On the increasing prominence of women in the films of Paul Thomas Anderson. www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0fP...

A fine piece by @jeetheer.bsky.social about Gerald Owen; a reminder, and Heer says this, that friendship CAN cross many borders of thought and belief. I remember Gerald with admiration and affection from his years at The Idler. This brought back memories. thewalrus.ca/the-friendsh...

"Whether [Epstein] was an American CIA asset, a Mossad asset, whether all these rich, important men went to that nasty island & did unforgivable things to young girls. I mean, I kind of knew it, but it’s never anything I paid a bit of attention to.” -- Susie Wiles, White House Chief of Staff

Some thoughts on Thomas Pynchon's V., as well as the history of Calvinism in America and Gravity's Rainbow. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjsR...

Norman Podhoretz (1930-2025). Here's my essay on his best book, Making It. newrepublic.com/article/1415...

The latest case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, strangely enough, is the person who runs the White House, Susie Wiles, www.thenation.com/article/poli...

The Friendship That Taught Me Community Can Transcend Politics

There's a growing community in the US of people who have survived more than one mass shooting. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

“What do people mean when they say ‘kind’? In Gerald’s case, as in so many others, they mean vulnerable. They mean gentle. They mean humble.” @jeetheer.bsky.social reflects on the enduring legacy of his friend, the late writer and editor Gerald Owen: thewalrus.ca/the-friendship-t...

Trump is taking the culture war global — and may be moving military adventurism closer to home. I had a searching discussion with @jeetheer.bsky.social about Trump’s new National Security Strategy. Llisten via @thenation.com: www.thenation.com/podcast/poli...

In keeping his friend Gerald Owens’ memory alive, journalist @jeetheer.bsky.social has discovered that death doesn’t end one’s conversations with the deceased. “A new dialogue opens up as we start asking what their lives meant, and what they meant to us.” thewalrus.ca/the-friendship-t...

The public is worried about AI. Regulating AI is winning issue for Democrats but their own party leaders are too complicit with Silicon Valley to use it. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

"Gerald awoke in the middle of night and started stomping around the house speaking Elvish, with a fluency like it was his first language. I was mesmerized."

It's fitting that the cover on AI mindlessly apes an earlier creation and also displaces workers while elevating Silicon Valley plutocrats.

Over in The Walrus I write about my late friend Gerald Owen and the Canadian Tory tradition thewalrus.ca/the-friendsh...

Donald Trump snoozes, America loses. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Strangely enough, I also won a FIFA Peace Prize.

The new Knives Out movie is a murder mystery about the mysteries of the faith. Some thoughts on Wake Up Dead Man youtu.be/E-03d9V43YM?...

Mike Johnson is teaching a generation of Republican women that they need feminism. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Trump's imperialism is leading to murder -- at home and abroad. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Who Was Henry Kuttner? The writer as mimic. A bit of literary criticism. youtu.be/rtacBDXJzSs?...

Had a terrific time talking to @doughenwood.bsky.social about the sordid career of Larry Summers, which extends far beyond recent headlines. www.thenation.com/podcast/arch...

Mamdani's White House gambit paid off -- for now. On the tricky rope-walk of pragmatic socialism. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Jimmy Cliff, Guns of Brixton. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck1Z...

On CBC, I talk about Jeffrey Epstein, the CIA and Mossad, referencing the excellent reporting at @dropsitenews.com -- yet it remains impossible to get mainstream USA media to discuss this evidence. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Jeet Heer's essay on Jeffrey Epstein's role as a foreign policy influence agent is eye-opening and an essential read. It's remarkable that given all the ink spilled over this man—most of it simple scandal-mongering—we still have such a feint understanding of his project. This clarifies a great deal.

The Epstein Act is a start, but we're going to need a much bigger rollback of the Imperial Presidency; www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Massie was crucial to forging the Epstein bill coalition. What he's saying here -- that Epstein had CIA and Mossad ties -- is supported by reporting, notably the excellent series at Drop Site on Epstein's as an international power broker. The mainstream media has almost entirely ignored this topic.

Also recommend this piece by @jeetheer.bsky.social in @thenation.com linked in Will Bunch's piece: about the underreported role of Epstein as a geopolitical power player, connecting business and financial elites with global political leaders www.thenation.com/article/soci...

You should read this. By @jeetheer.bsky.social for @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/soci...

Under no circumstances do you have to hand it to Marjorie Taylor Greene, but her feud with Trump is fun. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

It was a different time, a more civilized and gracious era, a epoch where elites could put aside petty differences and gather for leisurely dinner parties with their favorite pedophile ... wait, what the fuck.

This is a MAGA person responding to a post about Epstein. The line of argument they are developing in order to defend Trump is: Epstein was not so bad.

Eye-opening piece: Epstein “was a believer in the Washington Consensus, US military hegemony bolstered in the Middle East by the alliance with Israel, globalization, the privatization of gov functions, STEM-dominated education, & male-centered sexual hedonism—an ethos he took to sickening extremes.”

“Trump richly deserves whatever reputational harm and possible legal retribution may come to him as a result of his ties to Epstein. But, at its heart, this has always been a scandal about the ruling class as a whole, not one individual or political party.”

Some thoughts on Jeffrey Epstein, the American Empire and Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow youtu.be/KTfIX440qUA?...

'It seems that Epstein was not a CIA or Mossad asset—not because he didn’t have it in him, but because that was too lowly a role. Rather, he was a power broker, an American oligarch, who played a major role in shaping western policy, which brought him in contact with spy agencies and diplomats.'

The Jeffrey Esptein scandal the main stream press is ignoring; he was a major player in American foreign policy with deep ties to Israel and other satrapies: www.thenation.com/article/soci...

We are joined by @jeetheer.bsky.social to discuss how 8 Senate Democrats defected to end the government shutdown, with very little in return from Republicans. We discuss the growing calls inside the party for Chuck Schumer to step down from leadership. soundcloud.com/user-8304426...

NOW at backgroundbriefing.org | @jeetheer.bsky.social - Senate Democrats Cave to Open the Government | Joshua Landis - Trump Cozies Up to Syrian President Despite his Past in Al Qeda | @jekavanagh.bsky.social - Hegseth Wants Defense Contractors on "Wartime Footing" as He Plans to Attack Venezuela

Just heard this episode, it was amazing, even for a person too familiar with the right and the religious right like myself

Had a very wide-ranging chat with @davidaustinwalsh.bsky.social about the long history of the American right wrangling over Israel, running from Revilo Oliver to Pat Buchanan to Nick Fuentes www.thenation.com/podcast/arch...

This video changed how I think about Scooby Doo.

The current crisis at Heritage has been a long time in the making: a deep dive into the history of right-wing anti-Zionism -- and anti-Semitism. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

The one good thing I'll say about Dick Cheney is his deranged foreign policy provoked the Golden Age of Blogging, a period where antiwar voices were able to circumvent the mainstream media and change public opinion on key issues. talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/early...

This isn't a closing election argument, it's Vidkun Quisling explaining why surrender is better than resistance.

Of course the right is having a hard time dealing with Nick Fuentes. Victor Frankenstein always struggles to control his Monster. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

A video I made about the facade of the respectable right, tying in William F. Buckley with the recent escapades of Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes. youtu.be/jmZ-jOiB9ZQ

www.youtube.com/live/NdUzYDo... via @majorityreport.bsky.social @jeetheer.bsky.social 10.31.2025. #leftisbest

Trump is putting election deniers in positions to thwart the midterms. www.thenation.com/article/poli...