You can be a Tasmanian Devil of vile and easily disproven bullshit, but if you also hate trans people you will be called a "challenging thinker" by American media institutions

Trump's DOJ was monitoring all the movements of the Miami Herald reporter who was covering the Epstein case.

She launched her career trying to get professors fired in the name of academic freedom. Her website publishes a firehose of conservative propaganda in the name of open debate. She is now censoring factual information under the guise of journalistic accuracy.

Seems worth noting at this point that Weiss's internal critics at the Times were correct and her many apologists among elite pundits were wrong

This is great, thanks @ryanlcooper.com prospect.org/2025/12/19/t...

Contemplating an A.I. future makes me want to return to the revolutionary political culture of the (physical) pamphlet. Similarly, I wonder if things like live theater and sending your kids to very hands on Waldorf-type schools are going to gain in cultural significance.

It would be cool if billionaires aspiring to be oligarchs and turn this country into Russia would examine the fate of some of the less lucky oligarchs in Russia.

I know I've been talking about T.S. a lot, but she seems like a key figure in decoding U.S. culture. I'm not totally sure about her as a key to politics in this moment, as the article contends, but appreciate the attempt to grapple with her as a force.

Thought this article about Taylor Swift and the liberal/left divide was interesting: tribunemag.co.uk/2025/12/is-t...

The extreme attack on transgender youth we are witnessing from a governmental stage was enabled by The Atlantic and The New York Times.

it really feels like the end is near for Mike Johnson's speakership after a critical mass of House Republicans this morning forced a vote on ACA subsidies over his resistance

I assume the Venezuela caper is about returning us to the era of the Monroe Doctrine and ending the framework of Atlantic charter?

I wish more people understood that government & academic jobs are counter-cyclical. That is, apart from all the other good they do in society, they are what keep us afloat during a downturn.

sir the rats released another tell-all about the sinking ship

Very normal Friday looking at photos of sex toys as part of a government photo dump into a sex crime conspiracy involving the sitting president.

PBS has started going through the huge new batch of Epstein photos, and, yeah. Blech. Click through at your own risk www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...

I've been sharing some thoughts about Taylor Swift lately, and the conversation around her latest album. My initial reaction to it was to think that she may have written something of a dud, but that she's smarter than people were giving her credit for.

I would certainly believe that there is a misogynistic negative PR campaign against Blake Lively, which is possibly also targeting Taylor Swift. Also, just the other day Blake Lively posted about going to see the Harry P play on Broadway, with no apparent clue of how that looks. So 🤷‍♀️

I wish a majority of voters had not chosen for us to live in the Upside Down.

The Brattleboro Festival of Miniatures looks so cute: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/05/l...

if you see this, repost with your model of positive masculinity.

again, the supreme court did not write the constitution (or the declaration) and—despite what you may think—they don't have the monopoly on the interpretation of those documents. the people have a say, and if the court is out of step with the people, that's a problem for the court, not the governed

I wonder what school budgets will look like next year. And the FAFSA process, jeez.

I didn't engage with the Travis Kelce's ex/racism discourse about TLOAS at first. As I say, that was not the problematic thing that jumped out at me. But I have been looking into it a bit and just have this *yikes* feeling about the whole thing.

One of the darkly funny aspects of J.K. Rowling's villain arc was the way she signaled it right from the beginning, with the name of the school. There is no distinction, in Rowling's magical realm, between Witchcraft and Wizardry, and yet the school's name blasts the arbitrary difference.

I was originally looking forward to the release of Taylor Swift's album as a cultural event large enough to (temporarily) displace politics as my main concern. It ended up being a broken, shard-filled mirror to politics.

Elizabeth Taylor was a compelling actor and a beautiful woman, but she was also a genuinely inspiring human being: www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20...

the Trump administration is objectively pro-rape

The White House’s insistence on using Sabrina Carpenter’s work and image to promote their crimes against humanity is also them appealing to their base, which already uses technology to try and humiliate and puppeteer the likenesses of women who have autonomy, success, and visibility in public

you don't say

Sentimental Value is so good.

*whispers* Jeffries is showing more and more every day why he needs to be primaried

Here’s Judith Butler explaining what this movement is and always was, about five years ago.

You don’t actually gotta hand it to the people complying in advance

That second part is what should really have Republicans spooked. This isn't just Democratic turnout differential like '23-24 specials. Their own voters are turning on Trump.

republicans who think you have a safe seat: no you don’t

Another thought I had about Taylor Swift is that she had an option Sabrina Carpenter did not. If she wanted to push back on Trump's use of her song without increasing views for the WH, she could have made a comment about the Stephen Colbert parody.

Added alt text to the Stephanie Burt poem, "Introduction to Trans Literature":

I have Stephanie Burt on the brain

oh my god someone made it (and kindly tipped their hat to me) bsky.app/profile/harp...

Also, Gracie Hunt sucks and Taylor Swift should not take cutesy photos with her. Lobbying for Bad Bunny to be denied a place at the Superbowl is gutter racism. And anyone with principles should denounce it.

I'm not sure if Travis Kelce supports MAGA or is just trying to stay afloat before an NFL audience that leans right. But it was a choice when he said he was honored by Trump's presence at the Superbowl. I'm sure the average Taylor Swift fan was like "well, good you lost then." This is also a choice.

sabrina carpenter more clear in her "messaging" than most dem members of congress

P1: The King said something truly insane, we must be alarmed P2: He says all kinds of things, it is no concern P1: If the King's word is meaningless, ought he to be disposed? P2: *looks away and whistles a melody*

I happened to look up Lord Duveen and came across this wonderful paragraph in a NYer piece about him (from 1951):

I bet Taylor Swift is going to regret letting this admin use her music without pushback.

today instead of buying barely discounted crap, get a paid subscription to an independent media outlet! a little $ goes a long way towards supporting a free press. 🗞️ drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):

A Gen Z-led advocacy group announced a boycott campaign targeting major corporations “that enable, profit from, or directly collaborate with ICE.” Beyond the Ballot launched “Not With My Dollars: ICE Out of My Wallet” just days before Black Friday kicks off.