“Can I do one more Lebedev?” Paul Caruana Galizia, @edcaesar.bsky.social & @oliverbullough.bsky.social trade anecdotes on Lord of Siberia Evgeny Lebedev: his diets, hobbies, bugbears. Stories of oligarchy must reach a wide audience, says Galizia. To draw people in, start with the absurd. #ZEG2025

“We relied so heavily on USAID — but every protein bar distributed had to have a US flag? Unshackle us. We’re done. Maybe it’s cleansing time. Either way, now we diversify. And bring in people who are actually interested in the aid, not the PR.” Seema Jilani on the future of aid at #ZEG2025

Giorgi Gigashvili took us through how classical music is a powerful voice of resilience and defiance for Georgia’s future — where art meets activism. #ZEG2025 #KeysOfDefiance #MusicAsResistance

“Discomfort can be productive.” Dr. Erzsébet Barát on why true solidarity means resisting the urge for easy answers and instead learning to live with the discomfort of ambiguity, vulnerability, and difference in the fight against the patriarchy. #ZEG2025

“Truth is the friction, the gravity, that allows you to stand up. When there is no truth, the best spectacle wins.” Yale historian @timothysnyder.bsky.social‬, joining #ZEG2025 online, on why truth is democracy’s foundation.

“Not all minds are captured in this country.” @irmadimitradze.bsky.social on the fight for press freedom in Georgia and why it matters far beyond its borders, in conversation with @mariaressa.bsky.social, @caoilfhionn.bsky.social, and @jodieginsberg.bsky.social at #ZEG2025.

“Privacy is the foundation of your ability to craft who you are,” Christopher Wylie on why you should think twice before handing over your data. From "The Elephant in the Algorithm" convo with @aiannucci.bsky.social, Adam Pincus & @alixdunn.com. #ZEG2025

“In Haiti, people are looking for ‘glory days’ — and the glory days [back then] was a dictatorship.” Garry Pierre-Pierre on how authoritarian nostalgia is weaponized at a #ZEG2025 panel alongside @antelava.bsky.social‬ and Jillian Green, moderated by @julieposetti.bsky.social‬ .

readwise.io/reader/share... @codastory.bsky.social @antelava.bsky.social

Excellent piece by @antelava.bsky.social "And so, when friends ask me 'what do we do,' I tell them: Look to those who’ve been there before. Democracy isn’t saved through grand gestures, but through thousands of small acts of courage." www.codastory.com/rewriting-hi...

"Empires collapse from the margins—but they're also built from them. No one knows this better than Putin,” writes @antelava.bsky.social This 2024 piece on Georgia’s elections is key to understanding today’s political crisis. Read for context:

Looking for something to do this weekend ? Join us for this conversation. I can’t wait! www.eventbrite.com/e/coda-conve...

Can you guess which Kremlin-linked oligarch is trying to buy RFE/RL? Sign up to our weekly @codastory.bsky.social newsletter to find out www.codastory.com/newsletters/

It’s like a dream dinner party but on zoom Don’t miss this conversation, register now before we run out of space www.eventbrite.com/e/coda-conve...

In Oligarchy this week, the number of registered UK companies is down. A baby step towards corporate transparency, given how many shell companies litter the registry, writes @OliverBullough.bsky.social Sign up here

"The path from democracy to autocracy isn't marked by tanks in the streets but by the slow erosion of norms." A powerful perspective from Andrey Babitskiy who's seen this movie before — and knows how it ends.

That’s right. NYT suggesting that this was accidental is ridiculous

More class in his pinky than Trump has shown his entire life.

While Western governments spent billions on fact-checking, they missed the bigger picture. Putin tapped into genuine grievances about Western hypocrisy. @antelava.bsky.social on how the West lost a war it thought it had won decades ago.

Must read, and a big look in the mirror, by Coda Story’s @antelava.bsky.social

Every headline has a history, every crisis has a pattern. Our Sunday Read newsletter from @codastory.bsky.social (and me) doesn't just tell you what happened this week - it connects it to the stories and patterns we've been tracking for years. Join us: www.codastory.com/newsletters/

It really is such masculine energy to blame things on a woman who no longer works at the company www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/u...

