That Super Bowl halftime show was beyond incredible, and fun. Here’s the story of how it came together, complete with beautiful photos from @d-jacks.bsky.social. www.wired.com/story/bad-bu...

Published my first piece at @wired.com today, about a string of AI thrillers that have bombed (most recent being the hopelessly naive Chris Pratt vehicle 'Mercy'), the backlash to Darren Aronofsky's YouTube slop take on the American Revolution, and a grotesque nostalgia-bait Super Bowl ad:

Unlike other publications, which often frame AI articles around hype and fear-mongering like, “should we be afraid?” or “is it secretly alive,” proud to work for @wired.com, which always tells it as it is. No, the AI bots are not alive and posting on social media: www.wired.com/story/i-infi...

seriously if anyone hasn’t seen Schitt’s Creek, it is so funny and charming. I was late and only watched it during the pandemic and it was such a salve.

I can’t handle this. RIP to a Canadian ICON of the highest order bsky.app/profile/luke...

Here @johnsemley3000.bsky.social revisits Infinite Jest and makes a case for bringing back the litbros: www.wired.com/story/infini...

huge win for WIRED!!!! So excited to work with one of the best internet culture writers in the game.

New from @regret.bsky.social and me: 35 state and territory AGs signed a letter demanding xAI remove all nonconsensual sexual images created by Grok and arguing that the company is treating them as a "selling point." www.wired.com/story/the-st...

At least 37 attorneys general for US states and territories are taking action against xAI after Grok generated a flood of nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors.

NEW from @manishakrishnan.bsky.social: Pornhub is going to start blocking new users in the UK next week, in protest over the Online Safety Act Pornhub says that six out of 10 search results for “free porn” aren't compliant with age verification laws

Breaking: Pornhub will be blocking itself to new users in the UK as of Feb 2, claiming that the UK's age verification laws are "flawed" and don't actually protect minors. Anyone not already registered and age verified will not be able to use to site: www.wired.com/story/pornhu...

In our conservative estimate, 41 percent of Grok’s images — or 1.8 million — were sexualized depictions of women. Separately, CCDH analyzed how many were sexualized images across genders and ages. Their findings: an estimated 3 million images, including more than 23,000 of children.

We set out to determine how many images of women and girls Grok created during its nudifying spree. What we found was “industrial-scale abuse,” experts said. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

President Trump is promising to make America great again as he strips it for parts. Meanwhile, Chinese business and political leaders are quietly seizing the moment. Welcome to the Chinese Century, and @wired.com's newest print and digital issue:

Great @sameagan.bsky.social blog about RFK Jr. pandering to the manosphere by pretending there’s a “war on protein.” I still haven’t recovered from @d-jacks.bsky.social’s art www.wired.com/story/rfk-jr...

This a bone chilling but necessary, clear-eyed distillation by @parkermolloy.com of all the forces of fuckery trying to make people think Good was in the wrong

For @wired.com, I wrote about how misogyny and homophobia have been used by the right to wage a campaign to destroy Renee Good www.wired.com/story/the-ca...

NEW: "Walsh called Good a 'lesbian agitator.' Ian Miles Cheong ... called her a 'rug munching leftist.' On Fox News, Jesse Watters noted that Good 'leaves behind a lesbian partner' and highlighted that she had 'pronouns in her bio.'" @parkermolloy.com reports: www.wired.com/story/the-ca...

New: After Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent, right-wingers attacked and mocked her sexuality, motherhood, and politics. Other protesters are being told to "learn" from her death. @parkermolloy.com reports on this aggressive smear campaign: www.wired.com/story/the-ca...

In case you didn’t get the memo, everyone is feeling very Chinese these days. Chronically online people like @lmatsakis.bsky.social and I have been tracking the zeitgeist of "You met me at a very Chinese time of my life," "Chinamaxxing," and all other variations. Here's why everyone is saying it:

Arizona is now investigating X over the creation and distribution of "potentially illegal and harmful content, including child sexual abuse imagery" The AG's announcement links to WIRED's reporting about Grok Imagine videos, by me and @regret.bsky.social WIRED story: www.wired.com/story/grok-i...

Hey! @wired.com is doing a bunch of hiring. Here we go with a thread of five great jobs, with a few more coming shortly: 1) We are hiring a senior editor for our science desk, which means you get to work with geniuses like @timmarchman.bsky.social @mollytaft.com and @emilymullin.bsky.social

The @wired.com guide to ICE invading your neighborhood:

BREAKING: Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a “transformational” donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. This large gift comes just months after the Trump administration shut down counseling services for queer youth. My latest for @wired.com:

she went through a lot!!!

Remember when that Mountainhead movie came out last year and people thought it was a little overwrought?

the fact that half of the country is enforcing age verification laws for porn but anyone, including kids, can still go on X and see not only porn but women being non-consensually stripped and abused is truly hard to square at this point. we should all be asking politicians about that more.

New from @kattenbarge.bsky.social: X influencers are using Grok to unveil Muslim women in hijabs and show them being beaten by men. Women in sarees are also being stripped: www.wired.com/story/grok-i...

The ICE agent who killed Renee Good is Jonathan Ross: theintercept.com/2026/01/08/i...

NEW: MAGA has fully rewritten the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. The government narrative isn't just a difference of opinion, either; it diverts wildly from video footage of the incident shared online. read @davidgilbert.bsky.social:

use your eyes www.404media.co/dhs-is-lying...

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey at presser: "To ICE: Get the fuck out of Minneapolis." www.youtube.com/live/QABt2PL...

SEASON 4 COME THRUUU

really fantastic job opportunity for folks with editorial experience (relatedly, if y’all are ever in the market for a labor reporter, PLEASE lmk @19thnews.org!) 19thnews.org/19th-news-ed...

outrageous how good this show is. MAD MEN with all the relatable veneer of even corporatized creative labor stripped away and just raw sociopathic math and avarice left over.

It almost felt like a digital version of sexual assault": for @nymag.com I spoke to Elon’s ex Ashley St Clair and other women who have been undressed by Grok without their consent. Some of these images seemingly depict minors — and X is doing nothing about it. www.thecut.com/article/elon...

Industry is one of my fav shows (and still criminally underrated) and the excellent new season takes on porn, age verification, and the rise of authoritarianism. I talked to the cast and creators about it: www.wired.com/story/hbo-in...

Religious communities around the US are getting hit with AI depictions of their leaders sharing incendiary sermons and asking for donations. www.wired.com/story/ai-dee...

I really wish this app cared more about Heated Rivalry

Finally wrote my magnum opus on social media, AI, and how tech companies seem to not understand what it means to have friends. www.wired.com/story/expire...

NEW: We all stuck around to pore over the Epstein files so you don't have to. To sum up: "curious but far from revelatory"

Happy "EOD Friday before a major holiday" to all who celebrate:

“Was I a DEI hire?” It’s a question that WIRED senior writer Jason Parham sometimes asks. In an industry perpetually on the verge of extinction, Parham jokes that the only reason he’s survived so long is because he’s Black. www.wired.com/story/dei-di...

I misspoke, it appears the priciest option is a cocaine module for $75, which is not that much less than the street price of a gram of actual cocaine.

People are paying up to $50 to get their chatbots high on "drugs" (code modules) that simulate the effects of cocaine, ayahuasca, cannabis, alcohol, and ketamine. Some tell @matthabusby.bsky.social it's made their chatbots more "human" and "free-thinking."

UPDATE Nice of RFK and HHS to confirm my report from earlier that Harvey Risch—an epidemiologist that one expert described to me as "a total crank"—is now officially overseeing America's efforts to fight cancer www.wired.com/story/risch-...