Not sure how I missed this, but on Friday we got a nice big win in the @aclu.org 's lawsuit against the NEA -- a permanent block on the agency enforcing Trump's "gender ideology" exec. order.

Personal news! Since I just got my ID and everything, guess it's finally ok to announce that I am the new Guest Curator for Art and Technology at @bambrooklyn.bsky.social. Over the top happy about this.

Freelance illustration gigs drying up. Ad agencies using Midjourney instead of hiring human artists. Costume design turned over to AI wholesale. Good work vanishing. These are the stories of working visual artists, who describe losing jobs, wages, and hope as their clients and bosses embrace AI.

Klobuchar at the Senate Judiciary Chatbot Harms hearing: "So your son was continually engaged with a chatbox from Character A1, is that right?"

Everybody read this great conversation between Tim Miller (one of the Plaintiffs in the NEA 4 case ) and Adam Odsess-Rubin (from Nat'l Queer Theater, one of the Plaintiffs in the current NEA lawsuit). #aclu

"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."

what a noble beast

Artists! Send your AI stories to Brian!

finally found the song of the summer

When governments police museums, they are not simply policing exhibitions. They are policing imagination itself. Censorship has taken hold at the Smithsonian. I refused to play along.” —Amy Sherald

This is a form of child abuse. "A.i." damages people's ability to think critically, robs people of the joy and human experience of creating art, and exposes them to propaganda controlled by fascist billionaires. Obscene. Do not let your kids participate in this. Yell at anyone who pushes it.

Fixed it for him: "Last night in New York City, a single mother and her children slept at a homeless shelter because I, as governor, showered luxury developers with tax breaks, cut NYCHA funding, gutted rent laws, blocked tenant protections, and oversaw the loss of 150k+ affordable units."

So many insane details in this article. But it appears that Steuerwald (and his advisor Cheyney Ryan) are handling this just right.

The essential Dread Scott: "Make as much trouble as you can. And get a lot of friends. The world is intolerable as it is. Make art about it."

Stand by this: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Shameful action from Lonnie Bunch. And well done to Amy Sherald.

The AI "Damn the Torpedoes" Plan is out...

Gaza is being deliberately starved to death in front of the whole world, and the only people being arrested over it are those who opposed the crime.

Anywho, as I tell the young people in my life whom I love deeply, this is your time to create beautiful works of art, to throw the most fun parties you can for no money, and to fight like hell for a future worthy of you. This is NOT a time to retreat into yourself and to forgo the world.

"Totalitarianism replaces all first-rate talents with crackpots and fools, whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty." Just thinking about this for absolutely no reason.

The monsters of the IDF have been shooting hundreds of starving people at food distribution stations

ACLU lawyers accomplished this class action suit blocking Trump’s unconstitutional EO that has tried to abolish birthright citizenship. The ACLU is fighting every illegal move by the Trump administration. It’s never too late to set up a recurring donation, however small: www.aclu.org

Hello if anyone is in LA this weekend I am performing my piece Prometheus Firebringer at Redcat. fri/sat at 8:30

District 39: listen to Isaac!

NANCY PELOSI: We must find the next generation of Democratic leadership. Young, charismatic and exciting candidates who can energize the party. People that voters love because they're not 80 years old and sold out to big capital. CHUCK SCHUMER (behind sniper rifle): Found one PELOSI: Take the shot

Tech companies only have five ideas: robot slave (actually just human slaves), hallucinatory counter-reality, untaxable money, The Everything App, and Clippy

what the fuck

It is really really sinking in for me the degree to which LLMs are the ultimate expression of right wing anti-intellectualism. Its proponents are literally mocking the idea that anyone would ever want to learn anything, know anything, develop any actual skill, or have a thought of their own.

Kind of stunning to find out the Eliza Effect can produce actual psychosis.

Senator Padilla was no angel

This is what it looks like without a United States Congress.

Hotline for Immigrant Law Defenders: 213-833-8283 Legal representative line for CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles): 213-201-3797 ACLU Rapid Response Hotline for LA County: 888-624-4752

This kind of thing really infuriates me. "We think it's terrible, really! But we've been told it's inevitable, so we will use it, hype it, invest in it, build infrastructure for it, profit off it."

Interactive Exhibit Lets Kids Figure Out How To Manage Budget Shortfall That Will Otherwise Shutter Museum theonion.com/interac...

"What we are doing in Gaza is a war of extermination: indiscriminate, unrestrained, brutal, and criminal killing of civilians,” [former Prime Minister Olmert] said." www.huffpost.com/entry/israel...

A Bronx high school student was abducted by ICE at his immigration court date and has since been disappeared across four states in five days in order to evade contact with his lawyer. The US is now undeniably a rogue state. www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025...

Not sure how many people watched but the format of @hellgatenyc.com's Mayoral forum was brilliant. So much of what makes a great Mayor is how they respond to complex unexpected scenarios each day. Providing that window was a public service. Hope other outlets try it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Eh4...

This is very important! Shahana Hanif is excellent and she's being primaried because she spoke out for student protesters.

fun fact three fighter jets is roughly equivalent to the NEA’s 2024 budget

🧵

Excellent information for arts organizations about NEA terminations from the brilliant and essential @clairewillett.bsky.social

If you have had an NEA grant withdrawn or terminated, please consider logging it on this crowd-sourced, artist-approved spreadsheet:

Seen this morning, 5/4 in Brooklyn.

Fellow Yale alumns, please vote against the "A.i." pusher in the Yale Corporation election they just emailed us about. Vote for the doctor instead.

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081

FBI arrested a sitting Judge this morning for allegedly aiding the avoidance of ICE in her courtroom which a flaming red line that should not be crossed. If you're in the greater Milwaukee area and care about rule of law, head down to bear witness to the hearing happening right now.

A must read from @helenshaw.bsky.social on the crisis in arts funding. With the NEA reportedly on the DOGE chopping block, things are dire...