NJ-Gov. —Dems appear to flip 2 statewide offices in Georgia. —JD Vance's half-brother loses in Cincinnati. —Last GOPer in Orlando council gone. —PA: Dem justices up big so far.

TV rn: “percent percent percentage per cent %%%%”

Democrat Aftab Pureval has been re-elected Mayor of Cincinnati. His Republican opponent, Cory Bowman, is JD Vance’s half-brother.

Will they pass those potential refunds on to their customers or…?

Decision Desk has called both of Georgia's statewide races, for public service commissioner, for Democrats. If confirmed, this would be a really huge win for Democrats: It'd be their first statewide win in any non-federal race since 2006!

Abigail Spanberger (D) wins the Virginia governor's race, NBC News projects, defeating Winsome Earle-Sears (R).

Abigail Spanberger will be Virginia’s next governor and the first woman to hold the state’s highest office. Her campaign promised to fight the “chaos” of President Donald Trump’s second term and to address cost-of-living issues. https://bit.ly/3JEKGZp

“Jobs are booming” is Treasury Secretary-speak for “most-announced-job-cuts-for-a-full-year-since-2020.” “Inflation is falling” is Treasury Secretary-speak for “inflation-is-at-an-eight-month-high.”

SCOOP w/ @dell.bsky.social: the FBI is warning law enforcement to look out for people impersonating ICE to facilitate other criminal acts Plus, some odd details I got via FOIA about a March incident in which an aspiring prank YouTuber allegedly impersonated ICE: www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...

SCOOP : I got hold of the death threats, doxes and attacks teachers in Arizona are facing after a TPUSA spokesperson inaccurately claimed they mocked Charlie Kirk during Halloween. "We’re coming for you. Literally driving to Tucson as we speak You fucking wait.” www.wired.com/story/arizon...

NEW: Even the FBI thinks unidentified masked ICE agents is a bad idea. @dell.bsky.social and @carolinehaskins.bsky.social with the scoop. No paywall bc FOIA: www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...

We strongly condemn @CondéNast’s consolidation plans for Teen Vogue, a move that is clearly designed to blunt the award-winning magazine’s insightful journalism at a time when it is needed the most. More from our statement:

The revolution started on social media. It ended with protests, violence, and an online poll to pick the new prime minister. www.wired.com/story/nepal-...

Dick Cheney has died www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/u...

Scoop: We obtained vast amounts of European mobile phone location data from data brokers. It was allegedly collected for advertising purposes only, but can be used to spy on high-ranking EU officials & NATO staff in Brussels. The Commission is 'concerned' & issued new security guidance to its staff.

ICE is trying to get bounty hunters to speed up the deportation process, including by offering cash bonuses. I took a look at the procurement document posted by @propublica.org and, just for fun, FOIA'd all the questions received - and responses issued - by ICE's contracting office about this plan.

For one of my final stories with @wired.com, I teamed up with @peggylowe.bsky.social at KCUR to dig through a Kansas City, KS police hack Inside were some of the most disturbing misconduct files I’ve ever read—and a secret list of cops the department said couldnt be trusted Here are a few of them:

Rest now, brother. We have the watch. And I will see you in Valhalla. 🫡

I was a varsity pole vaulter in high school and I’m still firmly on team Running Sucks. I Don’t Get Why Everyone Wants to Run All the Time, but I Will Always Support You Because It’s Harmless (as Long as You Don’t Try to Make Me Also Run)

US citizen shot from behind as he warned ICE agents children would be coming to get bus, lawyers say

Nevada regulators have accused Elon Musk’s Boring Co. of nearly 800 environmental violations in the last two years as it digs a sprawling tunnel network beneath Las Vegas for its Tesla-powered “people mover.” By @anjeanette-damon.bsky.social and Dayvid Figler

NEW: "According to an incident report obtained by WIRED under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act, Mace cursed at police officers, making repeated derogatory comments toward them." @jakelahut.writes.news has the scoop: www.wired.com/story/nancy-...

NEW: ICE is planning to build a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractors—turning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine. My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...

NEW: ICE plans to build a network run by armed contractors that would move detained immigrants around the state, from all 254 counties, operating 24/7. @dell.bsky.social has the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...

The lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC criticizes the decision to vote on nearly a dozen points of business, saying the prolonged government shutdown has left the commission without enough staff to adequately prepare for a vote on those matters. thedesk.net/2025/10/fcc-commi...

Scoop: In digging into the AI slopification of the White House, I’ve learned that the president of the United States is capable, from time to time, of posting generative AI videos on his own, per a senior WH official. More in this week’s Inner Loop @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/donald...

NEW: For the second time in less than two weeks, a major cloud outage has impacted the internet, revealing once again the dangers of relying on a few companies to provide the internet's infrastructure. @lhn.bsky.social reports www.wired.com/story/the-mi...

NEW: Peter Williams, who ran zero-day vendor Trenchant, pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing trade secrets. Prosecutors say he sold the stolen software to an unnamed Russian broker. He faces up to 108 months in prison. @kimzetter.bsky.social reports for @wired.com www.wired.com/story/peter-...

Truffle appreciation post: She’s the weirdest Labrador I’ve ever met, and cooler than anyone else I know.

The DC ACLU is suing on behalf of a man who was arrested by a National Guardsman and MPD officers for playing the Imperial March (from Star Wars) as an act of protest. www.acludc.org/app/uploads/...

Sharing for awareness: For those able and willing to help, the Embassy of Jamaica in DC is coordinating disaster relief in the U.S. They have asked folks to reach out to them at [email protected] to coordinate support. The government has info on donations supportjamaica.gov.jm

Hurricane Melissa intensified so quickly and unusually that meteorologists are stunned, @mollytaft.com reports. Jamaica is going to need a lot of help once this storm is over. www.wired.com/story/hurric...

and may we present you with:

NEW: CBP searched a record 55,424 devices at the US border over the past 12 months. While these searches are rare compared to the number of travelers, the data shows a notable uptick over the past six months. @mattburgess1.bsky.social and @dell.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/cbp-se...

NEW: A right-wing campaign based on a conspiracy theory aims to eliminate the algorithmic process that keeps everyone's identity private in US census data. If successful, it would likely discourage marginalized people from participating. @telliotter.bsky.social reports: www.wired.com/story/republ...

You should read every @toddfeathers.bsky.social investigation. But this scalpel cut into Alpha School for @wired.com is a master class in dissecting institutions that drink their own kool-aid and are stunned when someone holds up a mirror as it dribbles off the chin. www.wired.com/story/ai-tea...