1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it). But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that

"When I talk about it, I get one of two reactions. One is, 'That can never happen to us because we have parental controls, the screen time [limits]... Or two, 'I had no idea that something like this could happen. Please tell me more.’” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Today, Brandon Russell was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for his involvement in a plot to destroy Baltimore area power plants. He encouraged others to do the same through a loose, violent neo-Nazi network, Terrorgram Read my coverage of his trial from earlier:

"The whole time period that he was into these things online, it was like he was taken hostage and brainwashed," she said. www.npr.org/2025/08/06/n...

When interviewed a regional leader of Identity Evropa a few years ago, I asked how he thought the U.S. would become a white ethnostate without violence. He said he figured non-whites would "remigrate."

After reading excellent reporting from @oyousef.bsky.social on NPR about the violent gender ideology behind the anti-abortion movement, we (@brooklynwalker.bsky.social + I) had to dig into our data to see whether this exists in the mass (Christian) public. 1/2 religioninpublic.blog/2025/05/16/t...

Hardline anti-abortion movement leans into 'manhood' debate to broaden appeal. www.npr.org/2025/05/14/n...

Most Americans balk at the idea of charging women who get abortions with homicide, but post-Roe, militant anti-abortion activists are finding state lawmakers are increasingly open to it. By @oyousef.bsky.social

The State Department is changing its mind about human rights www.npr.org/2025/04/18/n...

🚨A U.S. born citizen was arrested in Florida for entering the state as an “unauthorized alien.” His mother and a community advocate showed his birth certificate during a hearing in Leon County. The judge said she had no authority to release him.

Before press came in — but while live feed was running on Bukele’s feed — Trump said to him: “home-growns are next. … You’re gonna need to build about 5 more places.” x.com/nayibbukele/...

Springfield, OH is suing the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe for its alleged role in intimidating, harassing and inciting violence in that city during the run-up to the presidential election.

Fun fact to bring to your next cocktail party: The Minnesota state capitol building prohibits the carrying of signs on sticks. But fine to bring in a firearm.

The work is varied, and sometimes involves the reading of graphic novels.

Caffeinated from a late night drive and freaked out by *how* bad the coverage of Trump Sec Def Pete Hegseth is, I decided to start reading his new book, The War on Warriors. A thread. The new Pentagon chief begins by bragging he was pushed out for being an "extremist"... 1/

NEW: The "non-credible" bomb threats sent to multiple Pennsylvania counties this evening were "conveyed via email message," Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said at a press conference

Russell Johnson, a pastor sharing the stage with Sean Feucht on the National Mall tonight: “The kingdom of God is not a democracy, it’s a theocracy.”

"While the investigative team is still working to verify this account to determine if it did, in fact, belong to the shooter, we believe it important to share and note it today..." /4

"There were over 700 comments posted from this account. Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect anti-semitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence, and are described as extreme in nature..." 3/

"...Something just very recently uncovered that I want to share is a social media account which is believed to be associated with the shooter in about the 2019-2020 time frame..." 2/

FBI Deputy Director at today's joint Senate committee hearing about the attempted assassination of Trump: “While the investigation has not determined motive, the investigative team continues to review information from legal returns, including online and social media accounts..." 1/

When I googled for resources on reporting on movements, the top results were all related to livestock 😕 Which maybe explains why journalism is the way it is.

In which a sitting U.S. Senator urges political violence.

I spend so much of my time feeling very down about the state of this country and the world, but occasionally I scroll by an ad that makes me think that Stanley Tucci is just really winning at life right now and it makes me feel a little bit better.

My current obsession is how moral panics are exploited to seed extremist or fringe ideas into the mainstream. This is the first of what I hope will be many stories that explore this pattern. www.npr.org/2024/03/14/1...

Thank you, everyone, for your interest and input. Updating here just to note that the issue regarding the Kit Kat is now... moot.

Do I, or do I not, finally deserve to eat the jumbo Kit Kat bar that's been hiding in the snack box since Halloween? All opinions entertained, but not necessarily given equal weight.

Are we allowed to call it a moral panic yet? www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

It’s Friday, right?

When the FBI developed its system to track hate crimes in the early '90s, it included a category for anti-Arab hate crimes. But that category was quietly dropped by the time it started releasing its reports. It wasn't reintroduced until 2015. www.npr.org/2023/12/01/1...

A great deep dive into the records of Oath Keepers serving in the Chicago Police Dept. When @npr.org investigated in 2021, we found more members on that force than in the police depts of NYC and LA combined. Which should prompt some questions. graphics.suntimes.com/extremism-ra...

Folks - any recs on an expert who's studied the use of pop culture (think: racist Oi! music, internet memes, etc.) in mainstreaming extremist ideas or conspiracy theories? Thanks and thanks.

Responding to a query, Kennedy's campaign directed us to this substack: https://robertfkennedyjr.substack.com/p/farce-upon-farce-the-aftermath-of

To everyone else who writes about extremism and has had this up on a browser tab since Friday morning, trying to figure out what, if anything, we can say about it... I see you.

“Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has launched The Banned Book Club to ensure that all readers have access to the books they want to read.” Share it, folks. https://dp.la/news/dpla-launches-the-banned-book-club-to-ensure-access-to-banned-books

Anyone got any antifascist researchers on the ground in the Amherst/Rochester NY area? Would love a connect.

THESE RUSSIA EVENTS ARE BEWILDERING YES.

BREAKING: DeKalb DA withdraws from all cases against 'Cop City' protesters, state AG charges still stand https://www.wabe.org/breaking-dekalb-da-withdraws-from-all-cases-against-cop-city-protesters-state-ag-charges-still-stand/

Ok. Well. Here we are now, I guess.