2025 was a banner year for censorship. My latest on substack writekaths.substack.com/p/a-banner-y...

We cannot underestimate the danger of this assault on the truth. My latest

"Their hiring by DOJ is the latest sign that the department aims to convert its voting section — once dedicated to defending voting rights — into a unit that works to restrict voting and promote election conspiracy theories." www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Trump and Stephen Miller are actually failing in crucial ways. Deportations are lagging behind their goals, courts are mostly functioning, and their fascist, ethnonationalist cruelties have unleashed a countermobilization of unexpected scope and power. New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2046...

“There are many good people in this country. So many of us have responded…with determination and demand. So many of us have taken the time to lift up our families, our communities…putting love at the center of how we navigate this moment.” sherrilyn.substack.com/p/the-year-a...

Trump’s Tangled Web of Deal-Making, Policy and Riches An illustrated guide of the first year of profiteering. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

We cannot underestimate the danger of this assault on the truth. My latest

2025 was a banner year for state-sponsored censorship in the name of “free speech.” My lastest open.substack.com/pub/writekat...

A Banner Year for State-Sponsored Censorship. My latest at substack.com/@katherinest... & @theunpopulist.net www.theunpopulist.net/p/a-banner-y...

The administration, in Orwellian fashion, pretends its exercises in intimidation are all about free speech. In fact they are weaponizing bogus free speech claims against free speech itself, both in America and in Europe. My latest substack.com/home/post/p-...

The administration, in Orwellian fashion, pretends its exercises in intimidation are all about free speech. In fact they are weaponizing bogus free speech claims against free speech itself, both in America and in Europe. My latest substack.com/home/post/p-...

This is New England's version of the Louvre heist. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

#BestOf2025, from @stevanzetti.bsky.social: The Texas Observer revealed that ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden operated "GlomarResponder," a white supremacist account on the social network X.

Before his tragic and untimely death, Rob Reiner was working on "The Spy and the Asset." m.imdb.com/title/tt1322... Here's a bit more on the stalled project. deadline.com/2021/06/dona...

If Taibbi's defamation theory is correct, Goldman could have sued Taibbi because Goldman Sachs is not literally a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity.

New reporting says Don Jr. directly facilitated the pardon of a crypto whale who had promoted the Trump's family crypto. Jr. brought the pardon lawyer to the White House, and introduced him directly to his Dad. Pardon occurred right after. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/pardon-the...

WASH POST: “Corporate bankruptcies surged in 2025, rivaling levels not seen since the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, as import-dependent businesses absorbed the highest tariffs in decades.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Someone at FBI/DOJ was monitoring reporter Julie Brown (@jkbjournalist.bsky.social), who broke the Epstein story, right around the time of his arrest on July 8, 2019: these flights were on July 6 and 8. The public deserves to know when her records were searched for. Before the arrest, or after? 1/

"Jabo is not known for terrorist activity and that local Christians coexist peacefully with the Muslim majority" edition.cnn.com/2025/12/26/a...

A fun game to play sometimes is "Who wrote this passage about white people and Christians facing imminent extinction if something dramatic isn't done soon...Elon Musk or William L. Blessing?"

The key to success in an authoritarian system is not competence but loyalty to dear leader, which is why so many staffers are not evil geniuses but bumbling lackeys.

From @parkermolloy.com at New Republic. newrepublic.com/article/2047... I'd go a bit further. The system needs no conspiracy to function. It just needs everyone to understand the direction things are going in. Bari Weiss was put there not to protect a legacy, but to align its politics differently.

I use the research by CCDH in my own work. This action by US government is shocking and unconstitutional. All researchers are in danger. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...

Anthropic stole the work of countless writers etc & is packaging & reselling it back to us — or to anyone who wants to manipulate us.

In case you missed it: I’ve got a new (warning: somewhat intense) story on @npr.org about all the ways faith leaders have pushed back against the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign this year — including clergy directly confronting ICE agents and police. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...

More like this

Honored to see Money, Lies, and God on the UnPopulist staffers' list of holiday recs! open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Now that Stephen Miller is calling for CBS to fire journalists who are trying to tell the truth about Trump's mass deportations, it's a good time to check out our deep reported dive into Miller's real worldview and agenda:

Some news:

American social media platforms are banned in Russia. Have you noticed Donald isn't sanctioning anyone over that?

NEW: last night, the US govt launched an assault on the ‘global censorship industrial complex’, aka European tech researchers/campaigners. It’s a deeply chilling move & speaks as to why we need international solidarity more than ever. open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

🙃

There's a lot of focus on Bari Weiss, but we should be paying much more attention to her bosses, the owners of Paramount Skydance Corp, with David Ellison as CEO. (David's billionaire dad, Larry, is a Trump ally.) newrepublic.com/article/2025...

Nina Jankowicz: “They’re not doing this because they have any evidence of censorship — they lost a Supreme Court case that made those claims… They’re doing this because the group of researchers and advocates have stood up to liars like Donald Trump and the platforms that enable them.”

In this latest round of troubling and targeted attacks on anyone who would stand in the way of their propaganda machinery, the Trump admin is rescinding US travel visas (and threatening worse) for Europeans who have worked on the digital services act and/or worked to address hate speech.

Well worth a reread.

And here is a cleaner, uploaded version on Internet Archive: archive.org/details/ceco...

The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 ambassadors, all of whom are career diplomats. A union says there has never been such a mass recall in the history of the foreign service. Morale has been plummeting in the State Department all year. Story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...

My god. From Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her ‘60 Minutes’ colleagues, posted by the NYT Michael Grynbaum:

“The inquiry into the effect of financial influence and other interference is expected to primarily focus on Russia and similar hostile states. It was announced on Tuesday after the jailing of Nathan Gill, a former senior figure in Reform UK.”

Another win for the “free speech” crowd

Today on the PREVAIL podcast, one of my all-time favorite interviews: @ebharrington.bsky.social, professor of economic sociology & author of "Offshore: Stealth Wealth & the New Colonialism." Watch the clip on my Substack; listen to the full episode here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

“Once-unthinkable” here should be “in wild and blatant violation of the law and the US Constitution.” At NIH alone: The RIFs were illegal (as a judge, Illston, ruled). The grant terminations were illegal (Young ruling). The probationary firings were illegal (Alsop ruling). We must say this. 1/

Book bans are back with a vengeance. Great reporting from @franciswilkinson.bsky.social

"With the rise of advanced generative AI tools, these groups are able to produce seamless, contextually accurate translations that preserve tone, emotion, and ideological intensity" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Beautiful portrait of a beautiful soul. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...

“Articles in the unreleased issue include a call for the United States to ‘begin the implementation of the death penalty at a grand scale’ and a defense of the Spanish Inquisition.”

What it’s like for other nations trying to work with the Trump administration: “It’s like dealing with the mob,” as one diplomat put it. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Have you also asked an AI chatbot about climate and found the answer to be quite good? Maybe that is because it was you who asked. Some AI (e.g. Grok) tailors their response to suit your beliefs. It’s called ‘AI sycophancy’ (a new word I just learned.) globalwitness.org/en/campaigns...

DOJ's Epstein excuses on Xitter and the responding community notes are turning into Matryoshka dolls.