Update on book tour events, if you're in the area(s): May 22: Bol Coop bookstore @ 6:30 in Washington DC w/ @premthakker.bsky.social May 23: Red Emma's @ 7pm in Baltimore w/ @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social June 11: Arab American National Museum @ 5:30 Dearborn MI w/ Bilal Baydoun

No one is following me on Substack

Steny Hoyer’s close ties to pro-Israel groups have resulted in a financial windfall for his chosen successor, Adrian Boafo. But "as support for Israel erodes among Democratic voters, there is some political risk" for Boafo marylandmatters.org/2026/05/12/t...

“Bezos laid off the people who win the Pulitzers. He’s funding the people who lose the subscribers.” www.readtpa.com/p/nobody-ask...

“Looks like the total public cost of the Commanders stadium is likely back over $7 billion” www.fieldofschemes.com/2026/05/13/2...

I don’t post here unless i see something foundational to how to get out from under fascism. Popular front politics rules in these times. Use this.

I'm all for voting for a Democrat, and even actively working to elect a candidate, as long as that candidate if sharpening the class contradictions in the party. Otherwise, they are wasting our limited time.

Artificial intelligence is "incredibly unpopular technology" that is essentially being forced on people, says writer @astra.bsky.social. New data centers are now facing stiff resistance, providing "local chokepoints where people can come together and push back on the billionaire Big Tech agenda."

oh neat is the brainstorm list still open for this, we have one idea

“There’s only one conclusion: This was a setup.” pressingissues.org/even-disney-...

Israel spent tons of $$$$ to manipulate the Eurovision vote last year, a @nytimes investigation shows. Countries that don't commit a genocide usually don't take extreme measures such as manipulating the voting in a silly singing competition... www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/w...

“I try to avoid reading what the opinions section publishes… Sometimes it just seems like rage bait.” — current Washington Post staffer

fucking disgusting www.nytimes.com/athletic/725...

“The Pentagon’s lowball $25B estimate gets a lot of attention, but it’s more of a headline than a real number... my math suggests the Iran war will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and very possibly trillions. War is hell. And hell comes with a hefty price tag.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/o...

“If you want democratic governance of AI, block datacenters.” — Zephyr Teachout

excellent piece on how the fight to stop AI data centers crosses partisan divides and opens up new opportunities to organize www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The New York Times' fashion critic says that people “whining” about the Met Gala is just silly, because “even people who criticize the Met Gala end up looking at the pictures.” fair.org/home/nyt-on-...

a must-read behind-the-scenes look at how Sean O'Brien brought the Teamsters into Trump's fold... by Brian Tierney, who was with the union bjtierney.substack.com/p/chin-strap...

This important NYT story sheds light on how the US became an oligarchy. * Also, would it have killed the Times to give a shout out to David Sirota and The Lever for their excellent podcast, The Master Plan, which covered much of this ground. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/u...

money in politics might almost be a problem

From NYT’s excellent obit for Ted Turner www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/b...

here's hoping this CNN promo hasn’t been lost to history

crowd's response to Trump is so much more informative than any poll

Platner hits the Epstein class in his first ad. Treating Collins with kid gloves hasn’t worked before, Platner is taking them off. Video: @grahamformaine.bsky.social via X (@grahamformaine)

Media be warned: If your organization's workforce becomes less disproportionately white, the Trump administration will take that as evidence of illegal discrimination. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/b...

Not sure why these networks invite me to do all these interviews on Trump and Iran, they should bring this guy on, he nails it in less than 45 sec :)

Told @krystalball and @esaagar that Trump's escalation in the Strait of Hormuz is a reflection of the failure of the blockade. At the end of the day, the blockade was supposed to have collapsed Iran's economy about 10 days ago... www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFgw...

I always assumed the Republican attacks on ActBlue were partisan (and they are)… but this doesn’t look great (gift link) www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

Add this to the list of reasons Josh Shapiro shouldn’t come within a thousand miles of Dems’ 2028 nomination www.axios.com/2026/05/03/j...

In place of “democracy dies in darkness” -- which Bezos all but abandoned as he sucks up to Trump -- how about this for a new Post slogan: “Why we should settle for less”

“Why should Washingtonians settle for something that sounds less ambitious?” Wash Post's editorial board exists to answer this question for us www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Thanks! My book hits its first anniversary on Tuesday, but remains very timely as the government/corporate secrecy industry complex hits new lows. Available wherever you get books, but consider @bookshop.org to support indie bookstores and avoid the corporatization of book sales.

Hasan Piker’s name is continuously in the media, but I learned a lot about him from this excellent Prem Thakker story

Really interesting story on Iran’s oil fields from Drop Site www.dropsitenews.com/p/trump-iran...

“In an era when Americans are divided on everything — even the cars they drive and the TV shows they watch — data centers seem to have bridged the partisan divide.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/u...

“After bleating for more than a year that they desperately needed ‘a Joe Rogan of the Left,’ centrist Democrats are now predictably melting down over the prospect that they might actually get one.” jacobin.com/2026/04/hasa...

Great WSJ story on the Rothschild family’s competing banks, and how one of them is tied to Epstein (gift link) www.wsj.com/finance/bank...

“What people call conflicts of interests, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships.” — Jared Kushner www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/m...

"In many ways, the cancellation campaign against Piker isn’t about what he believes, what he’s said, or what he’s meant. It’s about marginalizing the left, and stymying the spread of growing anti-Israel sentiment." zeteo.com/p/hasan-pike...

NYT’s excellent 3-D interactive model shows the scale of Trump’s arch is batshit crazy. Once folks get a whiff of this, I don’t see how it gets (250 feet) off the ground. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

What are the odds? Elon’s space company is getting a piece of Trump’s Golden Dome boondoggle

I do indeed! My collection runs into the thousands - mainly non-fiction, due to my academic focus. When a friend visited for the first time, they marvelled, "Your home is exactly as I imagined it: books everywhere!" 😁 Here's some recent additions. 👇

New gift link. as.ft.com/r/f796329b-8...

Also, apparently "Hegseth harbors his own ambitions for elected office, even possibly president"

“He very much was not Bari’s first choice… He must have been her seventh or eighth choice, because nobody would take the fucking job... She wanted a name, and she does not see Tony Dokoupil as a name. A useful idiot for sure, but not a name.” www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...

More on Hegseth’s "pillow guy" press corps www.truthdig.com/articles/pet...

It's not just his outbursts, but apparently even the timing of Hegseth's press briefings may be arranged to please one man

At his press briefings, Hegseth knows exactly who and where the actual reporters are — as this chilling NY Times video makes clear — but almost calls on his lackeys seated in front www.nytimes.com/video/us/pol...

“They just took the cover page of my estimate and just added a bunch of money onto it… I didn’t add those extra millions on there." Good NYT story (which Wash Post should’ve been all over): www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/u...