New Rhyming Chaos podcast in which I interview CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward on reporting from a capital city as a horde of religious extremists take over—and I'm not talking about Washington D.C.!

A poetic critique of Trump’s Gatsby-esque Halloween bash in the style of pre-Qin obloquy: chinaheritage.net/journal/the-...

“Eaten my fill, drank to the lees, the focus is now on sleep. Why do anything else when reality is just so ridiculous?” 吃飽喝足之後， 主要就是睡覺。 還能做點什麼？ 現實這般可笑。 — Lao Shu 老樹 chinaheritage.net/journal/when...

New Rhyming Chaos podcast: Kazakhstan, clan politics, doing bizness and more.

currently the winning thumbnail 🐀 forget the lies you have been told! rats are empathetic, intelligent, and sweet pocket puppies. and their tails are beautiful.

Katherine Boyle, former Peter Thiel intern, says government is an enemy of families. So she's investing in high-tech weaponry...for the government. I shared my thoughts on her "American Dynamism" — a VC pitch-deck version of Christian nationalism. NYT gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/b...

Another perspective on the No Kings protests of 18 October 2025: chinaheritage.net/journal/how-...

New Rhyming Chaos podcast: @mariarepnikova.bsky.social and I talk to Julia Sonnvend about her book on charm in contemporary politics and its use by strongmen:

chinaheritage.net/journal/othe... 牛馬有的是，就缺驢。

chinaheritage.net/journal/a-ce... On Gore Vidal’s centenary.

“Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep … ” (from “Other People’s Thoughts 66” chinaheritage.net/journal/othe...

when the interview goes well: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

Li Yuan discusses JF Books and Sino-liberalism with Yu Miao: youtube.com/watch?v=5St2...

I know that this a completely irrelevant observation, but it struck me as odd that a MAGA murderer knows how to use chopsticks.

chinaheritage.net/journal/i-me... Six poems by Lucas Jones

Not comprehending how the same @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social who interviewed me wrote this. I support the instinct to turn down the volume. But you can't simultaneously warn that we're the brink of authoritarianism while valorizing one of authoritarianism's most influential architects and supporters.

This is a touching meditation on the recent “Liang Wendao incident” and the mainland ban on Liang’s “Eight and A-half Minute” series which focussed on the kind of moderate, open-minded humanism that is inimical to China’s party-state-army establishment: open.substack.com/pub/bostonre...

Gil Durán on recent moves by Peter Thiel, the loonie tech billionaire, and conservative displeasure with the greasy but influential nincompoop Curtis Yarvin: www.thenerdreich.com/peter-thiel-...

New Rhyming Chaos podcast with @andreapitzer.bsky.social. We discuss: • The definition of “concentration camp” and if Trump’s camps meet the definition • Forced labor in Nazi Germany and Trump’s America • Economic incentives behind the ICE bonanza • How US journalism empowers Trump, & much more

The one part of Ghislaine's transcript that seemed fishy to me was when she said "If Jerome Powell doesn't cut interest rates he's a TOTAL LOSER. Thank you for your attention to this matter"

Trump has gone soft on China, and was never really hard on China, and is completely unhinged are my takeaways! (I worked on this conversation)

Kwame Nkrumah. The Second Emancipation. My column. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/o...

Molly Ivins's quote about Dan Quayle applies equally well to Trump: “If you put that man’s brain in a bumblebee, it would fly backwards.”