Fantastic meditation on the quasi-Kubrickian menace of Pete Hegseth's recent speech. Always read @lylerubin.bsky.social!

Kind of funny and appropriate that in trying to give a middle finger to a blue state, Trump is really just screwing over a bunch of "Let's Go Brandon," Thin Blue Lives flag waving MAGA loyalists who live and work here in Colorado Springs...

Growing up, my parents used to play Tom Lehrer songs on road trips. I owe some of my interest in history, sense of humor, distrust of authority, & left politics to his brilliance. So many greats to choose from, here's his acid satire of patriotism & empire: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHhZ...

Very helpful deep dive into gradations of contemporary right-wing "Jewish conspiracies" thinking and a helpful pause in getting too excited about the Epstein scandals' political utility...

While at the same time reducing non-elite institutions' ability to provide well-rounded education (i.e. killing the humanities). The non-white/rich kids will have access to nothing but job training--which is a massive subsidy to corporations who can then train their workers at taxpayer expense

If you fit in the overlap of STAR WARS nerd and lefty political thinker, we've got you covered.

Phenomenal thread on being a teacher navigating our AI slop nightmare world. Personally, for me, it's most likely back to blue books and oral presentations, imperfect as those are...

Happy to do it! Read @timhirschelburns.bsky.social's newsletter - covers so much that most more single-country focused media skips over!

Hooray for a conversation that dives into, rather than dodging the "efficacy" question. Measuring efficacy of actions and movements is very difficult, sometimes nearly impossible. But it also has to be done and done rigorously and repeatedly to help build actually effective strategies.

More than 25 years after the WTO protests in Seattle, what lessons can global activists draw? Register to join Walden Bello, Bhumika Muchhala, @pauladlerstein.bsky.social, and @llchristyll.bsky.social for a discussion tomorrow at 12:30 EDT. tinyurl.com/HPEAAWL

Great fun chatting w/ @davidklion.bsky.social & the @bangbang1492.bsky.social boys about ANDOR. Hear me talk about my alternative plot idea for bringing Saw into the Ghorman plot and why it's hard for any social movement to know whether a particular strategy/tactic will be effective.

Come see me talk to a bunch of brilliant people about histories and contemporary dynamics of internationalist organizing around global governance w/@llchristyll.bsky.social, the Third World Network's own Bhumika Muchhala, & a GOAT of transnational organizing since the 1970s, Walden Bello!

Unironically they should buy up the domains for about 60 defunct local newspapers in swing states. Hire two reporters to write almost exclusively about highschool sports and new restaurants opening with every 10th article about how the local GOP is screwing over people.

Click on the link to at least scream into the void.

Will leading Dem candidates to replace Jared Polis @philweiser.bsky.social or @michaelbennet.bsky.social commit to signing this into law? A shanda of immense proportions to kneecap unions anytime, and moreso now at a time of rising inequality and right-wing authoritarianism.

"Is it possible to speak of solidarity and of “being all together” in an economy based on ruthless competition? How far does our fraternity go?" RIP to former guerilla, former Uruguayan president, and all around great José Mujica. www.npr.org/2025/05/13/n...

Thanks again to @lylerubin.bsky.social & @vanjackson.bsky.social for having me on @bangbang1492.bsky.social to talk about the prison escape plot line from Andor, S1. Got to break down how it's a great microcosm of any organizing, as Andor figures out the dynamics & larger pol situation...

If you live in CO or know someone who does, have them call @govofco.bsky.social & tell him to rescind this. And call any Dem House/Senate members & tell them to support an override.

Why are adults the only audience that count? Maybe the political importance of pop culture like "Star Wars" mainly stems from how it opens up thinking, leads to conversations, etc. about morals and politics among kids & young people? Conversations that start w/text but connect to the real world?

Great summation of the life of David Horowitz at @prospect.org. A purveyor of noxious racism & reaction for decades, I remember Horowitz as one of the worst boosters of the GWOT. I didn't know that Horowitz was also a mentor to Stephen Miller! prospect.org/politics/202...

So fun talking w/ @vanjackson.bsky.social, @lylerubin.bsky.social, & @jennygzhang.bsky.social on @bangbang1492.bsky.social about Eps 4-6 of S1 of ANDOR. Got to pitch "if we're talking about pop culture politicizing ppl, focus on 12-17 year olds & actually organize them" & talk about my great-grandad

That is basically the catalyzing conceit of Bong Joon Ho's Snowpiercer...

