Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Since we published this, Pam Bondi's X account has started posting mugshots of Minnesotans arrested for impeding ICE/CBP. Sharing a defendant's photo publicly in this way is forbidden under DOJ rules

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

An essay as beautiful as it is insightful from @michaelpollan.bsky.social on the self & consciousness. The Buddhists figured out a good deal about how the mind works centuries ago, and there are few better guides than @joanhalifax.bsky.social, as Michael discovered.

"behind the violence in Minneapolis—captured in so many chilling photographs in recent weeks—is a different reality: a meticulous urban choreography of civic protest." from Robert worth, @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

“Hold your beliefs with strength, but always extend love outward, even in the face of adversity. Take one step, no matter how small, to help heal our world. Through these acts, carry his light forward in his name. Let his legacy continue to heal.”

For many in the Trump regime it seems incomprehensible or a scam of sorts that those not categorically under attack by ICE are so committed to solidarity with their neighbors who are, and thereby to universal human rights, to standing up on principle, and will risk their lives to do so.....

If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.

I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc... Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.

On one side is a nurse and a poet dying while saying “Are you okay?” and “I'm not even mad at you dude" And on the other side are armed officers of the state saying “Boo hoo” and “Fucking bitch.” And they want you to believe the first side are the domestic terrorists.

What we are watching is a paramilitary force learning that they can kill with impunity, that the regime will smear the victim and defend them. Unless politicians and the legal system exerts accountability, it will not stop. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...

In his first year back in the White House, President Trump has presided over a sweeping expansion of executive power while eroding democratic norms. n.pr/3YVl5Q3

This is tomorrow’s front page for The Minnesota Star Tribune. In a moment in which much of legacy media are enabling and condoning the worst actions of the Trump admin, the reporters and editors of the Star Tribune are not holding back one bit.

ICE’s new policy directing agents to ignore the 4th Amendment is one of the most frightening things we’ve seen yet. And there’s no telling where it could end up. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Tomorrow’s front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 23, 2026

🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional! ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.

Appreciate this from @dandrezner.bsky.social, and it was an honor to co-author with him.

“In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in-between have a choice: compete with each other for favour, or combine to create a third path with impact: …the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong if we choose to wield it together.”

You're paying for this. Trump's Big Ugly Bill gave BILLIONS to ICE and giant corporations—using money meant to lower your health care costs. Instead of helping your mom get cancer treatment, your tax dollars are being used to terrorize communities.

Some people were confused by my ICE post. This should clear it up.

This is a transparent attempt to create a pretext for invoking the Insurrection Act. One provision applies when a group of people "opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws." And when it's (allegedly) the state itself...

For people elsewhere who have asked how to support Minnesota while we’re overrun with nazi thugs, here’s an excellent list of places that could use financial help. Lots of choices. Thank you so much! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

My recent conversation: What Is Engaged Buddhism? with the great @joanhalifax.bsky.social now available on The Road Home podcast. You can subscribe to the substack or download wherever you get your pods (please *don't* use Spotify, thank you deep bows). ethannichtern.substack.com/p/ep-164-wha...

Leaked documents about ICE deployment to Minneapolis suggests they're more worried about the backlash to Renee Good's death than they're letting on: www.kenklippenstein.com/p/immigratio...

They refused to probe a murder. The people with consciences walked out. 🚨 NEW: At least four leaders of the DOJ Civil Rights Division resigned because the section's head, Harmeet Dhillon, decided not to investigate shooting of Renee Good.

Why Donald Trump is telling such obvious lies on the ICE Minneapolis killing Philosophers Tim Keyon and Jennifer Saul on authoritarian discourse #philsky theconversation.com/why-donald-t...

semi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003 when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out

FOX: Where’s the protest against the regime that's killing people in the street right now? Trent: They are doing those today. It’s called the ICE protests FOX: Are they talking about Iran at the ICE protests? Trent: No, I think they are talking about the regime that is shooting people in the face

THIS WEEKEND: More than 1,000 marches and vigils are taking place nationwide to honor Renee Nicole Good, demand accountability for ICE’s killing of Renee, and make visible the human cost of ICE’s terror. Please join us: mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913...

Think about the mindset, and the expectation of immunity, of someone who texts this to friends.

NEW: Data released by ICE shows that virtually the entire growth of detention in the last few months has been among people with no criminal record at all - no prior convictions (no matter how minor) and no pending criminal charges.

We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.

The ICE killing takes America a step closer to George Orwell’s nightmare

This is insane. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Tonight, I was one of more than 200 people who gathered on Chicago’s North Side to mourn Renee Nicole Good. Several people asked me to publish my remarks from the vigil, so I’m sharing them here.

Texas A&M actually tells a philosophy professor he may not teach Plato.

New, from me: The Trump administration isn’t just using social media to shape a narrative. They view the world through a social media lens in a way that is plausibly corrupting their judgment and undermining their performance. Welcome to the clicktatorship. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/life-under...

"The bad news: The crisis of the humanities has been revealed by the events of the last year to be a crisis of civil society writ large."

I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement. spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...

Not sure how to summarize this one. Wrote about the podcaster-occupied government invading for content, how the algorithmic internet is governed by the logic of reaction videos, and how it has contributed to a very nihilistic illiterate politics and culture of performance for imagined audiences

For those teaching International Law this semester, you may want to consider assigning South Africa's statement to the UN Security Council today: dirco.gov.za/statement-by...

Your activism will be even more important this year. Here are 10 crucial things you can do in 2026. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-you-can-do-in-2026

Unfortunately more timely than ever: www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

You can read my take on Trump's illegal invasion of Venezuela here: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Wow. Genuinely shocked, and a hugely consequential decision. Importantly, this is a case where @martylederman.bsky.social's amicus brief appears to have made a MAJOR impact. Before he wrote it, courts were sidestepping the "regular forces" issue entirely. And that's what the Trump admin lost on.

And now someone has uploaded a version that wasn't filmed off a TV. There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.

Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

This summer, Trump admin officials who’d celebrated the dismantling of USAID dined at a luxury hotel in Kenya. At a nearby refugee camp where a U.S. anti-starvation program had been slashed, “mothers had to choose which of their kids to feed,” @propublica.org reports.

I had my last day of classes yesterday. What a time to be teaching Global Justice. It was challenging, but it seemed important to teach this course now.

The U.S. is not a member of the ICC, but the court can still prosecute individuals for actions carried out on the territory of ICC member nations.