I wrote about the bad first episode of Nu CBS, which also allowed me to express some long gestating frustrations about the whole Bari Weiss situation.

One of the most baroque and fucked-up National Review webpages I've ever seen. Cannot even imagine what is going on here.

Maybe the most conservative opinion I have is that, ultimately, the problem with social media has little to do with the platforms themselves. Ultimately, the awful vibes circle back to us, the posters. ❤️

insane scoop from my guy alex

2025 was probably the best year of my life both personally and professionally : ) Hope I don't fuck it up next year!

Unbelievably shitty run. I kinda get it now.

In early November, I wrote a newsletter titled "Sequoia Still Has a Shaun Maguire Problem." Last week, Maguire falsely accused a Brown University student of being a mass murderer. I would say Sequoia now has a much bigger Shaun Maguire problem—and Maguire himself is vulnerable to a massive lawsuit.

Barely started clicking through the Epstein files and it's already starting to get really weird.

For @nymag.com I reported on 88-year-old Eleanor Holmes Norton, who was recently a victim of credit card fraud. Among my findings: The Norton campaign listed a deceased person as campaign treasurer for 2.5 years Between '23-25, amid q's about her mental acuity, Norton loaned $110k to her campaign

Had to make fun of Kash Patel real quick.

well well well if it isn’t the blowjob brothers

A superb piece by @lukewinkie.bsky.social in Slate, describing 'Slutcon', a recently-held event trying to train men to better relate to women. This is funny, sad, fascinating, and, weirdly, not gross at all: slate.com/life/2025/12...

someone i met once posted an ai image of the princess bride characters crying at rob reiner’s grave on facebook and another guy was like “stop posting ai slop dumbass” and the first guy responded with a text graphic that says “You know what’s underrated? Letting people be.” lmao

In which writer @lukewinkie.bsky.social chronicles his favorite band becoming Dad Rock in real time. Take solace, Luke, it happens to us all, shit, I remember when U2 was the coolest fuckin' band in the world. Sooner or later, time comes for everything cool. slate.com/culture/2025...

Apart from the fact the leader of the right mocked Reiner, one small difference is that Reiner's day job was making movies that people loved, while Kirk's starting point was creating enemies list of professors to be fired or harassed. These are not the same things.

I went to the Knockdown Center for the LCD Soundsystem residency and wrote about how, in very short order, my favorite band in the world became hopelessly cringe. (Still had a blast!)

I went to the Knockdown Center for the LCD Soundsystem residency and wrote about how, in very short order, my favorite band in the world became hopelessly cringe. (Still had a blast!)

I give you 5,000 words on Slutcon, a one-of-a-kind sex education event where inexperienced men paid thousands of dollars for the chance to flirt — in a controlled, judgement-free environment — with a fleet of sex workers and intimacy experts. It was fascinating to see it up close.

I give you 5,000 words on Slutcon, a one-of-a-kind sex education event where inexperienced men paid thousands of dollars for the chance to flirt — in a controlled, judgement-free environment — with a fleet of sex workers and intimacy experts. It was fascinating to see it up close.

The idea that the assassination of Charlie Kirk could become this Great Awakening-style galvanizing moment for conservatives completely missed the core point that this coalition has been taken heavy-duty conspiracies to the dome for more than a decade now. It was always going to end like this.

What exactly is this thing supposed to be

very much enjoyed @lukewinkie.bsky.social’s well-written deep dive into the enshittification of Las Vegas, which is suffering from the same problem as everything else: the costs keep going up and the product keeps getting worse.

I went to the Sphere in Vegas and had some conflicted feelings about it.

In awe of Jim Carrey’s 2020s filmography.

The syntactical mutation from “indie sleaze” to “recession pop” to, finally, “millennial optimism” is singularly representative of how bad things feel right now.

I listened to some Robert Johnson this summer and Spotify responded by granting me the title of Ultimate Unc.

It must feel so good for the Pod Save guys to finally have the political cover to tell the Clintons to eat shit. Vibe shift indicator.

I think one of the core elements of Trump 2.0 is just how online and diva-ish the entire staff is, resulting in the defense secretary doing messy, Real Housewives-style Twitter buck-passing but with the stakes being, “did the military order the execution of three dudes in the Pacific”

It's funny how a year ago it really seemed like we might be at the End of Pitchfork, but since then I think the site has re-captured a distinct voice/edge/sensibility that I've really enjoyed. pitchfork.com/features/lis...

We all need editors…

Took the train down to DC for Crooked Con and saw up close and personal what the Democratic Party might look like in 2026, 2028, and beyond.

Took the train down to DC for Crooked Con and saw up close and personal what the Democratic Party might look like in 2026, 2028, and beyond.

I give you 5,000 words on Las Vegas, a city in flux. All year long I read headlines about how tourism to the Strip had sharply declined in 2025, so I went there for 3 days in October to soak in the vibe. Ultimately this is a story about why the city is Good and why the death of Vegas would be Bad.

Just cold-called Mark Sanford, who immediately answered. I tried to get into the Nuzzi story, but he said he was having dinner with his son and hung up before we could get to brass tacks. I sent him a follow up text!

The issue with this entire enterprise is that she seems to be writing from the foundation that "wanting to fuck RFK Jr." is "hot" -- or at least, relatable. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/o...

It’s underrated how much the broader just-asking-questions “intellectual dark web” crowd gave up the game by becoming enthusiastic about Trump, and therefore shedding whatever nonpartisan ideals they were previously claiming. Feels like a lot of that is coming home to roost right now!

they made a movie about how she very successfully sued Fox News for years of sexual harassment

Kind of find myself pressing the skip button on Paranoid Android in my old age

The no. 1 reason people like Zohran is that he is a normal dude. A 30something guy who is into early 2010s soundcloud rap and leftism is an extremely archetypical millennial character. I've known *hundreds* of dudes exactly like him. This is the thing the opposition can't really grasp!

Interviewed my guy Stav about Bugonia and the United States of America.

Can't stop, won't stop with the SCHAUDENFRIDAY magic (thanks to @lukewinkie.bsky.social for being game for our weird, wild experiment) slate.com/podcasts/wha...

Reminder that Violent J of Insane Clown Posse has the correct response to a lot of the shitty things he said in the early days.

The concept of "fourth wave ska"

Unironically the most cogent and obvious use-case for the technology

People don’t want to admit it now but 2006-2015 was the real End of History

🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the, like, Shakespearean tragedy of Biden’s political career, so I wrote about it!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the, like, Shakespearean tragedy of Biden’s political career, so I wrote about it!

I interviewed Ross Douthat about his podcast, and the one-of-kind position he holds in legacy media. It features maybe my favorite headline we’ve ever published.

I interviewed Ross Douthat about his podcast, and the one-of-kind position he holds in legacy media. It features maybe my favorite headline we’ve ever published.