Pritzker joins a longer legacy of municipal and state actions where progressives and leftists work to influence int'l relations. We're going to need a lot more of it. Also, I can think of one other country Governor Pritzker might want to take a look at...

My review of Walden Bello's fascinating memoir. Since the 1970s, Bello has played key roles in theorizing and studying neoliberalism and global institutions, fighting imperialism, and struggling to make the Philippines a more just society: fpif.org/the-point-of...

Among other fallacies, this exposes the widespread bipartisan consensus to isolate antisemitism from other systems of domination & power, to imagine it can be 'fixed' through top-down technocratic processes of definition & legislation-- all ofc chiefly in service of pro-Israel politics

Folks love shallow horseshoe theory. The politics of the left-of-center 1990s globalization mvts were complex. Yes, nativist protectionists existed in some parts of labor-liberal land. But also many genuine internationalists whose critique of neoliberalism was: "it's not trade, it's the rules."

Today's Headlines

Incredibly helpful take down of the "if social democrats just do nativism, they'll win" brand of punditry.

Boston folks--rally this evening to support the Tufts PhD student, here on a visa, nabbed off the street yesterday 👇👇👇

This is very true. Another thing: I get that "normally," these folks should resign for incompetence. But, IMHO, I'd rather have incompetent, widely disliked by their own rank and files, authoritarians running the security state than competent, respected authoritarians in the same posts?

the funniest thing about JFK assassination theories is that conspiracists accidentally discovered a seedy nexus of intelligence agencies, organized crime, and political extremists and then judged it irrelevant because it didn't provide proof of what they were originally looking for

Reminds me of a certain strain of BS in the lead up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, where the Bush admin used the fact that we didn't "know" about Iraqi WMDs as justification for war...

Please take a few minutes to call your Senator today.

Understanding diaspora politics is crucial for grappling with the rise of what scholars like Daniel HoSang call the "multiracial right."

Another example of why the "let people just figure it out on their own" strategy of "organizing" doesn't work. Lots of people have understandably contradictory views about all kinds of things - that's why you reach out to all kinds of folks and build institutions that help them learn and do things!

Great read Chris Shell: “Americans outside of the beltway and the ivory towers...can, in fact, analyze their material conditions and see that the prospect of a social democracy is continuously deferred in favor of maintaining global military dominance.” www.un-diplomatic.com/p/antimilita...

do i roll my eyes at a lot of DEI stuff? yeah, i wrote a whole essay about why i thought it was bullshit back in 2020. but trump et al aren’t saying, “corporate DEI policies mainly exist to protect corporate interests from discrimination lawsuits.” they’re saying “get the blacks out”

If you want to understand Trumpian foreign policy, allow @jenmittelstadt.bsky.social to explain...

A good way of squaring the "Global North foreign aid establishment is really messed up" and "some aid programs literally keep people alive" contradiction...

In of itself, such actions do little. But progressive local electeds explicitly fighting nativism is (hopefully!) a building block towards constructing a robust progressive internationalism in the USA.

In less shitty news, CO Dems are moving legislation to make union organizing much easier (CO's law is from the 1920s and is "right-to-work" lite). Empowering your base is good, unless you're . . . Democratic governor/quasi-libertarian Jared Polis? www.cpr.org/2025/01/21/u...

Thanks for the heads up @katidoyle.bsky.social that this new CIA document release has multiple mentions of NACLA in the early 70s!

How long before Fetterman does a Bari Weiss/Triggernometry/Jimmy Dore streaming media circuit of talking about how the Democratic Party left him behind?

In other words, 1/6 insurrectionists weren't weirdos but just members of the actual activist base of the Right...

It's rare you get such a clear illustration of whose lives have value in America and whose don't

Fantastic thread articulating, imo, the correct left internationalist position on the Asad regime's overthrow. There are multiple imperial powers in the world and frankly, this is a bad day for all of them. Who knows what happens next, but we should always relish the hopeful possibilities...

A very informative article that both dissects this very specific moment and gives a lot of helpful context about the last few years of the war.