I'm very proud of all the work my colleagues did at WIRED this year. Selfishly I want to highlight a blog I worked on with @dmehro.bsky.social, @leahfeiger.bsky.social, and @couts.bsky.social:

404 Media zine has apparently outsold American Canto. Help continue that trend here: 404media.myshopify.com/products/pre... www.404media.co/behind-the-b...

Armed ICE agents trapped US citizens in a restaurant and demanded their papers. Federal agents walked into East African restaurants in Cedar-Riverside, MN. They closed and blocked the doors. Then they demanded to see everyone’s papers. Every person present was a US citizen.

The number of people killed in the Australian beach shooting rises to 16, New South Wales minister says.

SCOOP I spoke to the leader of a doxing-for-hire group who showed me how it took just minutes for them to get sensitive personal data from Big Tech companies—with virtually no pushback www.wired.com/story/doxers...

NEW: Warrantless spying on Americans under a program known as Section 702 was already a major problem. As a congressional hearing today showed, now all those "safeguards" against Fourth Amendment violations are looking flimsier than ever. @dell.bsky.social reports: www.wired.com/story/warnin...

NEW: HHS is contemplating a men's health initiative, a source tells @emilymullin.bsky.social; indications of what that might entail come from an FDA panel held yesterday at which an expert on penis curvature held forth on the "men's health crisis" while others called for easier access to steroids.

SCOOP: The Trump administration may revoke the visas of critics of Elon Musk's Twitter. The move would mark one of the admin's first attempts to revoke the visas of people they deem to be engaging in the “censorship” of Americans.

New from me for the @wired.com Politics Newsletter. I broke down how the push to combine data across the government in the name of immigration enforcement has lots of possible unintended consequences, not just for undocumented immigrants, but for everyone. www.wired.com/story/dhs-da...

It’s officially time for end-of-year posts and I am honestly SO eager to brag about my brilliant colleagues at @wired.com. there are way too many people to talk about in the newsroom, but this wild, exhausting, and absolutely ridiculous year wouldn’t have happened without any of them!!

NEW: Ahead of the holidays, Dr. Oz is now giving dieting tips to his federal employees. "You don’t have to try every cookie on the cookie table." From @leahfeiger.bsky.social

NEW: As if it wasn't enough to be working for Dr. Oz, the nearly 7000 employees of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are now getting weekly emails from him hectoring them to eat less. This is from @leahfeiger.bsky.social

NEW: Dr. Oz is quite literally telling his federal employees to eat less. “You don't have to try every cookie on the holiday table,” wrote Mehmet Oz in an email to all Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services employees.

Sahil Lavingia, previously a DOGE operative at the Department of Veterans Affairs, is now a career employee at the IRS. He said at WIRED's Big Interview event that he expects to work there 10 years. www.wired.com/story/big-in...

At WIRED’s Big Interview event, the activist and organizer said he doesn’t “think the Chuck Schumers of the world understand” what’s coming for the party. www.wired.com/story/big-in...

In January, as a podcaster, Dan Bongino called the J6 pipe bomber case an "inside job" by the FBI. Today, as deputy director of the FBI, Bongino announced the arrest of the suspect without any mention of "inside job" w/ @dell.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/fbi-sa...

🚨 My first SCOOP for @ms.now: Mike Johnson has secretly been working to tank a provision to mandate IVF coverage for active duty service members from the Defense Reauthorization Bill—even as Trump has pledged to expand access. Here's what to know 👇

The big takeaway from lawyers, volunteers, and advocates, is that the system has become tougher and more opaque than ever. If you're someone working to navigate these systems, or want to talk about how this moment in immigration policy is impacting you, you can find me on Signal at Vittoria89.82.

New from me for @wired.com's newsletter this week: The Trump administration has been pushing immigrants to leave. But even those who are trying--either via the CBP Home app or through what's known as "voluntary departure"--are finding it difficult to do so. www.wired.com/story/trump-...

NEW: You've read a lot about immigrants kidnapped, forcibly detained, and held in ICE facilities -- what about the immigrants *trying* to leave the country? Turns out its wildly difficult for them too. don't miss this from @telliotter.bsky.social:

NEW: DOGE isn’t dead, despite recent reports. Operatives are still rolling out coding tests, leading software pilots, and more. w/ @telliotter.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/what-i...

SCOOP from me + @makenakelly.bsky.social: despite recent reports, DOGE isn’t dead—it’s actually everywhere. @wired.com www.wired.com/story/what-i...

NEW: Contrary to some recent news reports, DOGE isn’t dead. Far from it. read @makenakelly.bsky.social and @telliotter.bsky.social for more on what DOGE operatives are doing in government now:

ICYMI: This weekend, we published the @wired.com guide to digital opsec for teens (tho it applies to pretty much everyone!) We hope you and the kids in your life will read it and stay safe out there. No paywall! @lhn.bsky.social and JP Aumasson report: www.wired.com/story/digita...