"It's not admitting defeat in the war on disinformation. I think he's declaring victory." The great @antelava.bsky.social is my guest The Kicker, talking about Meta's fact-checking change, Trump, and what journalism can hope to achieve in the year ahead podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Silicon Valley has designed a world in which truth is optional, equity is expendable, and facts are toxic waste. Our Editor-in-Chief @antelava.bsky.social on Meta's latest moves and what they reveal about Big Tech's real mission

NEW: "The Death of Truth Was By Design" Meta kills fact-checking and DEI initiatives in the same week. @antelava.bsky.social on why this isn't just about Trump's return - it's about tech's successful power grab 🧵

'The global authoritarian playbook is effective because it is so simple. One of its core rules is: use the tools of democracy until you can make them obsolete.' – @antelava.bsky.social on "broligarchy". Brilliant: www.codastory.com/oligarchy/th...

Who would have imagined the owner of one of the world's largest social networks would be supporting a new international reactionary movement?' -Macron this week Our analysis shows it's not just digital chaos - it's a calculated business strategy. https://buff.ly/40qeheP

"For many young people, the heartache of climate change is slanted toward the years ahead...grieving the potential futures we could have had." www.codastory.com/climate-cris...

As California burns again, a look back at how fire transforms us. @ehellerstein.bsky.social on climate, loss, and what remains👇🏼 www.codastory.com/climate-cris...

Sunday Coda Live event, on what connects so much in the current upheaval, from Damascus, Tbilisi, Kyiv & more with @antelava.bsky.social @edwardlucas.bsky.social @mariamnikuradze.bsky.social @codastory.bsky.social @ozkaterji.bsky.social & others more www.eventbrite.com/e/coda-live-...

Deserved in every way for stellar reporting, professionalism & extraordinarycourage. @mariamnikuradze.bsky.social გილოცავ!!!

“First, I was protesting with my friends, but I wanted to do more.” Meet Nestan, 14 year old documenting the Georgia protests. So much wisdom and such incredible images. So proud that we get to publish it Follow @codastory.bsky.social for more coverage www.codastory.com/rewriting-hi...

Join Coda’s Editor-in-Chief @antelava.bsky.social and Harvard Kennedy School’s Matthew Baum for How (Not) to Cover Lies: Lessons from Georgia. Explore how disinformation, polarization, & populist autocracy, shaped in Georgia, impact societies worldwide. Register: www.eventbrite.com/e/how-not-to...

@antelava.bsky.social @mariaressa.bsky.social @carolecadwalla.bsky.social Peter is on fire 🔥 In Johannesburg

In music, “Coda” is a passage that helps define the whole composition. In journalism, Coda Story aims to be that defining voice that punches through the noise of our lives, helping you make sense of the world. To get to know us, check out these stories 👇🏽

In many ways, Russian colonialism is the most helpful frame for understanding Georgia’s current struggle. In this essay, Coda’s @antelava.bsky.social explores the price her country paid for the West’s failure to label Russia’s behaviour as a form of colonialism. www.codastory.com/stayonthesto...

Coming up on @codastory.bsky.social: Nukes sabre-rattling, Musk “inspiration porn” & the unraveling war over VPNs. s/outs @jasonkoebler.bsky.social @404media.co @emroth08.bsky.social @shantidas.bsky.social @adamnsmith.bsky.social @samdelouya.bsky.social Sign up www.codastory.com/newsletters/

Coming up in Coda's newsletter: Nuclear sabre-rattling, Musk “inspiration porn” & the unraveling war over VPNs (+ why it matters). With shout outs to: @Melaniegouby @jason_koebler @404mediaco @emroth08 @shanti_das @adamndsmith @samdelouya Sign up here: https://www.codastory.com/newsletters/

this is excellent -- how to get sub-threshold defence/deterrence in the Baltics (and avoid WW3) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

What Donald Trump Owes to George Soros In which Matt Janney and I hang out with Steve Bannon, a high priest of the far right, who tells us George Soros gave him a model to follow

If you're new to @bsky.app, here's a starter pack with awesome journalists to follow, John S. Knight Journalism Fellows/Alumni at Stanford @jskstanford.bsky.social. Shoutout to @dansinker.com for putting it together! go.bsky.app/7oV5Try

Mike Johnson is a visual metaphor for the GOP

A very consequential bill is being considered by the House of Representatives in the U.S. And yet, it is getting no attention from the media. We are following the story in our weekly newsletter. Sign up here: https://www.codastory.com/newsletters/

I guess here I am ... the photo seems appropriate...

I think it's good that the Times publishes radical Catholic sci-fi. How about something with space not just for trans humanism but trans people, for AI but also climate collapse, for religion and social movements, and for a global south with agency? www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/o...

This is cool - @mariaressa.bsky.social took the @rappler.bsky.social community onto Matrix to keep it safe from harvesting. And they are building their own GraphRAG powered AI. www.rappler.com/voices/thoug...