NEW: After Donald Trump was elected again, I started talking to trans, leftist, and anarchist gun enthusiasts and YouTubers. I wanted to know how they felt about community defense when it feels like rights, particularly for trans folks, are being stripped away: www.wired.com/story/the-ha...

Since the start of this year, some 600 immigrant children have been placed in government shelters by ICE, according to government data — the highest number since recordkeeping began a decade ago. www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

I spoke with people role-playing ICE raids in video games to help educate people on their rights and what to do in real-life situations. Tonight, they're holding an event in Fortnite www.wired.com/story/activi...

It is hard to overstate just how fringe QAnon was when Marjorie Taylor Greene began posting videos about it (it wasn't even called QAnon yet). Now, eight years later, her anger at Trump over Epstein can be linked directly to her QAnon beliefs... www.wired.com/story/how-do...

NEW: For months, the Social Security Administration was quietly sharing sensitive data about immigrants with DHS. Now it’s official. read @telliotter.bsky.social:

NEW: The White House intervened in a DHS investigation. The target? Sex offender Andrew Tate. The WH person? Paul “Nazi Streak” Ingrassia. Who was previously also Tate’s lawyer. A banger from @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Shapiro www.propublica.org/article/andr...

We have to outlaw wildfire and invasive plant metaphors until someone can figure out what the hell is going on

would sell my kidney to get part 2 as fast as humanly possible

we're hiring a senior politics writer at @wired.com -- come work with me!

MAGA: "Release the Epstein files" Trump: "No" Congress: "Here are 20,000 documents with deeply troubling messages from Epstein about Trump." MAGA: "It's a hoax" www.wired.com/story/maga-w...

i know there are a lot of insane epstein stories out there right now but i promise you guys this one is EXTRA NUTS

Donald Trump claims he broke off contact with Jeffrey Epstein in 2004. But recently released text messages show Epstein presenting himself—to a Bill Gates associate—as plugged into the Trump White House as recently as 2017. from @timmarchman.bsky.social and @leahfeiger.bsky.social

SCOOP: In text messages sent in 2017, Jeffrey Epstein appears to position himself as a middleman between president Donald Trump’s administration and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. He seemingly represents himself as passing on information directly from Trump to Gates through an intermediary.

Stewart Rhodes relaunched the anti-government Oath Keepers militia almost two weeks ago. Former members tell me they've no intention of rejoining and a crowdfunding campaign to raise $75k has so far received only 16 donations www.wired.com/story/stewar...

SCOOP: ICE is allocating as much as $180 million to pay bounty hunters and private investigators who verify the address and location of undocumented people ICE wishes to detain, including with physical surveillance, according to procurement records reviewed by 404 Media.

EXCLUSIVE: DOGE whistleblower and former SSA Chief Data Officer Chuck Borges is running for office. In his first interview since announcing his campaign for Maryland State Senate, he describes being sidelined at SSA + why government needs more technologists. www.wired.com/story/doge-w...

NEW: @wired.com spoke with Chuck Borges, the former SSA data chief turned DOGE whistleblower, who is running to represent southern Maryland in the state’s senate. This is....the first DOGE'd candidate?! I think?! it's a worthwhile interview -- read @makenakelly.bsky.social:

with the end of the shutdown looming, here's my look for @wired.com into what life has been like for EPA employees over the past five weeks: little to no heads up about who was getting furloughed next, important projects getting put on the back burner while deregulation moves forward:

NEW: Even with the end of the US government shutdown in sight, the EPA is in chaos. @mollytaft.com spoke with employees at the agency about their instructions over the last 5 weeks (and lack thereof):

Super excited that we're hiring a senior writer to join @wired.com's culture team! If you're obsessed with internet culture and like our vibe, apply! condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...

NEW: SSA employees are getting extremely worried about how the agency will continue to provide benefits to some 70 million Americans, according to meeting minutes obtained by @wired.com. @zoeschiffer.bsky.social and @leahfeiger.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/social...

“I think I can speak for most of our employees when we say now more than ever, employees are feeling somewhat betrayed by the federal government as federal employees because of what we're navigating and the length in which we're navigating it.” www.wired.com/story/social...

SSA employees grilled management during a tense meeting about the government shutdown yesterday. “People are coming to me saying they cannot put gas in their car and they cannot afford to come to work anymore," one employee said. Scoop w/ @leahfeiger.bsky.social: www.wired.com/story/social...

NEW: We obtained notes from a Social Security Administration management meeting, where employees grilled leadership on plans for the agency during the shutdown + shared really upsetting stories from employees unable to get to work bc they can't afford gas. from me and @zoeschiffer.bsky.social: